They call it "Obamamania."
Though he currently trails Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in many Democratic presidential primary polls, presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) enjoys rock star-like popularity among students at liberal colleges like Tufts.
With his newest book "The Audacity of Hope" currently the number one best- seller on college campuses, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, and strong Internet support on Facebook.com, Obama has quickly become a favorite among college students.
Last week, the Daily ran an article analyzing the increased emphasis candidates for the 2008 election, particularly Obama, are placing on college students and young voters for potential support.
In line with this strategy, Obama for America National Press Secretary Bill Burton held a conference call Thursday with reporters from 25-30 college newspapers from across the country, including the Daily. The call was the first of several the campaign will hold in an attempt to gain support from potential college voters.
Speaking from Chicago on a rainy afternoon, Burton answered questions about issues ranging from the campaign's plans to engage college-aged voters to Senator Obama's views on racism. Burton started with an introduction to the campaign - and of course, an immediate plug.
"[Obama is] running for president because he believes that, to change our country, we need to change our politics," he said. "Senator Obama feels that what's stopped us from meeting our challenges is not the absence of sensible plans, but the failure of our leadership and the smallness of our politics."
Given Obama's high popularity on college campuses, the first question for Burton was predictable: How does Obama plan to include college students?
"He's committed to making sure that college students - and young folks everywhere - are an important part of this campaign," Burton said. "If you listen to what he says, he specifically points to the fact that, at every important juncture in our history, it was young folks who stepped up and forced the change to happen. The way he puts it is 'put their shoulders to the wheel of history' in order to make things better than they were."
Burton mentioned Obama's campaign schedule, which has included several visits to college campuses, as well as the popularity of Obama support groups on Facebook. At Tufts, the group "Tufts Students for Obama" began on Facebook and is holding its first in-person meeting this week.
"Obama's message really strikes home with people here at Tufts," said senior Dan Grant, the group's creator. "It's something college students can really relate with."
Citing historically low turnout among college students, one reporter asked Burton whether Obama actually expects to get significant votes from the college demographic.
"Yes, he absolutely does," Burton said. "He thinks that this is a different kind of election, and the kind of energy that's out there and the real desire for change is a galvanizing force. Now, more than ever, or now more than in a generation, he believes that we can get young folks voting, get them involved, and get them working towards the sort of change that we all are fighting for."
According to Professor of Political Science Deborah Schildkraut, however, Obama will likely face obstacles in gaining enough support to win the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton. Obama currently trails Clinton 26 percent to 34 percent, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll on the presidential nomination process.
"What it comes down to in a primary is, because they're running all in the same party, people want to vote for somebody who's going to really win the national election," Schildkraut said. "If they think, 'Well, he's all popular now, but he doesn't have the base he needs to win,' then they're likely to vote for a more established candidate."
"His biggest challenge is not just getting young people to vote, but also getting older people who vote regularly to think he can go the distance," she added.
Throughout the interview, Burton repeatedly referenced Obama's intention to "change" politics in America. When a reporter asked what specifically Obama was looking to change, Burton's answer came quickly.
"The nastiness in Washington," Burton said. When asked to elaborate, he listed other hot-button issues - the Iraq war, health care, energy policy - and said they're often pushed off for political reasons.
"There's a whole series of problems that we need to take on, and the reasons that we haven't taken them on thus far is that ... people thus far in Washington, people haven't worked together in such a way to solve problems," he said. "People are so focused on the day-to-day, moment-to-moment small political fights that they're not fighting for the broader, more important issues."
The call became particularly uncomfortable when a reporter from Yale challenged Burton on whether Obama was following his own message.
If Obama doesn't believe in the smallness of politics today, the reporter asked, then why did he recently engage in a harsh verbal exchange - a political "catfight," - with the Hillary Clinton campaign? Clinton and Obama traded critical remarks in February over anti-Clinton comments made by an Obama supporter in a column by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.
"That's one way to characterize that exchange, but I think mostly folks are just ready to turn the page and talk about the more important issues that are facing our country," Burton said. "He's out there talking about Iraq and healthcare and energy every single day. I think that we all agree that that exchange is behind us."
Before Burton could finish answering the second part of the question, Burton's assistant came on the line to announce that the call would be ending shortly.
Burton also discussed Obama's views on financial aid legislation. Though he said he didn't have any specifics at hand, Burton told the reporters that the issue was important to Obama.
"I've been with him and he is absolutely committed to making sure that college is affordable and accessible to everyone who wants to go," Burton said. "He doesn't think that you should be denied a college education just because of where you were born or how much money your folks made. It should be based on whether or not you want to go and whether or not you're committed to learning."
After a quick question about Obama's time as an undergraduate at Columbia and another about how he'll be campaigning in the South, that inevitable question finally came up: Obama is black - how important is his race to the campaign?
"Well, if you read the stories about the race so far - the campaign so far - it's certainly come up a lot, and Senator Obama doesn't shy away from talking about it," Burton said, mentioning that Obama was visiting Selma, Ala. over the weekend to commemorate Bloody Sunday, the date of a 1965 civil rights march.
"It's an important part of the discussion - it's not the only part of the discussion but it's an important one - and he looks forward to talking about it," Burton added.
But Burton said Obama's race alone won't guarantee him support from black voters.
"I don't think anybody expected that African Americans as a group would vote in a monolithic fashion," he said.
When one reporter told Burton that Obama has lost support from some blacks because his anscestors were not slaves, Burton said Obama is proud to be black.
"[Obama is] running this campaign in such a way that he's fighting for and earning votes from folks in every single community ... Regardless of what folks' perceptions are of him, he's going through a process where he has to introduce himself to the American people, and make sure people know about his background and what it is that makes him tick," Burton said.
And speaking of things that make Obama tick, how does he plan to catch up with Senator Hillary Clinton, who is the Democratic frontrunner and currently stands significantly ahead of Obama in the polls?
"Senator Obama doesn't consider this a race against any one individual or even a group of individuals," Burton said. "He's running because he thinks that he is, at this time, most suited to be president for a variety of reasons."
While Obama faces many challenges in realizing that goal, Schildkraut said his strategy of seeking out support from young people has the potential to pay off.
"At this point, what they're concerned about is not getting someone to vote in a primary that's a year from now, it's about getting people to do the free work that college kids do and help build support for the campaign that way," she said.
"Certainly candidates don't traditionally go after groups they don't think will vote for them," she added. "So it's clear they have a reason to believe that support from young voters can help them, or else they wouldn't be putting their attention towards it."
