Posted on 10/10/2007 10:29:47 AM PDT by weegee
Democrats putting stock in Iowa's younger voters
Caucus rules let 17-year-olds join if they'll be 18 by Election Day
In the past two caucuses, nearly 65 percent of participants were older than 50. Yet John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are betting that even a few new faces could sway a close contest.
They're putting their faith in people like Chris Elsenbast, a 17-year-old high school senior in Ames, a college town just north of Des Moines. Elsenbast is head of Ames High School's chapter of BarackStars, an organization set up by the campaign with groups throughout the state.
"I agree with a lot of his policies, but I think he is really like a different type of politician," said Elsenbast, who will turn 18 before the caucuses and plans to support Obama.
Campaigns hope to take advantage of a quirk in Iowa's caucus rules, which allow 17-year-olds to participate if they'll be 18 by Election Day, Nov. 4, 2008.
Ryan McNulty, a 17-year-old whose birthday is in December, has volunteered for the Edwards campaign and plans to support him at the caucuses this winter. The high school senior in Norwalk, a suburb of Des Moines, became interested in Edwards after discussing the candidates with his government teacher.
"He's the most genuine of all the candidates," McNulty said. "He represents the common person better than the others."
Iowans in their teens and early 20s seem especially fertile ground for Obama, who has drawn huge crowds at colleges.
"The key for us is building an organization that can harness that enthusiasm and turn it into support," said spokesman Tommy Vietor.
If history is any indication, that will be quite a chore.
In 2004, about 17 percent of Democratic caucus-goers were younger than 30. Attending the caucuses, held in each of the state's 1,784 precincts, can be intimidating to newcomers, unaccustomed to publicly declaring their preferences for a candidate and bargaining with others.
"There's a history of trying to turn them out," said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University. "There's not much success in that."
The campaigns recognize the challenge but contend that this time might be different. Considering that only a small percentage of Iowans take part in the caucuses, even a small bump in the number of participants can make a difference.
The candidates also are making pitches to young people through Web sites, text messaging and on popular networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Edwards' daughter, Cate, recently held two days of events at Iowa colleges and other young people's locales with James Denton, who stars in ABC's Desperate Housewives.
If the candidates succeed in altering the demographics of caucus attendees, it will be a shift of historic proportions, Goldford said.
Inadvertent cut and paste, above article was intended to be in the article portion of the thread.
AP so no excerpt requirements necessary
Not a bad move.
Ryan McNulty, a 17-year-old whose birthday is in December, has volunteered for the Edwards campaign and plans to support him at the caucuses this winter. The high school senior in Norwalk, a suburb of Des Moines, became interested in Edwards after discussing the candidates with his government teacher."He's the most genuine of all the candidates," McNulty said. "He represents the common person better than the others."
John Edwards for Prom Queen.
Anyone thats ever known a 17 year old with a dog understands this is unintentionally very very funny.
Except to the dog that doesn’t get fed on a routine basis.
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