NAME — Jordan Denari
AGE — 18
Rachel Swanson, 15 from Lexington, Ky.
Fifteen-year-old Rachel Swanson has a history of political activism. Coming from a politically active family (her dad worked as a legislative aide for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin) she's continuing the tradition at Bryan Station High School, where she is vice president of the Young Democrats club.
Rachel’s only a freshman, but she’s helped the club accomplish a lot: They campaigned for the Democratic candidate for governor (Steve Beshear, who won the election); registered 18-year-olds to vote; and hosted movie nights at the school featuring documentaries focused on issues of political interest, like "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Sicko"
Rachel has embarked on a lot of political activism on her own, too. After finding out that
Barack Obama—whom she supported even before his run for the presidency—was coming to
speak in Lexington last August, she wanted to be involved. She signed up to be a ticket captain, knowing that if she sold 40 $25 tickets to the event, she would be awarded a ticket—and a meeting with Obama!
Rachel, who was Obama's youngest ticket captain in the country, met her goal and was able
to chat with the senator and stand behind him during his speech. Rachel’s enthusiasm for Obama was apparent during our interview; she even slipped once, referring to him as “the president.”
What first drew you to support Barack Obama?
I first heard Barack Obama on NPR, and I was just listening to the interview and he was just
absolutely hilarious. And I just thought, “Wow, it’s pretty cool that he can be serious at his job and
also appeal to a lot of people.”
What was the coolest thing about meeting Obama?
The rest of my heroes — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and
Eleanor Roosevelt — are already dead. It was good to meet one that’s alive.
How have your friends responded to your political activism?
They’re completely bewildered why I would want to go into politics, why I would want to watch it
on TV rather than just blow it off. In middle school, every time I talked about it, everybody was
like, “What are you talking about?”
With the approaching election, what are the most important thing American kids need to
remember?
The most important advice for people today is, “You don’t have to have the same opinions as
everyone else. You just have to have opinions.” That’s what runs our country.
Copyright 2008 Y-Press