Quad City Times: First Vote

While many teenagers take on the same political views as their parents, there are also families that push their children to develop their own ideas.”My mom won’t even tell me who she votes for. She’s under the impression that by doing so she would limit my critical thinking,” said Nick De La Cruz, a senior at Davenport Central High School.

When you grow up in the same household as someone, you tend to take on the same ideas. This is exactly what some families are trying to steer away from when it comes to politics. They want their children to create their own values and ideals.

“My parents sometimes talk to me about politics and they think it’s great if I make my own decisions. They’d never make me think what they think,” said Samantha Irey, a junior at Davenport Central High School.

The question is, when they are left to themselves, do teenagers take the initiative to research and come up with their own opinions? Being that teenagers are constantly running around with a million things to worry about, do they take out the time to see what is going on in the world?

“I like to be active in politics, but I feel that I may not be as involved as I should be. I think that youth should pay more attention to world issues and politics,” said Chelsea Rink, a junior at Davenport Central High School.

Katie Oxendine, Davenport Central

Most people believe that my political opinions are solely those of my parents. Really, though, they just provided the foundation for my beliefs. When I was young they never particularly discussed politics. I became globally interested following the attacks on 9/11. This of course had a huge impact on everything I had believed before that, even at 11 years old. Once I turned 14, I watched the Daily Show With Jon Stewart intermittently with Fox News. These two shows had a startling effect on my opinions.

When I asked several of my peers where their opinions originated, they all responded differently. Sammy Stephenson, 18, said, “my political beliefs are mainly reflected off of my parents.” She, unlike me, admits that her parents have a huge role in her politics.

Molly Autumn, 17, says “my parents don’t follow politics as closely as I do.They are more optimistic about the dual-party system and the electoral college than I am.” Autumn described herself as “cynical” about American politics. She said her parents, “really don’t care what I believe but sometimes they fear that my activism is going to get me locked up.”

Do my parents care that I don’t blindly follow their beliefs? We often disagree on things, (I am 17 after all) but this makes no difference to them. In fact, it stimulates intelligent conversation and is a chance for me to learn more.

Stephenson agreed with me in this aspect, “If I were to disagree with my parents on anything we would have a debate on it. In reality though, their opinion of me wouldn’t change over something so trivial.”

Shannon Thompson, Pleasant Valley High School

By the time students reach voting age, they have already felt an immense amount of pressure to pick a political party. This pressure comes from all directions: parents, friends, school, religion, and the media. According to an independent survey done by youthvote.org, 45 percent of young people say that other young people are likely to convince them to vote. High school students may be more inclined to cave to pressure, especially from their families. However students questioned from Scott Community College believe they have made an independent decision when it comes to politics.At an average age of 20, these students feel they have been well informed about the current campaigns and issues, citing the internet and television as their main sources of information. Many stated they had discussed politics with their parents frequently, but felt that issues important to them, such as the war in Iraq, jobs, and education, had more of an effect on their decisions.

A few students also said that the actions of the current administration had affected their stance. Brittaney Sharp, said, “I think you definitely can’t stray from your parents views because their morals and beliefs are usually your morals and beliefs. I think I’ve come to my own conclusions based on what I believe and what’s important to me.”

Brittany Clemens, Scott Community College

When I polled Rock Island High School students about how families influenced their political choices, I was surprised to learn that one roof can cover a wide variety of political opinions.

Seventeen-year-old Lynn Aaronson said that she’s more politically involved than the rest of her family. While they mostly vote on the liberal side, she’s even more supportive of gay rights. But, Lynn insists that “they’re fine with my views.”

Jena Hull was clear about who had the greatest influence: “my parents.” Jena’s thoughts on how this happened? “I hang out with my parents more than with my friends.”

Teens also use technology to figure out their political standings. Donnie Corwin said he took an online quiz to tell him where his ideas lay. He didn’t completely rely on the web, though. His mom, a Democrat, talked a lot about politics before the last election. He found out that she didn’t support a lot of things, like the war, that he did. “I just didn’t agree with her ideas.”

Alex Luppen sums it up: “My family has a lot of different political views; I listen to what I like and try to figure out why I don’t agree with other ideas.”

Amelia Schoeneman, Rock Island High School

Moline senior Jason Hon said “my parents didn’t really influence me, but they did guide me along to tell me to vote in 08″

This is one example of parents not forcing their kids to vote the way they want, but an example of the parents guiding them to make smart decisions. “My values came from home but they were not poured down my throat” Hon said.

Another Moline senior has said “You shouldn’t choose your party or values based on what your parents have but instead you should choose them based on what feels right to you”

David Ballard, Moline High School

At the AARP Democrat Candidate Forum, I saw a familiar face from my school with her mother. Tiffany Villalpando, a junior at West High, credits her mom for an interest in politics.

“My mom got me into getting political, but she left it up to me to choose what I feel,” Villalpando said.

I noticed them agreeing on similar views, signaled by light head nods and applause at the same time.

I don’t think it’s completely on parents’ shoulders whether or not a teen will get involved politically. However, what you do now could get the ball rolling and save our next generation’s voting turnout from sliding to single digits. Regardless of parents’ political beliefs, they will have an impact us as first voters in one way or another.

“If I grew up with both parents being Republicans, I think that would have had an impact,” said Villalpando. “I think my parents would have supported me either way, but living with my mom has influenced me.”

Mark Schwenker, Davenport West

By Tushar Rae

First Vote

Kevin Trahan, a freshman from Bettendorf High School, did not miss an opportunity to get his question answered.

“It seems like there is more talk about the Democrats as opposed to the Republicans. Why do you think that is?” Trahan asked at a workshop just hours before five Democrats met in a presidential debate in Davenport Thursday. “Are the Democrats more exciting?”

Trahan is a participant in First Voters, a group of high school and college journalists who will be voting in their first presidential election next year. It’s a group organized by the Quad-City Times.

Thursday’s workshop gave Trahan the experts who could answer his question, including Froma Harrop, a nationally syndicated columnist whose work appears in the Times.

“I think the (Democrats) are because of Hillary Clinton,” Harrop said. “They have found a larger-than-life figure in her, especially for the Republicans.”

Mary Beth Cahill, campaign manager for former presidential candidate John Kerry, said it appears Democrats are happy with their leading candidates, but Republican voters seem largely dissatisfied with their pool.

“The Republicans are looking for the mythic candidate, and he has not filed papers yet,” Cahill said.

Harrop and Cahill were joined on the panel by Nancy LeaMond, group executive officer for social impact at AARP, a lead sponsor of Thursday night’s debate.

The focus of the presidential forum was health care and financial security, issues that seem to target a population older than the First Voters, yet LeaMond said one of the aims of the forum was to engage a younger audience.

LeaMond said the First Voters will have to wrestle with issues such as Medicare.

LeaMond also found herself answering for the makeup of the forum.

John Stengel, a senior at Moline High School, asked one of the bluntest questions of the workshop.

“With the importance of Iowa, are Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel not vital in this forum?” he asked.

LeaMond said both candidates were given the opportunity to participate, but they failed to meet the criteria, which included having paid staff and an office in Iowa.

“We want to hear from candidates who have made an investment in Iowa,” LeaMond said.

The panel also discussed the importance of Iowa in the primary process and electing a president.

“[Iowans] do a very good job of vetting the candidates,” Harrop said.

Cahill said the Iowa caucuses provide an opportunity for candidates who are short on funds to gain political traction. The caucuses also provide independent groups with a strong voice, Cahill said.

“Primaries are where it is possible for outside groups to inject their issues and get answers,” Cahill said.

First Vote journalist filed these reports from the Sept. 20 Divided We Fail Democratic Presidential Forum at Davenport, Iowa’s Adler Theater.

Biden finds humor

Joe Biden had the best sense of humor out of any of the candidates at the forum. He kept the crowd into it with remarks like “I’ll make you my secretary of state” (to Bill Richardson). On the flip side, he was also serious about creating a joint partnership with China and

other Asian countries to help stop global warming. Biden seemed the clear winner of the debate. He had a way of attacking another candidate, but making it humorous, too.

Kevin Trahan, Bettendorf High School

What happened to health care?

By the end of Thursday night’s debate I had forgotten what we were there to learn. Biden closed his argument with an Iraq war rant, Richardson closed with a story. Edwards brought up global warming repeatedly, Hillary constantly mentioned the Republican party’s faults. I thought we were at an AARP debate specifically to talk health care.

Instead of helping to ease the baby boomers’ worries about retirement and their families’ future, they turned it into what you can hear on any news station at anytime.

Shannon Thompson, Pleasant Valley High School

Edwards offers realism

John Edwards spoke on being realistic. He said that promises are useless. He said it is going to cost us for universal health care, but it’s worth it.

Finally someone sees that promises are pointless. You do have to be realistic if you plan on achieving something. Americans have to understand that better health care - universal health care - has a cost.

Gabe Hearn, Davenport Central

‘Candidates like these make me hopeful’

When Sen. Dodd spoke of his views on Medicare and health insurance, he seemed true to his word. “I’m tired of talking about it. We have talked about this for the last six years! We need some leadership!” It turned out a lot of the candidates agreed with him. Hillary was nodding, Edwards was smiling, and both Richardson and Biden were interjecting there own comments of how they also agreed.

Candidates like these make me hopeful about this next election. We need a president who is willing to work with others and be honest with the public. I hope we can hold it true to these candidates to give us all universal health care.

Meredith Price, Bettendorf High School

Dodd shows passion for family care

One of the first topics brought before the candidates last night concerned the position families are put in while having to stay home to take care of the elderly or their children. Sen. Hillary Clinton stated it would cost $300 billion to replace the care that these families provide out of love. Sen. Christopher Dodd passionately added, “If we give tax breaks for foster homes, why can’t we for those caring for their own families?”

The passion that Dodd showed on this subject was the most impressive of these candidates. I had been caring for my great-grandmother for the past 10 months and was not able to keep another job during this time, so I am well aware of the hardships, both financially and emotionally, caring for an elderly family member can cause.

Brittany Clemens, Scott Community College

Biden the finger-pointer

The candidates walk in and line up. Some wave, others smile, and Joe Biden points up to the balcony in recognition of a supporter. Near the end of the debate, the topic shifts to global warming and Biden says that India and China are the big problem. They “put a plant up every week that uses dirty coal.”

Is Biden a finger pointer? I realize the United States isn’t the only producer of carbon emissions, but as the president, one needs to consider America’s policies first. Richardson and Dodd have plans for the U.S. to reduce carbon. While Biden supported the cap on emissions and trade policy, he shifted blame to other countries.

Amelia Schoeneman, Rock Island High School

Sidewalk supporters set tone

The sidewalk across the Adler brimmed with supporters of all the candidates. John Edwards’ supporters joined together in the usual chants, spelling his name out and even dancing to show their support.

As the event began it felt to me as though Edwards was showing a kind of honesty and kindness not usually found with most politicians. As the forum began it seemed as Edwards was trying to become more aggressive on his thoughts and ideas and this made him stronger as a candidate than I previously had thought.

David Ballard, Moline High School

Edwards vs. Clinton creates tension

Sen. John Edwards vehemently criticized his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton for accepting campaign donations from health care lobbyists. He added that Sen. Clinton’s health care plan is very similar to his, but he snidely remarked, “I’m glad she came out with it seven months later.” Clinton responded by reminding Sen. Edwards she tried to implement a universal health care plan 15 years ago.

There seemed a palpable tension the audience when the two most applauded candidates on stage battled over the ins and outs of a universal health care system. It seems that neither of the two candidates intended on breaking down their counterpart’s proposal but rather boasting who came up with it first.

David Disch, St. Ambrose University

Edwards emphasizes diplomacy

For a short time, presidential candidates discussed plans for withdrawal of troops in Iraq, each of them posing similar ideas.

Sen. John Edwards made one point that was not mentioned by his opponents, “We need to engage other countries to help provide stability.”

This point addresses the issue with a semblance of solution, which is refreshing. Politicians constantly harp on the notion that withdrawal is necessary, but rarely address a safe mode of removal.

This comment shows that thought has been put into a plan, which I find comforting.

Sarah Elgation, Davenport Central

‘Awesome’ signs of unity are welcome

Candidate Hillary Clinton nodded emphatically as her fellow candidates shared their views on key issues. Every one of the candidates poked fun atone another while pointing out differences in their policies; laughing, joking, and referring to each other on a first name basis. John Edwards even swatted at a fly buzzing annoyingly around Bill Richardson’s head.

There were times the candidates would speak about themselves, using “I” or “my” but throughout most of the night “we” or “all of us here on stage” were the expressions used most. I found this so awesome and profound. Their unity and support for each other wasn’t something I was expecting to see in such a fierce competition, but it was most definitely there.

Lora Wegener, Scott Community College

End war? What about terrorism?

“We must end the war,” that was the collective line that rung out from the candidates. But the issue of terrorism was never addressed. It appeared that speaking about ending the war was easier than addressing the real issue, terrorism. How would they protect the United States from terrorists that hate our country and what we stand for?

David Whalen, Davenport Central

Rhetoric trumps plans

As Bill Richardson quietly finished explaining his very specific plan for insuring that health care could be provided for all Americans, he received a quiet, respectful blanket of applause. Yet, when Joe Biden loudly and in very general terms blamed the Bush administration for the problems in Iraq, he was met with loud, thundering, ear-shattering applause.

At what point does yelling and blatant rhetoric take the place of a plan? It was disappointing to discover the sad truth is that the best thought out plans will not win you as many voters as loud rhetoric.

Tushar Rae, Augustana College