The Primaries Heat Up

You’ve almost certainly heard plenty of news about the United States presidential race recently.  As the field of candidates narrows and the election in November draws closer, interest in the race is growing among many Americans.  As junior Nels Akerson pointed out, some of EMHS’ social studies classes are beginning to deal with the upcoming election.  Twenty juniors and seniors were recently interviewed in an attempt to discover what EMHS students thought about the primaries.

Many students don’t yet have strong opinions on the race.  “I don’t like politics and I don’t like the candidates,” explained Blake Williamson, a senior.  Hannah Cranston, a junior, said she felt that every candidate was a “hypocrite.”  Interest in the race among students will, of course, grow as the general election nears; Gabriel Martinez, a junior, admitted that he hadn’t paid much attention so far, but that he figured that he will know everything he needs to know by November.

Others are already taking sides in the campaign.  Barack Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, seems to enjoy widespread support among students.  David Jost, a senior, said he believes that if Obama is elected, he will “drastically raise our image around the world.”  Some also voiced support for former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who ran for Vice President in 2004; Nathan Hershberger, a senior, said he supports Edwards, though he would prefer Obama over New York senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton.  Clinton had relatively little support among those interviewed for this article.

Arizona senator and Vietnam war veteran John McCain seems to be the most popular Republican candidate.  Freeman Bendfeldt, a senior, said that he would be willing to vote for either McCain or Obama; he believes McCain is willing to stand on his principles, even when they aren’t politically advantageous.  Some students also said they’d consider Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.

Libertarian Ron Paul, a Republican candidate with little support nationally, elicited strong responses from some students.  “He should be kicked in the face,” said Bendfeldt.
“[Ron Paul] is a crazy racist,” added Nathan Hershberger.

- Dustin Crummett

Comments

[Janelle]

this seems a little biased. And, Ron Paul is not a crazy racist either.

[Dustin Crummett]

Biased in favor of who? I'm inclined to support McCain myself, but I didn't think it really showed that much. The point of the article was to show what EMHS students thought about the election, so I asked twenty people in the hall after school one day; I think the article more or less accurately reflects what they said. If your opinion wasn't represented, then that's what the comments are for!

Anyway, I guess it's not really my job to defend what people in my articles say, but as for Ron Paul being a crazy racist:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2008/01/the_gift_that_keeps_on_giving_1.html

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2007_4477230

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca

Basically, he ran a newsletter that spent several decades saying crazy racist things. I think that's what Nathan was talking about.