Sunday, January 27, 2008
Hillary Clinton gets the nod from W&L's mock convention
The students' votes were based on analysis of the issues and voting patterns of all 50 states.
LEXINGTON -- Hillary Clinton earned the strong support of students as the Democratic nominee for president during Saturday's conclusion to Washington and Lee University's Mock Convention.
The quadrennial political exercise seeks to duplicate the process of a real convention. It features students voting as delegates from all 50 states and appearances by an array of prominent politicians.
There is good reason to believe that Clinton could win the nomination. W&L students have been right more often than not over the past 100 years in predicting the presidential nominee for the political party not currently in the White House.
"We're very confident in our decision today," said Richard Friedman, a 22-year-old W&L senior from Alabama, who acted as the convention's general chairman.
Clinton earned 2,117 student-delegate votes, far outpacing Barack Obama in second place with 1,642 votes. John Edwards was a distant third with 288 votes.
The students' support for Hillary Clinton underscores an uncanny kinship between the Clintons and the student convention.
Bill Clinton charmed students at W&L in 1988 when he showed up at a late-night party and ended up playing saxophone with the band.
In 1992, he won the convention's nomination with 809 delegate votes, just four more than the total needed for a majority. Clinton went on to win the presidency later that year.
Overall, the convention's results have been right 18 out of 23 times since the first convention in 1908.
This year, more than 1,700 W&L students -- more than 90 percent of the student body -- participated in the convention. Many have spent the past two years doing intensive research and analysis in an effort to accurately predict how the respective states will vote in the real Democratic convention.
Friedman said the students stand by Saturday's vote for Clinton despite earlier missteps when they incorrectly predicted Clinton would win the Iowa caucuses and Obama would win the New Hampshire primary.
"Iowa and New Hampshire were the result of a very small select group of individuals deciding on data that was arguably outdated and erroneous," he said.
Wesley Little, 21, from Texas, who worked as the convention's political chairman, said he's confident that the student research on how the various states will vote supports Clinton over Obama.
"What we saw ... was that Clinton was very strong in the really delegate-rich states of the Northeast and the Southwest, including California, which gave her a tremendous amount of delegates today," he said. "From that standpoint, over a long, grueling race, she's the person to beat."
Saturday's convention results came about noon. A few moments later, Bill Clinton spoke to students in a telephone call broadcast over loudspeaker to the floor of the convention. Thanking them on behalf of his wife, Clinton said she will strive to address an array of issues in the coming months, including health care, economic opportunities, education and the environment.
"We can turn this country around and move it forward," he said.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin addressed students. Friday's first day of the convention featured appearances by Gov. Tim Kaine, former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro and former Texas Rep. Charles Wilson.
With the convention over, students who had neglected their studies in recent weeks to orchestrate the event have plans to get back on track.
"My professors have been forgiving about it," said Sara Mueller, 21, a senior from Arizona who acted as a personnel chairwoman for the convention.
"But I'll be hitting the books tomorrow."
