Teen’s family hosted the Clintons, says politics ‘shape the nation

Central Catholic High School senior Harleen Dhaliwal is no stranger to politics and politicians.

For example, last spring Harleen's father sponsored a fund-raiser for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The speaker for the lunch-time fund-raiser was former President Clinton, who spent some time with the Dhaliwal family right before joining the group at the event.

Though Harleen is 17 and cannot vote yet, she said she would vote for Barack Obama if she could. When it comes to her political party, Harleen feels the candidate's ideas are more important than anything else.

"I try to focus on the candidate, but if I had to choose (my political party) it would probably be the Democratic party," Harleen said.

Harleen gets her political information and ideas from a variety of sources.

"I tend to get my political information from teachers, classes, the news, and sometimes from my parents," she said. She feels that the most important issues facing the United States today are the war in Iraq, relations with the Middle East and the economy.

"I think politics are very important," Harleen said. "They shape the nation."