My American Politics Class

I knew this class would be fun when I scheduled it. I expected trouble as a political-savvy and educated conservative at a liberal University. But it just got better.

On the first day of class (Wednesday) we introduced ourselves and named a figure in politics that we liked. There was too much Obama, Clinton and Oprah to make me think this class will challenge me politically. After these superfluous introductions, the professor passed out this short "Political Knowledge" quiz.

Name the following political figures/governmental facts:

1. President of the United States: ____________________

2. Vice President of the United States: ____________________

3. Speaker of the US House: ____________________

4. US Senate Majority Leader: ____________________

5. US Secretary of State: ____________________

6. Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court: ____________________

7. First US President: ____________________

8. Three Branches of the federal government:
____________________
____________________
____________________


Your truly, of course, was able to correctly answer all these simple questions about US politics. Could you? My politics class couldn't. Here are the correct answers and the percentage of the class that could answer correctly:


1. President of the United States: George W. Bush (100%)

2. Vice President of the United States: Dick Cheney (88%)

3. Speaker of the US House: Nancy Pelosi (28%)

4. US Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid (8%)

5. US Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice (56%)

6. Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court: Justice John Roberts (16%)

7. First US President: George Washington (88%)

8. Three Branches of the federal government:
Executive, Legislative, Judicial (68%)

So the class as a whole, managed a 57% on the quiz. Take out my ringer 100% and it goes down to 53%. So basically, I get to spend an entire semester debating against a bunch of Democrats who can't all name our first president. Ironic, isn't it that the two people who knew who Harry Reid (absolutely a Democrat) were conservatives? The liberals don't even know their own majority leader.

I'd be willing to bet more people that plan on voting for Barack Obama don't even know which state he represents in the Senate. And a lot of them are in my class.