The Kid Who Ran for President

Judson’s speech in Chapter 25 illustrates a few key points. First, his jump in the polls after the speech airs reveals the short attention spans of Americans. The day before, they disliked Judson for breaking into a locker, renaming his parakeet, and not knowing Chelsea before his campaign. After Judson admits to all these things, people like him again. This shift also shows how Americans value honesty. When the details of Judson’s past come out, people see him as another lying politician, but when he comes clean, he is different because he owns his mistakes. Even though a section of his speech was almost plagiarized, it goes unnoticed—again showing the public’s short attention span because people didn’t remember the speech from when Nixon gave it. The near-plagiarism also demonstrates that honesty can be buffered by dishonesty.

Judson’s resignation completes his character arc. From the beginning, he treated his campaign with only enough seriousness to make Lane happy. After being elected, Judson knows he cannot run the country and takes what he feels is the most responsible action—resigning. Judson’s victory shows an outsider can enter the political arena, particularly with a strategy based on making bold and outlandish statements to gain attention.

The final chapter also wraps up the other character storylines. June is impressed with what Judson accomplished. Abby reenters Judson’s life, showing the strength of their friendships and how Judson has discovered what’s truly important. Chelsea’s concern for the silkworms reveals her ability to be loyal to a cause, and Lane’s offer to help her shows how things never really change. Chelsea is his next project, and there will likely be another after he’s done with Chelsea.