Iowa Teen Promotes Ethanol at DNC, RNC
by Kathie Obradovich (Des Moines Register) It’s hard to beat this as a summer job for a Des Moines teenager: Two weeks at the Republican and Democratic national conventions as part of an Iowa team promoting ethanol.
Otto Gunderson, 16, traveled to Cleveland last week with the America’s Renewable Future organization and he’s been in Philadelphia this week.
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The youngest son of two politically connected parents, Joe and Mary Pat Gunderson, Otto said he’s a moderate Republican. He said it’s been interesting to see the differences in messaging about ethanol to GOP members compared to Democrats.
At the RNC, he said, they emphasized the importance to national security of ending dependence on foreign oil, as well as the jobs from the renewable fuel industry. They’ve been talking to Democrats more about the effect on the environment.
He said he thought Republicans might be more prone to argue over the value of ethanol but that hasn’t been the case. “Actually more so at the DNC we’ve had more people say they disagree with it and say they aren’t interested and they don’t support the use of ethanol,” he said. READ MORE