Informal Research Paper

Yes, We Can

On 19 January 2007, two-hundred-fifty students drearily sloshed into Wellington-Napoleon R-IX High School. Some grumbled about the injustices of the Bush Administration, but few had thoughts of the far-off Presidential election of November 2008. The next day, however, some students had hope. In the coming days and weeks, many candidates announced that they would seek the Presidency. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) were the first Democratic frontrunners in what would prove to be the most unpredictable election cycle in history, energising youth right round the nation and forever leaving its mark on the social structures upon which those two-hundred-fifty students had come to rely.
To the diverse merriment and chagrin many, Saturday 20 January 2007, the very next day, held roughly six inches of virgin snowfall to be lustily defiled before nightfall. For many others, and even some in Wellington, Missouri, something life-changing began.
On that Saturday one year and ten months ago [at time of writing], Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York declared she was, “in it to win it.” Standing up for a fearful population, the former First Lady of the United States declared that she would stand up for the oppressed in every corner of America. She promised not just change of course, but a sea change. She called for America to wake up to the realities of the jaundiced Bush Administration. It did not go without notice that she was a she. Women the nation over [and some men] rejoiced at the prospect of a viable female candidate for President.
Women’s rights were on the move. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California became the first female Speaker of the House on 4 January 2007, and Senator Clinton, affectionately referred to by her supporters as ‘Hillary’, essentially promised a win just over two weeks later. The glass ceiling was doomed.
All of this, however, was fine if you were a liberal or a member of one of the old Southern Democrat families. If you were conservative, though, nearly everything made you nauseous. Ever since last November, the Democratic kids have been rubbing their new-found backbone in your nose. The result was a lot of ruffled feathers and poignant pauses. Teachers who wished to hold class had to develop a knack for the appropriate point at which to stop one of these debates before it erupted into an all-out war.
The conservatives had their candidates, too: John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was seen by the world as the reasonable choice, but not in Wellington, Missouri. In Wellington, Missouri, the good senator was by far too liberal. Former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, was seen as the compromise candidate for whom no one particularly cared. The real race was between former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Huckabee had home turf advantage, but even the Missouri GOP had to turn its nose up a little at the mention of Arkansas, the long-forgotten lower neighbour. Romney was seen as the successful businessman the party needed at the helm. Many defied their Evangelical roots to support a Mormon, something their neighbours, the Southern Democrats, still cannot fathom.
The teachers were a still more interesting demographic. Most honoured their public salary by keeping their mouths shut on the topic of political endorsements, but there were plenty willing to voice their opinion. The most outspoken were the few conservatives. Their ‘natural’ choice was Governor Romney. He had the familiarity with money to which conservatives are accustomed. The liberal teachers, on the other hand, were much more cynical. They didn’t find Barack Obama the magic ointment so many did. They found Hillary’s experience as First Lady and close association [sic] with Bill Clinton a turnoff. They found John Edwards too squeaky clean. They opted instead for dream candidates like Newt Gingrich and Colin Powell. (One may question, now, how truly liberal they were.) Speaking in dreams and utopian tenets, they refused to speak the same language as the conservatives. This was greatly perplexing, as the debates in which these teachers enjoined never flowed. Each combatant spouted their rhetoric in ineffective volleys, the words barely grazing the other’s façade. Students, however, were much more excitable. The only students who didn’t take sides were either too dense or apathetic. Rhetoric was the staple of ‘debate’. It was quite easy to inflame an entire classroom with one simple assertion. Students were more like rapid dogs and the issues their chew toys.
As winter fell to spring and the school year neared completion, the field of candidates flushed themselves out. There were an astounding fifteen candidates from the two major parties. Clearly, many people thought they could do a better job running the country than George W. Bush. Seventy-three per cent of Americans would not disagree. As the time went by, the hustle and bustle of end of term festivities clogged the minds of the unusually-hormonal angsty teens. Relationships blossomed and then virulently combusted just as quickly. Cheerleaders stabbed each other’s backs. Play cast members spread rumours. Kaitlin broke up with Paul. Angsty, angsty teenagers.
Summer proceeded to speed by like Superman on a life or death mission. Students had scarcely settled into their balanced routine of lounging, sleeping and eating when school resumed. A year ago, the general political disposition of the school could be safely given at sixty-forty Republican to Democrat. Now, the atmosphere was quite different. The funny thing about time is that it clears the air. Whilst the students were eager to resume their ‘debates’, the ground had perceptibly shifted. There was the distinct scent of liberalia in the air, and the liberals were out for blood. By embracing Senator Obama, the true liberals succeeded in driving away the traditional Southern Democrats. This victory was heralded by the trouncing of both conservatives and centrists in the renewed ‘debates’.
All the while, the Presidential Debates within each party were gearing up. Most partisans on both sides were holding out for the debates to finally select their plumb candidate. Many were forced to consolidate the field to the realm of frontrunners. Supporters of Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd were forced to consider alternatives such as John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. At this stage, everyone expected Hillary to be President. All the polls indicated that she had the race in the bag, but things fell apart.
If there were to be a Democratic candidate for President acceptable to the people of Wellington, Missouri, that candidate would be Hillary Clinton. She had the popular appeal of the rural vote. Missouri still had fond memories of her husband.
As students chose up sides within the parties, clear discrepancies were reached. A set of frontrunners were often reduced to two candidates as students learnt to develop a list of preferences. Soon, liberal versus conservative became a brace of duels between Hillary and Barack, and McCain and Romney. The teachers still preferred Governor Romney and, when pressed, Senator Clinton. It became harder and harder to find unconvinced voters and campaigning lost its appeal in favour of reinvigourated ‘debates’. Teachers now became active referees in the wars of words, occasionally required to throw a punch of their own.
As the debate season wound into Christmas holiday, the politicking was put on hold. Students enjoyed this time off to recuperate from the wounds of the semester and try to make sense of what was going on in the world. Just north of the border, the voters of Iowa were waiting to give the nation the shock of a lifetime. In the span of one hour, the voters of Iowa turned the politics of both parties upside down. On the Democratic side, Senator Barack Obama and former Senator John Edwards dealt an upsetting blow to the Clinton campaign, whilst on the Republican side, Governor Huckabee stole the show. Tables turned and the old regime won-out in New Hampshire, but the death knell had been sounded for the establishment. The cult of change was born.
Driving a solid wedge between the national Democratic Party, the Obama-Clinton rift was tangible at the lowest level. As primary polling data would reveal, the split amongst youth was something on the order of a seventy-thirty split in favour of Obama. The state party would only lend its support to Senator Obama by one per cent. On the Republican side, Election Day was hotly contested, too. Senator John McCain only barely managed to edge out Governors Romney and Huckabee.
As Missouri’s picks became evident, those that cared began to centralise round a single candidate, whilst those that did not returned to their lair of apathy. With each passing primary, hopes were raised and dashed. Students lived vicariously through various news organisations and travelled the nation via political campaigns. The party nominees would not be settled until the late spring, and election fever continued to build.
Another summer came and the cares of electioneering were forgotten. The brief respite was cut short by the Party Conventions. After the weekly salvos of propaganda, the campaign began again in earnest. The battle for hearts and minds played out whilst students returned to school.
The departure of a class left a clear void in the Democratic establishment. When last polled in February, the high school registered fifty-five per cent Democratic to forty-five per cent Republican. The new order saw a drastic shift to seventy per cent Republican and thirty per cent Democratic. This fall was echoed by the turn of Missouri to the McCain camp in the general election. Missouri, however, was on the losing side. The Republicans could be bitter, but the Democrats once again had reason to gloat. The end of perhaps the longest Presidential campaign in history left the student body exhausted, but better informed and forever changed. They knew that for the first time in their lives, they mattered. They had cared. They had acted, “and that has made all the difference.”*

*from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost