School stumping grounds

Candidate speaks to high school students about being politically active.John Campbell’s visit to Corona del Mar High School on Friday may not have affected his campaign very much. Most of the 30-odd students who attended his speech were too young to vote in next month’s election.

But, as the Republican state senator and congressional candidate explained to the crowd, youth doesn’t always get in the way of political activism. Campbell, who is running for former U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox’s office on Dec. 6, has volunteered in every presidential election since 1964 -- then, he was stuffing envelopes for Barry Goldwater at age 9.

“Sixty-four percent of the people in Iraq who could vote, voted,” Campbell said at one point, referring to Iraq’s recent referendum. “Here, we have about 42%.”

Voter apathy was one of the many topics Campbell addressed in his 40-minute meeting with the Teenage Republicans, a campus club. As students crowded science teacher Richard Freeman’s classroom at lunchtime, the candidate outlined his views on the Iraq war, American oil reserves, illegal immigration and anti-Americanism abroad.

The visit was the first Campbell has made to a high school during this election. Monday, he will appear at Newport Harbor High School as a guest of the Student Political Action Committee, which hosted Democratic rival Steve Young earlier this month.

Junior Brian Peotter, the president of the club, said he has counted himself a Republican since the eighth grade, but intended Campbell’s visit as more than just propaganda.

“The goal of our club is to prepare kids for college, to get them ready for professors so they have enough information to back themselves up,” said Brian, 17. “If you don’t have the information, you’ll lose arguments.”

During the lunch period, Campbell gave the students plenty of information to chew on. In the opening minutes, the candidate praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently endorsed his campaign. The 2003 recall election, he said, was a solid example of voters initiating change from the ground up.

Campbell admitted that he was disappointed by the failure of the recent special election, surmising that voters lacked the resolve they had two years ago.

“People weren’t angry, so they didn’t do it,” Campbell said. “But don’t underestimate Arnold.”

The candidate also praised the United States’ effort in Iraq, at one point reading from a postcard a serviceman had mailed to him recently. Like many supporters of the war, Campbell criticized Democrats and media outlets that have dwelt on the bad news from Iraq. At one point, he even chastised President Bush for being “too defensive” about the war in recent months.

“Politics is a contact sport,” Campbell told the students. “We need to start hitting back and saying we’re winning.”

In the latter half of his speech, the candidate took questions from the audience. One student asked why Bush’s approval rating had dropped so significantly of late -- to 34%, according to a recent poll. Campbell replied that presidents often lost support during their second terms, but that 24-hour media coverage also played a part in souring Americans’ opinions of their leaders.

“I’m not sure Britney Spears could stand that kind of constant coverage for eight years,” the candidate said.

Sophomore Benjamin Crockett, 15, told Campbell that he had vacationed abroad over the summer and heard a number of anti-American comments from foreigners. Campbell dismissed most criticism of the United States as “jealousy” and said that many people who condemned his country were liberated by it at some point in history.

After the speech, Benjamin said that he didn’t count himself a Republican just yet, but was a fan of Campbell’s views.