Teenpolitico

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11-year-old Dalton Hatfield sold his bike and video games to donate more than $400 to her

campaign.

By Sarah Wheaton

The New York Times

May 21, 2008

Excerpts below

Senator Barack Obama is usually the candidate known for stirring up

youth enthusiasm. But Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has her own

poster boy: Dalton Hatfield

Dalton, 11, answered the phone himself when we called his home in

McAndrews, Ky. An aspiring politician, he speaks clearly, deliberately

and authoritatively - and any contemporary politician would admire his

ability to stay on-message.

"I believe Mr. Obama is a very good speaker, and I believe that he

could run our country, also but I really believe that Hillary has very

good views on specific issues that are important to this election," he

said, including "the war, the economy and health care."

Dalton said he was driven to donate about two months ago. "I saw that

her funds were running low," he said.

"I just saw so much that I did not need such as like my video games,

and I thought, 'What can I do with them?'"

He sold them, as well as his bike, and also collected other donations.

He got to tell former President Bill Clinton at an event two weeks

ago, and Mrs. Clinton on Monday.

"He was speechless, and he almost got tears, he was very emotional,"

Dalton said of his favorite president's reaction.

He said he was "nervous" meeting Mrs. Clinton.

"I believe that she helped her husband run the country and that's why

I'm supporting her today," he said.

But he appears to have more than two friends. A few days after he met

Mr. Clinton, a group of elected officials from nearby Mingo County in

West Virginia raised the money to replace Dalton's video games and

bike. "Actually, it's a lot better than my old one," he said.

check out his website
http://isupporthillary.blogspot.com/
Every child in our country should be able to see a doctor if they get sick.
It is more important to be respected than feared around the world.
She has a plan.
When she talks, you can see it in her eyes, she knows what she has to do and she wants to do it.

If not NOW, when?

Hillary the Fighter

Funny Love Song for Hillary Clinton by The Clintons

Hillary Clinton Rap: Taking Back The White House

Hillary in the House

Led by Chairman Henry Waxman, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard from three panels of witnesses--including leading medical and sexual health experts from across the country who testified on the ineffectiveness of the programs and youth speakers who testified to the program's ill effects on their lives and the lives of their peers. Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association; Dr. Margaret Blythe, Chair of the Committee on Adolescence, American Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. John Santelli, a leading sexual health researcher; Max Siegel, Policy Associate at AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families; and Shelby Knox, speaker and organizer Over 60 national, state, and local organizations submitted statements criticizing abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and calling for an end to federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Several Committee Members asked pointed questions of witnesses and stood up as champions of a real approach to sex education. Please thank the following Committee Members for championing efforts to end ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs: Chairman Henry Waxman, 202.225.3976 Representative John Sarbanes, 202.225.4016 Representative Peter Welch, 202.225.4115 Representative John Yarmuth, 202.225.5401 Representative Paul Hodes, 202.225.5206 Representative Betty McCollum, 202.225.6631 Representative Chris Shays, 202.225.5541 Representative Elijah Cummings, 202.225.5206 Representative Dennis Kucinich, 202.225.5871 Representative Diane Watson, 202.225.7084 For those that missed the hearing, you can view the video here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1910 You can read the testimony of those who testified as well as read Chairman Waxman's opening statement here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1888 The website RH Reality Check has been posting several points of view about the hearing. Here is the first part of my own optimistic assessment of the hearing in an entry this morning. It can be found at: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/04/30/hearings-highlight-ab-only-industry-in-peril And, finally, for a good laugh, the Daily Show did a piece on the hearing last night.

This is the new blog for teens and by teens interested in politics! More to come later, once we get rolling. 

People often ask me why I care about Hillary Clinton or this years election race, I mean... there are so many reasons why it shouldn't matter to me at all. First of all, I'm not even old enough to vote, being just 16 and the fact that I couldn't even vote if ever I wanted, as I don't even reside within the United States. The only answer I can ever give them is that if you're willing to sit down and moan about the damage George Bush and his administration has done to America and the world, then you really should show an interest in the campaigns this year. The idea that the race should only matter to americans this year is completely short-sighted. Anyone can see that the USA has a huge amount of power throughout the world. I mean, we only need to look at what's happened in Iraq these past years to see that with such a vast military force, the importance of who is at the healm is great. For me, part of being a responsible world citizen is taking account of what is going on around me, both at home and abroad. And so, that is why I care who wins in November, and that's why it should matter to everyone, whether you're in the USA, or whether you live in the middle east or poverty stricken Eastern Europe.

My support for Hillary is somewhat more passionate. As a child my family were never particularly well off, and I know that in part our survival and ability to get by was due to help from the government and officials looking out for the welfare of people less well off than themselves. Now, I'm in the United Kingdom, and I know that Hillary couldn't help me if I was in the same situation again. But I know and believe that she has at the heart of her campaign a need and a love of helping people. Her recent tax returns have shown that she gives a huge deal of her money to charity, but moreso than that, I know that what Hillary cares about isn't what colour the drapes in the oval office are, but the people that she comes into contact with day after day. The mothers who can't get by, the war veterans being left behind and the rural businesses that are being crippled and marginalised by the Bush Administration and their unfair tax breaks. These are the people that Hillary cares about. I know that across America there are parents working every hour they possibly can, juggling multiple jobs and travelling vast distances for work, just so that they can stay in the black when it comes to the end of the month. More sadly, I know that they aren't. They're in the same situation that my family used to be in, and I know that with Universal Healthcare that is exactly that, Universal... Hillary is the candidate I choose and endorse.

I recently made a video for Youtube, called 'Hillary Clinton - The Original Bad Ass Babe' and again people wondered. "What made you do it?" If this campaign has shown me anything, it's that everyone deserves an even footing, and that sadly, they aren't getting it. I've said before that if Hillary wasn't being so vastly ignored by the online community then maybe I'd just sit back and be a less active supporter of her. I guess what I'm trying, and will continue to do is try and make the field a little more even.

So, why does a 16 Year Old, Gay, Brit care about Hillary? Because I know that if ever I was in financial trouble, or my country or way of life was under threat or someone in my family couldn't afford to get emergency healthcare, that I would want someone like Hillary to look out for me. Until then, I'll look out for her.