PHHS Students Choose Obama in Presidential Poll

If students were electing our new president, Barack Obama would win re-election, with second place going to Ron Paul. That's according to the result of a poll taken after a special Feb. 8 "Meet the Candidates Forum" at the Hills featuring four students in the roles of the presidential aspirants.

Teacher Sabrina Lionti said the entire exercise was a class project. 

"The [Advanced Placement] Government and Politics students have been focusing their efforts on the upcoming primary election since the beginning of the year," Lionti explained. "In addition to [creating] campaign posters, the parties held an informal forum in the Media Center where the candidates and their advisors staffed kiosks, handed out literature, answered questions and spoke to interested students and teachers about their party’s platform and their position on the issues." 

Following the forum, students cast ballots in a vote that ended with the following results:

Obama 35 percent

Paul 27 percent

Romney 23 percent

Gingrich 15 percent 

Lionti said the senior Government and Politics class was divided into four groups supporting one candidate each. One student was selected to portray each candidate.

Jenna Frederiks represented President Obama. 

"Many will say he hasn't done enough, but with unemployment dropping to 8.3 percent after January, it is evident his administration is doing all that is can to get our country back to how it was prior to the recession," she said. "[Obama] is better than the rest because his policies are realistic. Republican candidates think they can fix the economy the day after they get into office and bring the troops home the week after. Obama understands that fixing the economy and bringing our troops home are two issues that take time to resolve, but he is consistently working at them."

Lauren Sylva portrayed Ron Paul.

"Ron Paul wants to return the power to the people because this nation is, after all, a government by the people for the people," she said. "That's what sets him [apart] from the other candidates, he wants to restore America with the document that established this nation."  

Nilofer Mehta stood for Newt Gingrich. 

"I support him because he has realistic goals for the future," said Mehta. "The thing that makes him better than the rest is his background in history and being in the government and having so many connections." 

And Swet Patel served as proxy for the current Republican front runner, and the man the faux candidates believe ultimately will win the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney.

"Mitt Romney has one thing which our nation needs right now: experience," Patel explained. "The experience he has in the private sector is needed in order for our nation to escape the economic crisis. With his past experience as governor of Massachusetts, Romney was able to take his state which was originally in a deficit, and turn it into a surplus.

"Unlike other candidates who say they will do things, Romney has actually done things—he is the man for the job. Lastly, Romney truly is the emblem for the Republican party—his conservative background and his methods of tackling the economy is needed, especially in today’s society where our economy is on a unstable roller coaster."

Frederiks said Romney's position in the middle of the road will make him the eventual nominee because he can reach more people.

"He is more moderate than other candidates," she explained. "Gingrich sticks to his conservative values [but] allows no room for other ideas, making it difficult to lead a diverse country. Paul's ideas are also very radical and different, extreme change that I don't believe America is ready for."

Asked who they believe will be proclaimed the winner after the Nov. 8 general election, each of the four faux candidates predicts President Obama will keep his job. 

"He still has all his past supporters," said Mehta. "He has done a lot to get America out of this recession, and he should have another four years to completely fix everything."

The Government and Politics students said they found the work surrounding their candidates' forum to be valuable.

"It was a good experience and it definitely offered good insight on what a campaign is actually like," said Patel. "I gained a lot of respect for politicians,  because it's hard to win votes when people are set in their ways." 

"I thought the class candidates' forum was amazing. There was a lot of energy, charisma, and excitement which I loved," said Mehta, adding that she disliked the small amount of time candidates were given to make their political points. 

"I have come to the conclusion that being a politician is a lot harder than it seems!"

Sylva said the exercise showed her the important role citizens play in the electoral process.

"It's important to participate ... because the person in office will control to a certain degree what goes on in your personal life," she said. "Giving someone that control and power blindly just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

"It's our right as citizens to vote and be active in this process and we should take advantage of this democratic freedom."

See the student debaters in action, courtesy of Video on the Go.