TOWAMENCIN –  On Day Two of the Republican Mock Convention held at North Penn High School, students nominated Jon Huntsman by majority vote to represent the Republican Party in the General Election as the 2012 Presidential candidate to challenge incumbent Barack Obama.

Commencing the convention on Day Two where Day One’s events left off, students discussed the issues of immigration, crime, and the death penalty following opening remarks made by advisor Mr. Robert McCreary.

After closing discussion on the platform and finalizing amendments, the Campaign Managers representing viable Republican candidates for the office of Presidency gave speeches on behalf of his or her candidate. Student Shaan Prabhakar represented Herman Cain, Caroline Pashos for Gary Johnson, Mitchell Yetter for Newt Gingrich, Abagael Bergey for Sarah Palin, Dara Wittman for Rick Santorum, Suyog Padgaonkar for Ron Paul, Anish Patel for Rick Perry, Lauren Mayer for Michele Bachmann, Stephen Harrington, and Kunal Atit, Zachary Schaffer, and Pat Gieger collectively represented Jon Huntsman. Student delegates in the audience seemed especially enthralled by Yetter’s rap about Newt Gingrich and Padgaonkar’s campaign slogan, “We fly high, no lie, you know this, Paulin’!” Mayer followed suit with Bachmann’s real life decision to pull out of the election, ending her mock campaign.

State delegates then broke off into smaller groups to discuss the candidate’s views, qualifications, and campaign promises. During this time, Campaign Managers had one last chance to answer questions and encourage support for his or her candidate.

Each state was allotted a certain number of votes based on its population, mimicking the Electoral College. Students in each state had to decide amongst themselves on how many of these votes each candidate would receive, as one student representative from each state would communicate the results of the state’s voting decision in front of the entire panel of states. Delegates also had the opportunity to offer the nomination of a previously unrecognized candidate. Jeb Bush and Chris Christie were among the added nominees.

Permanent Chairs Dylan Eiger, Bobby Dougherty, and Eric Goldstein collected the votes and with the technological assistance of Gary Li and Bob Ni, the vote count was graphically displayed on the projector screen in the auditorium. As no single candidate received the majority vote in the first ballot and with Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul neck and neck and Newt Gingrich not too far behind, a second ballot was casted. State delegates conferred with each other and formed alliances with other states to throw support behind a candidate. Meanwhile, numerous underdogs in the race with a limited amount of votes chose to resign, each announcing support for another candidate still in the race.

Once again, no candidate received a majority vote, and a third ballot was called, including only Huntsman, Paul, and newcomer Jeb Bush. Only after the withdrawal of Jeb Bush did Huntsman receive the final nomination, defeating Paul with a vote that tallied 593 compared to Paul’s 565.

In the midst of the mayhem, a giant gorilla and banana tested the security personnel as the primate attempted to assault Yetter of Gringrich’s campaign. Thankfully, security put down the threat in a matter of minutes and avoided what could’ve been a catastrophy.

Recognizing the artistic talent of the state delegates, students cheered for the state flags with the best design to determine the winners of glory and a party. Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma came out on top in a three-way tie.

The final order of business on the agenda was the selection of a Vice President running mate for Jon Huntsman. The first twelve, credible suggested nominees were to put vote, with each state giving its complete support and full number of electoral votes to one candidate. The nominees were as follows: Mr. Brian Haley, Herman Cain, Mr. Burton T. Hynes, Michael Smerconish, Sarah Palin, Mr. Samuel Brumbaugh, Donald Trump, Stephen Colbert, Newt Gingrich, Mrs. Sue Masty, and Oprah Winfrey. Entrepreneur Donald Trump won the nomination with the majority of votes, and in their closing speech, Campaign Managers representing Huntsman accepted Trump as a qualified running mate.

After two days in the auditorium engrossed by the political process, students left the Mock Convention with more knowledge and a better appreciation for politics.

“I was very impressed with the Mock Convention. I didn’t know what to expect going into it and I was surprised and proud of the students that used the opportunity to speak their minds. I think it left students feeling like politics  doesn’t have to be boring – what’s going on in our country is very important and relevant to all citizens, even if they are kids and just starting to vote,” said Callie Rojewski, Senior Class President.

With more information on the candidates, students can now make a more informed decision, and perhaps will be more likely to vote in the next election having witnessed the influence of just one vote, as Huntsman won by a mere twenty-eight votes.

“There were so many great successes in the convention. From the rabblerousing speech of Mike Smerconish to the thwarted gorilla attack, everything worked out fantastically. But what pushed this convention to infinity and beyond was the amount of participation and interests that students exhibited. Even teens that did not know very much about politics approached the microphone and asked questions for clarification or were able to share their views on taboo topics like the death penalty. Hand in hand with this was the very respectful atmosphere during the conversations on the issues. No one was booed and the crowd was quite courteous. Being up on stage and watching the auditorium transform into a passionate and at times fanatical convention was an incredible feeling. It was wonderful that everyone was able to not only enjoy the event but also learn from something hands on that they could not experience in a classroom. It was just such an amazing experience and I’m so happy that our class took part in this once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Eric Goldstein, a Permanent Chairperson of the Convention.

In four years from now North Penn plans to repeat the success of this year’s convention. Congratulations and appreciation goes out to all of those who made this unique event possible. For those interested in viewing the Republican Mock Convention, North Penn’s Television Crew documented the entire occasion. For show times on NPTV, visit www.npenn.org.