Electability issues, from HBHS to Washington

Many seniors at Hollis Brookline High School take AP U.S. government and politics taught by Rob Huckins. For their midterm project, everyone had to create a fake political candidate and trade him or her with someone else in the class, and then design a presidential campaign around the given candidate. “While most candidates come with some pretty wacky baggage, they all reflect the differing personas and images presented in real politicians,” senior Ross Wakefield said. “Some common scandals range from having a medical marijuana card to attempted murder.” Even though it’s easy to see that a multitude of torched politicians was created, many of these candidates would probably stand a chance in our electoral process. “Electability” is a word nearly unique to the English language. It describes such a vague concept, yet most Americans happily employ electability during elections without much question. Many students saw Congressman Ron Paul as a viable option during the primary, only to be told by others – particularly adults – that Paul stood no chance because he was unelectable. “I haven’t heard a single student at HB fully endorse any other GOP candidate other than Ron Paul,” senior Travis Nelson said. Even several recent polls confirm that Paul would do well against the current president in a hypothetical election, about the same as Mitt Romney. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that AP gov students have been closely analyzing the Republican primaries this year.