I finally got some actual election numbers out of Pennsylvania, but I warn you against putting too much into them.
In 2012, my precinct in Chester County, voted for Mitt Romney by a decent 51.6%-47.4 margin. The precinct election is held in an elementary school, and it’s an elementary school that my child now attends. Today the K-5 children cast their ballots for president and the result was 64% for Hillary Clinton and 34% for Donald Trump.
Now, I told a friend of mine about this who is a high school teacher at a public school in neighboring Delaware Country (also in the critical Philadelphia suburbs) and he informed me that his 9-12 kids voted for Clinton today by a narrower 55%-41% margin.
I am not sure which school district is more affluent, but they’re both chock full of highly educated tax-averse professionals, let’s just put it that way. I would not have been surprised if the kids at my son’s school had gone for Trump because, as I said, their parents narrowly went for Romney four years ago.
And, honestly, don’t most elementary school kids echo the political preferences of their parents?
Now, my friend’s district and mine may be close as the crow flies, but Chester and Delaware Counties are much different politically. Delaware County is closer to Philly and it voted for Obama in 2012 (60%-39%). But Chester County, where I live, voted for Romney by a whopping 1,048 vote margin (49.7%-49.2%). As you can see, my precinct was more Republican four years ago than the county as a whole.
So, the fact that the elementary school kids in this precinct just gave Clinton a bruising 28% victory is probably indicative that their parents are a little cooler to Trump than they were to Romney.
On the other hand, the numbers out of my friend’s high school might look good, but they’re actually significantly below the countywide margin that Obama enjoyed in 2012. That’s probably because Delaware County (confusingly) includes the city of Chester which is heavily Democratic and which skews the countywide results. What I do know, though, is that the Republicans should be cleaning up in both places if they have any real hope of winning the state. Based on how the children feel, they aren’t.
Don’t the kids that age always seem to vote Democratic? Meaning at least at grade 5 they have a better idea of fairness than their parents. At least that’s the way it seems to me. Maybe it doesn’t always happen that way but sure seems it happens a lot.
CabinGirl says that CBtE came home from the same school in 2000 mystified about why the school went overwhelmingly for Dubya.
Hmmm!!! Okay, so not always. Does Scholastic Magazine still exist? They used to do those kind of polls, I think. If there is a record through the years, I wonder what it would look like.
I’m not sure about the student elections in recent years, but they definitely went overwhelmingly Bush in 2000 (v Gore) and 2004 (v Kerry). Obviously, without the votes of my children in either election. 🙂
This years map will surprise – Blue TX and UT etc
http://election.scholastic.com/vote/
I have friends and relatives who probably live close to you Booman. Those are interesting results, as my speculation is that the kids will vote, at that age, according to what their parents do/say.
I wonder, though, how kids in Main Line schools, esp those fancy-schmancy private schools, would vote. I also have relatives and friends on the Main Line. As rightwing, and tax averse, as most of Chester County is, Main Line towns/municipalities are often even more so. I had to sit through a bunch of whining entitled white women while watching a great nephew’s tennis match this summer, and it made my ears bleed to hear their whining complaints. Ugh.
Well time will tell. That said, my super rightwing family members were saying this summer that they would never vote for Trump (also never vote for Clinton, either). I don’t know if they continue to feel this way or if they capitulated (esp with the FBI fooling around with the election). I don’t really want to know, either. Better to just not ask.
Did they happen to mention if they’d be skipping voting entirely (I.e., not even bothering with down ballot races) due to their unhappiness with the Presidential race? That would be lovely…
At the time we talked in July, there was thought about 3rd party candidates for POTUS or not filling it in. But I’m pretty sure that they would vote down ballot… more’s the pity! 😉 I can’t see my family members simply not voting at all.
I think there will be a lot of split ballots here.
Decades ago, riding the train from DC to Philly, I was always amused to see the Scott Paper plant (doubtless long since closed), with its enormous sign featuring a roll of toilet paper and the slogan “What Chester makes, makes Chester!”
Can’t nobody keep their symbolism straight these days, seem like.
FWIW, my kids school in Bucks voted 450 to 150 for Clinton. I would say that is accurate in regards to the moms. A lot of the dads are all in Trump/Fitzpatrick
There are going to be a lot of Wives who will be cancelling out their Husband’s votes in this election…
If you haven’t already seen it, a few weeks ago Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon played undecided suburban Philly women on SNL Weekend Update.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/10/09/tina_fey_and_jimmy_fallon_returned_to_weekend_update.
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I only know this because audio from the skit was played just before The Hooters took the stage this past weekend at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside. 🙂
If Kids Could Vote, Clinton Would Destroy Trump By A 17-Point Landslide
http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/hillary-clinton-destroy-donald-trump-election-if-kids-voted/1663
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Entirely anecdotal, but what the hell.
Spent a large part of the summer and fall in the Levittown, PA area. You know what I mean. Quite a few Trump signs, but everyone tells me far less than Romney and Palin had in the last two elections.
I think that you’re correct in assuming that most K-5 kids reflect the political views of their parents, but you’re forgetting that the K-5 parents are a very small and biased slice of the overall population. Most are probably in their 30’s or 40’s. Your school is probably also segregated, economically, from the others in the county. If a boy’s mother is a doctor, his classmates probably have professionally educated parents. If a girl’s father is a coal-miner, her peers are likely fairly poor.
In other words, I’m not so that the parents at your school narrowly went for Romney four years ago. Your county went narrowly for Romney. That’s different.
On the other hand Dixville Notch just went 4-2 Clinton, so I think she has this in the bag.