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In Guerin election, mock Obama wins
Bryan Schwaba, as Gov. Mitt Romney, and Jaime Santana, as Pres. Barack Obama, meet outside the Guerin Prep auditorium after their speeches to congratulate each other. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 16, 2012 6:39AM
RIVER GROVE — On Election Day, while adults cast their vote in the presidential election, students at a local high school were getting a taste of what Election Day is like.
On Nov. 6, three Guerin College Prep High School students posed as presidential candidates Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and Colin Beavan of the Green Party, in the school’s auditorium. The students spared no details, researching the candidates’ stance on issues, practicing their various slogans and mannerisms and then giving speeches to the student body.
Some took it even further, enlisting friends to pose as Secret Service agents. Some had mock presidential wives attend the debate, as well.
After the debate, students went to different locations throughout the school to cast their vote.
Jaime Santana, 17, of Chicago was one of the three presidential candidates, posing as Barak Obama. He followed in the president’s footsteps, winning the mock election with 72 percent of the vote. More than half the student body voted.
Santana prepared to be Obama prior to the debate by reciting some of his speeches and watching some skits on Saturday Night Live. He said he enjoyed the experience and said he’s heavily involved in drama at school.
“I do plays and stuff like that,” he said. “I love acting.”
Taking the event to the next level was something his friends came up with.
“I had a couple of my friends be my bodyguard,” he said. “They had the suits, shades and little earpieces. We had a lot of fun with it.”
If he were one year older, he said he would have been able to cast his vote in the actual election.
“Probably Obama,” he said. “I like both sides. I like his (Obama) ideas on oil and renewable energy.”
He said he may never become president, but he’s satisfied with how close he came.
“I always wanted to make my mark on the world, and what better way is to become president,” he said.
