Posted on 10/14/2008 4:56:39 PM PDT by GraniteStateConservative
It's official. At least for the kids! The Scholastic Presidential Election Poll results are in: Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama won with 57 percent of the vote, to 39 percent for Republican nominee Senator John McCain.
The poll was open to kids from grades 1 to 12 in Scholastic News and Junior Scholastic magazines. Almost 250,000 (a quarter of a million) kids voted by paper ballot or online at www.scholastic.com/news. The poll closed on October 10.
Since 1940, the results of the student vote have mirrored the outcome of the general election all but twice: In 1948, kids voted for Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S. Truman. In 1960, more students voted for Richard M. Nixon than for John F. Kennedy. In 2000, a majority of student voters chose George W. Bush, mirroring the Electoral College result, but not the result of the popular vote.
Obama and McCain weren't the only vote getters. Four percent of the students voted for other people like comedian Stephen Colbert, and entertainers Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers. It was the highest percent of write-in votes in the history of the poll. Some even voted for themselves. Most of the write-in votes —11 percent of the 4 percent—were for Senator Hillary Clinton.
So why is a kid poll important? And does it mean anything come November 4? Kid Reporter Lya Ferreyra knows.
"Not only does [voting in the] poll give kids the experience they will need to vote in the future, but it allows them to have input on who should be the next President of the United States," she said. "It gives kids a voice, which is important, but we won't know the actual outcome until November 4. No one can predict that."
Ferreyra and this reporter both appeared on numerous news programs this week to announce the poll results.
Results from key swing states are as follows:
| Colorado: | McCain 61% | Obama 36% | Other 3% |
| Florida: | McCain 41% | Obama 55% | Other 4% |
| Indiana: | McCain 51% | Obama 47% | Other 2% |
| Iowa: | McCain 48% | Obama 49% | Other 3% |
| Michigan: | McCain 40% | Obama 57% | Other 3% |
| Missouri: |
McCain 49% |
Obama 47% | Other 4% |
| Ohio: |
McCain 47% |
Obama 51% | Other 2% |
| Pennsylvania: |
McCain 46% |
Obama 50% |
Other 4% |
Jack Greenberg is a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.
What does this tell you about liberalism controlling our school systems?
I think I found the rat....
Last time it was 500,000 students.
Now it is half that and through 12th grade???
So FOUR more grade levels? yet HALF the participants?
I bet those teenagers are going to sway it BIG TIME To Obama. rebelling against their parents views and such.
2004...
“conducted by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, more than half a million students in first through eighth grades from across the U.S. participated. They voted online and through mail-in paper ballots found in many of Scholastic’s classroom magazines.”
By middle and high school, the kids vote based on peer pressure and pop star endorsements.
See post above yours.
I think we nailed it.
In 1960 Nixon also won the popular vote, but not the Electoral College votes.
My kids participated in these school votes, beginning in 1992, and the results from those votes mirrored the election winner. They are no longer in school, so I don't know the results from this year. The online voting is worrisome.
4/10 of one percent doesn’t seem too significant. To me, anyway.
When I was a kid I would have voted for Johnson because I liked beagles .
I don’t get this here on FR..every poll is wrong?? EVERY SINGLE POLL IS WRONG? We’re in for a very, very, long four years.
They also massively changed the polling conditions.
They added four more grades, yet only half the respondants as 2004?
I almost want to call them up and ask, WTF????
Every poll is manufactured news.
Reducing the sample wouldn’t matter but adding four more grades probably would.
No. Usually this poll is a solid predictor of things to come as kids vote as they hear their parents will.
With that said, I don’t remember goofy write-ins i n the previous kids polls. Also, now that it’s online, I wonder if it was as honest as usual. Certain things are surprising that are both good and bad for McCain.
1) The parents, particularly middle age and older, may not agree with their kids.
2) Their kids are force-fed obama culturally.
Lack of an absolute blowout is good news. Interestingly the vote looks like the Gallup poll. I wonder if this was their "likely voter" group?
I don't know the answer to that question.
What I do know is:
1. I will be voting for McCain on November 4.
2. I am praying that McCain wins the Election.
Excellent catch! You’re correct. The old polls that only went up to 8th grade were a better mirroring of what the kids’ parents thought because at that age they had yet to form opinions of their own. Big, big difference when you include 16, 17 and 18 year olds.
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