W&L Mock Convention goes for HIllary. What does that mean?

By: Jay Warren | WSLS
Published: January 28, 2008

Washington and Lee held its historic mock convention over the weekend. Every four years for the past 108 years, students there have gathered to pick who they think will get the nomination of the party out of power.

Student delegates did massive research on the candidates, polling, state voting, etc. Based on all of that, the convention went overwhelmingly for Sen. Clinton.

I covered the event on Friday, and here are my observations about the process and who the students eventually picked.

First, the Washington & Lee student body is general more conservative than most college campuses. So, the convention’s pick of Hillary Clinton does not mean that the students will support her when/if they vote on Feb. 12 or Nov. 4.

Second, most national polling and polling done in individual states shows Barack Obama doing much better among younger voters and college students than Sen. Clinton. Additionally he does better with independent voters. As such, you would expect Obama’s message to resonate with the students at W&L. I noticed that most of the students I spoke with either seemed genuinely excited about Obama or readily admitted that they were Republicans and didn’t have a personal preference.

Finally, personal preference didn’t matter to these students. Regardless of what they felt about the candidates, the students voted on who they believe will win the nomination. There didn’t seem to be a great deal of love for Sen. Clinton, but the students felt she would win the Democratic nomination.

They’ve been wrong only a handful times in the past and they haven’t missed a nominee since 1972. We’ll see if they get it right in 2008.