Q&A queens: Miss Rodeo America contestants falter (and occasionally shine) during current events quiz

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Miss Rodeo America.
Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

We’re not the judges, but if we were (and the Q&A was the sole deciding factor in competition), here’s who’d get the crown in the following categories:

Best 73-word sentence: Miss Rodeo Minnesota, Dayna Inverson

Q: What impact do you believe the United Nations has had on world politics and economics and do you believe this organization in its current form, should continue to operate?

Miss Rodeo America Pageant

A: “Coming from America we live in the land of opportunity and the United Nations has the opportunity instilled with their ideas and regulations with what they want to instill on other countries and I believe the United Nations has a strong impact on other countries that don’t have the strong beliefs that we do and that they do have a huge impact and it is a good idea and it should continue on.” – Miss Rodeo Minnesota, Dayna Inverson

More

More Miss Rodeo America
Rodeo queens are dumb, well mostly (12/5/08)
Beyond the Weekly
Miss Rodeo America 2009

Best non-solution solution to a problem: Miss Rodeo Arizona, Casey Rose

Q: Global warming continues to be debated in the United States. Do you believe that global warming is a reality? Why or why not?

A: “I do believe global warming is an issue in today’s world. It’s an issue because I think we’re overpopulated. I think there has to be some sort of control in order for global warming to be under control.” - Miss Rodeo Arizona, Casey Rose

Longest compound sentence that didn’t answer the question: Miss Rodeo Florida, Sydnye Weber

Q: In recent months, gas prices have dropped significantly from the record highs of earlier in the year. What do you think has caused the decline in prices and do you think they will stay that way?

A: “I believe that the cause of gas dropping is our economic standpoint right now. It is in serious crisis and I’m very thankful that it has dropped. Coming from all the way from Florida to Las Vegas the gas prices were just so so high over the summer and just traveling for all of the cowboys, they had to do a buddy-up system to help to get to each rodeo so I was very thankful to see the gas prices drop so that they can travel and I feel like our economy is on a shaky ground right now so if they can stay low, every little bit will help.” – Miss Rodeo Florida, Sydnye Weber

Vaguest answer: Miss Rodeo Utah, Rena Cowley

Q: In tough economic times when the United States’ national debt is overwhelming, should the government continue to fund expensive programs such as NASA and space exploration?

A: “I believe we should continue funding programs such as NASA. Through space exploration we have found so many new technological advances that have enriched our lives so much more. I believe that perhaps there are other areas of our government spending that can be scaled down so that we can continue funding projects such as NASA.” – Miss Rodeo Utah, Rena Cowley

Most ignorant AND Best misuse of a medium-sized word: Miss Rodeo Alabama, Ellen Glasser

Q: The congressional budget office estimates that 21 to 31 million Americans are uncovered by health insurance. What impact does this have on the country and Americans in general?

A: “Personally my family has insurance and my dad makes sure to have insurance on my family just in case something were to happen to one of us. I believe that people that do not have insurance, they’re not going to be as likely to get the healthcare that they need and the impact is, you know, if you have cancer and you’re not able to pay for it, there’s programs out there but it’s harder to find those programs if your insurance isn’t there so it’s word of mouth that helps these programs to survive but I think insurance really impacts a family’s life because it’s a liability that’s there so if anything happens you know you’re covered.” - Miss Rodeo Alabama, Ellen Glasser

Best use of patriotism and enthusiasm to avoid answering the question: Miss Rodeo Idaho, Natalie Bish

Q: The recent elections had a record turnout of voters in many areas, with strong increases in younger voters. To what do you attribute this renewed interest in American politics?

A: “I think that this is amazing thing that they’ve trying to get younger voters involved. I believe that living in America this is a privilege that we get to have an opinion and an opportunity to vote so I think that we need to, have to keep going strong on encouraging young voters to vote.” - Miss Rodeo Idaho, Natalie Bish

Best oh-you-almost-answered-that-one: Miss Rodeo Texas, Avery Gonzales

Q: An alarming trend today is obesity, particularly in children. What do you think can be done about it?

A: “I think the number one problem to solve obesity would be to educate people. I don’t think people are educated about the right amount to eat, the right about of exercise and I think we need to instill these values in our children at a young age so that they don’t develop obesity at a young age and they can grow up to be healthy adults.” – Miss Rodeo Texas, Avery Gonzales

Best Sarah Palin impersonation: Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, Kristin Killion

Q: Do you feel offshore drilling for oil is an appropriate solution for America’s energy crisis?

A: “I’m an American as we all are and I love to support American products and I feel that offshore drilling should be in America and we should drill here because we have so much of it.” – Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, Kristin Killion

The legitimate Q&A queens:

Miss Rodeo Iowa, Aleigh Beahm

Q: Do you think that the government should offer amnesty to illegal immigrants who are now living and working in the United States? Why or why not?

A: “I believe that we need to do background checks on these immigrants before we do allow them amnesty into the United States but I also believe that the Unites States is a land of immigrants. We need to remember that all of us came from another country, originally, our ancestors. And these people here, they are very hard workers. They are doing a lot of the jobs that we ourselves do not want to do.” – Miss Rodeo Iowa, Aleigh Beahm

Miss Colorado, Megan Grieve

Q: The Big Three automakers are requesting billions of dollars from the government yet other automakers who produce cars in this country do not appear to be in the same crisis. Why do you think this is?

A: “I strongly believe that the reason why the Big Three have approached Congress for a bailout solution is primarily due to the fact that they are strongly involved in unions. In fact my dad and I were just discussing, on the way from Fort Collins, about how many of the employees actually receive over $70 an hour between benefits and between actual pay. So it’s kind of interesting to think that it’s a less efficient program when there are unions are involved in comparison to many other organizations.” – Miss Colorado, Megan Grieve

Honorable mention: Miss Rodeo Montana, Audrey Sholty

Q: There was a great deal of debate during the recent election whether the president should reach out to accused terrorist countries to engage them in conversations about many issues. Do you think the United States should do this?

A: “I do believe that it’s a great idea for the United States to reach out to other countries with potential terrorists living there and, you know, the first step toward, essentially, world peace, is to start a conversation. Nothing bad can come out of sitting down and visiting about something so I think it’s a great idea for our country to reach out to other countries across the world and start to form allies with everyone and hopefully form a better world we live in today.” – Miss Rodeo Montana, Audrey Sholty

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