Gingrich Visit Gets Students Fired Up Seniors Wait An Hour For Speech; 400 Attend Fund-Raising Dinner

U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich helped more than 400 high school seniors study for their semester government final Tuesday night, telling them balancing the federal budget lowers interest rates.

“It means you will have more take-home money,” Gingrich told the rowdy auditorium of students who waited almost an hour on the eve of semester finals to hear him speak.

“It’s Newt. Of course it’s worth the wait,” said David Krooth, a Boise High School senior.

“I’ll pass my finals,” said Rich Tate, also a BHS senior.

The impromptu government class came as Gingrich stopped off in Boise for a campaign fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth. The fund-raising dinner, attended by about 400 people, featured six of Idaho’s top Republican elected officials at the head table. Gov. Phil Batt led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, and U.S. Rep. Mike Crapo told the crowd, “It’s very important that we re-elect Helen Chenoweth.”

Chenoweth faces Coeur d’Alene software entrepreneur Tony Paquin in the Republican primary in May.

Paquin criticized the fund-raiser in a news release Tuesday night, saying he’s the stronger candidate and Gingrich’s “chumminess” with the incumbent could lead to a win for the Democrats.

Before stepping down the hall to address the well-dressed crowd of adults, Gingrich, a former professor, gave the students advice on how to become leaders: carry paper and pencil at all times. Listen. Plan ahead.

Gingrich told the students - who will vote for the first time this year - that the Social Security system is jeopardizing their retirement money. The leading House Republican pushed for a compound interest plan, which would generate yearly interest on the 15 percent FICA tax that many high school students and their employers pay from their part-time job wages.

The crowd cheered when Gingrich said a compound-interest system would leave $975,000 in their retirement savings accounts compared with $175,000 under the current plan.

Autumn RaeAnn Bayll-Bradley, a senior at Borah High School, said she’s worried about her retirement since age 12.

“If we worked to put money aside, we’d get so much more back,” said Bayll-Bradley, 17, who often hears her dad fume about retirement. “It made me realize how important these things are. Most people my age don’t think about it.”

John K. Hansen, a Capitol High senior government teacher and nephew of Idaho Falls Rep. John D. Hansen, said most of his students are more informed about politics than their parents.

“Most of them are pretty dedicated and have to turn their parents on to it,” he said.

Hansen said his students are ready to head to the polls next fall.

Anita Wilmot, a 17-year-old senior at Nampa Senior High, agreed.

“I’d like to know where our country is going,” she said. “I’m prepared to vote.”

About half the students left when Gingrich went to speak at Chenoweth’s fund-raising dinner. Others watched a broadcast of the dinner speech.

During the wait before Gingrich appeared, several students were ejected for fighting over prime seats.

Chenoweth invited students in all the area’s senior government classes to attend the event, at no cost.

Gingrich helped Chenoweth raise about $80,000 before expenses for her campaign. Four hundred people in suits and dresses clinked forks against china while Gingrich spoke about eliminating illegal drugs, reforming education, cutting taxes and reforming Social Security.

Forty fans paid $1,000 each for a chance to have their picture taken with Gingrich during a brief, private reception before the dinner. State Sen. Stan Hawkins, R-Ucon, who is considering a run for Congress, was among them.

Hawkins joked afterward, “He said, ‘So you’re the next congressman, huh?”’

Gingrich also spoke at a fund-raiser for a private classical Christian school in Boise, at Chenoweth’s request. The Foundations Academy entertained him with uniformed third-graders showing off their Latin and chanting memorized verses about sentence structure and Greek gods.

Gingrich told the gathering, which raised $6,000 for the school at $250 a couple, that one of the reasons he’s for lower taxes is so people can afford things like that school.

He also said he’ll push for a pilot project in school vouchers - government money that parents can use for private education - in the troubled school system of Washington, D.C.

Gingrich is on a 17-state tour, raising money for Republican candidates and fitting in charity events, talks to students and an address to the Washington state legislature.

The last time Gingrich came to Idaho to campaign for Chenoweth in 1996, Chenoweth set up a meeting between the speaker and youngsters from a Nampa, Idaho, home for troubled kids, but the visit didn’t raise any money for the home.

Gingrich has raised $3 million for charities since becoming speaker, said his political communications director, Mike Shields. He relies on the candidates to set up the charity events.

, DataTimes