High Country residents

plan inauguration trip
By Scott Nicholson

A Watauga County man planning a future in politics was among those selected to receive highly sought tickets to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama.

Jesse Presnell was among 1,900 people who requested tickets from U.S. Rep Virginia Foxx’s office for the event. Of those, about 50 people were selected in a random drawing.

Presnell, of Sugar Grove, is a self-described “political junkie” and Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute student and will be attending the inauguration with other young Democratic leaders.

Presnell was president of CCC&TI’s Student Government Association last year and moved to Watauga County this year to continue his education at CCC&TI’s Watauga branch.

“I got involved with the Young Democrats of North Carolina,” he said. “I was president of the chapter. I am a bit of a political science junkie and I watch C-SPAN five or six hours a day After getting involved in the Democratic Party, I became really interested in the Senate and the Administration and the candidacy of Obama.”

Presnell will go to the capital with Andrew Ball, the president of the Watauga County Young Democrats, and Zack Hawkins, president of the North Carolina Young Democrats. Presnell said he worked in a number of 2008 campaigns “under the radar” for several Democratic candidates, and that helped give him a stake in the new administration.

“Honestly, being there with all the people witnessing a historical moment,” he said of his reason for wanting to attend.

“I’m the first member of my family to go to an inaugural event and, since I’m 20, this was my first presidential election and I’m actually getting to travel to see it.”

Presnell foresees a future in politics, though he’s not sure which side of the legislative aisle he’ll be working, since he sees some potential as a lobbyist.

“My goal is to eventually work towards becoming a state senator and eventually even a governor. I’ve always been interested in public service and I was interested in lobbying. I enjoy working with the legislation and advocating for the people,” Presnell said.

Presnell said he’d submitted a request even before Foxx announced the lottery. He will travel to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 19 to pick up his tickets, then stay through Jan. 21.

He will be staying with friends on the first night, then traveling with a bus tour the remaining two days.

Presnell said there were a number of events he’d like to attend, though he has no fixed itinerary yet. He has the Rock the Ball concert on his list, though.

“I’ll probably just end up traveling back and forth and seeing what’s going on in Washington,” he said.

Kaitlyn Herman, an eighth grader at Valle Crucis Elementary School, and Julia Roberts, a Watauga High School freshman, were chosen as school leaders to attend the inaugural ceremony.

They were selected for the Junior Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference, a program of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference.

Program participants get exclusive invitations to attend private inaugural conference events and activities such as roundtable discussions with national journalists, meetings with congressional staff, and point-counterpoint debates with leading political experts, as well as special events with politicians.

Presnell plans to continually update his blog during the inauguration weekend at www.jpresnell.blogspot.com.