After writing her note about registering to vote yesterday, Michelle Obama spent her day promoting encouraging students and youth to get involved in the campaign and make a difference this November. Newspapers from across the country showcase Barack's plan for higher education today.
Here are just some of the many news clips...
From the Badger Herald:
Michelle Obama reached out to women and students of Madison Monday, encouraging them to register their friends and take them to the polls to vote for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, on Election Day. ...“We’re going to need...young people continuing the kind of hard work that has gotten us to this point,” Obama said. “The first thing we’re going to have to do is get people registered. That is the first step to change — it’s simple.” ...Obama also said the nation’s young people have been the “backbone” of the campaign, and they possess the ability to change “the whole outcome of this election.” Obama said she and her husband were “blessed and grateful” to be able to earn both undergraduate and law degrees and understand the challenge of paying for higher education. “We are grateful for having the opportunity to move from a working class family to corporate degrees with decent salaries, which we feel blessed,” Obama said. “But that education came at a cost,” adding she and her husband have only recently paid off their student loans. “There’s only one candidate who is looking at how do we make college affordable for every single child in this nation, regardless of their ability to pay,” Obama said.
From The Post:
Calling the next presidential election the “difference between war and peace,” Michelle Obama urged young people to educate themselves about political candidates and vote, during a conference call yesterday. “Young people will be dealing with the effects of this election for the rest of their lives,” Obama said. “A lot of campaigns haven’t taken students seriously. This year we’re going to turn that trend around.” Obama said that the upcoming election will affect students directly because students in the U.S. now face an average of $22,000 in student-loan debts after college and that the average age of a wounded or killed soldier in Iraq is 21. “The election will have enormous consequences and could determine the course of an entire generation,” she said.
From the Minnesota Daily:
The youngest set of voters has already been active this election season. But for that to really count, they need to stay involved until Nov. 4 , when ballots are cast, first lady hopeful Michelle Obama said in a Monday morning conference call. “The choice that America makes on Nov. 4 will have an enormous consequence for our country, and for the world,” she said. “This election is going to determine the course of an entire generation.” ...Obama said young voters, notoriously absent on Election Day, need to show up and vote for what they believe in — regardless of which box ends up checked on the ballot. “If young Americans want to have a say in what the future looks like, then they need to make their voices heard, and do it now, and declare their values and their priorities with their actions on Nov. 4,” she said. “But in the past, too many have decided to remain silent.” Obama listed growing unemployment rates, high student debt loads and a struggling economy as issues concerning young people. She said her husband plans to address those issues should he make it to the White House, and referred to his commitment as a senator to expanding federal Pell Grant availability. As president, she said, he’d ensure grant money keeps pace with the rising cost of college. To keep young people active in the voting process, the Obama campaign recently launched a website aimed at registering voters and educating them about the election process.
From the State News:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has focused on the youth vote during his campaign, and his wife, Michelle, is doing the same. Michelle Obama talked to college journalists Monday via a conference call about issues that concern young voters, such as health care, the economy and energy. ...The average college student is weighed down by almost $22,000 in student loans. That’s on average. Barack and I have experienced that as well because we just paid down our student loans. We were in debt to that tune even greater. Our country is facing high unemployment rates on top of it. And the bad news on the economy keeps coming. It’s getting harder for recent graduates to find jobs that pay a good enough wage to help cover the debt that they’re all coming out with. ...No matter who your readers support, I said in this race we need folks to register to vote, to make their voices heard. Young people have already made a huge difference in this election and they can determine the outcome on Nov. 4, but only if they speak out, only if they get involved, only if they register to vote.
From the Rocky Mountain Collegian:
...Fresh off a rally event supporting Sen. Obama's campaign in Madison, Wis., yesterday, Michelle Obama said "couple thousand" young people in the crowd reflected the significance of the youth vote this election. "It's important to note that young people have had a huge impact on how far this campaign has come," she said. "… I think that young people have really found their voice in this campaign, and I think that they see the future in this candidate. Many young people have left their schools, their jobs, they're sleeping on floors, they've been traveling around the country for 19 months (to follow the Obama campaign) because they know what's at stake." Obama spoke of her amazement at the amount of young students actively participating in the political process thus far, but also cited 2004 statistics that show only half of all young people who were eligible to vote registered, and of those registered, only 20 percent showed up to the polls. "But this year," she said, "we've got to turn that trend around, and I think we're doing that. Young folks know as well as anyone why this election matters, and many have already experienced how the choices made in Washington have everyday impacts on your daily lives."
From the Daily Evergreen:
More than 10 million young people failed to voice their opinion in the presidential election in 2004. The Obama campaign has made it a priority to reverse the trend. Michelle Obama held a conference call for college newspapers Monday morning, with the hope of relaying the importance of voting and higher education issues. The wife of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama spoke to reporters and college students across America from the University of Wisconsin. ... “This election is going to determine the course of an entire generation, and if not this one, then my girls’ generation,” Michelle Obama said. She said more than 50 percent of college students are not registered to vote. She said this is a growing problem among the nation’s college student body. “They need to make their voices heard and in the past, too many students have failed to make the effort to register to vote,” Obama said. During her speech, she tackled the problem of student debt, which is largely due to the continual rise of tuition, she said. The average college graduate owes more than $22,000 in debt, she said. As part of its education platform, the Obama campaign plans to provide $4,000 in tuition relief to students attending higher education. ...“This is a crucial moment in America’s history and that’s why we need to reverse the trend from 2004 when millions of young Americans opted out of voting on election and making history,” she said.
From the Daily Nebraskan:
Michelle Obama wants America's youth to register to vote. In a telephone press conference, reporters from university and college newspapers around the country were able to dial in and speak with the wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama. "We need more young people to get involved," she said. "The choice that America makes on November 4th will have enormous consequences." ...But the Obama campaign is taking steps to close that gap, she said. Obama recommended young people visit www.voteforchange.com. "This is a one-stop resource for voter registration," she said. On the Web site, students can register to vote, find out if they are registered to vote, request to vote absentee and find out where to go to vote. Visiting the Web site and getting information should only take about three minutes, according to the site. "We need folks to register to vote," Obama said. "Young people have already made a huge difference." ..."We have a lot of young people who work for the campaign and I don't think that's intentional, but it's not completely accidental," she said. "We have offices open in almost every state, and Nebraska is no different. "Young people have really found their voice in this campaign," Obama continued. "Many young people have left their schools, their jobs; they're sleeping on floors and traveling around the country for 19 months. They know what's at stake, you may be seeing that in Nebraska as well."
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