"'The Dog Ate My Homework' Just Doesn't Cut It When You're Running For President"

Mitt Romney Declines to Participate in Nickelodeon's 'Kids Pick the President' Special

Is this really happening? Mitt Romney has once again offended the younger generation of Americans by declining the invitation to participate in the traditional Nickelodeon "Kids Pick the President" special. This is the second time a candidate has refused to answer the questions that were written by the kids of America, with the other candidate being John Kerry in 2004. This announcement came just mere days after Romney's pledge to cut PBS spending at the 1st Presidential Debate on Thursday, October 4th. On the other hand, the Obama campaign eagerly invited the Nickelodeon crew to the White House in order to have President Obama to answer the kid-written questions. When asked about their opinion on Romney's decision to skip over the special, the Obama campaign said, "It’s no surprise Romney decided to play hookey. Kids demand details, and I’m sure they want some answers on why Romney could increase their class sizes, eliminate their teacher’s jobs, raise taxes on their families and slash funding for Big Bird. Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, ‘The dog ate my homework’ just doesn't cut it when you’re running for president."

This is significant because it influences the way the American public perceives Mitt Romney. If he had taken half an hour to answer these questions, he would not have gotten more criticism for his campaign. However, he did skip it, and now he is taking more heat for his poor choices in judgment despite his obvious win at the debate.

As a student and fellow kid invested in politics, I do not see why this was such a big deal for Romney to do, and I find it disappointing that he declined to do such a standard part of the presidential campaign. I look forward to the Nickelodeon special, and it's going to be hard for him to get the kids' usually spot on vote when he doesn't even participate in the special. As a filmmaker, I would want every part of each member's campaign on screen so I can see the facts for myself instead of hearing them from other people. As a consumer, I want to see as much as I can of each candidate's standpoint, even through something as simple as a Nickelodeon TV kids special. This was an important opportunity missed by former Governor Romney, and I think that it is something he will truly regret when he looks back on his campaign whether he wins or not.

This makes me ask the question of whether Romney takes the kids of America seriously. Does he believe that this TV special was not as important as other parts of his campaign? If so, why does he feel this way? I do not understand why he would skip something as simple as this. Hopefully, we will hear a statement from the Romney campaign soon about the reasoning behind this.