Candidates turn their eyes on students

It’s almost mid-term election time, and political campaigns across the state have taken to… It’s almost mid-term election time, and political campaigns across the state have taken to visiting college campuses in an attempt to attract student voters.

Both gubernatorial candidates will hold events this weekend geared toward college students, one in Pittsburgh and the other at Penn State. Next week, several candidates and campaign representatives will attend a “Candidate Carnival” at Pitt.

Matthew Morrison — who plays Mr. Shuester on the popular TV show “Glee” — will stump for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato at Hamburg Hall on CMU’s campus tomorrow, starting at 2 p.m.

Onorato’s Communications Director Brian Herman said that the event with Morrison is just one part of their efforts to reach college-age students.

“Its not just vote-getting,” Herman said. “Students interning and volunteering are essential to the campaign.”

Republican candidate and state Attorney General Tom Corbett will rub elbows with students and alumni at the tailgate for Penn State’s football game this Saturday.

There won’t be any of the usual pre-game drinkers at the Corbett event, though. Corbett’s press secretary, Kirsten Page, said it will only serve water and snacks. She said the event would be a chance for Corbett to meet supporters “in a more relaxed and fun environment.”

Next Monday at 11:30 a.m., Joe Sestak will visit the Barco Law Building for a speech on the “American Dream.”

As of last week, outreach efforts on Pitt’s campus had resulted in the registration of about 2,000 voters since the start of school, said to Miller Nuttle, a full-time organizer with the Sierra Club.

The Sierra Club organized a series of non-partisan get-out-the-vote efforts at various Pittsburgh campuses, including Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne.

Nuttle said that once the deadline passed the organization would focus on things like getting students to sign pledges to vote.

Since the Oct. 4 voter registration deadline has passed, many get-out-the-vote organizations across the state have switched their focus to motivating registered voters to hit the polls on election day.

Terry Madonna, a public affairs professor and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College, said that the rationale for student outreach lies in the 2008 election results.

Even though youth voter turnout in 2008 was not remarkably high, Madonna said the decisions those voters made at the polls seemed remarkable.

More than 60 percent of young voters went with Obama, which Madonna called “unprecedented.”

It is yet unclear whether young voters will turn out in the same numbers or vote the way they did in 2008.

He said the fact that Obama is not yet up for re-election might have an impact on the Democratic Party and student vote.

“Many people made a personal vote for Obama,” he said. “And now Obama is not on the ballot.”