Not Every 21-Year-Old is This Cool

POSTED BY Raleigh-Elizabeth Smith, 12 February 2008

Actually, I'm still not as cool as Jason Rae. No president's ever called me, but this Marquette junior's cell phone has been abuzz with the likes of Bill, Madeline Albright, and even former Sen. John Kerry.

They want to woo his vote.

He's a 21-year-old superdelegate. He wasn't even old enough to vote in the last presidential election, but he had no problem beating a firefighters' union president and a state legislator.

And yesterday, he had breakfast with Chelsea Clinton.

Former President Clinton called Rae on his cell phone, Jan. 25, the night before the South Carolina primary.

Rae was about to head out to dinner with friends when his phone rang and the screen said, "Number withheld." The voice on the other end said: "Please hold for the former president" and then a familiar voice said "Hey Jason, it's Bill here."

"I started to think, is this real? I am a junior in college and Bill Clinton is talking to me?" Rae said as he recalled the phone call.

Clinton talked about Hillary Clinton's electability and gave Rae an update on how things were looking on the ground in South Carolina. He then regaled Rae with stories about his travels to Wisconsin as president and the cities he visited during that time.

Rae received a call from Kerry, Feb. 1, the Friday before the critical Super Tuesday showdown. Kerry, too, talked about electability and also asked Rae about college life in general and even the weather.

Rae said he is getting a steady stream of calls from campaign staff and surrogates, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton on behalf of the Clinton campaign.

But Rae said he is focusing on which candidate can win in November.

"Both have good positions, but it's about who can win," he said.

The next stage of this election will be learning that my 11-month-old baby brother actually has the final say on the vote. They'll pull him in the voting box and whoever has put the most teddy grahams and chocolate sauce on their lever wins.

[Source: ABC News]