At Large in Ballard by Peggy Sturdivant

After I talked with Andrew Lewis for two hours I had to go home and look up "disingenuous" in my unabridged dictionary. He used the word three times and it struck me that I couldn't muster a good definition. According to Random House, it means, "lacking in frankness, candor or sincerity; insincere."

Better educated in the nuances of politics than at any previous point, I can state with certainty that Andrew Lewis is far from disingenuous. Despite the fact that he's only 17 years old, he is a savvy political animal still sporting pink cheeks, impeccably neat attire and a cell phone filled with the private numbers of leading state politicians. Fortunately for his current boss it's summer break so he's able to put in 14 hours a day managing Al Runte's campaign for Seattle City Council. True, he won't be eligible to vote for his candidate on Aug. 21 but along with his staff he plans to have pitched his candidate to some 35,000 households.

Andrew has been on my radar for several years now - even though he only dates his political experience back to 2004, he was never an average student at Salmon Bay Middle School. He was in my daughter's homeroom and I heard they needed bouncers at the door to turn away all the students who wanted to attend his eighth grade project presentation on the Iraq War. Andrew's subject had been animation for several months but after months of work he switched his topic to the war. In perhaps his only non-political statement Andrew said of animation, "I used to dabble in it. You can do things that wouldn't be possible with humans, like make them fly. The laws of gravity don't exist."

For Andrew the laws of politics have ruled for many years. He's a fourth generation Washingtonian descended from a long line of organizers, including relatives who died in efforts to unionize coal mining. He describes his family as very supportive and strong Democrats. "My parents always vote," he told me, "even on advisory ballots."

A typical day this summer starts about 7 a.m. when he responds to e-mails and then updates the campaign web site. Mid-morning he calls volunteers in preparation for hitting the streets of various neighborhoods with campaign literature, "doorbelling." In the evenings he attends meetings or citizen forums before returning home for a second wave of correspondence.

"It's busy," he said, "but I wouldn't trade it for any other activity." He is helped by a core group of friends, referred to as his cadre.

Andrew gets around the city by bus and bicycle in what he describes as a synergy between the two. You can probably tell that I really like his vocabulary. There has been no time for Driver's Ed, it simply, "isn't a priority." After all this is a senior high school student who regularly testifies in Olympia, whose No. 1 speed dial is the Legislative Hot Line and who is the youngest person ever to serve on the executive board of the Washington State Young Democrats - enjoying full voting privileges on equal footing with 49 other members with an average age of 25.

Over the course of two hours and just one glass of water, we reviewed his political r/sum/ to date, starting with his work as a volunteer on Senator Patty Murray's re-election campaign in 2004. He served a one-year term on the mayor's Youth Council, was field organizer last year for a state senate candidate in the 44th precinct, a delegate to the King County Democratic Central Committee and is now focused on former mayoral candidate Al Runte's bid for an open seat on the City Council. Senior year he will share head delegate duties for the Model United Nations Program at the Center School.

I asked if he could discuss politics the entire day with me if he didn't have doorbells to ring.

"Probably," he admitted. I have eight pages of notes from the time we did spend - this is a new personal record. Using his notes I could write at least three campaign speeches and start a book of quotations. Besides Patty Murray, his heroes include William Jennings Bryan, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. His favorite quotes reinforce his growing personal beliefs about the ongoing need to pursue equality and diversity through a strong democracy.

We discussed public campaign financing, the role of political consultants, the need for reforms in education, marriage and equality issues, neighborhood changes and state versus local government. I asked Andrew if he ever gets discouraged.

"No, I never get discouraged if I hang in there," he said, shaking his head, and that's when he quoted from William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech. "The humblest citizen in all the land when clad in the armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the whole hosts of error that they can bring."

I tried not to compare him to teenagers who were probably asleep instead of preparing to meet their staff in Ravenna. I asked about high school. Although it's clear Andrew is smart as a majority whip, state politics and foreign policy interest him more than Language Arts. Thank goodness it's a summer election. With regards to college, Andrew wants to study International Relations at the University of Washington. He gave me a blank look when I asked if he had a back-up school. Also in the planning stages is launching a political action committee to encourage young people to enter politics.

Our entire interview I tried to mask my disbelief at his maturity, his combination of political enthusiasm and seasoned realism. I'd heard from candidate Al Runte that Andrew knows everybody in state politics; his cell phone offered proof. The only time Andrew reminded me of a more typical seventeen year-old American male was when he scrolled through his cell phone address list, as though it was a play station in his hands instead of former governor Mike Lowry's home phone.

Already I'm looking back at my interview with Andrew Lewis, Ballard resident, politician - to think I knew him when.

Peggy's e-mail is atlargeinballard@yahoo.com She writes additional pieces for the P.I.'s Ballard Webtown at http://blog.seattlepi.