The chairpersons of both the Democratic and Republican parties in South Carolina say the groundswell of youth voting in the upcoming election has proven both significant and crucial to the success of the presidential campaigns.

This year’s presidential race between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain has drawn a wellspring of enthusiasm among young voters, whose impact on the election will be considerable, officials say.

“I think it’s crucial. Both sides are energizing the youth to exercise their constitutional right to vote. It is important for America and for South Carolina,” says Katon Dawson, chairman of the S.C. Republican Party.

“This is an election where the most people ever are going to vote in South Carolina, and I’m excited about it. We have a lot of students volunteering for John McCain, Sarah Palin and Lindsey Graham. Right now, we’re all working very hard to maximize that turnout in our favor,” Dawson said. “We’ll see what happens on Election Day.”

Youth have been going door-to-door talking to individuals, making calls and speaking in their attempt to woo voters along the Republican campaign trail, Dawson said.

“We have an effort. One of the things that’s monumental here in South Carolina is we’re a really important presidential state. Early on in the process, we were the single most important state for probably both campaigns. We energized campaign teams earlier than in other states. We’ve seen a tremendous groundswell of young people, and we’ve encouraged that,” Dawson said.

Carol Fowler, chairperson of the S.C. Democratic Party, said while there are more young people who have registered to vote, it is her “great hope” that they actually cast their ballot on election day.

“In past years, young people have not registered or voted in proportion to their piece of the population. But, we hope that they’ll turn that around this year. We’re also seeing that more young people are much more likely to identify themselves as Democrats than in previous years, ... and we’re delighted to have them,” Fowler said. “At the Democratic Party, we’ve always had young people that serve as interns and come help us at campaign time, but there are just many more of them getting involved this year.”

Fowler said the enthusiasm of the young voters and volunteers has helped to reach more individuals along the campaign trail in the party’s quest for victory on Election Day.

“Those young people are energetic and can get out there ... to remind them that the election is coming, to vote and to vote our way,” she said. “It’s very valuable to us.”

Fowler said the Democratic Party’s overall message of change has had a large appeal among young voters.

“I think the young people realize just as their parents do that we need change in Washington. We need a new administration that’s not like the Bush administration in order to improve this economy. They’re concerned about the lack of jobs, difficulty in paying their college tuition and getting loans for school,” Fowler said. “Of course, some are not college students but starting out in jobs and trying to buy a house, pay off student loans and deal with credit card debt. There are millions of good reasons for young people.”

Dawson said this campaign is energized by the awareness that a larger number of people, particularly younger people, will be turning out to vote than ever before in the state’s history.

“When you’ve got presidential debates and more people watching those debates than the finals of ‘American Idol,’ that will tell you that there’s a lot of interest here,” he said.

Chrishele Kingdom, the reigning Miss Claflin University, said she is among the young voters turning out in large numbers out of the realization they have a chance to make history.

“Barack Obama has already made history by becoming the first African-American to be nominated for president, but it’s our time to make history. People think we’re all about hip hop and social appearance, but we want people to know that we run deeper than that,” Kingdom said. “We care about our community. We do have a voice, and we will move mountains to exercise it.”

Bobby Belton Jr., vice president of Claflin’s student government association, said, “To hear high school students say, ‘I’ve got to get registered to vote’ does something for me as a 21-year-old college senior. Everybody wants to make change because of the drawbacks that we have in the economy and the recession that we’re in.”

Belton said he has already been on a tour across the state to galvanize participation among other voters from York County to Charleston County.

Deshae Carter and Amanda Fair are a pair of 22-year-olds who attended a “S.C. Campaign for Change Rally” at Claflin University Tuesday afternoon. They said voting for either candidate is crucial.

“It’s not only about Barack Obama; it’s also about McCain. My little cousins are only 17, but I’m making sure they register to vote. They’ll turn 18 soon. The family has an impact on how the child feels about the election. This year around, it’s very important with the economy and everything,” Carter said.

Fair said the upcoming election involves issues directly affecting youth, adding that participating in the election next week is crucial.

“It would show that we did take a part in what is going on in the U.S.A. I think it’s wonderful. Our time is now, not in the future,” she said.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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