The Kid Who Ran for President

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1996

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-6

Chapters 7-10

Chapters 11-12

Chapters 13-14

Chapters 15-16

Chapters 17-18

Chapters 19-22

Chapters 23-24

Chapters 25-26

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 23-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 23 Summary: “The Runaway Train”

The next morning, the newspaper headline states that Judson won the debate with his strategy of eliminating the issues and that he’s ahead in the polls. His parents are so excited they throw a party, and even Lane is excited, congratulating Judson on following his instincts. While everyone else has a good time, Judson feels like he’s in a haze, unable to figure out “how I’d messed up messing up the debate” (128). Instead of ruining his run, his tactics turned it into a runaway train.

Chapter 24 Summary: “Moongate”

Guerra calls during the party to ask if Judson broke into a kid’s locker in fourth grade to steal a term paper. Judson did—it was Arthur's paper that Judson stole to get back at him for putting a “kick me” sign on Judson’s backpack. Guerra thanks Judson and hangs up.

The next day, an article in the Capital Times from Guerra announces the “Moongate” scandal. The article talks about how Judson broke into the locker. It also details how he didn’t know Chelsea before he asked her to be First Lady and that he changed his parakeet’s name. Judson is sure Arthur ratted him out. With only two days until the election, a furious Lane says the only way to fix this is for Judson to go on national television and read a prepared statement word for word—"No improvising. No jokes. No goofing around” (134). Judson agrees.

Chapters 23-24 Analysis

In Chapter 24, the newspaper article refers to Judson throwing the debate as a strategy to win. This is irony because Judson was trying to do poorly to lose, but the people interpreted his actions as a tactic to win. Rather than intentionally ignoring the issues or making them disappear, Judson just answered the questions with the first answer that came to mind. His resulting lead in the polls shows how people follow someone based on their feelings rather than reality. People liked how Judson handled the debate or were entertained by his antics, causing his approval rating to rise. In reality, Judson is still a kid who knows nothing about the presidency or politics, and people like him because he is different, which is not necessarily a sign of quality.

“Moongate” is a play on Watergate, a scandal from President Nixon’s time in office. Watergate’s name comes from a break-in at Democratic Washington D.C. headquarters in the Watergate building. During the break-in, important documents were stolen, and those responsible were linked back to Nixon’s reelection campaign committee. Judson’s Moongate scandal refers to Judson breaking into Arthur’s locker two years ago and stealing a term paper. The public’s reaction to Moongate shows how quickly people turn on a candidate when someone reveals the candidate to be less than perfect. Moongate is nowhere near the scale as Watergate, but linking Moongate to Watergate by making its name similar is intended to cause a strong reaction.