These days, when you look up “King County, WA” in the dictionary, a picture of Barack Obama might accompany it.

Obama won 67 percent of the Washington State vote, compared to Clinton’s 31 percent. Every legislative district in King County went to Obama by an astonishingly high percentage, the highest being 81 percent in the 37th legislative district, an urban area in Seattle.

If you’re an Obama supporter in King County, if you’re a Democrat in general, you can shout it from the rooftops with all the tenacity your heart can handle. You can openly discuss it in public, and you will no doubt find many people who agree with your views. You can easily organize a volunteer effort, because you’ll be in no short supply of bodies.

King County is a Democrat’s dream.

The suburbs of San Antonio, in Bexar County, are not.

Well, at least not at San Antonio Christian School.

This past Saturday, a “Political Youth Rally” was held on the San Antonio Christian School’s campus. The staff of the Revelation, the high school newspaper, put on the rally.

According to Pam Lutrell, sponsor of the Revelation, the event was created to stir up political awareness among youth. Earlier in the year, the newspaper staff conducted a survey at the school about the upcoming presidential election, and the results portrayed a lack of knowledge about the candidates or enthusiasm about the race.

“It was about giving teens the chance to talk to fellow teens,” Lutrell said.

Held on the track and field outside, and created in a bi-partisan fashion, anyone who felt compelled to could get up and speak in front of the crowd on behalf of their chosen candidate.

At the caucuses in Seattle, Obama supporters voiced their opinions loudly, and outnumbered every other candidate in representatives.

At the San Antonio Christian School, Courtney Nelson was the lone Obama representative.

“I can’t really express my opinion well here,” Nelson, a senior at the school said.

Nelson went on to explain that when she does speak up for Obama at school, often she receives a negative reaction.

“Going to the Obama rallies (in Austin and San Antonio), were the first time I felt really comfortable being who I am,” she said, finally being surrounded by fellow Obama lovers.

San Antonio Christian School is one of the bigger private schools in San Antonio, with 363 students at the high school.

“The school is very conservative, very pro-life,” Lutrell explained. In reference to the lone speakers for Obama and for Clinton, Lutrell expressed that “it takes a lot of courage at our school” to take a Democratic stance.

Talk about culture shock. This is certainly not the Seattle I’m accustomed to.

“Students here are almost brainwashed to believe the Republican platform,” said Nelson.

“A lot of the seniors here are highly Republican. I hope some of them are trying to form their own opinions, as well.”

Madeline Colley, 17, spoke on behalf of Clinton at the rally, and explained that even though she’s been involved in some intense debates, “it’s never been about insulting each other.” Colley expressed gratitude to her fellow Republican classmates, saying, “they do listen” when she states her opinion.

While Obama and Clinton had their lone rangers representing, Mike Huckabee was the man of the hour, with six students speaking on his behalf. McCain, the Republican front-runner, had two student representatives.

Passionate in their beliefs, the Huckabee students related much of their reasons for Huckabee love to moral issues such as abortion and gay rights.

Their speeches garnered hard claps and cheers throughout the audience.

Obama and Clinton speakers got polite golf claps on their behalf.

Matt Woolbright, news editor of the paper, respected each speaker because “they all honestly believed in what they were saying,” but explained that in making the event of bi-partisan, they received an intense amount of criticism and complaints.

“One parent’s email said, ‘you don’t have to be politically correct, we’re a private school’,” Woolbright stated.

Woolbright disagreed, expressing his belief that “someone who has different beliefs than I do has just as much a right to express those views as me.”

Though her Republican-heavy school and community seem to be an obstacle in expressing her Democratic beliefs, Nelson has hope for fellow Democrats in Texas.

“I truly believe it’s becoming more Democratic. The party really is resounding throughout Texas, and the youth are becoming more involved and making our voices heard,” Nelson said with a smile.

I left the Political Youth Rally completed surprised. The surge in youth involvement, in areas such as Seattle, has surrounded the Democratic party, particularly Obama. My naïve mind expected it to be no different here.

After realizing I was no longer in Democrat country, my shock subsided, and I began to wonder: do GOP supporters in King County ever feel like Nelson does at her school? The King County area in Washington and Texas seem to me to be a paradox, one strongly Democratic and one strongly Republican.

I don’t have an accurate answer to this question, but I’d love to explore it more.

All I know is Toto, we aren’t in Seattle anymore.