Biden takes message to campus

Young voters like those at ECU are key to Democrats' strategy

GREENVILLE -- Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Monday visited one of the key territories his party is counting on to help win the White House: a college campus.

Biden addressed an East Carolina University crowd in which students appeared to be in the minority, but the visit reflected how much Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is counting on the youth vote. Democrats are hoping a wave of new, energized voters will help propel them to widespread victories on Election Day.

The modest-sized ECU crowd of about 400 didn't display a surge of support in this Eastern North Carolina town, but students said the campus is dotted with signals that this year is different.

Mary Morgan Mills, a freshman elementary education major from Charlotte, said the Obama campaign routinely sets up a table for voter registration in the commons area where students eat lunch.

"They're always handing out fliers," Mills said. "I've seen a [John] McCain table once."

Librarian Rita Khazanie, 55, said students seem more attentive and enthusiastic than in years past.

"Everybody seems to know more about the issues," Khazanie said. "It's not just, 'I'm going to vote for somebody.' It's, 'Here's why.' "

What Rachel Sykes, a senior public relations major from Selma, noticed is not that her friends say they're going to support Obama but that so many have already voted for him.

Biden delivered a 25-minute speech, part of which mocked Republican efforts to distance McCain from President Bush.

"I know Halloween's coming," Biden said, "but John McCain, dressed as an agent of change - that costume doesn't fit."

During visits Monday and last Thursday, Biden made five stops in North Carolina. Four were on college campuses.

"There are more students eligible to vote in North Carolina than the number of votes by which North Carolina's presidential vote was decided in 2004," said Paul Cox, spokesman for Obama's North Carolina campaign.

Younger voters typically don't show up in the polls, with their participation rates trailing far behind older voters. Obama's campaign, however, has invested heavily in campaign staff in North Carolina and other states. Part of their mission has been rounding up volunteers, including on college campuses where they "storm the dorms" for voters, Cox said.

Biden spoke directly to students, emphasizing that they have the most at stake because they have so much life ahead. He highlighted how Obama wants to broaden the definition of the kind of public service that helps earn money for college beyond serving in the military.

"If you commit to our communities, our hospitals, our schools, the underserved areas," Biden said, "If you serve our country, we will get you to college."

College students provide a relatively untapped reservoir of support, said Peter Francia, a political science professor at ECU. Though students are busy, many of them have more time for political activity than working voters who are raising families. They're also more comfortable using technology -- e-mail, texting and the like -- that has become an effective and successful means of reaching voters for modern campaigns.