Jason Rae is a typical junior in college.
He spends several hours a day in class at Marquette University in Wisconsin where he is majoring in history and political science. He is closely following the Marquette basketball team and has the Golden Eagles’ schedule memorized.
But not many 21-year-olds start their Monday with a personal breakfast with Chelsea Clinton, as Rae did this morning at the student union at the nearby University of Milwaukee.
Rae got the one-on-one treatment from the former and possibly future first daughter because he is a Democratic National Committee member from Wisconsin and thus a “super delegate,” one of the 796 free agents who can back any candidate in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Never Voted Before
Rae may be a typical college junior but he is certainly not the typical DNC super delegate.
He is only 21 years old he has never voted in a presidential election because he turned 18 after Election Day in 2004.
Since the race between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is so tight, Rae has become a power broker of sorts, as both campaigns push hard to lock down the support of super delegates.
Rae said he and Chelsea Clinton talked about electability and mobilizing young people to get involved in politics. He said she spoke about what states her mother can carry in the general election and what demographics favor her candidacy. The two talked about how the campaign’s operations were going in the states and what she is seeing on the ground.
The breakfast lasted about 30 minutes. Rae said he had to hustle back to campus and get to his afternoon classes.
Rae was elected as a DNC member at the Wisconsin state party convention in June 2004. He was 17 years old at the time but there are no party rules that say a DNC member has to be of voting age. Rae ran against and defeated the president of the state firefighters’ union and a state legislator.
Rae has been called on his cell phone by former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who tried to woo him to the Clinton side and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who was pushing for Rae to endorse Obama.
I am your typical grandmother and am looking for a little guidance from a typical teen. My stepdaughter purchased over 400 t-shirts for the Denver DNC and due to several things happening was unable to sell them. Could you give me some thoughts to pursue? The t-shirts have a copy of a 1908 DNC postcard that belonged to her great grandfather, an imigrant from Denmark. They state we lost the race in 1908 but will be the change in 2008. No candidates were put on the shirt because of the close race. She would like to sell these for $20 but would take $15. We might even be open to donating a portion of the proceeds to the Democratic Party if we can do this.Let me know ASAPGramsDonna Lane
Keep up the good work and stay on track, You have a bright future.