Young Earns Passing Marks

You’ve got to love serendipity.

Through pure happenstance, 9th District U.S. Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind., happened to be holding a town hall meeting at Ivy Tech Community College last week while I was teaching an introductory speech class there. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I took my class over to watch his speech.

It was my first time to meet Young. The freshman Republican was very gracious, taking time to meet my students before the presentation and mentioning them several times during it. He even managed to poke a little good-natured fun at me, saying I should give the students extra credit for attending. (Don’t worry congressman. I will.)

Young’s presentation was straight from the GOP playbook, but solid. He talked for around an hour about the country’s mounting debt, saying Congress has an obligation to act. He repeatedly warned of entitlements, which he called “autopilot” spending.

Young made a compelling case – even if I didn’t agree with everything he said.

From a public speaking standout, Young delivered. He was relaxed, had his sleeves rolled up, and spoke without a podium. He didn’t sugarcoat anything and answered questions respectfully, but unflinchingly. He’d definitely pass my class.