The Washington state caucuses brought 10s of thousands of Republicans, Democrats and independents together to discuss and vote on who would be their respective nominee.

At the end of the day, Sens. Barak Obama and John McCain were announced the winners.

Here are stories of three SPU students who went out to support their candidates:

Sarah Vasques
Sarah Vasques has never seen herself as a "political person." She grew up in a conservative home with Republican parents, but said if she were to call herself anything it would be a libertarian.

For her first presidential election, though, Vasques, a senior at SPU, became an activist.

"I had lost hope for the country, but then Ron Paul came along," she said. "I voted because he is the only person that I feel is honest and trustworthy and will do what he says he will do."

Paul is the congressman from her home town of Lake Jackson, Tex., and the fact that he uses the Constitution as his platform makes her support him, she said. She even became his representative for her precinct in Seattle.

"He's the only politician I've ever been inspired by," Vasques said.

Vasques, who is married to a man who is a quarter Hispanic, is also a strong supporter of Paul's stance on immigration as well.

"Coming from Texas, that is a hot-button issue for me," she said. "I've seen Texas change in the last 20 years where the stereotypical 'American way' is being overwhelmed by Hispanic culture. Until you live somewhere where that's the case, people really can't judge me on it."

Other issues that are important to her are gun control and civil liberties.

"His [Paul's] stance is that the government should stay the hell out of our lives," she said. "Each individual should be able to make their own decisions."

Vasques was one of four Republicans from her precinct to vote in Saturday's Queen Anne caucus. The fact that Paul has not received a lot of media attention gave her extra incentive to be a part of his campaign.

"The people want him in office and I felt like I had to do something, like if I didn't stand up, I wasn't doing my job," she said. "I have to do everything I can to get him into office. I believe in him."

Though the polls show McCain will most likely receive the Republican nomination, Vasques is not losing hope for Paul.

"The revolution that he is trying to cause is not going to stop with him," she said.

Melissa Warren
As Melissa Warren stood at the Barak Obama rally at the Key Arena last Friday, she began to cry. The SPU junior was surrounded by thousands of other Americans and said that all of them were shouting for change. The change would not come from Obama, she said. She could see the change for the nation coming through the people.

"I was proud to be an American at that moment and I don't say that lightly," Warren said.

In the past, Warren said she has been cynical about the United States' political system, its stance among the rest of the world and about its arrogance and capitalism.

"I have found myself cringing at being an American," she said. "I would just rather be something else."

While she initially did not think Obama had enough experience needed to be president, on Saturday she voted for him, because in him, she said, she finds the hope that the nation needs.

Economically, the United States is in trouble, and there are many domestic social issues that need to be addressed, Warren said. She likes Obama's plan to reinvest back into the American people regarding many of these issues.

She was raised Republican, but as she has grown and studied more, Warren said, the economic system of the Democratic Party aligns more with her beliefs as a Christian.

"God's heart is for the poor, and I see the Democratic economic practices as being more empowering for the people," she said. "I realized that this was on God's heart so it should probably be on my heart too."

As much as she supports Obama, she is skeptical about his foreign policy, which, to a global development major, happens to be the issue that matters the most to her. The war in Iraq is also something important to her where she differs from Obama. She thinks the United States needs to get out but she does not think Obama has a much formulated exit plan.

Despite her dissention from him in those areas, Warren said Obama is the leader that the American people need. She put her beliefs into action by voting.

"We have a responsibility to shape what our country looks like," she said. "The core of what makes America beautiful is that we have the ability to articulate what we want our government to be and who we want our leaders to be."

David Van Hofwegen
Living outside of the United States has caused David Van Hofwegen to see his identity in a different light. He was born in Costa Rica, lived in Miami and then moved to Vancouver, British Colombia.

"In traveling, I was raised to have more of a global perspective instead of a national perspective," Van Hofwegen said. "Being an American isn't a strong part of my identity. I'm a Christian first, then a global citizen."

While in other countries, he said the anti-American sentiments he sometimes encountered initially brought out defensiveness in him. He then saw that the things the people were criticizing were things that should be critiqued.

"Instead of looking for what's best for the United States, I'm more concerned about what's best for people everywhere," Van Hofwegen said.

His Christian beliefs cause him to want a foreign policy that is centered on peace and negation, he said. Also important to him was a policy that included a focus on Fair Trade, global equality and the alleviation of poverty before business and economic prominence.

While no political candidate's foreign policy aligns with his political ideals exactly, he prefers that of Hillary Clinton and Obama exponentially over Sen. John McCain's, of the Republican Party, he said.

"I'm not incredibly enthusiastic about anybody's stance, but clearly Hillary and Obama's stances are more in line with my ideals," he said. "But I wouldn't necessarily place one over the other."

While Van Hofwegen said he supports both Clinton and Obama, on Saturday he voted for Clinton.

"Part of my sentimental support of Hillary is in reaction to negative, sometimes sexist, attitudes commonly encountered at SPU," he said. "The idea that women are inferior leaders [in a political context] is ridiculous."

He has seen that Obama supporters tend to be from more educated fields while Clinton's support comes from people of lower economic status and most hurt by housing issues, he said. This as a sign that her policy is favorable for them, which has inspired him to support her more, he said.

Other issues that are important to him are trade and environmental ones in which he has found Clinton's policies favorable as well.

"I like how she would reform NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) or focus on Free Trade agreements with enforceable labor and environmental laws," he said. "This is very important to me."

In talking about going to vote at McClure Middle School on Queen Anne, he noted a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon of social change, that hung in the auditorium. As he went to discuss the two Democratic candidates, one a woman and the other a black man, he said it was incredible to see the way that the United States has progressed in the last 50 years.

"It was exhilarating and a very positive experience," he said.