The public battle began in 2007.

Contenders took their places on the platforms, preparing for the nearly two-year, country-wide trek toward the White House.

They’ve left tangible evidence of their presence. From bumper stickers to chalked overpasses, from roadside signs to televised intra-party debates, the race is under way.

But this particular race is an unprecedented one, according to Steven Greene, an associate professor of political science.

“It’s a wide open race,” he said. “There’s competition in both parties. … It’s really unusual to have neither the president running for re-election or his vice president running. It’s been forever since that’s happened.”

A rising interest in youth voters

Over the last several election cycles, there has been an increased interest from youth voters in the elections and civic participation in general, according to Michael Cobb, political science professor.

“There’s a rise in interest in politics lately. If you go back to the 1960s when people who were 18 and older could vote, you had declining participation in voting,” Cobb said.

According to Cobb, it seems that students are more attracted to Barack Obama and John McCain in this election.

“Students who are less attracted to either party, they are more likely to attach to the rebellious candidates,” he said.

Cobb said words attached to McCain like “maverick” and words attached to Obama like “youthfulness” and “exuberance” make them seem more like rebels through media coverage.

An issue students are not paying as much attention as they should, according to Cobb, is the economy. This is an issue both the Republicans and Democrats are addressing — but in drastically different ways.

“What the candidates could do to revive the economy will be important, and then Democrats and Republicans have completely different visions,” he said. “It will make it a slightly better future or slightly worse future in terms of getting better jobs.”

But, because students are still not out in the job market, the issue seems surreal to them, according to Cobb.

Another important issue students need to watch out for, Cobb said, is the war in Iraq and on terrorism, even though there is no draft currently.

“Obviously, the war is not going to stop,” Cobb said.

A ‘historically unprecedented’ race

The 1928 presidential election was the last race in which a White House incumbent was missing from the ballot. But after 80 years, the race hasn’t just experienced a change in candidates’ titles; it’s also seeing two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, whose gender and race, respectively, have been almost absent from elections.

“It’s historically unprecedented to have a woman and a black man who are the top two contenders,” Greene said. “It’s a really amazing thing.”

Although the 1980s saw Jesse Jackson as a strong candidate in two different elections, Greene said neither a woman nor a black man has served as a serious threat to other democratic candidates hoping to receive the party’s nomination.

In fact, Greene said, it is the first time a woman or black man could potentially win the election.

“Every single year, the public as a whole gets more accepting of seeing women and black men in positions of power,” he said. “The public is more accepting now than it would have been in 2004 and in 2000. They’ll be more accepting in 2012 and 2016.”

The reason for this ideological shift, he said, correlates with two disparate sectors of the population — as the younger generations grows in number, the older generations lose their majority. Thus, minority candidates are able to gain widespread support.

“Every year [public acceptance of minority candidates] ticks up a little bit,” Greene said. “Every year the public becomes just a little bit less sexist and a little bit less racist.”

“Classic” platforms

This year, candidates are focusing on a few major issues with which, Greene said, the general public is concerned.

“The huge disappointment with George Bush, especially among Democrats, is certainly a factor. People also have an uneasiness about being in Iraq, about what to do in Iraq,” Greene said. “There are increasing concerns about the state of the nation’s economy.”

However, these aren’t issues that are unique only to these candidates.

“Those are classic issues that, somehow or another, are always [part of candidates’ platforms],” he said.

The candidate who becomes president-elect in November will, however, change the relationship between the White House and Congress.

“If you get a Democrat elected president, in all likelihood we will keep a Democratic Congress. There’d be a dramatic change in the type of policies we see coming out of Washington,” Greene said. “If a Republican gets elected, you’re looking at four years of a lot of fighting [with Congress], not a lot of policy accomplishments.”

Primaries: movin’ on up

Over the course of the past 20 years, Greene said states have started a trend of scheduling their primaries early in the year.

And with the Democratic and Republican parties’ rules about not holding any primaries before Feb. 5 — with the exception of New Hampshire and Iowa — 22 states have scheduled their primaries on the same day. The parties are punishing Florida and Michigan, which scheduled their primaries too early, by revoking some or all of the states’ delegates from their national conventions.

“There is practically a national primary on Feb. 5,” Greene said. “It’s historically unprecedented.”

Although Greene said national interest in the candidates’ campaigns did occur earlier than usual, that’s not the reason states pushed up their primary dates.

The New Hampshire and Iowa primaries, Greene said, get more attention from candidates since their primaries are held first. So in an attempt to capture candidates’ attention and bolster publicity, the 22 states have scheduled their primaries to occur on the first day possible.

“It’s in their interest to hold it as early as [the parties] allow it,” Greene said.