By Sarah Nagem
snagem@salisburypost.com
Only three students in Jesse Carson High School’s contemporary studies class are old enough to vote this year, but that doesn’t stop the others from giving their opinions.
As it turns out, Carson students’ political opinions ó that is, their picks for president, governor and U.S. Senate ó sometimes reflect state and national trends, and sometimes they don’t.
Amie Furr’s contemporary studies class participated in the Youth Leadership Initiative mock election, an Internet-based poll that is recording students’ political choices.
Furr’s students set up polling stations throughout the school for two weeks, and 949 students cast their online ballots.
The results: Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain won with 52.9 percent of the vote. Sen. Barack Obama finished with 44.57 percent of the vote.
Statewide, though, Obama won the most votes for president ó 53.86 percent. He won with an even bigger margin nationwide, where McCain trailed him by more than 24 percentage points.
Some students in Furr’s class said they were surprised Carson didn’t follow the state and national trends. After all, the message for nearly the last two years has been that Obama inspires young people.
But Justin Pearson, 18, wasn’t so surprised.
“A lot more people here want to stay in the war and finish what we started,” said Pearson, who’s father served in Desert Storm.
As any respectable political scientists would, Furr’s students noticed an interesting trend at Carson: McCain won the majority of votes cast by freshmen, sophomores and juniors. But the seniors favored Obama.
Furr’s class had some theories about this phenomenon.
“I think the underclassmen don’t see a problem with us being in Iraq,” 17-year-old Wayne Lyman said.
But the wise and aging upperclassmen have seen the war progress over the years, Lyman said. They have a better understanding.
Kayla Wilson, who is also 17, said younger students might have been more influenced by their parents’ picks for president.
Wilson’s parents support McCain, she said, but she voted for Obama in the mock election.
Furr had her own idea. “They’re more educated on the issues,” she said of upperclassmen, “and it maybe affects their pocketbooks more.”
These students’ participation in the mock election might be getting them national attention. On Friday, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal interviewed student Jordan Burke about Carson’s part in the election.
“I told (the reporter) it was a split class, and that makes for some interesting debates,” Burke said.
Burke, 17, considers himself a Republican. But he said class discussions have altered his thinking, if just a little.
“I believe I’ve become a little more moderate,” Burke said.
But he didn’t completely abandon his old beliefs.
“If I could vote, I would still vote for John McCain,” Burke added.
The contemporary studies class didn’t want students to cast their votes without knowing the facts first. So students created a video that highlighted some of the issues ó the war in Iraq, abortion, off-shore drilling, same-sex marriage, education and the economy.
They aired the video over the school’s television system for all the students.
“So you make a little more of an educated vote,” Furr said.
Caleb Goodman’s educated vote counted for real. The 18-year-old took advantage of early voting this year.
His vote went to Obama. Goodman said he thinks Obama supports the middle class.
“That’s where my family sits right now, because we’re just a farming family,” he said.
In the Senate race, Salisbury native Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, won about 61 percent of the vote at Carson. Challenger Kay Hagan, a Democrat, trailed with almost 32 percent.
Carson students picked Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican, for governor. He won almost 60 percent of the vote, while Bev Perdue won only about 35 percent.
McCrory and Dole won statewide, too.
As part of the project, the contemporary studies class asked Carson students to name their No. 1 issue in the presidential race.
The winner: the economy.
Students definitely weren’t surprised by that, they said.
Some in Furr’s class said they notice the strain of a tough economy at home.
“We don’t go out to eat as much,” student Heather McGee, 17, said.
Misty Doyle, 16, said her family’s days of grilling steaks are over, at least for now. Lately, they’ve been eating more chicken and boxed dinners.
“We used to have cube steak all the time,” Doyle said. “Oh, it was so good.”
Sixteen-year-old Dylan Lefler said he’s been looking for a job since the summer. He’s applied at Food Lion, Subway and other places, but he hasn’t had any luck.
“I want a job, because I ask my parents for money, and they say they can’t,” Lefler said. “They say I have to earn it, but I can’t really do anything to earn it.”
Well, he can’t do enough to earn as much as he wants, Lefler said.
Some other local high schools also participated in the Youth Leadership Initiative mock election.
At East Rowan High School, McCain won 234 votes, while Obama earned 201.
McCrory and Dole were the top vote-getters in their races among East voters.
Chad Mitchell, a Rowan County Commissioner who teaches civics and advanced-placement government at East, said Republicans have historically won most of the votes in mock elections at East.
He said he was surprised the presidential election was so close there.
West Rowan and Salisbury high schools also participated. Results from those schools were not available.
Furr said she was pleased with the way the project turned out at Carson.
“They just really got excited,” she said of the students. “They were passionate about the issues.”