Rachel Jankowski is the President of the College Republicans at the University of Michigan. In the piece below, published at The Michigan Review, she reflects on the outcome and meaning of the 2012 election.

It’s too bad no one in the national media put things in perspective so well before November 6th.

Reflections on the 2012 Election from the President of the College Republicans at the University of Michigan

America was fundamentally transformed on November 6, 2012—and not in a good way. November 6 was a call to action for Americans across the country. It was a referendum—either an affirmation or denial of the policies of the past four years. Needless to say we, as Americans, failed epically.

Are you truly better off than you were four years ago? Ask a college student graduating with mounds of debt and no prospects for a professional level job. Ask a small business owner who has barely scraped by and now will either lay off employees or cut hours in order to pay for the tax increases imposed on him or her on January 1, 2013.

Is this the kind of America we want? On November 7, the day after President Obama was re-elected, the stock market crashed over 300 points. It dropped more than 100 points the day after that. Investors—the people who build this country (and yes, they do build it)—see the writing on the wall. Unfortunately, we as Americans, do not.

Our debt rose over $5 trillion since Obama took office in 2009. Our credit rating was downgraded. The largest tax increase in American history—Obamacare—was imposed upon us. We dragged ourselves into two additional wars (and remember this man won a Nobel Peace Prize). Our freedoms have been under attack. I am less than inclined to think this is us moving forward– unless, of course, you mean forward off a fiscal cliff.

As the leader of the College Republicans on campus, I sincerely apologize Republicans did not do a better job of proving that the conservative way of fixing these impending issues is the right way. 60% of college students chose Obama—believing he would be the best at getting them a job, when his policies have done nothing but prove otherwise. We should have been able to capitalize on his record, but we couldn’t. We needed to capture the youth vote, but we didn’t. Sadly, if President Obama’s policies do not change, our situation will be substantially worse four years from now than it is today.