2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Obama and Clinton pressing for youth vote in Pennsylvania
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Campus
PHILADELPHIA - Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are hustling for the youth vote in Pennsylvania as if they've never heard this is a state where the old hold sway.
Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism, stirred most notably by Obama in student registration drives aimed at replicating his success with young voters dating to the Iowa caucus in January.
How motivated are his youthful supporters? So motivated that Alyssa Beasley, 20, endured an encounter with the DMV so she could switch her driver's license from New Jersey and register to vote at the same time.
And how high are their expectations? In Beasley's case, very.
"I feel like my entire hope and dream for America lies on this man's shoulders," she said on the tree-lined campus of the Jesuit-run University of Scranton.
That heady courtship is matched by a vigorous effort on Clinton's side. Altogether, the April 22 primary is becoming more of a can't-miss event for the young instead of just another why-bother one on the political calendar.
Doug Jones, 19, got so caught up in the excitement that he registered as a Democrat to vote for Clinton, even though he'll probably vote Republican in the fall.
"I'm not doing it out of sneaky and scheming motives to down the Democratic nominee," said the University of Scranton student. "I'd like to take part in the process."
Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation in the percentage of people 65 and older, a group that has favored Clinton elsewhere and appears strong for her here.
Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism, stirred most notably by Obama in student registration drives aimed at replicating his success with young voters dating to the Iowa caucus in January.
How motivated are his youthful supporters? So motivated that Alyssa Beasley, 20, endured an encounter with the DMV so she could switch her driver's license from New Jersey and register to vote at the same time.
And how high are their expectations? In Beasley's case, very.
"I feel like my entire hope and dream for America lies on this man's shoulders," she said on the tree-lined campus of the Jesuit-run University of Scranton.
That heady courtship is matched by a vigorous effort on Clinton's side. Altogether, the April 22 primary is becoming more of a can't-miss event for the young instead of just another why-bother one on the political calendar.
Doug Jones, 19, got so caught up in the excitement that he registered as a Democrat to vote for Clinton, even though he'll probably vote Republican in the fall.
"I'm not doing it out of sneaky and scheming motives to down the Democratic nominee," said the University of Scranton student. "I'd like to take part in the process."
Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation in the percentage of people 65 and older, a group that has favored Clinton elsewhere and appears strong for her here.
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