MEDIA ADVISORY: Vanderbilt students offer glimpse of how youth vote might affect close presidential race
Vanderbilt University students will gather Wednesday evening to watch
the final and perhaps decisive presidential debate. With polls showing
the candidates in a virtual dead heat, the Bush and Kerry campaigns are
trying harder than ever to reach out to undecided voters and pin down
unpredictable segments of the voting population. Perhaps no segment is
more unpredictable than the youth vote, which most election experts
admit they haven’t even begun to account for. With many young voters
using cell phones as their primary means of communication, their
opinion often isn’t included in traditional telephone polls. And with
voter registration up by record numbers and many college-age students
voting for the first time, this presidential election could see an
explosion of the youth vote. The Vanderbilt students will convene at
the Sarratt promenade inside the Sarratt Student Center at 7 p.m. for
pizza and watch the televised debate at 8 p.m. The event is sponsored
by the non-partisan student group Leaders Engaged for an Active
Democracy, which throughout 2004 has sponsored primary- and
debate-night viewing parties, voter registration drives and other
activities to generate excitement about the election.
WHAT: Vanderbilt students watch final presidential debate
WHERE: Sarratt promenade at the Sarratt Student Center
WHEN: 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13
Media contact: Kara Furlong, (615) 322-NEWS
kara.c.furlong@vanderbilt.edu
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