Duffy teaches 11th grade English at Del Valle High School. Jeb's onstage guest: 'I lean Obama'

He may have appeared onstage at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, but teacher Sean Duffy of Austin, Texas, isn’t necessarily voting for GOP nominee Mitt Romney come November.

“I lean more toward Obama, but I think I’m going to vote for someone who’s going to be a strong supporter of education and education reform,” Duffy, 26, told POLITICO in an interview.


Duffy teaches 11th grade English at Del Valle High School near the Texas capital. He’s also, as POLITICO reported yesterday, the co-star of a save-the-date video inspired by Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore” that went viral in 2010.

On Thursday night, standing alongside former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Duffy highlighted the importance of technology in education.

“I went to speak about education, and I’m not really concerned about any of the political issues,” he said Friday.

Duffy said he’s heard Obama talk some about education — he cited the president’s desire to make college more affordable, and that he hasn’t “necessarily heard the same” from Romney — but added that he’s still waiting to hear more on the subject from both candidates.

He wasn’t, however, impressed with the education portion of Romney’s keynote.

“I heard him say school choice is important,” Duffy said. “Other than that, I haven’t really heard much.”

If Bush appeared on the ticket, Duffy said, the former governor would probably get his vote. But he doesn’t consider himself a member of either party.

“I don’t necessarily support Romney, I don’t consider myself a Republican,” Duffy said. “I’m pretty much an independent.”

No one asked him about his political views when he was selected to address the convention, he said, adding that Bush’s office contacted him after he hosted a “ digital learning day” Webinar at his school. About a week and a half before the convention, Duffy learned that he would be appearing onstage instead of in a video.

“I thought it was a good night,” he said. “I spoke to a lot of people afterward, delegates from different areas, who were really, really grateful for some focus on education on stage. I had people telling me afterwards, saying they were glad someone was talking about education in front of the GOP.”