Obama wins in schoolwide vote

    On the same day that millions of Virginia, Maryland and D.C. residents voted for their candidates of choice in the presidential “Potomac” primary, more than half of the AHS student body cast their lots with leaders of the free world hopefuls.

    In a special poll administered by The A-Blast staff, 2,000 ballots were passed out on Tuesday, Feb. 12 during A, B, C, and D lunches. The ballots requested that students indicate who they wanted to win the presidential race. Students were given the choice of Barack Obama (D), Hillary Clinton (D), John McCain (R), Mike Huckabee (R) and Ron Paul (R). Nearly 1,400 ballots were returned.

    Barack Obama garnered an overwhelming victory, claiming 58% of the vote. Statistically Obama has been successful in drawing the “young” vote in polls across the country. Hillary Clinton took a distant second, taking 20% of the vote. All three Republicans finished last: McCain (15%), Huckabee (4%), Paul (3%).

    “I think that Obama took such an overwhelming majority because he connects with the younger generation,” said junior Emily Rogers. “He is much hipper than Hillary.”

    Rogers hopes that Obama will nab the presidency. “I support Barack Obama because I don’t like Hillary, but I’m still a Democrat,” she said. “He hasn’t really been jaded by Capitol Hill yet.”

    “I’m not surprised,” said junior Kimberly Kirtz, a loyal Republican. “There don’t seem to be that many Republicans in this school, so if you’re not a Republican, then why would you vote for one?”

    Asked if she thought the AHS vote would reflect the results of the national vote as a whole, Kirtz said, “I don’t think it will, just because it’s high school. Most high schools are Democratic or Independent, so a high school vote won’t be representative of how the rest of the country will vote.”