The Call of the Campaign

Part one: Students hit the road for presidential hopefuls

By Chris Berdik. Photos by Robin Berghaus

Meghan Wieckowski (CAS’10) knows the stereotype: young people don’t vote. “Our age group is known for being apathetic about politics,” she says, and the numbers bear her out. In the 2004 presidential election, less than half of 18-to-24-year olds cast ballots, compared with 72 percent of those 55 and older, according to the Census Bureau. But paradoxically, young Americans are also increasingly flexing their political muscle: between the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, voter registration and voting by young adults increased by 7 percent and 11 percent respectively, the largest increase of any demographic group.

Wieckowski, an international relations major, has sensed the energy of youth involvement in the current presidential race. Along with several other Boston University students, she’s been volunteering as a canvasser in Manchester, N.H., going door-to-door among likely voters on behalf of a campaign. Wieckowski’s candidate is Barack Obama, and on several Saturdays this fall, she’s boarded an early-morning bus to the Granite State, which will hold the nation’s first presidential primary, on January 8, 2008.

“The campaign is ecstatic that we have come up. They just love the youth support,” says Wieckowski. “It shows almost a new face to politics; it shows that in this election we’re really getting involved.”

Next semester, as the political season heats up, BU Today will run periodic stories about BU students working the campaign trail. If you’d like to be featured, please e-mail Chris Berdik at cberdik@bu.edu.

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