Quad City Times: First Vote

By Kevin Trahan
First Vote
Education is a very important issue, yet it seems like many candidates have overlooked it. Hillary Clinton is the only candidate who has really gone full force at attacking No Child Left Behind. Her editorial board meeting at the Times was no different.
No Child Left Behind had good intentions, but was a huge failure. It helps kids who learn at a slower pace, but hurts everyone else in the classroom. The teachers need to teach slowly or else the school will be placed on a watch list.
Some of my friends have told me they are bored to death in some of their classes because they are ready to move on, but the teacher can’t because of the few students who aren’t ready.
I asked Sen. Clinton what she would do about No Child.
“We’ll never know whether the original idea could have worked because it has been so poorly implemented and has not been funded by the federal government the way it had been promised. I think we have to start over,” Clinton said.
Sen. Clinton wants to stop basing everything on standardized testing. Clinton wants to judge things on a case by case basis and give more incentives for good teachers to go to the schools that actually need help.
“I’d like to see us move toward individualized instruction. We’re moving that way in every part of our lives. … Yet our schools are being subject to a kind of one-size-fits-all standard. It doesn’t work for learning and its very demoralizing for teaching.”
She also wants to teach parents how to prepare their kids for school and wants to enroll as many children in pre-school as possible. Studies have shown that kids who go to pre-school perform better in later grades.
In my opinion, Hillary Clinton has the best stance on education, a very important issue. Educating America’s youth is like building a foundation. We are the foundation and the future leaders of America and the World. Education is as important to our future as stopping global warming.

Kevin Trahan is a student at Bettendorf High School.

By Mark Schwenker
First Vote
Sen. Barack Obama was drilled on questions pertaining to his leadership experience and foreign policy objectives. When my turn came to ask him a question, I thought I’d go easy on him.
“As my friends and I are talking about what career fields we might go into, I was wondering, what did you want to be when you were in high school?” I asked, breaking the serious tension in the room as the Senator looked me in the eye while drinking out of an unmarked water bottle.
The senator, chuckling to himself, replied “in kindergarten I wanted to be President, then I went through wanting to be an astronaut and basketball player.“
“By the time I was in high school, I actually thought I wanted to be an architect,” he said. “I thought the idea of designing buildings would be fascinating.”
I find it very interesting that Sen. Obama wanted to be an architect. As an architect, one most likely wants to leave their mark on the world by having a lasting impact with their designs. Although the senator isn’t an architect, he is still leaving a lasting impact on the landscape of America today.
“How I became a lawyer instead is a sad tale,” Sen. Obama, said.
I also dabbled on the thought of being an architect, but new interests and opportunities came up as time went on, which Sen. Obama experienced as well.
Who knows, maybe I’m going down a similar path as the senator. How does “Mark Schwenker in 2048” sound?

Mark Schwenker is a student at Davenport West High School.

By Amelia Schoeneman
First Vote
When opponents of Barack Obama criticize the senator, they start with his apparent lack of experience. But, at the Quad-City Times Editorial Board meeting, it was clear his wisdom with politics was not an issue. Obama knows he’s new to Washington D.C., but he’s also aware that being elected president is “not a question of longevity in Washington.“
Obama’s judgments on foreign policy are not just beginners’ luck. In the senate he voted against the war in Iraq realizing more attention needed to be paid to Afghanistan. Today the call for more troops in Afghanistan is being made. He was also wary of the fact that there wasn’t an exit strategy for Iraq. Now, every candidate has written one. As the senator said himself, it’s not luck after a certain point.
Experience also ties into knowledge of policies, not just voting for the correct ones. I asked Obama about what he would do to keep arts alive in public schools. He said that No Child Left Behind is the reason money is taken from the arts.
“Part of the reason that you’re seeing pressure on arts programs and music programs … is that No Child Left Behind is structured where the success of the school is measured entirely in terms by what happens on those high stakes standardize tests.”
Those tests are helpful, but schools need to be assessed on other things, too.
“Right now, if a child comes in and they’re three years behind, and at the end of the year they’re only one year behind, that school’s actually done a very good job. But it wouldn’t show up on No Child Left Behind. They would be still labeled, potentially, as a failure.”
He would modify the act when in office.
“If we can change those assessments then once again we will be emphasizing arts, music, literature, social studies, foreign languages, the things that provide a well-rounded education.”
Sen. Barack Obama clearly has enough experience to discover, understand, and fix problems. As president he’ll bring White House decisions and reports to his constituency. Obama helped to pass “Google for Government” and wants to reinstate fireside chats. He’ll use C-SPAN to involve the public in government decisions. The experience Sen. Barack Obama has is clearly the right kind. He has the perspective to make logical, insightful decisions for America.

Amelia Schoeneman is a student at Rock Island High School.

By Kevin Trahan
First Vote
The message from Mike Huckabee’s commercial was clear, “we need a good Christian leader.” This just didn’t sit well with me.
During the course of this campaign season, Mike Huckabee has really stressed how his faith will make him a better leader. He says that because he is a Christian he has morals that will help guide him to a win in the upcoming election. This is why Mike Huckabee is my least favorite candidate.
I believe that many candidates in this presidential race, particularly Republicans, have based their campaign way too much on their faith. Most Democrats are trying to separate church and state and focus on the issues, while many Republicans, particularly Mike Huckabee, are trying to combine those.
Take a look at his website. On his “Issues” pages, his header is “Faith and Politics.” He starts out that article with “My faith is my life. It defines me.”
That is all he stresses (other than the fact that Chuck Norris endorses him). This, for some reason, really bothers me. It is a decent strategy, and many hardcore Christian conservatives will vote for him. I just don’t understand how faith makes him the best candidate.
Now, believe me, I am not putting down any religion. My mom is Jewish and my dad is Christian and I respect both very much. But someone’s faith does not make them a better president.
Does Mike Huckabee’s faith give him better views on the Iraq war? No. Does his faith give him a better stance on health care? No. Anyone, regardless of his or her religion, can be a good leader.
Huckabee also claims that his Christian morals make him a better leader than all of the other candidates. First of all, all of the other candidates are Christians, so his morals presumably are similar to the other candidates’. Second of all, religious morals can’t help you fight a war, change health care, or fight poverty.
The Huckabee commercials can also be very offensive. He says that he is a good leader just because he is a Christian. What does this tell anyone who is a Muslim, Jewish, or any other religion? That they can’t be a leader too? Anyone can be a leader, no matter their religion.
It is a separation of church and state that has somehow gone away in the last 200 years. My faith does not influence my vote at all, and I hope that is the case for many other Americans.
Kevin Trahan attends Bettendorf High School..

By Elizabeth Davidson
First Vote
As I heard an announcer proclaiming “An important policy message from Governor Mike Huckabee” and observed these words scroll across the screen, I prepared myself for official information concerning this up and coming candidate.
To much surprise, Huckabee states “My plan to secure the border, two words: Chuck Norris.”
This presidential commercial continued the comical statements made by both Chuck Norris and Mike Huckabee as western music played in the background. When the entertainment ceased, my laughter made me question whether someone could actually take this candidate seriously.
But then I got to thinking, this “Chuck Norris Approved” commercial was a good tactic to draw young conservative voters. Though the scene was not exceptionally professional, as a young voter I was inspired to research more about the man my peers refer to as, “the man who is tight with Chuck Norris.”
The ad gave kids everything they would want to see: entertainment, laughs, with a only a touch on heavy issues.
This is not Norris’ first presidential endorsement. This tough-guy legend supported to President Goerge Herbert Walker Bush, as well.

Elizabeth Davidson attends Assumption High School.

By Mark Schwenker
First Vote
Traveling on Interstates 80 and 380 in an ice storm, I was forced to pull over every couple of miles to scrape ice off my windshield as my squeaky wipers and empty washer fluid reservoir could no longer provide safe vision.
Although I drove an average of around 40 miles per hour, I managed to get to the Dec. 8 event in Cedar Rapids featuring Barackand Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
An hour before the “triple-O-show” began, energy filled the U.S. Cellular Center. A college a Capella group sang pop songs on stage. Others acted out a mock-caucus skit that entertained the waiting audience (take note, other candidate hosts).
Another student started a wave that washed around the full arena five times.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama opened with a greeting to young and old, white and black, gays and straights. From what I noticed in the crowd, there was not one dominant group of people.
Michelle Eberhart, 18, of Maquoketa, noticed this, too. “I do think that Obama appeals more to young people than other candidates, but I’d also like to think that he appeals more to all Americans than his opponents do,” she said. “I know some older people feel that Obama doesn’t have enough experience to do a good job in Washington, but Oprah made the point that Obama has quite a lot of experience just from living and being the person that he is.“
Oprah Winfrey entered exhibiting an aura of majesty, enhanced by the sparkle of thousands of camera flashes.
When someone such as Oprah backs a candidate, you take notice.
Davenport West class of ‘06 alumni Adam Peters noticed. “Oprah is such an influential person, and I think to some, knowing that Oprah is behind someone will give a flag saying that they should be, too.”
Eberhart summed it up well. “I loved the combination of seriousness and humor from the speakers, such as when Barack said Oprah shouldn’t be the only person building schools in Africa and that we should be communicating with our enemies overseas, teaching children math and science and demonstrating that the United States isn’t one of the bad guys,” she said. “I’ve never seen such a large group of people so united for one cause, hope.”

Mark Schwenker attends Davenport West High School.

By Bryn Lawerence

First Vote

At the Thunder Bay Grill in Davenport, Dec. 7, Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson corrected a supporter who thought the candidate’s favorite truck is a Dodge Ram. Thompson said his true favorite is a Chevrolet Silverado. And just as the Silverado has lost substantial market share, the former senator has lost ground in Iowa even though he’s improved his campaigning skills.
At the beginning of October, I saw Thompson at the Marriott Hotel in Coralville, Iowa. At that point in his campaign he was still unsure of himself and throughout the speech he stuttered, paused and looked down. He didn’t focus on any key issues or even take questions at the end.
In Davenport last week, Thompson appeared much more polished. He had improved his rhetoric and even took questions from the audience, although only a few. He had also softened his words.
Coming on the heels of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, he appears to have softened some rhetoric. In October, Thompson said, “we have no apologies to make for the history of the United States of America.” In Davenport last week, he said, “we have little to be sorry for.”
In the end though, the senator’s improvements will probably turn out being too little too late.

St. Ambrose student Miles Chiotti asked Fred Thompson this question, Dec. 7, 2007 at Thunder Bay Grill in Davenport:

Q: Would you call yourself a federalist, … and through federalilsm, how do we once and for all give power back to states?

Thompson: “Following the constitution. Getting judges that will follow the law and apply the constitution. That is the heart of all of it.

The reason I’m a federalist is because the founding fathers were federalists. When they set up a constitution, they divided the power on the federal level over three branches of government,checks and balances.

They knew the wisdom of the ages. They knew human nature. They knew what they left. So they spread it out.

And they spread it out at the local, state and national levels. … And they came in with the 10th amendment….

What’s not there in the constitution is left to the people and to the states.

Chiotti assesses the answer: “His answer I thought is very good because what he said was focus on the constitution.

He mentioned it seems like we’ve given more of those powers to the federal government. We need to give more of those powers back, like we did with welfare reform, so not only do the states have responsiblities, but they compete with each other so that people can see that other states are doing things that are good and, in fact, will act so that there states do the same thing.

DeWitt Central student Emily Sparks, 17, asked Bill Clinton this question.

Sparks: “What would you say to people who say a woman couldn’t win the White House?”

Bill Clinton: “I would tell them the truth, which is not good politics, is that you never really know until you try. By and large, Woman who have been elected in democracies have been quite popular.
Who do the Pakistanis want now in Pakistan? Benazir Bhotto. … Michelle Bachelet, who interestingly got the presidency of Chile, has a background remarkably like Hillary’s. She first was health minister then defense minister. Argentinians just elected wife of immediate past president of Argentina. … So it’s hard to believe that these countries are more progressive than we are.”

Emily assesses the answer: “I thought it was a very good answer, very honest. He had great statistics to go with it.”
Emily arrived at the Clinton rally uncertain how she would vote in the caucuses. “This helped me a lot, listening to him talk. Also my parents are a big factor in how I know so much.”

By Bryn Lawrence and Sarah Elgation
First Vote
DE WITT, Iowa — DeWitt Central High School students Abby Hunter and Angela Stuedemann walked side-by-side into the Bill Clinton’s rally, but only one of them left as a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Hunter walked in thinking the New York senator would be her caucus choice. But Stuedemann arrived and left as a Mitt Romney supporter, unswayed by the former president’s 40-minute speech. Hunter and Stuedemann and about two dozen other Central students crowded into the county fairground auditorium across the street from the high school. Many were drawn by the star power of a former president whose term ended in 2000, when most of these students were not yet 10 years old.
Courtney Freese, a 17 year old student at Community Central High School in DeWitt said that she doesn’t usually attend political events,

“I came to see Bill Clinton because he’s my idol,” said Freese, who was attending her first caucus rally.
Other students showed up hoping to hear about issues that affect their age group. Not all left satisfied.
“I don’t really worry about health care right now, but I know it will be more important when I get older,” Erin Friedrich, a junior at Davenport Central said, “I don’t really listen when politicians talk about it.”
Clinton directed most of his speech to his main audience, people who have voted before, but did speak briefly on the topics Friedrich and Freese were hoping to hear about, keeping them engaged on a different level.
Some noted that candidate’s speaking style can reach younger voters.
Bill Clinton “is funny, so people listen to him,” Friedrich said, adding that if more politicians were funny, they might have a stronger youth following.
DeWitt Central student Brian Cheney watched Clinton, but said it is Mike Huckabee and his funny commercial with Chuck Norris that captured his interest, and his vote.
(Sarah Elgation attends Davenport Central High School. Bryn Lawrence attends
Augustana College.)