according to a 3rd grader

i got to the school today and all of my students were in an uproar over the election. where they get their stats is beyond me but i found it humorous nonetheless. they repeatedly asked me if i'd voted, who i voted for, and so on and so on. when i wouldn't answer (they look up to me and i felt that sharing this information could influence them so i decided to remain neutral on the topic) they would ask whether i was a republican or a democrat, "cause that would tell us who you voted for!" i was surprised by their passion and their constant heckling of one another. even upperclassmen were getting in on the debate with my eight and nine year olds. some of the things i heard come out of their "sweet little mouths" shocked even me. i decided to squelch some of the "obama!" "mccain!" banter, by telling them when we got to the classroom, that instead of yelling at eachother we were going to write in our journals about it. the journal topic was "if you could vote, who would you vote for and why?" they were not allowed to insult either candidate or people who think differently than them. if they could only think of mean or nonsensical things to say, they were allowed to write what would happen if they were president.

here are a few of their journal responses (pardon any spelling or grammatical errors. i want to quote them exactly):

"If I could vote I would vote for McCain. Because he is lowering taxs. and not rasing them higher. and not taking guns away. if I were president everbody wood get a new XbOX." -Kamakani 9yrs. old

"I am voting for barack obama because he salutes the flag. John McCain dosen't salute the flag. If I where President on my top things would be no littering. and very Good Schools. and more dentists." Hannah 8yrs. old

"I want John McCain to be president. Because he'll stop pultion (polution), lower taxes. And he will stop people from cuting down trees. I would not vote for Obama. Because he would raise taxes." -Austin 8yrs. old

"I would vote for Obama. Because he is cool. I would not vote for McCain because he does not salute the flag. If I was presiante on every one birthday I would send them 100$ in cash. If I was presiante I would make IceCream free and give each school 3,008$ in cash for lunch." -Shaylen 9yrs. old

"If I voted for president. I would vote for Obama. He wants to protect us from suside (suicide). He wants to help schools. Hees trying to help make oil. He wants to end the irak war." -Tanner 8yrs. old

"I voted for oboma because he is asom (awesome) and blak and I think we need a blak presdedint. and He wants to take away guns so no more people get killd from guns." -Nick 9yrs. old

i just finished this post as they closed the polls. welcome to the future of these United States.