Today at school we held a mock presidential election between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. I'd say about 85% of the "voters" in my hallway casted votes. This is an increase from times past when "voter" input would only be about 35 - 40%. I thought that was good, more kids are invested in the election process. That in itself is a reason for hope, less deadasses just sitting around and bitching about stuff.
The results? I counted 101 ballots, so hardly a scientific measure, and Obama got 66votes and McCain 35. A cause for optimism, guarded optimism at best. Oh yeah, I'm voting for Obama. Do I agree with ebverything he says, uh.....no. It's just time for an end of the old white guy stranglehold on the office. They haven't got it right since, on all fronts, since FDR. Its been a long time.
What scares me is the potential for the Bradley effect. Ever heard of it? LA had a very good mayor in the 1980's who was A - A. He enjoyed a good lead right up to the time of votes being casted for gubernatorial race in the Great State of California. What happened was this: people had every intention of casting their vote for Bradley until they got into the voting booth.
Once in there, it dawned on many voters, that despite their intentions, they could not bring themselves to cast the actual vote for an A - A. God, I hope we have grown somewhat in 20+ years. So I'm keeping high hopes and positive thoughts to election day and beyond.
If you have read this blog and are anti.....cool! Get off your ass and cancel my vote out. Rememeber: if ya don't vote, you can't bitch about things.
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You are one of those teachers that will be long remembered. Even if they don't remember your name, they will remember you. I had a Social Studies teacher in junior high (sorry can't remember her name) that was teaching us about the election process during an election year.
She was able to obtain a few actual voting booths (I think other teachers were involved as well) and first we spent time studying the candidates, Democrat, Republican and Indepent. Then we were able to enter the booth and cast our ballots.
I don't remember the candidates or even who won our mock election let alone the actual election. What I do remember was having my mind stimulated to the methods and reasons for voting. I couldn't wait to be 18 and able to vote (among other things). This teacher's lessons have stayed with me till now and play a major role in why and how I vote.
Kudos to the teachers who take the time to teach and help kids to really learn and understand this wonderful process we have.
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