Issue date: 8/28/08 Section: TruLife

Freshman Brett Carmical flew to Denver, Co., on Sunday and will remain there during his first week of college.

Carmical, who hails from Brookfield, Mo., was sent as one of two delegates to the State Democratic Convention. There he had the honor of being elected one of Missouri's delegates from the sixth district to cast a vote in the Democratic National Convention.

"I put in a lot of work for the past year or more," Carmical said. "I felt ... that this was historic, and I'd never get a chance to go to one this exciting."

Carmical said that when he was 16 his political interests gave birth to the Young Democrats Club that he helped establish at Brookfield High School.

"A state representative candidate [Tom Shively, State Rep 8th district] in our district was really kind of helping ... us get involved with [his campaign]," Carmical said. "We helped him out and went door to door for him, and ... from there on we were successful and won, and the interest kept growing."

He said his experiences on the campaign trail with Shively helped give him an insider's view of politics.

"We went to his fundraisers and learned about his platform," Carmical said. "He let us write letters to the editor, put ads in the paper for him and basically learn the groundwork of a campaign."

Having participated in a run for office, Carmical said he feels like an educated voter and a more well-rounded individual.

"It gives you a lot of confidence when you have to talk to people," he said. "If normally you had to step back or just watch things on TV, you can't fully grasp the ins and outs of things that are done."

Carmical said he worked on Hillary Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and was chosen to vote for her at the national level.

"Most of the Clinton delegates and I will still vote for her for nomination on the first ballot," Carmical said. "We were elected by our districts to represent all of the Hillary Clinton voters, so I kind of feel like I have an obligation to do that."

Carmical said that although he wants to honor the majority of his district's wishes, he also views Clinton's resignation with a sense of realism.

"After I vote for her and it's clear she's not going to get it, I can go ahead and vote for [Obama] and throw all of the support behind him," he said. "It's just a lot of her delegates worked so hard for her, and it was so close, so a lot of people want to at least have her on the ballot."

Carmical said he has been dealing with answering questions based on his actions, much like a political candidate.

"A lot of people ask if I'm doing political science, no, sometimes I think it's a misconception," he said. "You can experience the politics or learn about that, and it doesn't really teach you the ins and outs of how to win an election. It's just theories of government and things like that."

Carmical said he doesn't plan on quitting after the smoke of this election has cleared.

"It's not associated with my major, but I may follow through with it when I graduate and move back to my area," he said. "Eventually I see myself running for some type of office. I just don't know what it is."

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