米国大統領選、“オバマ氏再選”の朗報

「早くも“オバマ氏再選”の朗報　よく当たる子ども投票」


再選を目指すオバマ米大統領に朗報―。

　１１月６日の大統領選を前に、全米の小・中・高校生約２５万人が参加した“子ども模擬投票”で、オバマ氏が共和党のロムニー候補を破って勝利した。米出版社スコラスティックが１８日までに発表した。

　この投票は１９４０年以来、社会学習の一環として大統領選の年に実施され、実際の結果と違ったのは４８年と６０年の２回だけ。約半世紀にわたり勝者を的中させてきた実績がある。

　得票率はオバマ氏が５１％、ロムニー氏４５％。「ママ」「お父さん」という票もあった。現在の選挙戦を反映した接戦となり、子どもたちが考える重要争点も経済や医療保険改革といった大人同様の回答が多数を占めた。

　同時に実施された調査では、６７％の子どもが今回の大統領選について両親と語り合ったことがあると回答。９０％が自分も将来大統領になりたいと答えた。

　投票はオンラインと郵送で、８月１５日から１０月１０日にかけて実施された。

(共同通信社2012年10月19日)


「Obama wins Scholastic poll of students」

President Obama has the kids' vote locked up.

Organizers of the Scholastic Student Vote announced Tuesday that Obama won the poll with 51%, compared to 45% for Republican Mitt Romney. Four percent voted for other people.

Young people under the legal voting age of 18 cast their vote online at www.scholastic.com/vote or by mailing in paper ballots found in Scholastic classroom magazines. Almost a quarter million (250,000) students voted from Aug. 15 until the online poll closed on Oct. 10.

Scholastic also reports:

"A majority of kids in four of five key swing states -- Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Ohio -- chose Obama. A swing state is a state where neither candidate has a strong majority in the polls. Romney won Virginia, the other key swing state, by a small margin. In a close race like this one, the voting outcomes in these states can ultimately determine who wins the general election.

"The Scholastic Student Vote may not be official, but its results have often indicated who eventually wins the presidential race. Scholastic has conducted the student mock vote during every presidential election since 1940. The results of the student vote have mirrored the actual outcome of all but two elections -- 1948, when kids voted for Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S. Truman, and 1960, when they selected Richard M. Nixon over John F. Kennedy.

"In addition to casting their votes for President, students have weighed in on political topics in other Scholastic online polls. As of October 12, they said the issues that matter most to them are the economy, health care, and the war in Afghanistan. Sixty-seven percent said they talk about the election with their parents at least sometimes. And a whopping 90 percent said they would like to be President someday."

(2012/10/16、USA Today by David Jackson)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2012/10/16/obama-barack-scholastic-student-vote-mitt-romney-election-2012/1636587/