DeWitt Central on Clinton
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.)