Lexington, VA - After years preparing for this day, Washington & Lee students voted Saturday and predicted Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for President and Governor McDonnell will be his running mate.
This is an educated, research-based decision and according to the school, W&L's is the most accurate student run mock convention in the country, so they're pretty sure they've picked the right one.
Some of the final speakers included former Mississippi Governor and keynote speaker Haley Barbour, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, and former presidential candidate Fred Thompson.
"We're going to have to have leadership that is willing to raise some hell, talk straight to the American people understand what's going on with the country, and communicate what we need to do to get ahead," said Thompson.
Republicans say one thing we need is more jobs. Former Governor George Allen spoke directly to the students about the low employment rate.
"Young leaders, this election is all about your future. After graduating from Washington and Lee, do you want to move back home with your parents?" asked former Governor George Allen.
Many W&L students are eager to enter the real world and organizing mock convention 2012 - with its national reputation gave them some real world experience.
"We've had our fundraising team go all around the country and go to Dallas and New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to raise money," said Tucker Pribor, personnel chair, Mock Convention 2012."
W&L Senior Tucker Pribor has been preparing for this day since freshman year.
"We've been working for three-and-a-half years to put this together and it's really a culmination of hard work to get all the students involved," said Pribor.
After all their hard work, Tucker and the W&L student body chose Mitt Romney to most likely grab the Republican nomination. And they say if anyone could beat Obama, it would be him.
"I think he's got the best chance to win the moderate vote which is really the only chance anyone has to get elected now. I think he set himself back with a few gaffes recently, but I think he has the business experience and is a smart enough guy to do really well in the general election," said Pribor.
