Raymond Soriano reacts to his elimination at the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington on Thursday. – AP
The National Spelling Bee participants proved Friday that politics isnot just for adults. These youth have plenty of opinions about President Bush and current events.
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First important question: Can President Bush spell “constitutional”? Jessica Shakesprere, an 11-year-old from West Virginia, doesn’t think so. Texas’ own Raymond Soriano, 14, remembered that “Bush misspelled ‘business’ one time. That’s embarrassing.” Eleven-year-old Vincent Medina from Florida told us, “Anyone can out-spell Bush.” Jonathan Schut, a 13-year-old from Canada, thinks he can out-spell Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice too. Those are some big words for middle schoolers.
Many participants also shared their thoughts about the upcoming presidential elections.
Hannah Gerdes, a 14-year-old Ohioan, said, “I don’t think Hillary Clinton has a chance in the election. I like Obama.” Hannah says Barack Obama must be a good speller, especially because his name is a little tricky to spell. In fact, there was overwhelming support among the spellers for Obama. “He is upbeat. He is the one,” shared Gaurav Sirdeshpande, a 14-year-old Pennsylvanian.
But Jonathan and Stephanie Stancell, a 13-year-old from Texas, are carrying the water for McCain. “McCain is pro-life, pro-family, a Christian, and he has good morals,” Stephanie said. Some spellers think their role models would make good presidents. NBA star Allen Iverson, country singer Josh Turnerand actor Matt Damon were all mentioned as contenders, as were pundit Glenn Beck and actor Jim Carrey.
