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October 31, 2002Mock election spurs hot contestBy VANESSA McCRAYRecord-Eagle staff writer LELAND - After the balloons burst, the patriotic streamers were scraped off the floor and the votes counted, Republicans had won three out of five state races in a mock election during a political rally held Wednesday at Leland High School. The rally, attended by more than 800 students from eight schools, is held every two years and is organized and hosted by Leland government students. In the mock election, 114 Leland students voted in five races, electing Democrat Nick Krieger to the 101st state House district, Democrat Carl Dahlberg to the 35th state Senate district, Republican Dick Posthumus as governor, Republican Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski to the U.S. Senate and Republican Dave Camp to the 4th District of the U.S. House. Prior to the election, 10 Leland students gave speeches for each of the candidates to a banner-waving crowd. Participating candidates included Krieger and his Republican challenger David Palsrok, Dahlberg and his Republican challenger Michelle McManus, and Camp and his Democratic challenger Lawrence Hollenbeck. Student speakers did their best to swing voters in their candidate's direction using all powers of persuasion. Caitlin Watkins, representing Palsrok, asked voters to consider his voting record and experience, emphasizing his stance on traditional campaign issues such as the environment, education and the economy. Other students, like Nich Weinheimer, tried old-fashioned rhetoric to rev up the crowd, pounding home his candidate's campaign message like a well-rehearsed politician. "This election is not about glitz and glory. It's about guts, and Dick Posthumus has the guts to lead," Weinheimer said. Bill Duperon asked students to vote for Raczkowski over long-time Sen. Carl Levin, using metaphors that clicked with the young crowd. "We don't need eight-track solutions in a DVD world. We need something new," Duperon said. Duperon's student counterpart Erinn Cypher contended Levin was the better, more experienced candidate. Since neither Levin nor Raczkowski made it to the rally to speak for themselves, Cypher wound up his speech imploring voters not to forget his man at the election booth. "Unfortunately, he wasn't able to be here because of the funeral for Sen. Paul Wellstone, but still vote for him, OK?" Cypher said. Unfortunately for Cypher, voters didn't hear his plea, with Levin capturing less than a third of the vote. Government teacher Ed Wodek said this election result and the race for the state senate seat probably won't match the outcome of the statewide election in November. "It should probably be the opposite; a lot of it has to do with the popularity of the student giving the speech," Wodek said. And the style of the candidate, he said. After all, how can a guy compete in a high school election against a candidate named Rocky? This year only five Leland students will be eligible to vote, but Wodek hopes the election and rally convince all students of the need to exercise their right once they are of age. "The voting is nice, but it's secondary. What the candidates do here and what the kids do here is bigger than it all," he said. As for the candidates, they say they're happy to have a campaign trail layover in Leland only a week before the election. Camp said meeting a candidate when he was a young man made "politics come alive." He said he's happy to now be a candidate himself who can impart some political savvy to the next generation. "It's been fun, and I'm trying to tap into the enthusiasm for the next six days," Camp said. Hollenbeck also recounted meeting a congressman when he was a young man. The 63-year-old candidate said he "gets fired up" when young people show interest in politics. |
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