The Belmont University bookstore is selling items relevant to the election and the Belmont presidential debate, which took place in Belmont's Curb Event Center on October 7.  Available items include Belmont Debate '08 T-shirts, shoulder bags, bumper stickers and notecards, as well as Barack Obama's and John McCain's books, The Audacity of Hope and Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them.

By Vyomika Jairam

"Hi, my name is Tobin and I'm calling to talk to you about Barack Obama, do you have a moment?" Tobin Van Ostern, national co-director of Students for Barack Obama, asks a Virginia voter on the phone.

Van Ostern will also talk to the voter about Mark Warner, a candidate for senate. Five minutes later, he's on the phone with a voter in North Carolina.

"Hi, my name is Tobin and I'm calling to talk to you about Barack Obama, do you have a moment?"

This time, he'll talk about Kay Hagan, who is running for senate. A few minutes after that, it's a voter in Wisconsin, and on and on, all afternoon.

With just a few weeks to go until the Presidential election, Van Ostern is doing all he can to help Sen. Barack Obama win. Taking advantage of free weekend minutes on his cell phone, Van Ostern spent last weekend making calls to voters in swing states.
 
But Van Ostern wasn't the only one. Van Ostern, a junior at the George Washington University, helped organize and lead a national phone campaign by students from over 800 university chapters across the country to voters in swing states. The campaign was made possible by a technology called Virtual Phonebank--a system in which users log onto their mybarackobama.com accounts and are provided with contact information for targeted voters.
 
Tentatively named "Last Calls for Change," the campaign is a targeted effort to drive out voters and will be conducted over the coming weekend until Election Day. This is the second national phone campaign that Students for Barack Obama has conducted.

In the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses in January, SFBO ran a similar phone campaign that specifically targeted student voters. It was the first time that the Obama campaign had used then new Virtual Phonebank technology.

The student-to-student campaign lead to a high turnout of young voters, and for the first time ever, more people under the age of 35 voted than over the age of 65. Obama won the state by nine points more than his Democratic opponents. SFBO decided in September to again conduct a phone campaign, this time targeting voters in swing states, hoping to affect the vote as they did in Iowa.

Rock the Vote put on a free show at Monroe Park yesterday, just off VCU's campus.  The Beastie Boys and Santogold performed. Sheryl Crow sang a short set; she was followed by Jack Johnson. 

About 1,000 people attended, most of whom were VCU students.  All of the artists went on to perform a concert at the Richmond Coliseum Tuesday night as part of the Rock the Vote campaign.

The race for the congressional seat in New York's 25th district has been affected by a number of different factors, experts at Syracuse University said.

 "The presidential race is affecting the congressional race enormously, as presidential politics did in 2006, when Maffei came close," said Grant Reeher, political scientist at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Dan Maffei, the democratic candidate, almost beat Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., in 2006 during a year when a large number of Republican congressmen lost their seats to Democratic rivals. Walsh was able to retain his seat by defeating Maffei with fewer than 4,000 votes.

This year, Maffei faces Dale Sweetland, the republican candidate, a returning figure to local politics. He served in the Onondaga County legislature for seven terms.

Maffei has a monetary advantage over Sweetland, largely due to a successful fundraising campaign and help from the Democratic National Committee.

According to CQpolitics.com, Maffei has a 4-1 monetary advantage over Sweetland, as of September.

The presidential election is just one of many factors that will shape the outcome of this race. Growing dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, name recognition and campaign funding will also determine the election results, said experts at SU.

A Kiley & Company poll released on October 9 showed Dan Maffei ahead of his opponent Dale Sweetland by 18 points. The poll, paid for and released by the Maffei campaign, showed 49 percent of voters support Maffei compared to 31 percent for Sweetland.

Students gathered in Belmont's Neely Dining Hall today to hear the former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus give her speech entitled "How would Jesus vote?"

According to the new data, Arizona Senator John McCain's home state has slipped into a statistical dead heat. The latest numbers, which show Sen. McCain with a 46-44 lead, come from Arizona State University along with PBS affiliate, KAET.

(A video from the ASU/KAET poll )

These results, along with data from a number of other state polls, indicate a marked decrease in Sen. McCain's lead, which was at one point estimated at as much as 21 points.

Poll director and long-time political consultant, Dr. Bruce Merrill said that in addition to the closing numbers, he sees a number of intriguing trends in the new data.

Merrill points the the narrow slice of the electorate that might still be swayed during the last days of the campaign as one of the most interesting trends from his poll.

"[Voters] are firmly committed and won't change their mind before Election Day," Merrill said.

94 percent of Obama's supporters, and 93 percent of McCain's supporters say they will not change their mind before the election.

According to Merrill, Obama's broader strategy for winning the traditional swing voter has proven successful in Arizona, and that McCain's nationally secured base is reflected in his home state.

"Obama has been closing the gap by attracting independents and women to his campaign," Merrill said. "McCain does well among conservative Democrats and evangelicals."

The College Democrats at Syracuse University consider the state of New York won for Barack Obama. Instead of campaigning for Obama, the College Democrats are spending more time and resources on the local congressional election. 

By Angélique Primault

The George Washington University hosted a youth vote forum Monday to assess the potential impact of young voters in this year's election. Co-hosted by CBS News, Youth Vote '08 presented the results of a poll in which college students preferred Sen. Barack Obama to Sen. John McCain, two to one.

CBS national correspondent Dan Raviv moderated the discussion, which focused on young voters' opinions and the impact they might have on the upcoming presidential election.

The forum featured speakers from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Rock the Vote, and GWU's School of Media and Public Affairs. Participants epitomized the enthusiasm of young people for the election and specifically--for Obama.

Heather Smith, Rock the Vote's executive director,  discussed the desire of students for candidate attention to their concerns. Survey results revealed that students felt that Obama cared more about them than McCain.

The intensity of enthusiasm for candidates is as important in politics as the issues, said Steve Roberts, a GWU professor. Sixty-eight percent of the Democrats are very enthusiastic about their candidate, compared to only 38% of Republicans

CBS News, the Chronicle for Higher Education and UWire, a university news wire service, and surveyed nearly 25,000 students at universities in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado. The survey showed that a majority of Democrat students "really liked" or "kinda liked" Sen. Joe Biden, while a majority of Republican students did not approve of Gov. Sarah Palin.

Sarah Hebel, who works at the Chronicle of Higher Education, commented on the difference in age between the two candidates (Obama, 47, McCain, 72) as an explanation for the massive difference in youth support.

Roberts said McCain was from the generation of young voters' grandparents.

Zach Braff, star of TV's "Scrubs" and the film "Garden State," came to campus  Saturday to rally the early vote for Barack Obama with about 100 students.

Xinhua/Reuters

Source: CCTV

Text messages seem to be cheaper and almost as effective as more traditional means aimed at getting voters out on election day.  Read the whole article here from ASU's WebDevil.

Editor's note: This, to me, is the most important issue of the current election and of our time.

"It's said that there are only two things money can't buy," Bernard Obie said Saturday at a farming workshop in Durham, NC. He offered a Lady Godiva pumpkin to the person who could correctly identify the two intangibles:

"True love and home-grown tomatoes."

The answer encompassed two sides of agriculture that make up Obie's farming philosophy: the spirituality of growing relationships as well as the physicality of feeding yourself.  

"It's my personal belief that we have a responsibility for our food," Obie said, "We have to begin to stick our hands back in the soil."

Bernard Obie started his own farm last year: Abanitu Organics. He is also the farmer director of the Durham Inner-city Gardeners (DIG), a program that teaches organic gardening, business and healthy food choices to young adults.

What you eat should make you impervious to the vicissitudes and hardships in life, but what your food doesn't have, it can't give, Obie said, referring to the depletion of nutrients in soil (and as a result: plants) attributed to the use of chemical fertilizers.

"We can't live in a poisoned planet," he said, "we need to stop the myth that we'd be able to live in a polluted environment without polluting ourselves."  

Obie taught people about season extension, stretching the growth of fall and warm weather plants into the winter, in a workshop presented by Bountiful Backyards, a fiercely organic landscaping company in Durham, NC.

We've been able to get people collards for their New Year's Eve lucky meal, he said, referring to the southern tradition of eating collards and black beans on Jan. 1. Season extension can also mean earlier plants in the spring. One can begin to plant even with snow on the ground.

Several considerations for growing in the winter include site selection, mulching, plant varieties and warmth, he said. ATTRA has more information about growing sustainably in the winter.

B.J. Lawson, the Republican congressional candidate for North Carolina's 4th district, attended the event.

Lawson said that he mostly has herbs, but that he was moving to a more rural area and in the process of growing bigger.

Local sustainability is a large part of his campaign. The two biggest things are government responsibility and local empowerment, he said.

Teaching people to grow their own food is central to that goal.

"We can't rely on Washington to help us -- we need to take back our community," he said.

DU College Republicans and Students for Barack Obama used the homecoming parade Saturday to promote their campaign messages.

"David Brooks said at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts that this election will mark a "sea change in American politics" and that the Democratic reign could last as long as 10 to 15 years. 'Obama by nine,' the Times columnist predicted. 'I have a wager with an Obama pollster, who says he'll win by seven.'"

Read on at Romenesko

By Simone Perez

Party lines were strictly divided Tuesday night as The George Washington University's  College Republicans and College Democrats debated on the issues and platforms of their respective presidential candidates.
      
Brand Kroeger, College Republicans chairman and Cory Struble, College Democrats president answered questions in defense of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama while nearly 250 GWU students rallied behind them.
   
Kroeger and Struble were asked questions regarding economics, energy policies, the war on terror, health care and several others. 

On questions relating to the war, Struble argued that McCain sees no end in sight and has publicly said the U.S. might still be overseas for the next 100 years.

Obama wants to focus in on areas that are in need of the troops, such as Afghanistan so that the work can more quickly get done, Struble said. 

Kroeger said that Obama's lack of experience working abroad will endanger the U.S.

"Obama has never dealt with a foreign country," Kroeger said.

By Ariele Pratt

Throughout October thousands watched the four presidential debates that were broadcast live on all major news networks. The presidential and vice presidential debates, however, weren't the only political programming anticipated eagerly by viewers each week.  

Saturday Night Live made national headlines for former castmate, Tina Fey's, impersonation of Gov. Sarah Palin. Fey's resemblance to the Governor of Alaska made her parody even stronger.

The Fey-Palin skits thoroughly affected students at GWU. After the sketches aired, students constantly made references to the sketch and professors discussed the implications of the satirical skits with their classes .

 "The Fey-Palin skits grew in popularity on GW's campus both among friends and was discussed in the classroom," senior Francisco Pardo said.

Students from both parties praised the SNL skits. Some, however, criticized the media for being to ruthless when covering the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

"I think that the skits are hilarious, but the reason I think its hilarious is because it is an overly dramatized portrayal. However, I wish [SNL] would make fun of Joe Biden equally and that the media would cover that as well," said Veronica Brown, a first-year College Republican member.

Belmont students gathered in the Beaman Student Life Center tonight to watch Swing Vote, a movie starring Kevin Costner as the man whose single vote will determine the outcome of a presidential election.

By Chelsea Mears

Robin Williams headlined Colonials weekend at The George Washington University with shows last Friday and Saturday night. Tickets for this show went on sale July 8 and sold out quickly. Williams, who is known for tailoring his act to the location, took advantage of D.C.'s political atmosphere.

Williams joked quite a bit about politics and the election, saying that he thinks Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen through "Project Running Mate." He also poked fun at McCain but neglected to criticize Obama.

"After eight years under W, I was starting to think that electoral politics was like the Special Olympics," Williams said.

It was apparent to many students that Williams would vote for Obama.

"It was certainly obvious to everyone that Williams favored Obama. His political jabs at the Bush administration reflected poorly on the whole Republican party, which could influence voters so close to the election," freshman Erika Bach said.

Throughout this election, the media has focused on celebrity endorsements. Some students said that they don't mind celebrity endorsements, but others argued that it could do damage.

"Who are they to tell us who they think we should vote for?," junior Katy McCoy said. "Most of them are not college educated anyway."

Several students said that the first amendment allows celebrities to criticize the president or whomever they want just like anyone else, but some said that as a country, we need to look more united.

When students were asked to pair up the politician with the celebrity that endorsed them they got all of the pairs right.      

On the whole, students at GWU blamed the Bush administration for some of the problems the country faces today, but they are growing tried of listening to celebrities "bash" the administration and wonder if they have a better solution.

"I found Robin Williams to be hilarious, but even though the Bush administration has made mistakes, I feel like it's old news," junior Emily Davila said. "And it's not like celebrities have any brilliant ideas, or at least I've yet to hear them."

UNC-Chapel Hill Young Democrats rallied students in the Pit, the heart of Carolina's campus, to march to the Morehead Building to vote early on Wednesday.

The students, chanting in support of Obama, marched through one of the central campus quads and past a large display questioning the morality of abortion.

Belmont students and faculty gathered in the Beaman Student Life Center today for a convocation event titled "Faith-Informed Political Science," in which a panel of three political science professors discussed what role their Christian beliefs play in their ideas about politics.

Bob Barr, Libertarian presidential candidate, spoke to students and answered questions Friday at the University of Denver's Lindsey Auditorium. The event, sponsored by the independent newspaper on campus, [dis]claimer, drew about 50 students.

Students and community members filed inside Morehead Building at UNC-Chapel Hill to vote early and to receive tickets to an Obama rally Monday night.

Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who is running for reelection, made an appearance, but the event centered around a performance by James Taylor.

Around 6,000 people filled the bleachers and track in Fetzer Field, said Paul Cox, the North Carolina press secretary for the Obama campaign.

During the rally, Taylor encouraged people to vote early and endorsed Obama. He had the crowd join with him as he sang "go Obama go."

Taylor also sang his classics "You've Got a Friend" and "Carolina in My Mind." He added some new lyrics, including "you've got a friend in Obama tonight." His wife, Kim Smedvig, joined him onstage for his final songs.

"This is a historical moment especially for the Tar Heel state on the cusp of going blue for Obama," Taylor said.

    

UNC-Chapel Hill junior Jimmy Waters decided to early vote because he had an hour of free time Monday and thought the lines would be shorter.

He said it was easier to vote at the on-campus early voting site than his voting day location. His freshman year he waited to vote until Election Day and had to walk two miles in the pouring rain to cast his ballot, he said with a laugh.

"From that moment on I have early voted."

Have you voted early? Why or why not?

Columbia University hosted two different debates Monday night, according to the campus newspaper, The Spectator.

"With the election two weeks away, the economy is the number one issue on the minds of Americans," University President Lee Bollinger said in his opening remarks before the senior economic advisers to the two presidential candidates outlined how their candidates would salvage the financial system.

In another debate at the school's medical center, two experts debated how Republican and Democratic politics in this election would affect future health care policy.

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke to a crowd of about 200 people Friday afternoon at the Westcott Theater, a couple of blocks away from Syracuse University's main campus.

By Madeleine O'Connor

Students who live in GWU's Thurston Hall are passionate about politics. The dormitory houses over 1200 first-years, many of whom post everything from campaign stickers to candidates' quotations on their doors.

One sign on a door called Joe the Plumber, "the only candidate who can relate to the issues we care about."

Another read "Ron Paul for President."

With the election approaching, energy is high at the Princeton Review's second most politically active university.

Three Democratic students share Thurston's most outrageous decorations. The first-years posted a vampiric picture of John McCain captioned, "I am a bloodthirsty war mongrel," and a photo of his running mate posing with a dead elk captioned, "Sarah Palin Kills" on their door.

Wade Mollison, one of the students who posted the signs, said, "I personally disagree with McCain and Palin's views."

Arizona State College Republicans get together every Thursday to talk about current issues. This past week, they talked about the presidential campaign.

Belmont University is a student-centered Christian community according to the school's mission statement. 

There are more than a dozen active Christian ministry organizations on campus including Campus Crusade for Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Orthodox Christian Fellowship. 

At Belmont, a predominantly Christian school, many students are outspoken about their religious beliefs.  But these beliefs don't necessarily determine student opinion on the presidential candidates.

DU's Sidelines Pub once again drew 100 students to watch the presidential debate on Wednesday night.

Many students said they felt the final discourse between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama was far from satisfying.

The difficulties universities face to host a presidential debate were discussed yesterday in a story at ASU's The State Press.

Click here to read it online.

By Michelle Bradbury

Obama won by a landslide at The George Washington University's mock election. Online ballots were open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The results were released before a debate-watch party that was coordinated by the Program Board in conjunction with the College Democrats and College Republicans.

The results were presented visually, on a map similar to the election maps available on news site. 

CNN.com's election map was posted first to show where candidates stood nationally. GWU voters' electoral map showed that Obama won overwhelmingly. McCain won only Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, while Obama took the rest.

Campus reminders were set up throughout campus, and the election was conducted online. An informational booth was set up on GW's Mount Vernon Quad in front of the Vern Express stop.

Interactive stands were set up at GW's University Yard. The College Democrats, the College Republicans, Program Board, Class Council and Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Education set up booths. The Program Board also arranged Gladiator Political Jousting and Equalizer, an obstacle-course race. CADE gave out mocktails, including Barack-on-the-Rocks and McCain Martinis.

The booths promoted voter awareness for the national election and for the mock election.

Click here to read the posts at the NYTimes

The three candidates vying for the congressional seat in New York's 25^th district participated in a forum Wednesday night at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Dan Maffei (D),  Dale Sweetland, (R), and Howie Hawkins, (Green) were given 30 minutes to answer a number of questions from moderators Donna Adamo of WSYR News Channel 5 and Robert McClure, the Chapel Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy at SU.

About 75 students, professors and central New York citizens filled Maxwell auditorium for the event, which was broadcast live on the local CBS affiliate WSYR Channel 5.

The forum aimed to allow conversation with the candidates and to provide an opportunity for them to discuss their plans and policy positions in detail.

The names of the three candidates were placed in a hat and drawn at random to determine the order in which they would speak. Dan Maffei went first, then Dale Sweetland and Howie Hawkins went last.

The three candidates discussed the War in Iraq, the economic crisis, education and job creation in Central New York among other topics.

About half of the audience had left by the time it Hawkins began to answer the moderators' questions.

Alexander Ufen, a political science student at SU who stayed through the entire event, said that based on the performance of the three candidates, he would support Maffei.

"I liked the format," Ufen said. "Having a forum like that was much more effective than a debate. You don't get into the laundry lists, you actually get specifics."

Read more about the event and the issues each candidate discussed.

By Chelsea Radler

The George Washington University repeatedly ranks among the most politically active colleges in the country.

Availability of government internships and proximity to political hubs like Capitol Hill contribute to GWU's political reputation, according to annual surveys by The Princeton Review, EduChoices.org and others.

The College Republicans has over 300 registered members. The College Democrats exceeds 1,300 in membership, and the e-mail lists of the groups combined have nearly 5,000 addresses on a campus of 10,000 undergraduates. So it would seem that GWU's reputation is warranted.

Both groups have held debate-night watch parties and social gatherings, from the Democrats' "Oproma" soiree to the Republicans' "NoBama" barbeque. The groups have also hosted high profile speakers like CNN strategist Donna Brazile and former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. Moreover, the political organizations have worked together with other student groups to ensure that absentee ballots are readily available to the campus.

Energetic students plaster signs endorsing candidates on doors, in windows and on apartments' garden fences, but does this enthusiasm really effect change beyond GWU's campus?

In a mock presidential election held at Belmont on Tuesday, John McCain emerged victorious.  But out of more than 5,000 undergraduate students at Belmont, only 143 turned out to vote.  McCain won the mock election by nine votes.

By Farhan Daredia

Donna Brazile, CNN political commentator and campaign manager for Al Gore's presidential run in 2000, spoke at George Washington University Monday to shore up support for Barack Obama. 

Mrs. Brazile's visit to GW was secured and co-sponsored by six GW student organizations: the College Democrats, the Student Association, the Program Board, the NAACP, the Black Women's Forum, and the National Society of Black Engineers. 

As I entered the Jack Morton Auditorium to hear her speak, I was greeted by Wesley Callahan, the political affairs chair for the College Democrats. He was handing out yellow cards for people to write questions that they had for Brazile.

Student leaders opened the event with an appeal for unity and canvassing commitments.

The students were followed by Christopher Arterton, dean of GW's Graduate School of Political Management, who jokingly told students to apply to his school if they felt that they hadn't already paid this university enough money.

Dean Arterton said students shouldn't just focus on the  Barack Obama v. Sarah Palin national race, before correcting his mistake and admitting that it was "quite a revealing one."  He also invited students to an event on state election analysis at the National Press Club.

Brazile followed Arterton. She was genial and joked that her introduction failed to note that she is a superdelegate. She also laughed about how she missed getting presents from Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, spoke to a packed audience Tuesday afternoon at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The Center for Colorado's Economic Future, a nonpartisan research group based at DU, is helping to clarify some of the issues on Colorado's ballot, according to an article in DU Today.

The Center has compiled a summary of four of the 14 initiatives on this year's ballot: referendum O, amendments 52, 58, and 59.

The center's director, Charlie Brown, is quoted in the article:

"The sheer number of issues on the ballot, their complexity...and the amount of homework citizens must do to cast informed decisions is creating a lot of concern,".

What do you call an environmentalist who doesn't necessarily recycle, reduce or reuse?

What if this person wasn't fighting to save the planet's environment but a nation's political environment? 

Philip Barrett is this kind of environmentalist. As campus coordinator for the nonpartisan Democracy Matters chapter at the University of Denver, he said that he aims to eliminate the private campaign money that "pollutes the democratic process."  

Barrett's stand for democracy makes him one of the most visible student activists on campus, giving the opportunity to students to learn more about what "clean elections" are.

According to Barrett, a clean election is one funded solely by public money. Private donations from special interest groups, corporations or privileged individuals, would not be part of the process. 

This public financing would ensure that politicians are held accountable to the people and not a minority of wealthy elites, Barrett said. 

"I'm shooting for a perfect democracy," he said, adding that a publicly funded election process, where everyday Americans have a tangible investment in those running, "is the epitome of democracy."

But Barrett hasn't always taken a nonpartisan view in America's political environment. He says his involvement in politics began when he campaigned for the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. 

"I was going door to door before I could even vote," he said.

What he saw in 2004, and says he continues to see today, though, is politicians acting in the interests of their biggest donors. 

According to OpenSecrets.org, a campaign finance database of the Center for Responsive Politics, the biggest industries donating to congressional campaigns deal in law, real estate, health, entertainment, oil and gas and defense. 

In working with Democracy Matters, Barrett has learned that the influence this money engenders seems to bring government farther from everyday people.

Barrett also points out that public financing is an alternative that candidates can opt-into, like Sen. John McCain for his presidential campaign. But, "the system is broken," he said, adding that McCain has previously accepted private donations and also used methods to rely less fully on public financing. 

To curb this practice, Barrett is getting students involved. He organizes and supplies informational tables about campaign money and voter's rights. His efforts are being noticed. 

"It's really rewarding talking to students and learning that they care," he said. At his chapter's first meeting, "one guy was really getting into it," he continued, adding that they were able to come up with some great ideas to round out this election season.

While Barrett isn't recycling or reusing in the classic environmental context, he's fighting to reduce pollution in American democracy.

"Clean elections is really the most important election issue," he said. In his eyes, it touches all other issues and how politicians decide on issues of health, human rights, energy and the economy.

"It's not liberal change or conservative change," he said, "it's like the motto of Democracy Matters: 'change elections, change America.'"

By Victoria Riess

George Washington University's chapter of Students for Barack Obama had a busy weekend.  The organization, composed of about 500 members, sent students to Ohio and Virginia to canvass. Their objectives were simple: to talk to and persuade undecided voters and gauge the level of support for Obama in the contested swing states. 

Chapter leader Fae Jencks, a junior political communications major, accompanied members of GW's SFBO on the Virginia trip.

"Virginia was early on identified as a key swing state in this election. This is one of our opportunities to rebuild a democratic majority," Jencks said. 

Virginia hasn't voted democratic since 1964, but Jencks said she was confident that this year will break the trend, referencing the popularity of Governor Tim Kaine and former Governor Mark Warner for support. 

"It's great that Obama is a candidate that so many people see as willing to be bi-partisan and put politics aside for the good of the country," she said, sure of her candidate's ability to pull in undecided voters.   

Travelling is normal for GW's SFBO; they have been canvassing in northern Virginia every Saturday since Sept. 13, with the help of the Arlington field office for the Obama campaign. Last year, they took several trips to South Carolina both in October and two weeks before the Jan. 26 primary, and canvassed in Delaware the weekend before Super Tuesday. Currently, they are planning trips to southern Virginia before the election. 

"Northern Virginia is a very liberal and reliable democratic vote. Residents in Northern Virginia have a high turnout rate, so we want to turn out voters who have a sporadic voting record," Jencks said of the organizations planned trips to Southern Virginia.
 
In conjunction with the canvassing trips, GW's SFBO phone banks every Thursday with the Washington D.C. Obama Office and every other Saturday on campus.

George Washington University was reported as the second most politically active campus in 2009 by The Princeton Review, and SFBO prides itself on taking student political activity outside the campus borders. 

"We really want to be able to say that GW had a role in the election, not just in voter turnout, but in making sure that we are active in such a historic election, one that will be a turning point in US history," Jencks said.  

Deana Claiborne, a former president of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, spoke to Belmont students and faculty about women's suffrage and the importance of registering to vote for the upcoming election.

Claiborne discussed the history of women's suffrage, explaining the importance of figures like Susan B. Anthony and Molly Todd, the founder of the League of Women Voters of Nashville.

Kvetching is complaining.

And every week Carolina students have the opportunity to voice their anonymous complaints through the kvetching board on the opinion page of The Daily Tar Heel. Three of last week's gripes had to do with politics.

"Does anyone realize that Obama is the epitome of a pop culture candidate?" one student wrote.

Matt Spanne, a senior english major, and Victor Olivera, a senior communications and drama major, stood in the middle of campus today picketing for "Comrade Obama".


The seniors wore red armbands over black dress clothes. They passed out flyers adorned ominously with a black star and bullet points defining the dangers of "Obamaism".

One grievance read, "Biden's numerous charges of plagiarism represent the ultimate communal concept. Why should your ideas belong to you?"

"We're trying to spread the gospel," Spanne said. "Someone's got to do something."

The facetious display was meant to address the campus's onesidedness, Spanne said.

"We want to see what people will say," he said.

Olivera, who matched his red armband with a pair of red Ray-Bans, said that some students took offense at their demonstration.

One student said, "This is bullshit," then crumpled up the flyer and walked away, Olivera said. 

Former President Clinton rallied for Barack Obama Sunday night outside the Student Commons at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Thousands attended the event. The president of the Young Democrats, Jonathan Ward, opened the rally, and Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., spoke.

Thirty-seven thousand Colorado voters were purged from state voter rolls over the summer.

Six swing states, including Colorado, illegally removed voters from their voter rolls, according to a story in The New York Times last Wednesday.

Secretary of State, Mike Coffman, R-Colo., disputed the allegations but admitted his office made a mistake in inaccurately stating when voters could correct their registration status. He clarified that there were just over 14,000 people, not 37,000, removed from voter rolls.

Michael Niccoletti, a University of Denver senior who works at the Colorado state capitol, said the news has affected everyone on the Hill. 

State politicians are "going through the process to remedy the issue" of the others who may have been illegally taken off the rolls, Nicoletti said.

Democrats that the majority of voters were legitimately purged from the rolls because of inactivity or death. 

The news came in the wake of what student organizations on DU's campus said was a stellar period of voter registration.

"This has been the most comprehensive effort, possibly ever," said DU senior John McMahon about new-voter registration.  McMahon helped Students for Barack Obama register students this fall. 

Two DU students got creative this week to support the Republican presidential ticket .

By Jodi Ash

GW College Republicans hosted a NObama BBQ this week in the heart of the city. The event, intended to be held over the course of two days, condensed into just a few hours when larger-than-expected crowds brought their appetites.

Students who were lined up for burgers, enjoying the warm weather or walking to class were met by McCain-Palin posters and cardboard cutouts of Ronald Reagan and John McCain. (The College Republican's cutout of George W. Bush was stolen from an event last year.)

One t-shirt displayed parodied Obama's "Hope" logo with a picture of the Democratic presidential candidate captioned with "NOPE".

The event also included an absentee voter information drive.

Even as registration closes today, the number of registered voters in Orange County, home to UNC-Chapel Hill, continues to climb.

 
There are 101,788 registered voters in the county, an increase of 12,301 voters since January 2007, said Tracy Reams, director of Orange County Board of Elections said. Young adults, age 18 to 24, make up 18 percent of the voters in the county.

UNC Young Democrats encourage students to register with their dorm addresses. Since the semester began, they have registered more than 4,000 students, member Annelieae Arno said. Arno has spent two to three hours every week this semester helping students register.

Over the past few weeks, volunteers from the Young Democrats contributed hundreds of hours registering voters. Now that most midterms are over, more people have been able to participate, Arno said.
 
In the course of one hour Lee Storrow and Tracey Barrett, the Young Democrats pictured above, helped register about 20 students.

"It's so important," Barrett said. "Voter registration is the most important thing to giving everyone a voice. ... I don't mind standing out here at all. I'd do this all day."

Are the College Republicans making extensive efforts to register voters?
 
"No, I feel that point is very well covered by the Young Democrats," said Lydia Walker, a member of UNC College Republicans.
 
Steve Hill at the McCain's Durham Victory Office said that the Republicans always have forms when they set up tables at events.
 
"We're hoping you get an educated voter," he said. "We make it available ... but there isn't an effort to force them to that."

Students For Barack Obama at Syracuse University hosted a concert last Friday afternoon in Thornden Park to reach out to community members that were either unregistered or undecided. The event featured four local bands, food and information tables. 

Representatives from Dan Maffei's campaign stopped by to chat with concert goers and hand out Maffei yard signs. Mike Short, the Director for SFBO, said about 400 people showed up to the event.

Belmont students gathered tonight in a Jack C. Massey Business Center classroom to watch and discuss Man of the Year, a comedy starring Robin Williams as a comedian who runs for President of the United States.  The viewing was hosted by Belmont's James Madison Society, an organization that promotes understanding of political issues.  The event was followed by a discussion lead by political science professor Dr. Nathan Griffith. 

Tonight three UNC-Chapel Hill political organizations held an open forum for undecided voters. They could ask College Republicans, College Libertarians or Young Democrats any question that came to mind.

"I don't know a lot about this kind of thing," Elyse Pate said. "That's why I'm here."

The issues discussed included the war, abortion, the economy, health care and alternative energy.

"I thought it was a big success because I was under the impression there were not that many undecided voters," said Alex Novgorodov, who represented the College Republicans. "We can change minds that were undecided or misinformed."

Paige Wilkinson, a first year at UNC-Chapel Hill, sat in the hot Carolina sun for hours Tuesday signing students up to vote. This is the last week to register. 

How does being entrenched in the study of journalism affect the way these Arizona State students see the election?
"It definitely puts things in perspective," said Michelle Parks, a freshman at Arizona State University.

By Sam Smith

With many states nearing the end of their registration windows, drives to get new voters are beginning to cool down. Many D.C. students, however, must now decide where they will cast their ballots because they attend school away from home.

Farhan Daredia, a freshman from Atlanta, GA and an Obama organizing fellow, said that while registering to vote at www.voteforchange.com, a site operated by the Obama campaign, he was prompted to provide both his home and school addresses. After doing so,  Daredia said the website advised him in bold red type that it was "Recommended" he cast his vote back home in Georgia rather than Washington, DC.

Those Washingtonians looking to cast a decisive vote will find themselves out of luck. The District has delivered its three electoral votes to the Democratic presidential candidate in every general election since the 23rd Amendment first allowed Washingtonians to vote for their presidential pick in 1964, according to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A combination of stringent D.C. voting requirements and the fact that most students were already registered in their home states has resulted in many students opting to vote absentee, said junior Danielle Traub, who last year served as assistant director of GW Votes, the University's voter registration initiative. Traub said that most undergraduate students at GW were reluctant to register in Washington, DC.

"It will take a lot more than students registering to vote to change things here in the District," Traub said, "especially if you're not a Democrat."

The University of Denver hosted a debate between Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and former Rep. Bob Schaffer, R-Colo., Monday night at Gates Concert Hall. Denver's NBC affiliate, 9NEWS (KUSA-KTVD) sponsored the debate, and and televised it live at prime time.

Before the event, supporters of both candidates rallied outside the concert hall.

The DU student newspaper, The Clarion, also covered the event.

Monday night's activities weren't limited to the senate debate. 9NEWS broadcast a series of small debates on six of the 14 ballot issues facing Coloradoans this November including the approval of a right-to-work amendment, the definition of personhood, and the use of severance taxes.

9NEWS reported a four-hour live webcast from campus, during which reporter Gregg Moss interviewed five students.

Belmont University hosted the Official Debate '08 Block Party from noon to 6:30 p.m. today in celebration of tonight's presidential debate.

Locals comprised most of the crowd though the event was intended primarily for Belmont students, faculty and staff.

Supporters of both parties came to the Block Party, but Obama supporters outnumbered fans of McCain.

With the Belmont University town hall presidential debate tonight, the campus has undergone major changes.

By Jodi Ash

George Washington University students from all shades of partisanship crammed into the school's Marvin Center last Thursday night to watch Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden square off in the Vice Presidential debate.

Billed as a bi-partisan debate watch party, the event was sponsored by GW's College Republicans, College Democrats and Program Board. Whether red or blue, partygoers delighted in the free food (chicken fingers, vegetables trays) provided. Chair Brand Kroger of the College Republicans said the ballroom where the event was held had seating for about 250 people. I counted at least 40 people standing at the back of the room and Kroger said an additional theater nearby had been arranged for the overflow crowd.

By the time the candidates took to their podiums, the battle lines at the debate-watch party had been clearly drawn. College Democrats and College Republicans displayed their party banners at the front-left and front-right of the hall, respectively. As the debate went on, only half the room would cheer at any given moment. Yells of "Go Sarah!" "You tell 'er, Joe!" and even a round of "Drill, baby, drill!" sounded from the crowd.

After the debate, the student punditry kicked into gear. Conversations ranged from debates over the debate winner to the drinking games friends playing as they watched the debate (i.e. take a shot every time Palin said "maverick").

Flyer Warns of Undercover Police Presence at Polls on Election Day

By AVNI PATEL, ABC News
Oct. 6, 2008

Election officials and watchdog groups are bracing for the wave of sneaky or suspicious phone calls, leaflets and emails that typically hit battleground states in the final 30 days of the presidential campaign.

Young voters at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Penn. have already been targeted, with students reporting that flyers have been posted around campus warning that undercover police will be at the polls on Election Day looking to make arrests.

The flyer reads like a friendly letter to fellow students relaying a warning from an "Obama supporter": "He informed me that on the day of the election there will be undercover officers to execute warrants on those who come to vote based on the anticipated turnout," writes the anonymous student in the letter which was later posted on the Drexel College Democrats website. 'He advised me if I had any outstanding warrants or traffic offenses I should clear them up prior to voting.'

Read on at ABC

Some Belmont University students are excited about the presidential debate taking place on their campus this Tuesday. Others feel inconvenienced by the extra security measures or excluded from the event because Belmont has scheduled fall break to coincide with the debate.

Members of several different organizations at Syracuse University came together last week to promote voter registration amongst students. Rock The Vote, Rock The Cuse hosted forums every evening from Sunday to Thursday where guest speakers explained the issues pertinent to under-represented voters. Tables were set up in the Schine Student Center where students could register to vote or learn more about absentee ballots.

Sarah Ross, assistant director in the office of student life was one of the organizers of the Rock The Cuse event. She explained that they were getting some pretty good feedback from students in the Schine Student Center. "We're doing pretty well," Ross said. "But people aren't beating down the tables." Ross said students are particularly concerned that their votes will not be counted. "They want to go to the poll, where they know they're vote will be counted," she said. "They don't want to rely on an absentee ballot."

Most Belmont students are leaving campus today for fall break, which the Belmont administration scheduled to coincide with the presidential debate.  Those students who stay on campus who are not official debate volunteers will be locked down in the residence halls for several hours the day of the debate.

The deadline to register to vote is approaching rapidly.  This coming Monday, Oct. 6, is the cut off date to be able to have your say in the 2008 presidential election.  Organizations in the Richmond, VA area and around Virginia Commonwealth University's campus have been doing everything they can to make sure that young student voters are registered and excited to vote and have their voices heard.

The university's paper, the Commonwealth Times, reported on this matter and what students could do in order to meet this deadline and help to make this the largest young voter turnout in history.

At VCU, preaching professors often promote their own political agendas.

Richard Coe, professor of economics, recently sent an email to a class endorsing the Republican* candidate Ron Paul. Coe noted in the email "you should know that I like him a lot. Hope you do too. It will not hurt my feelings or improve your grade if you like/dislike him."

His message, however, did not please every student.

"Discussing political views is a blatant misuse of classroom time and is morally wrong," senior Justin Bradley said.

Other students said the context of the class affects whether a teacher should share his viewpoint. Discussing the current political climate, for example, comes up frequently in political science classes.

"It really depends on who the professor is," said Julia Singer, a junior mass communications major.

Ken Burns, an Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning documentarian best known for his films "The War," "Jazz," "The Civil War" and "Baseball" visited Belmont University this week and gave a "Telling the American Stories" lecture Thursday night.

On Wednesday morning, he conducted a question and answer forum with a group of Belmont students and faculty. He also granted an interview to Belmont Vision reporters, in which he talked about the pros and cons of the college generation and feelings about the current election.

In a Tuesday recitation for ecology and evolution, the discussion drifted to Sen. John McCain's comment about grizzly bear research in Montana.

"We're not going to spend $3 million again to study the DNA of bears in Montana," McCain said when talking about big spending in Washington, during one of his speeches. "I don't know if that was a paternal or criminal issue, but it's not going to happen again."

Amanda Chunco, the class TA and fifth year graduate student, did not find McCain's joke funny.

"By disparaging science, he shows he doesn't care," she said. "The way he talked about it shows that he didn't take the time to understand it."

Watch the clip of McCain's speech.

If anyone doubted that Colorado was a swing state, the number of political appearances --  especially in front of young people -- this week may change their mind.

Barack Obama visited a high school north of Denver on Monday.

His wife, Michelle Obama, rallied young voters at CU-Boulder Wednesday.

Obama supporters Eva Longoria Parker and Kal Penn are also rallying the youth vote at multiple colleges between Denver and Ft. Collins this weekend.

John McCain is visiting downtown Denver Thursday, and also doing a town-hall meeting at Colorado State University in Pueblo on Friday.

Vice Presidential candiate Sarah Palin will also be in town this weekend for a private fundraiser south of Denver.

The Guardian's Ed Pilkington hops the pond to Pennsylvania to find out what students think about the election:

"It is voter registration day on the campus of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and a small but dogged group of students are trying to persuade classmates to sign up for the November presidential election. Decades ago they might have done so through bribery or, failing that, the fist; but these days the preferred method is humour.

"'Voting is sexy and easy - register now!' says a poster on the wall, alongside a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey panel which students play blindfolded."

Watch the sweet video and read on at The Guardian.

Founder of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, John L. Seigenthaler, and his son John M. Seigenthaler, an award-winning journalist, spoke on the significance of new technology in media coverage of the presidential election to a Belmont audience on September 26. The Belmont Vision covered the lecture.

Johns Hopkins students have ventured into Baltimore's communities to try to get more on-the-fence citizens to head to the polls in November, according to the News-Letter. Their promotion has extended into other areas of Maryland and even into Virginia.

The College Republicans at Syracuse University have decided that the best thing they can do for their party is not to campaign for John McCain, but to take to the streets of Dewitt to campaign for Dale Sweetland, the Republican Party's nominee for Congress in New York's 25 District.

With 10-term republican congressman Jim Walsh retiring, the seat is now up for grabs in an area that combines the large urban center of Syracuse with a large rural population in Wayne, Cayuga and Monroe County.

RealClearPolitics.com rates the race between Dale Sweetland (R) and Dan Maffei (D)  as the number four most likely congressional district to slip from republican to democratic control. But for the College Republicans at SU, this race is absolutely winnable.

On Saturday, September 20 the SU College Republicans kicked off their Sweetland campaign, going door-to-door and doing office work at the Sweetland campaign headquarters.

Obama supporters at the University of Michigan have put together a video calling for their peers to register. They stress that the process is easier than many people believe.