“白宫的神奇小子”诺亚受到布什重用

　　The battle over Social Security has been joined by an unusual lobbyist, a 9-year-old boy from Texas (George Bush’s hometown), who has agreed to travel around supporting President Bush’s proposal.

　　The boy, Noah McCullough, made a splash with his encyclopedic command of presidential history, earning five appearances on the “Tonight” show and some unusual experiences in the presidential campaign last year. He beat Howard Dean in a trivia contest at the Democratic National Convention and wrote for his local newspaper about his trip to see the inauguration².

　　“He’s very patriotic³ and very Republican,” said to the media Noah’s mother, Donna McCullough, a former teacher and self-described Democrat¹. “It’s the way he was born.”

2004年，诺亚在学校采访了当时的民主党候选人克里

　　In a sign of how far groups go to carry their message on Social Security, Progress for America has signed up Noah, a fourth grader, as a volunteer spokesman. He starts on spring break from James Williams Elementary School in Katy, Tex.

　　Progress for America, which spent almost $45 million backing Mr. Bush last year, plans to lay out $20 million on Social Security this year. It has spent $1 million on television commercials and is working to send experts around the country. Among them are Thomas Saving, a trustee of the Social Security Trust Fund; Rosario Marin, a former United States treasurer⁴; and one really, really young Republican. Noah will not be eligible⁵ to collect Social Security for nearly 60 years.

　　Noah will travel to a handful of states ahead of visits by the president and will go on radio programs, answer trivia questions and say a few words about Social Security. Though he is obviously not an expert (and not really a lobbyist, either), officials say the effort is a lighthearted way to underline Mr. Bush’s message.

　　“What I want to tell people about Social Security is to not be afraid of the new plan,” Noah said. “It may be a change, but it’s a good change.”

　　The trip was a brainchild of Stuart Roy, a former aide to Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, who recently joined the DCI Group, a political consultancy here with ties to the Republican Party and Mr. Bush.

　　Noah became interested in presidents as a 5-year-old after a mock election in kind-ergarten. Today, he has more than 3,000 books on presidential history. He campaigned for Mr. Bush, speaking to Republican groups. After 27 trips to the first President Bush’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station, he scored a meeting with the former president.

　　Noah plans to run for the White House in 2032 — and he wants Social Security addressed before then.