Before anyone ^^ calls out the family or the students invited to go on this once in a lifetime trip, they should get their facts straight. The Senator did nothing but show his support and help request tickets, he did not know which students were going. The student who was "not allowed to go" didn't go to meetings, rallys or even the party on election night the rest of the students threw. The rest of the students worked hard campaigning for Obama. The Senator's family was not involved and for the record are reprimanded all of the time through false rumors and hurtful people. Get your facts straight before you hurt other people.

It is unfortunate for the teens who went to Washington, DC to have to come home from such an experience to face the negative remarks from adult whose family member(s) did not go to DC. The teens who were able to witness history in Washington, DC worked hard to get there. One student in particular called Charleston to Mr. Rahall's office to find out how to get tickets because he, a big Obama fan, wanted to witness history himself. The office told him how to go about getting tickets. Meetings were held at the High School for those interested in going to DC. The teens who attended the meetings were the ones who requested and received tickets. No one could obtain a ticket for someone else, you had to attend the meetings yourself. The teens who did go to DC were able to witness a black man becoming our Nation's 44th President. These teens cannot be considered racist. They are white students supporting a black President. Where is the racism there? It is unfortunate that some teens did not get to go to DC when the opportunity was available. However, let's all be adults here and allow this great once-in-a-lifetime experience be just that; a wonderful experience these teens can be proud of. If certain teens did not go to DC, it is not the fault of others. The opportunity was there for the taking. All you had to do was attend the meetings and request a ticket. Let's all be proud that teens from Webster County High School were able to witness a great day in history in seeing a black man become the 44th President of the United States of America and not focus on the fact that someone missed out on a great opportunity when it was there and available. I myself am proud of the teens who are interested in America enough to attend this great Inauguration Ceremony and am proud of the adults who were willing to fight the crowd of 1.5 million people to give this opportunity to the teens. Do we want Webster County to be listed on the news and in the local papers because they were able to witness history or do we want slander and negative remarks to be a black mark on the county? Let's put our children where they belong, in the limelight for a few short seconds, and be proud of that fact.

I agree with the poster below me. I know for a fact this young girl was looking forward to going to this once-in-a-lifetime event, especially after all of her hard work campaigning for Obama. It was very wrong of the Senator's family to tell her they would take her and then not do it. It was SHE who received the invitation to go, and not the friend of the senators daughter whom they took instead. The sad fact of the matter is that no one in this family will ever be reprimanded for what they did to this young girl because of who they are.