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Wayland Student Press

The student news site of Wayland High School

Wayland Student Press

The student news site of Wayland High School

Wayland Student Press

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News Brief: Schedule changes this week
March 26, 2024
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Interview: would scandals affect the election?

About a week ago, several disturbing events have occurred that could possibly affect today’s presidential election.

Ashley Todd, a McCain volunteer, claimed that a “big black man” saw her McCain bumper sticker, followed her into the ATM and attacked her. She says that the man carved a backwards B into her cheek and said, “You are going to be a Barack supporter.” Todd later called the police and reported the assault. However, when she took a lie detector test, she failed. She later admitted this was a hoax.

In Tennessee, two men, Paul Schlesselman and Daniel Cowart, were arrested and charged for a plan to assassinate Senator Barack Obama. They were also intending to kill 88 African American school children and behead 14 of them. The numbers 88 and 14 are significant because 88 stood for HH, “Heil, Hitler” and 14 represents the 14-word phrase significant in white supremacy: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

I interviewed three different people from Wayland High school about their opinions on these events. I asked one student who is pro-Obama, one who feels neutral about the candidates, and one who supports McCain.

Key:
O= Obama supporter
N= Neutral
M= McCain supporter

What do you think of the McCain volunteer lying about the assault? What do you think would have been the result if her claim had been true?

O: The McCain volunteer lying about the assault is another example of the McCain campaign looking for any ways to alter the campaign in the last week, and luckily it was caught in time. Otherwise, it would have [questioned] the legitimacy of the campaign Obama is running and swayed the undecided voters into the other direction. However, it is important to remember that this woman in no way speaks for the McCain campaign, and that the campaign did not condone her lies.

N: I think the McCain volunteer lying is horrible, but it’s not like the Republican Party planned it or endorse it. She lied for her own benefit only and wanted to make Obama and his supporters look bad. If it had been true, though, I think it would have become more of a scandal than it had been, thus Obama could have lost some support.

M: I don’t think it was the right choice for her to do that. But don’t relate that to Senator McCain, because he had nothing to do with her decision to lie.

How do you think race is going to affect our Presidential election?

O: There is no doubt that race will affect this race. The question is, will it be enough to change the outcome of the election? If the Bradley Effect (statistics show that race can affect polls up to 6% due to people being unwilling to admit to a stranger that they cannot vote for an African American candidate) does exist today, it could pull this election one way or another. As a country, we should hope that the election would be based on issues and the ability to lead rather than race.

N: I think that race is going to affect our presidential election a lot this year. Most African Americans are going to be voting for Obama, which puts McCain at a disadvantage already, but he still would get a lot of votes from other people. I think the outcome would be very tight.

M: I think race is a big factor. An example of that is Colin Powell endorsing Senator Obama. Yes, he might like some of Obama’s views, but he also said that his endorsement is partly race-related.

Do any of these events affect whom you are going to vote for?

O: No. It is important to pay more attention to issues and leading ability than to race or people’s supporters.

N: I don’t think that these events are going to affect the election that much; people will dismiss [these events] pretty easily. I think that Obama would probably face some issues with racism in office, and [that’s] unfortunate, but there’s nothing much we can do at this point. There would always be racists and neo-Nazis out there.

M: NO WAY! McCain is my guy and these events will not affect me whatsoever.

Source for national news: Boston.com

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Interview: would scandals affect the election?