South Jersey students choose Kucinich
Originally published in the Courier Post
S.J. students choose Kucinich
Friday, February 20, 2004
Moorestown Friends School holds all-day mock Democratic primary
By MATT KATZ
Courier-Post Staff
MOORESTOWN
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich will face President Bush in November, U.S. troops will pull out of Iraq, and the Patriot Act is no more.
That is what America would look like if the students and faculty of Moorestown Friends School had their way.
The private Quaker school held an all-day mock primary Thursday featuring commercials, campaigning and a lot of cajoling.
"Vote Kucinich! Vote peace!" Richard Rinaldi yelled to his fellow eighth-graders outside the convention hall, which was shrouded in red, white and blue.
"He wants to create a department of peace, and that's really what the world needs right now," said Rinaldi, 14, of Shamong.
Kucinich won a landslide victory with 204 votes and 31 delegates. The Rev. Al Sharpton came in second, followed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Gen. Wesley Clark and Gov. Howard Dean. The front-runners in the real race, Sens. John Edwards and John Kerry, weren't on the ballot as students didn't represent them.
Kucinich, D-Ohio, may not boast about this victory on CNN. Moorestown Friends doesn't have a good track record predicting primary victors.
In its first mock primary in 1960, Stuart Symington beat John F. Kennedy. Since, the school has selected the winning nominee only once - Michael Dukakis, who went on to lose the 1988 general election to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.
Moorestown Friends also voted by 2-1 margins that Iraq should be handed over to the United Nations, energy policy should focus on renewable energy and the Patriot Act should be repealed.
Students informed each other of the issues and the candidates. The student version of Clark, for example, rapped to the crowd, and the student Dean was shown on video running through Philadelphia and Moorestown to the theme of Rocky.
Students interviewed were well versed in political issues and techniques.
Cornell Woodson, 16, of Camden, knows that personality matters most. He said Sharpton did well in the school because the senior who portrayed him in speeches is a "big man on campus."
Students also took a page from South Jersey political machines by inundating voters with advertising.
"(Give out) lots of stickers and lots of junk people hate," said Mark Durcell, 12, of Cherry Hill, who supported Clark.
Beyond learning how to campaign, social studies chairwoman Margaret Mansfield said the main purpose is to engage the students in politics.
Ben Spielberg, 15, portrayed Kucinich and stressed health care and gay rights.
"I really think it's important for the school community to hear about his ideals," Spielberg said. "They're radical, but they can inspire change."
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