All over the news, day after day, there has been non-stop information regarding the 2008 presidential election. Commercials advertising the “better” candidate pop up on every channel followed by all the hype about the caucuses which rallied people from all over U.S. Students who will be able to vote for president in November were allowed to vote in the caucuses, but did they even know what the caucuses were? Were they even able to name off candidates running?

Interviewing people in the school proved to be a little difficult because when asked about the presidential campaign, many people shied away from the topic. Some people, like senior Elizabeth Sabine, said, “I’m not going to follow it until the field is narrowed down.”

It turned out that many people just weren’t informed. “Oh God, I know nothing about it.” said Junior Britney Jones when questioned. But she was not the only one who was not “Edu-ma-cated on politics” as she put it.

“In Government, we each have a candidate to follow, but other than that I wouldn’t have cared.” admitted junior Kayla Millett.

Even though some people weren’t really into politics, others were following the campaign. “I can’t vote, but I pay attention to it.” said Junior Cody Mower.

When people were asked what they look for in a candidate, Cody added, “I want someone who is honest and will bring the troops home.”

It seemed that a lot more people were able to answer what they wanted in a candidate. “I want someone who knows what they are doing, and knows what they want.” said junior Riley Dumont. “Someone who is straight forward.” added Britney Jones. Senior Mike Arsenault knew just what he wanted in a candidate, “I want someone who could fix the economic recession.”

The students were asked if people paid enough attention to the election and voting. “I don’t know, but I know I most likely will [vote].” Said Mike. Senior Shane Creps voiced his opinion when he said, “It’s pretty bad when more people vote for American Idol than the presidential campaign.” Cody Mower made a good point by saying, “More people would vote if it was easier and not as long.”

Although it was difficult convincing people to share their outlooks on the campaign, when people were finally willing, it seemed as if they really got into the topic. It appears that even though there probably isn’t enough student awareness on the campaign, there are still a bunch of sources available for those students who are interested.

Perhaps next time a student sees a presidential debate or just a press conference with a candidate, they won’t instantly change the channel and might consider taking a look at what could possibly be the next leader of our country.