Allen brings McCain's message to young voters

Photo courtesy of Chesterfield County Public Schools Former Sen. George Allen (right) talks with Superintendent Marcus Newsome and Midlothian District School Board member Patty Carpenter during his visit to Cosby High School last week.

Former Sen. George Allen brought the excitement of the upcoming presidential election to the state's youngest voters when he spoke at Cosby High School last Wednesday.

"If you leave here today determined to vote the next time you can, and continue for the rest of your life, then this was all worth it," Renee Serrao, a government teacher at Cosby, told students.

About 20 students were selected to ask the former Virginia governor questions about Republican John McCain's platform, focusing on topics ranging from the economy to the recent trouble in the Baltic state of Georgia. Over 450 questions were submitted from students for the event, Serrao said.

Allen was in Chesterfield as part of a program created by Serrao and former Richmond Times-Dispatch commentary editor Cordel Faulk. Terry McAuliffe, former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman and ex-head of the Democratic National Committee, is scheduled to speak to students as a representative for Barack Obama this week.

The forum started as a way to get young people close to the voting age involved in the political process. To this end, only seniors were invited to participate, and the first two rows in the audience were reserved for seniors who are already voting age. The two events will also be broadcast in government classes throughout county high schools.

"They're more energized than I've seen them in 15 years of teaching," Serrao said. "They're reading about the platforms, writing questions."

Allen stated McCain has a proven track record as a "maverick, a reformer." Most of the questions had to do with domestic issues - chief among them was the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

"There is no silver bullet, but what you need is a silver buckshot, a variety of resources and means to solve the energy crisis," Allen said.

The response that got Allen the most applause dealt with a movement on college campuses to have the drinking age lowered to 18. While McCain advocates the current law, Allen referred to the law as "blackmail by the federal government." Allen then gave a brief history of how the law was passed and even weaved in a mention of the 10th amendment - the amendment that separates the duties of the states and the federal government - to explain his position.

"The drinking issue is an example of federalism that we use in class. It shows that if the federal government wants something, more often than not, they get it," Serrao said. "George Allen worked in the 10th amendment and explained it better than any of us [teachers] could. So yes, they were excited he was in favor of lowering the drinking age, but there was a little civics lesson couched in there."