His predictions prompted an outpouring of praise from supporters and ire from detractors who claimed Silver’s model was not factual. Unlike speculation from pundits, his pragmatic model uses individual state polls to predict an electoral outcome.

But to Silver’s parents, long-time East Lansing residents Brian and Sally Silver, their son’s feats this year are just another chapter in a somewhat unexpected success story.

“It is kind of surreal,” Sally Silver said. “When we see him on television, he’s just Nate; he’s our son.”
When Nate Silver started his political forecasting in 2007, he was living in Chicago and had become drawn to an election in which Obama, a local candidate, was running, his mother said.

“He just put his foot in there and tried his hand at that,” Sally Silver said. “It turned out he was right in his approach, which is pretty amazing.”

MSU head debate coach Will Repko, who was Nate Silver’s debate coach at East Lansing High School in 1993-96, said the FiveThirtyEight blogger always was “a bit of a stats geek” and an asset to the debate team with his precise research skills.

But he wasn’t always a star debater.

When Nate Silver first joined the team, he was “a little bit shy and unpolished and not charismatic,” Repko said.

Over time, his debate performances improved, but his knack for statistical information continued to shine.

“I think there’s a part of him that’s always believed that the substance of what you produce should be more important than form or style, but I think he’s come to realize that both are important,” Repko said.

Sally Silver, former chairwoman of the Bailey Community Association, said when she first saw her son give TV interviews, she noted his awkwardness, a sign of his inexperience in the media spotlight.

In the four years that his status has grown — culminating in last week’s media storm — he has become a more household name in election analysis.

Nate Silver did not return interview requests from The State News­ – his parents said even they have trouble getting ahold of him nowadays.

Repko said he has been impressed by Nate Silver’s post-East Lansing path but is not surprised.

“I don’t think I really get how big it is,” Repko said. “I still see him as the kid in the back of the van trying not to be in the middle seat – a fight he often lost.”

Sally Silver said she doesn’t expect her son’s celebrity status to last a long time, especially as the fervor of the election dies down.

And once it does, she isn’t sure what her son will do in the election interim — his licensing agreement with The New York Times ends in summer 2013, said Brian Silver, a political science professor at MSU.

The most surprising turn of events is the amount of attention Nate Silver’s fame has brought back to East Lansing, his parents said.

“I’ve gotten maybe two dozen emails from strangers or from colleagues or former students writing to me out of the blue … beginning to make the connection,” Brian Silver said. “Those were enjoyable.”

Despite all the media attention, Brian Silver said he was very happy to see his son’s success.

“All these things, and that’s our kid,” he said. “That’s our Nate.”