Obama strikes chord with Generation Next
Campaign targets youth vote in Ind.
PLAINFIELD, Ind. - The windows are down on the white Chevy TrailBlazer, the sunroof is open, and students from Plainfield High School are piling in.
"Have you heard Madonna's new album?" asks 18-year-old Brian Griffin, who is behind the wheel. "Because that's what we're listening to."
But this was no mere after-school joyride. Griffin and his friends, decked out in Barack Obama T-shirts, were on their way to the county government building in nearby Danville to cast early ballots for Obama in Tuesday's Democratic primary. This is the first time that they will help select a president, and it is a heady responsibility.
Amid all the attention on which groups of voters Obama is winning and not winning, one has been steadfastly in his corner: the young voter. From the Iowa caucuses on, the Illinois senator has tapped a yearning for change in Washington, drawing record numbers of young voters to the polls and winning them overwhelmingly - even in states such as Ohio (70 percent of those under age 25 voted for him) and Pennsylvania (65 percent) where Hillary Clinton won solid primary victories.
Indiana and North Carolina, which also votes on Tuesday, present an especially rich opportu nity for Obama to target the youth vote. The states are two of 18 across the country - including Kentucky and Oregon, which vote May 20 - that allow 17-year-olds to participate in Democratic primaries or caucuses as long as they will be 18 by Election Day in November.
That is driving Obama and his campaign to expand their efforts in Indiana high schools to get juniors and seniors registered and in the voting booth.
"There's a lot of enthusiasm there," said Alison Griffin, the youth vote director for Obama's campaign. "They're creative and excited and they want to be a part of things."
In Saint Joseph County, home to South Bend and the University of Notre Dame, more than 400 17-year-olds have registered to vote this year, nearly 9 percent of new voters. And in Marion County, home to Indianapolis, nearly 1,500 17-year-olds have registered to vote this year, about 6 percent of the new registrants.
Alison Griffin and Mitch Stewart, who heads Obama's Indiana campaign, were instrumental in Obama's win in the January caucuses in Iowa, where they created a "Barack Stars" program to mobilize high-schoolers. The work paid off: Youth voter turnout in Iowa tripled compared to 2004, and 17- to 29-year-olds constituted more than a fifth of all caucus-goers. Obama won 57 percent of the youth vote - more than all seven other Democrats then in the race combined.
With record turnout expected across the board in a tight race, it is uncertain how much influence Indiana high-schoolers will have in Tuesday's primary.
Clinton will draw thousands of young voters, including Kylee Kinnett, 21, an Indiana State University student. Kinnett said Clinton has better plans on healthcare and education and the experience to be president "from day one."
Still, Obama's campaign hopes its edge among young voters will help bring him victory. In fact, many students, prodded by Obama's campaign, have already voted, often driving in caravans to their local election offices.
Russell Hanson, a political science professor at Indiana University, said that while high school voters are unlikely to give Obama a major statewide boost, they could help Obama run up his margins in certain congressional districts, and possibly win additional delegates that are awarded by district.
"One could imagine in a close race the youth vote making a difference, and the youth vote will almost surely go to Obama," Hanson said.
The intensity and length of this year's cross-country nomination fight has left Obama's campaign with little time to build a robust youth-outreach effort in Indiana, but it found creative ways to get high-schoolers aboard.
Last week in Kokomo, Obama played three-on-three basketball with 17-year-old Blake Hancock and his friends. It was the reward for Hancock collecting 180 new voter registration forms from his peers in a contest sponsored by the campaign. Hancock, a junior at nearby Marion High School, is too young to vote, so he figured the next best thing was to make sure his friends did.
"I got them to vote to take my place," he said.
Other students have devised voter mobilization efforts on their own, including battle-of-the-band competitions.
Like voters of all ages, students express myriad reasons for supporting Obama. Many can detail his policy positions and the issues. Nearly all say they believe that Obama, at 46 the youngest major candidate, speaks for and values their generation.
Iris Summers, an 18-year-old senior and active supporter at Valparaiso High School in northern Indiana, cites Obama's early opposition to the Iraq war and commitment to ending it. She mentioned her brother's 23-year-old friend, now on a fourth tour of duty.
"Yeah, he signed up for it, but it's still not the right war," Summers said. "You always wonder if you're going to see him for Christmas or Thanksgiving. You wonder if he's going to make it to his next birthday."
Clara Malone, a 17-year-old junior at Bloomington High School South, south of Indianapolis, said that as soon as she found out she could vote as a 17-year-old, she signed up.
"We need this change, and we need someone who's so optimistic and who's just, like, going to bring a whole new politics to Washington," she said.
Some question whether such enthusiasm will endure for the general election and beyond. Some students insist it will - that this election has turned them onto politics in a lasting way. Others are not so sure, especially when you ask them what they will do if Obama does not win the nomination, or does not prevail in November.
For "some of them, it will carry over," said Joe Stuelpe, a government teacher at Carmel High School outside Indianapolis who helps oversee the school's Students for Obama chapter. "And others will get swept up in this and then, like the majority of Americans, it will slide to the back burner."
For now, at least, the interest level is sky-high. Brian Griffin and his fellow Obama devotees from Plainfield, just west of Indianapolis, say they spend nearly all their extra time working for the campaign - organizing students, canvassing, handing out T-shirts, and making phone calls. Griffin said he even quit his job at Barnes & Noble.
"My dad wouldn't let me put an Obama sign in the front yard," said Ben Ulrich, an 18-year-old senior who is fluent in the foreign policy prescriptions of Lee Hamilton, an influential former Indiana congressman who is backing Obama. "But I got a bumper sticker on the car."
On Wednesday afternoon, a few carloads of Plainfield students wound through backroads to cast early ballots at the county seat. The only hitch was their clothing: Partisan messages are barred from the voting place, so they had to turn their Obama T-shirts inside out or wear sweat shirts over them.
"We're glad you're voting," an election official told them.
"We're glad to vote," Ulrich said.
They emerged with "I voted" stickers and displayed them proudly. Brian Griffin left the voting room and knocked knuckles with 19-year-old Jon Dynes, a fellow senior.
"It made me feel so mature," Brian Griffin said.
"History is right now," Ulrich added.
Globe correspondent Matt Negrin contributed to this report. Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.
Correction: Because of incorrect information provided by a watchdog organization, a front-page article on May 3 incorrectly reported Oregon's status on allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 by Election Day in November. Oregon lets 17-year-olds register, but they must be 18 when they cast a ballot in any election. 