Liberty’s Call

A throng of homeschooled students and parents—759 all told—from across the United States joined together from Thursday, October 30, through Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to work on congressional races of candidates in 14 states endorsed by the Home School Legal Defense Association Political Action Committee (HSLDA PAC). They worked under the leadership of volunteer staff from Generation Joshua, HSLDA, and various colleges and universities, including Patrick Henry College, Cedarville University, and New York City’s King’s College.

Generation Joshua GenJ students gained valuable experience campaigning for Mike Sodrel in Indiana.

As these young people campaigned for their candidates, day in and day out, through the freezing temperatures and long days, they learned firsthand about the freedoms for which our Founders gave their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. They learned that young people who are not even old enough to vote can influence an election. They saw the incredible sacrifice made by the men and women who run for office and by their families. And they learned that even when you lose a race, the friendships and experience gained through campaigning are long-term rewards.

Generation Joshua Through phone calls, and door-to-door visits, energetic GenJ students helped send Tom McClintock to represent California’s 4th District in the 111th Congress.

Sarah, a 14-year-old Generation Joshua student who campaigned for Congressman Frank Wolf in Virginia, wrote this about what she learned: “Let no one look down on us in our youth. We were changing the minds of so many voters. We were changing the world.”

Kyrene, a 17-year-old GenJ student from Missouri who campaigned for Mike Sodrel in Indiana, said, “I had fun working on the Student Action Team. It basically reaffirmed that, as teenagers, we can make a difference—no matter what anyone says.”

Through the work of Generation Joshua Student Action Teams, five HSLDA PAC-endorsed congressional candidates won their races, even in a year when many conservatives lost. Pete Olson (TX), Michele Bachmann (MN), Frank Wolf (VA), Mark Souder (IN), and Tom McClintock (CA) were all helped in their successful campaigns by GenJ members and will represent homeschoolers’ values in Washington, D.C.