MONROE - Among all the political issues they could have chosen, five out of seven freshmen interviewed last week at Monroe High School ranked the war in Iraq as the top issue President-elect Barack Obama should fix in the next four years. They had differing views of what they meant by "bring the troops home," but all of them thought Obama could get Democrats and Republicans to work together.

Most high school freshmen will become the youngest voters in the 2012 presidential election. U.S. population between the ages of 14 and 17 now is estimated to be about 17 million in 2012; about 7 percent of the population over age 18.

Kaytlyn Knox, 14, wanted Obama to "end the war, with a victory."

Likewise, Austin Burandt, 15, wanted to "end all things in Iraq, but keep the troops. Keep troops there, kind of like in Germany after World War II." He wants Obama to keep troops stationed there, because "the gas is there."

Jason Atkinson, 14, didn't make any concessions in the matter.

"There's nothing happening over there, and they don't need to be there right now," he said of U.S. troops.

Atkinson was surprised to find out, and does not favor, Obama's plans to send at least 7,000 troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Tanjy Zimmerman, 14, wants Obama to bring the troops back home and make peace with Iraqi insurgents. She gives Obama a time frame of two years to accomplish the task.

"My main priority, bring the troops back," Jenni Stretsbery, 14, said. "I want (Obama) to take a strong lead of the country, not like Bush did. All Bush did was put money into the war."

Tyler Barta, 15, had a different priority list of changes for Obama.

"Probably the economy, first thing," he said.

Barta did not support the $700 billion bailout package Congress passed in October.

The plan "gave money to the companies, but didn't monitor the action of companies receiving the money, and high executives aren't changing their ways" of handling money, he said.

Barta wants Obama to change the direction the war is going.

"I'd like troops to come home, within the next four years," he said.

With that action, he thinks Obama could tackle the national debt.

"Somehow find a way to cut that (debt) down. For instance, by pulling the troops back, to save money in the war," he said.

Burandt's second priority for Obama is to "improve the economic crisis."

"By opening up the stock market right now, (with) not so many private companies ... have the government run some companies," he said.

Knox wants the government to "help businesses," but she also took a personal approach to the economic woes.

"Get rid of personal credit cards, and require a 50 percent down (payment) on home loans," she said.

Atkinson wants gas prices kept low.

Zimmerman ranks the economy as a second priority, also.

Kyle Cessna, 14, sticks with one issue as a priority: Better education at all levels. Obama pledges to overhaul the No Child Left Behind law, stating that it emphasizes math and reading too heavily at the expense of music and art; although, he has not indicated how much change he would make.

Obama encourages universal pre-kindergarten, supported by an $18 billion plan, and offered a tax credit plan to pay $4,000 of college costs in exchange for 100 hours of community service a year.

He would pay for part of the educational costs by ending corporate tax deductions for CEO pay.

Obama told members of the VFW, (Aug. 21, 2007) that his administration would "expand access to education for our veterans and increase benefits to keep pace with rising costs."

After the war in Iraq and the economy, a variety of issues are priorities of the teens.

Stretsbery wants a higher level of preventative measures in the county, such as having FEMA ready to act in the event of a disaster.

Zimmerman has several ideas on how Obama could help reduce global warming.

"Keep people from polluting the air, make CO2 levels go down, and regulate greenhouse gases by factories limiting oil burning, coal burning, and ethanol plants," she said.

Zimmerman also opposes abortion; although Obama has a 100 percent pro-abortion rights voting record with the National Abortion Rights Action League. He favors relaxing federal restrictions on financing embryonic stem cell research and abortion rights.

"I have consistently advocated for reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wad a priority as president," Obama said early in the campaign.

While the students have some ideas of how Obama might approach the issues facing him, the seriousness of the issues leave them grasping for humor at times.

Knox wants a "national health care plan for everybody."

And how would Obama pay for that?

"I don't know ... there's all that gold in that cave," she offered hopefully.

Fort Knox?

"Oh, yeah, that's it. Fort Knox," she laughed.

Her friends just shook their heads and laughed with her.

Barta believes Obama can get Democrats and Republicans to work together, "because he's just so likable." That is evidenced by the fact that Obama was elected, he said.

"If he wasn't (likable), the nation would not believe he could unite them," he said.

Burandt also believes it is Obama's personality that will get the two parties working together.

"Yep, because he seems like that kind of person. He listens to everybody and chooses a little from both sides," he said.

"Obama's focused on what's actively going on in our county," Stretsbery said.

Knox showed how history lessons may give some students insight into the way our country has changed, and can change again.

"When Martin Luther King made his speech, it didn't make as big a difference until now," she said. "They never expected a black president."