“I’m a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts,” the woman told a campaign volunteer. She added: “I have 12 undergraduates downstairs who want to help. Can I bring them up?”
However, it was not surprising to Barack Obama’s campaign. For the past few months, thousands of young voters across America, most of them being students have listened to Obama’s messages abut chance and hope. They had packed themselves into cars and boarded planes to spend one to a few months working on Obama’s campaign.
While a lot headed out to Iowa, thousands of them had to be sent away because they were more than the team could manage. Some were sent to help out with New Hampshire. All of the campaigns have relied on the youth arms of their respective parties, none seemed to have the same appeal to the younger activists than that of Barack Obama’s campaign.
They were attracted to Obama’s message of tackling special interest groups and lobbyists.
“I came up from New York six months ago and have been coming back ever since,” said Ariel Atlas, an eighteen year old University of Delaware student. “The turning point for me was a rally (Mr Obama) gave in Washington Square in New York in September. He blew me away with a speech about elevating our country to a new status among the rest of the world, about gaining allies,” she added.
While Obama has tapped into the student and youth votes, Clinton’s camp criticizes Obama over his lack of experience in Washington.
“His vision is good but in terms of experience I don’t think he is qualified to be president,” said Eric Tolbert, a thirty-one year old attorney from Manchester. While he liked Obama’s message, he will not vote for him on Tuesday.
While many of the foot soldiers for Obama’s campaign are a little more than only twenty years old, they have influence on the campaign. The campaign tapped into first time voters who are seventeen to eighteen years old. Many believed that it caused Obama win Iowa.
Their experience with the internet was invaluable. One example was that Obama’s campaign pioneered the use of online tickets for rallies and events.
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