Many elementary schools hold mock elections for their students. It gives them an opportunity to experience the voting process and grow in their understanding of what an election is. The first school I taught in Virginia held a mock election in my fourth year teaching. I will always remember it, because of a wonderful little boy named Clinton and his zealous desire to see his candidate win.

Clinton was a smart little boy. He loved learning and absorbed everything that was going on around him. He came in on Election Day all fired up about voting and the candidate he wanted to win. He had listened to the T.V. ads and talked with his parents. Clinton was filled with reasons his man was the best man to be president.

As the other students filtered into the classroom, I heard a loud voice from the coat closet in the back of the classroom saying, “I can’t vote for him. My dad used to work for Perot.” I rushed to the back of the room just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation. Clinton was saying to a little boy named Kevin, “Do you know what he will do to our country?” “I don’t care,” Kevin replied, “I have to vote for Perot.

I called Clinton out of the coat closet and asked him if had been trying to persuade other children to vote for his candidate. “Yes, I have,” he said, “They don’t have any idea who to vote for.” “You know they can pick anyone they want for president,” I told him. “My guy is the guy,” he informed me. “You know this is not a real vote don’t you Clinton? We are just voting to see what voting is like,” I told him. “Oh! No! This is real,” he said. Clinton went on to tell me that he was the only one voting in his family in this election. His vote had to count. His candidate needed to win. The other candidates would destroy our country. Bush needed his vote!

He was right. Bush needed his vote. When he came in the next day he looked crestfallen, the election had not gone the way he wanted it to. He was now worried about what would happen to his country.

I loved Clinton’s passion for voting then and I still love it now. Clinton has been old enough to vote for years. I hope the disappoint he had in the American voting system in second grade hasn’t kept him from going to the polls.