OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS...

I hate jellybeans. It isn’t their taste. It’s the nine cavities I endured after eating them when I was little.

When I was 6 years old, I saw a man on TV giving them to children, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his actions might propel youngsters toward their No. 1 nightmare--the dentist chair. And this man was the President of the United States.

I figured Ronald Reagan, as President, had a certain obligation to the welfare of American kids. So I wrote to him about his love affair with jellybeans and asked why, in a childlike way, he wished to have kids suffer, assuming that they would if they indulged in his passion.

Three months went by and no reply. Then, on a summer afternoon, a big yellow envelope landed in my mailbox with the return address in bold letters: the WHITE HOUSE.

Inside, to my disappointment, there was not a reply to my question. Rather, there was a beautiful color magazine showing all the rooms in the White House, including the Blue Room, the Red Room, the Green Room and, of course, the Oval Office. Perhaps the impersonal response to my letter turned me off on Republicans. I was only 6 and very impressionable. In any case, my journey into political activism had begun.

In the seventh grade, during the 1988 election year, my school was putting on a Bush versus Dukakis debate. My world geography teacher assigned me to the Dukakis side. In order to prepare, a teacher took me to Democratic headquarters in Santa Ana, where I picked up literature on the Democratic Party and Michael S. Dukakis.

Even though I was only 11, I was already involved in causes like Amnesty International, so the Democrats’ liberal ideologies seemed to fit well into my scope of thought. As a result, I continued with political activism. I phone-banked, walked precincts, helped stage rallies and had a good time meeting people from the entertainment industry and the political arena. I met a guy named Pat Brown, who turned out to be the former California governor and father to Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. and this year’s Democratic candidate for governor, Kathleen Brown.

The political bug had bitten me hard. There is a certain excitement when you are working for a political candidate. The feeling of camaraderie between the campaign workers and the desire to help your candidate win make for an exhilarating experience. However, losses can be dramatic. I was 11 during that election. Peers are slow to forget that you supported a loser. So I took the loss with a bit of humor. The next day at school I wore a sign that read:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray for Bush’s soul to keep

For if he decides to suddenly bail

We’ll all have to deal

with Vice President Quail

Living in conservative Orange County, I have become accustomed to the verbal attacks against my political ideals. I often engaged in debates with other classmates during lunch or before class. Some who listened were close-minded, but there were many who listened intently and decided carefully how they felt about the issues. And although Dukakis didn’t win the presidency, he still won the debate in that world geography class.

Four years later, I signed up to work for the Clinton-Gore campaign. I remembered watching Clinton on television at the ’88 Democratic Convention. He gave a long, winding speech that was only supposed to last 15 minutes but ended up being more like two hours. He appeared on Johnny Carson later that month. I had seen Al Gore at a Dukakis rally in Burbank, which made me think that these guys really plan in advance about running for political office.

A lot of different people walked through the Clinton-Gore campaign headquarters. There were the elderly, the single moms, those who just turned 18, the rich, not-so-rich and not-at-all rich. But they all had something in common. They were going to vote for a man who in some manner appealed to all of them.

And this is partly what attracts me to politics. The political image, the persona, the charisma, the power to move and persuade others, the ability to bring the masses together to share similar beliefs--these are all part of being the ultimate politician. At the rallies, political conventions and campaigns I have been involved in, I have met many teen-agers who share an interest in politics, from mainstream party loyals to Green Party activists and Peace and Freedom Party fighters.

No matter what the political affiliation, there is something to be said about the importance of being aware and active in one of the most powerful political processes in the world.

Whether you bear the insignia of the donkey or the elephant, the necessity to choose your political leaders wisely is important to all of us. One day we will be running our government.