9-Year-Old Politician “白宮的神奇小子”諾亞受到布什重用 The battle over Social Security has been joined by an unusual lobbyist, a 9-year-old boy from Texas (George Bush’s hometown), who has agreed to travel around supporting President Bush’s proposal. The boy, Noah McCullough, made a splash with his encyclopedic command of presidential history, earning five appearances on the “Tonight” show and some unusual experiences in the presidential campaign last year. He beat Howard Dean in a trivia contest at the Democratic National Convention and wrote for his local newspaper about his trip to see the inauguration. “He’s very patriotic and very Republican,” said to the media Noah’s mother, Donna McCullough, a former teacher and self-described Democrat. “It’s the way he was born.” 2004年，諾亞在學校採訪了當時的民主黨候選人克里 In a sign of how far groups go to carry their message on Social Security, Progress for America has signed up Noah, a fourth grader, as a volunteer spokesman. He starts on spring break from James Williams Elementary School in Katy, Tex. Progress for America, which spent almost $45 million backing Mr. Bush last year, plans to lay out $20 million on Social Security this year. It has spent $1 million on television commercials and is working to send experts around the country. Among them are Thomas Saving, a trustee of the Social Security Trust Fund; Rosario Marin, a former United States treasurer; and one really, really young Republican. Noah will not be eligible to collect Social Security for nearly 60 years. Noah will travel to a handful of states ahead of visits by the president and will go on radio programs, answer trivia questions and say a few words about Social Security. Though he is obviously not an expert (and not really a lobbyist, either), officials say the effort is a lighthearted way to underline Mr. Bush’s message. “What I want to tell people about Social Security is to not be afraid of the new plan,” Noah said. “It may be a change, but it’s a good change.” The trip was a brainchild of Stuart Roy, a former aide to Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, who recently joined the DCI Group, a political consultancy here with ties to the Republican Party and Mr. Bush. Noah became interested in presidents as a 5-year-old after a mock election in kind-ergarten. Today, he has more than 3,000 books on presidential history. He campaigned for Mr. Bush, speaking to Republican groups. After 27 trips to the first President Bush’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station, he scored a meeting with the former president. Noah plans to run for the White House in 2032 — and he wants Social Security addressed before then. 2004年總統大選期間，諾亞跟隨布什出訪了27個州，他在“總統一號”前留影 布什竭力推行的社會保障制度改革多了一個不尋常的說客，一名來自布什老家得克薩斯州的九歲小男孩，應總統的邀請爲社保改革進行全國巡迴演講。 這個名叫諾亞-馬克庫拉夫的小男孩在美國知名度頗高，被稱爲“美國總統歷史的百科全書”，美國著名的脫口秀節目“今夜”曾經五次邀請諾亞上節目，去年諾亞因爲幫助布什競選總統而爲自己更增添了不平凡的經歷。他曾在民主黨大會上的一次小辯論中擊敗霍華德·迪安，還爲當地報紙寫過關於他所看到的就職典禮。 諾亞的媽媽唐娜-馬克庫拉夫，曾經當過老師並自稱是民主黨，她說：“諾亞非常愛國，而且他是個不折不扣的共和黨人，他生下來就是這樣。” 在一次關於如何進行社保改革的團體簽名活動中，美國國會通過簽名同意諾亞，一位四年級的小學生，成爲志願工作者。初春他就要暫時告別位於德克薩斯州凱蒂鎮的詹姆士·威廉斯小學了。 去年，國會爲支持布什推行社保改革花費了4,500萬美元，今年國會將撥款減少到2,000萬，其中100萬用來進行電視宣傳和聘請全國各地的專家開展工作，這些專家包括社會保障信託基金主管托馬斯-斯文、前國家財務主管羅薩里奧-瑪林等等，而其中還有一個很年輕很年輕的共和黨人，那就是諾亞了，而小諾亞至少要在60年以後纔有資格享受社會保障制度。 諾亞將作爲開路先鋒在布什訪問之前先到達那些州，他將到電臺接受聽衆諮詢，或者談談有關社會保障制度的話題。儘管諾亞並不是專家，也不是真正的政客，但是布什政府充分相信諾亞對改革的推行有幫助。 諾亞說：“我想告訴人們的是，不要害怕新的社會保障制度，它是一種改變，而且它會朝對民衆有利的方向改變。” 這次行程是斯圖爾特-羅伊的想法，他是德克薩斯州共和黨人代表湯姆·迪萊的前任助手，最近加入了DCI集團，是一名依附於共和黨和布什先生的政治顧問。 諾亞5歲的時候，幼兒園進行了一次模仿美國總統選舉的遊戲，從那時開始諾亞就對總統產生了興趣。到現在，諾亞擁有的關於美國總統歷史的書籍超過了3,000本。在共和黨聚集大會上他發表演說支持布什，跟隨布什遊歷了27個州，在得克薩斯州的總統博物館裏他還見到了老布什。 諾亞的目標是在2032年入主白宮——他希望到那個時候社會保障制度早就已經很完善了
