Over the course of three weeks, more than 13,000 students from 45 states and the District of Columbia voted in the exciting 8 for '08 Student Poll, co-sponsored by the Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI), based at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and The White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing women’s leadership. Holly Hatcher, the Assistant Director of Programs at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, stated, "The YLI voters are the next generation of the American electorate. They will elect our future leaders. It's fantastic to see so many students voting in our mock elections. This gives us hope that a decade from now, we'll have a more engaged electorate."

The goal of the 8 for '08 campaign is to educate and inform Americans about some of the strong, capable women currently serving our country in a leadership capacity. The White House Project identified eight women, four Republicans and four Democrats, with the qualifications to run for president. Teachers and students could access lesson plans focusing on gender and the presidency, a biography and photo of each of the eight candidates, and both online and paper ballots to use for casting votes. In the end, students selected U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, as the female leader most qualified to run for president in 2008.

The final results of the 8 for '08 Student Poll are:

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (R): 38.77%, 4958 votes
• Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY): 30.71%, 3927 votes
• Mayor Shirley Franklin (D-Atlanta, GA): 7.73%, 988 votes
• Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX): 5.97%, 763 votes
• Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS): 4.98%, 637 votes
• Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME): 4.53%, 579 votes
• Senator Susan Collins (R-ME): 4.21%, 539 votes
• Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ): 3.10%, 397 votes

For state-by-state results go to YLI's website, www.youthleadership.net, and click the 8 for '08 icon located in the top right corner of the page.

The White House Project also offered the 8 for '08 poll to adults throughout the country via their website, www.thewhitehouseproject.org. Nearly 15,000 adults took advantage of the opportunity to cast their vote. The results of the adult poll are as follows, in order of greatest number of votes:

• First: Senator Hillary Clinton
• Second: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
• Third (tie): Mayor Shirley Franklin and Governor Kathleen Sebelius
• Fourth: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
• Fifth (tie): Governor Janet Napolitano and Senator Susan Collins
• Sixth: Senator Olympia Snowe

To find out more about The White House Project, please visit their website at www.thewhitehouseproject.org. Results of the 8 for '08 poll are also featured in Parade magazine. For complete 8 for '08 Student Poll results, visit the 8 for '08 Student Poll results page.

The 8 for '08 Student Poll, as well as the adult poll, are academic exercises. They are not true random samples of public opinion among America's K-12 student population, nor the adult population, and are therefore not designed to be predictive of the general election.