Election Experts Speak at NCS

On Sept. 25, NCS Middle and Upper School students heard from a columnist and a journalist who have been closely monitoring and writing about this year’s presidential election.

 

Mary Kate Cary, mother of Annie ’13 and Gracie ’15, is a professional speechwriter and political columnist and blogger for U.S. News & World Report. Jim VandeHei is executive editor and co-founder of nonpartisan media company POLITICO and the neighbor of Hayden Hamed ’15 and Mary Hamed ’18.

 

Cary and VandeHei each began by explaining how they got started in their careers. Cary volunteered for the Gerald Ford’s presidential campaign in 1976 to get extra credit, and she’s been working with campaigns and politicians ever since. VandeHei shared a story about how as a college student he called every paper in Wisconsin looking for a job, and he happened to catch an editor who needed someone to run his weekly paper for four months, an experience he said taught him about the news business in record time.

 

Both speakers also gave their impressions of the current campaign. Cary, a self-described Republican, said that with still six weeks to go, much can still happen, and that she is looking forward to the presidential debates. VandeHei, who has spent time at both candidates’ headquarters while covering the election, shared some anecdotes about each candidate’s personality on the campaign trail.

 

The students then had the opportunity to ask questions related to the campaign, the candidates, and the election’s big issues. The girls queried the speakers on voter fraud, the impact of the economy on the election, battleground states, negative advertising campaigns, undecided voters, abortion, the electoral system, and ObamaCare.

 

In their remarks, both Cary and VandeHei emphasized how important this election and the issues facing the country will be to the students’ future. VandeHei said that while his generation could “get away with being passive about politics,” future generations of Americans don’t have that luxury. As they are the ones who will have to face and deal with today’s problems, he told the students “it is imperative that you get involved as you get older.” The speakers also urged the students to watch the coming debates, which they agreed could be very exciting.

 

We are grateful to our guests for sharing their insights with us. And, we also want to thank our alumnae, former Congresswoman Beverly Barton Butcher Byron ’50 and her classmate Margot Semler Shorb ’50 for coming to hear them as well!