"Candidates" face tough questions at Antioch Community High School

The questions were direct and tough.

"What will you do to cut pork barrel spending, Sen. McCain?" asked the reporter.

"What will you do to secure our borders, Sen. Obama?" asked another.

No softball questions for these candidates.

As part of a monthlong mock election project, students at Antioch Community High School held a news conference for the presidential and vice presidential candidates on Monday.

Against the backdrop of whirring camera motordrives and eye-popping flashes, four senior students from teacher Amy Skonberg's AP Government class portrayed Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin.

"This is a way for the students to feel more connected to the political process," Skonberg said. "They've done the background research on their candidates' positions."

Skonberg said that each student has a personal interest in their chosen candidate. The picked them because they reflected their own political opinions.

Student Blythe Roberson chose Obama, Jeff Sprague took Joe Biden, Erick Peters was McCain and Logan Kent was Palin. The "press pool" included reporters and photographers from the school's newspaper, the Tom Tom.

The candidates were ready with answers on most issues. The Tom Tom reporters fired questions about immigration, education, jobs and guns. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan came up as well.

"There will be no tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas," Roberson declared.

"I'll work to make our borders more secure," promised Peters.

A town hall-style meeting and a series of debates are planned before the school holds its election on Oct. 30.

"We're really trying to draw the students back to policy debates, rather than the personal attacks we've been seeing," Skonberg said. "It's all about the learning process."