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Home > Featured Stories > Community of Scholars > April 2008 > An Eye on ChangeAn Eye on Change
Our students are going to be engaged, and many of them are aligning themselves with one or the other candidate.
Dr. Andy Taylor, chair and professor of political science in NC State's School of Public and International Affairs
Candidates on both sides of the aisle have long-coveted younger voters.
By Dave Pond, Web Communication
With North Carolina now positioned as a pivotal state in the Democratic presidential race between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, NC State students across campus are buzzing with anticipation as voting day draws near.
"I think students are more interested in a general kind of change – I think there is a sense that things aren't really going as well as they should be," said Dr. Andy Taylor, chair and professor of political science in the School of Public and International Affairs at NC State University. "We're seeing this not only in students who identify themselves as Democrats, but in those who are Republicans as well."
To that end, voter registration among college-age students has skyrocketed, and recent campaign visits to NC State have only added to the excitement. In March, Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, visited campus during a statewide campaign tour while Obama's wife, Michelle, held a rally at Reynolds Coliseum in early April.
Only once in the last four decades has so much attention been focused on NC State during the presidential primary season, when Ronald Reagan rode a swell of support through campus and to an upset bid in the 1976 GOP primary.
"It's unprecedented in this kind of arena, with our primary taking place as late as it does in the overall process," Taylor said. "With the exception of 1976, this is the most interesting and competitive primary that we've had, and that's largely a function of how late we go."
For the most part, history has shown that by the time North Carolinians cast their primary ballots – this year on Tuesday, May 6 - prospective presidents have already sewn up both the Republican and Democratic nominations. But with Obama and Clinton virtually neck-and-neck in terms of delegates won, the "Old North State" could help push one candidate ahead for good.
"Generally, by the time we get around to North Carolina, we're kind of an afterthought," Taylor said.
"They are motivated and rather than being just slightly interested outsiders, our students are going to be engaged and many of them are aligning themselves with one or the other candidate."
Candidates on both sides of the aisle have long coveted younger voters, whose apathy or excitement can lead a prospective president to victory or defeat. Networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are inundated with promotional pages geared toward a generation that Taylor said has a valuable role to play in the upcoming election.
"We want people to vote and engage in public life and the election process – to weigh all of the options and scenarios which would better one's self, one's family, one's immediate community and the nation as a whole," he said. "Younger voters should take the time to understand the issues – they've got a lot more at stake because they are going to be around a lot longer.
"We're at a stage where the country is evenly split among the parties in which it looks like we will have two candidates in the general election who are superior – thoughtful, engaged, committed, patriotic people who will have two fairly different views on the way the country should go," Taylor said. "It's going to be an important election."