With the presidential elections

drawing ever closer, student political

groups on campus have begun to

rally around their candidate, or in

some cases, candidates, in the hope

to promote voter turnout.

For some groups, like the College

Democrats and Youth for Ron Paul,

knowing exactly who their candidate

is has allowed them to hit the

ground running. Most students

have become accustomed to seeing

the Youth for Ron Paul information

table out on the Brickyard.

“[The information table] has been

successful,” Derek Spicer, senior in

history and political science, said.

“Every volunteer counts to get the

vote out and help with voter identification.”

All three organizations, the College

Democrats, the College Republicans

and the Youth for Ron Paul

group, agree that voter registration

and identification is their number

one priority.

“All voter registration done is

non-partisan,” Anne Marie Fristoe ,

sophomore in political science and

vice president of the College Democrats,

said. “We’ve been registering

voters all year, and I [estimate] that

about 80 percent of the students registered

as Democrats.”

Fristoe asserts that support for

College Democrats is strong on

campus, and she expects it to surge

during the upcoming fall semester.

While the College Democrats and

Youth for Ron Paul are currently

backing candidates, the College

Republicans are sticking to their

mission statement.

“[The College Republicans]’s main

objective is to promote conservative

ideas on campus, host speakers, have

meetings and support conservative

candidates,” Aaron Dancy , senior in

chemical engineering and president

of the College Republicans, said.

“We don’t endorse any specific

candidate from the primaries, we

let individual student groups handle

that. We are more of an umbrella

group,” Dancy said.

During the 2008 election, the College

Republicans campaigned on the

Brickyard every day, informing students

about John McCain and his

policies, canvassing, and registering

voters, Dancy said.

Youth For Ron Paul is a more cohesive

organization than in 2008.

“In 2008, it was a smaller students

for Ron Paul group, less organized

and informal,” Spicer said.

Spicer said the organization plans

on tabling up until the election.

College Republicans affirm that,

come fall semester, as the presidential

elections get closer, they will be

more visible on campus.

“[We plan to] get out the conservative

message, present counter-argument

against Obama’s big government,

big spending, crazy policies,

and advance conservatism in the

state of North Carolina,” Dancy

said.

North Carolina’s status as a swing

state has been having a great effect

on the student political groups.

“Students always say their vote

doesn’t count,” Fristoe said. “Obama

won North Carolina by 14,177 votes

in 2008, that’s less than half of all of

the students on campus. Students’

votes do count, and this University

has a lot of power during an election.”