Six-year-old defies the theory that young people aren’t engaged in politics

Des Moines, IA – Mainstream media has referred to college students as apathetic, elusive and disengaged when it comes to politics. As a member of the so-called “millennials” and a political nerd, I have consistently disagreed with this assessment as disproportionate of the truth. Yet after telling many of my friends that I would be spending my New Year’s at the Iowa Caucus and getting blank stares in return, I wondered if the media were correct. The past few days in Iowa, however, confirmed that there are a large number of students who engage themselves politically, and I was impressed to meet other students – some as young as six – participating in the festivities afforded by the approaching Iowa Caucus.

The “Huck and Chuck” rally – a play on Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and supporter Chuck Norris’ names – on Tuesday night in a local Des Moines ballroom (site of the famous "Dean Scream" of 2004) drew an impressive crowd of Iowa voters and out-of-state observers.



Students from Manchester College in Indiana arrived in the “first-in-the-nation” state this past Sunday to observe, blog and even volunteer for different candidates as part of a January course in political science.

Leonard Williams, professor of political science at Manchester, said he typically takes his students in this course to Washington D.C., but this year, given the relative unpredictability of the presidential race, chose the Caucus instead. The students, much like our Louisiana State crew, are attending different rallies for as many candidates as possible, but most admitted they were not there last night for Huckabee. “It’s all about Chuck,” said Jason Ray, Manchester freshman. Huckabee himself said to the crowd, “As much as I’d like to believe you all are here for me, I know better.” He introduced the man best known for his role on the 90s television series Walker, Texas Ranger and the Total Gym advertisements to the applauding crowd.



There were, however, many supporters there for Huckabee, including 6-year-old Ashley from Flagstaff, Arizona. Ashley is a Flagstaff home school student and is the youngest member of John Echols’ political science home schooling program. Echols had his students, ages 6 to 17, conduct research on every presidential candidate, Democrats and Republicans alike, and then hold an election to see which candidate they would support. “We chose [Huckabee] when he was still a second-tier candidate,” Echols said, citing the grass-roots support Huckabee has received since that time as a main reason for his recent surge in the polls.

Rachel Blanchard, age 12, said she liked Huckabee because, “He’s pro-life; he’s for home schooling; and he’s for one man, one woman,” factors that the Flagstaff students and chaperones all looked for. The students then raised money for the candidate, and over the past two days, made more than 3500 phone calls for Huckabee to Iowa voters. They relaxed at the Tuesday night rally and danced to The Boogie Woogers band and Huckabee on the guitar.



Although many of the Manchester students volunteered for the Democratic campaigns of Obama, Clinton, Edwards and Richardson, they were just as excited to be involved with the rally and the entire Caucus this year. “I don’t think a lot of people our age have an idea of the impact Iowa has on the race,” said Kristi Sattison, sophomore. She was excited to be in a setting so different from Indiana, which hosts a primary rather than a caucus system, and to learn so much about the candidates. After all, “You can’t learn everything from a textbook.”