Clinton loses inmock summit

In the end, delegates wound up picking John Edwards over Barack Obama.

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — Hillary Clinton may be leading her closest Democratic presidential rival by more than 20 points in the real-world polls, but that didn’t help her at Westminster College’s Mock Democratic Convention.

The delegates to the 18th Mock Convention decided that John Edwards is their man.

Westminster’s Mock Convention began in 1936 and is the second-longest-running event of its type in the nation. It is held for the party that is out of office, and nearly 600 Westminster students, faculty and staff participated in this year’s event.

The convention considered only three candidates — each was represented by a student campaign manager — Clinton, Edwards and Barack Obama.

None had a two-thirds majority on the first ballot, and, although he led on the second ballot, Edwards didn’t have a majority.

After the second ballot, Clinton’s campaign manager stepped to the podium and released her delegates, urging them to vote for Obama.

Apparently, not enough did.

On the third ballot, Edwards took the nomination by a vote of 204 to 198.

On a lighter note, the vice presidential nomination went to Comedy Central television personality Stephen Colbert, who recently aborted his own presidential run.

As for platform issues, the delegates endorsed a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, beginning immediately, and to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008.

They endorsed a resolution calling on the national government to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples and passed a resolution mandating all automobiles and SUVs manufactured in 2011 and beyond in the U.S. must average a minimum 35 mpg. A resolution to grant amnesty to all undocumented aliens was defeated.

“The 2007 convention exceeded my expectations. It began with a great keynote address from [nationally syndicated radio talk show host] Bill Press, continued with a serious debate on important issues, and ended with students choosing candidates for president and vice president,” said Dr. James Rhoads, Westminster associate professor of political science and faculty adviser to the convention.

“I thought the student and faculty delegates did a great job, and I think this experience helps make politics more accessible to our students. They showed great enthusiasm and created an atmosphere that made the convention a lot of fun,” he continued.