WOW, what an election! No, not the McCain-Obama faceoff – I’m talking about the contest for student council president and vice president at Stuyvesant High, a jewel of New York City’s public-school system.
Located in Battery Park City, Stuyvesant is super-competitive. The school counts among its graduates Tim Robbins, James Cagney, Lucy Liu, Thelonious Monk and David Axelrod, Obama’s chief campaign strategist. Only 3 percent of the 25,000 teenagers who apply each year are granted admission.
The stakes are much lower, of course, but – as unveiled in Caroline Suh’s brisk documentary “Frontrunners” – the student election plays out as a microcosm of the race for the Oval Office.
There is a primary, a televised debate and a newspaper endorsement. There also is the question of change versus experience and racial politics – since 50 percent of the school’s 3,500 students are Asian, can any ticket win without one?
The only thing missing is the mud that the big boys love to sling. But the Stuyvesant candidates are kids – give them a few years.
Running time: 83 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue. Through Oct. 21.
FRONTRUNNERS