For Obama, youth vote is key

Though 22 states will vote in Democratic primaries and caucuses today, at the end of the night, the Democratic nomination could still be anyone's game.

After former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards withdrew his candidacy last week, the Democratic field narrowed to New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. The two candidates head into Super Tuesday virtually tied in the national polls.

"This is going to be a day of 'unpredictions,' where things don't necessarily work out as neatly as we thought," political analyst and St. Joseph's University History professor Randall Miller said.

Analysts and Penn students alike are unsure as to how the Democratic primaries today will play out. However, there is a consensus that young people are voting in record numbers, which will likely provide the greatest boost to Obama.

"If anyone is going to make predictions, it looks like Obama will be more of a winner than Clinton," Miller said. "People have now begun to question seriously the viability of [Clinton's] candidacy - she can't afford to lose certain states, like New York, California and Massachusetts."

Penn Democrats Vice President Joe Gross says he believes the Super Tuesday results will fail to identify a clear Democratic frontrunner.

"Both [Clinton and Obama] will claim significant victories, both will gain a large number of delegates, but I just don't see someone running away with it," he said.

Miller added that young people have played a major role in the Obama phenomenon thus far and will likely continue to do so both by voting for him in large numbers and doing the ground work for his campaign.

"Obama is in effect at the head of a movement, a movement that is so compelling to others that people are stepping back to take a look," he said.

Students generally agreed that Obama has captured attention among college students, but experts say Clinton has also drawn youth voters.

"The more [young people] vote, the better it will be for Obama - but at the same time, not all young people are voting for him," said University of Maryland research scholar Peter Levine, who pointed out that Clinton took the youth vote in Florida by a small margin.

Although Pennsylvania's primary isn't until April 22, students at other Ivy League universities whose states are voting today note the excitement and prominence of the primaries on campus.

"The exciting thing [about this election] is that young people are more interested than ever, reflected not only in the events we have, but in daily conversations," Princeton College Democrats President Rob Weiss said.

In today's primaries, 2,064 delegates out of a total 4,049 delegates will be up for grabs. Candidates need 2,025 delegates overall to win the nomination.

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