Lynchburg youth come out to support Democrat

Slideshow: Barack Obama comes to Lynchburg

O-BAM-A. O-BAM-A. O-BAM-A.

It’s just past 6:30 p.m. The chant spreads through the auditorium, becoming louder with each syllable. The now-full bleachers vibrate with foot stomping.

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From Andrew Jackson to George H.W. Bush, Lynchburg played host

E.C. Glass High School seniors Sama Ehtesham and Laila Asghar were among the small group who started the chant. Though both girls will be too young to vote in the fall, they volunteered for Barack Obama’s campaign and came out to show their support.

Why Obama?

“We are the future,” Asghar says.

“He’s better looking. A nice guy.” Ehtesham chimes in.

Beyond Obama’s good looks and celebrity appeal, both girls articulate concrete reasons why they would vote for Obama. They agree with his stance on Iraq. They believe Obama can reach young people better than John McCain can. (Both girls are connected to Obama through his fan page on the social networking site Facebook.)

Support among young people has been strong for Obama. Sixty percent of registered voters between 18 and 29 support Obama versus 33 percent for John McCain, according to the most recent Gallup poll.

In Lynchburg, voter registration for young people has been up since the last election, says city registrar Pat Bower. For the 2004 presidential general election, 4,450 people between 18 and 25 were registered to vote. By the primaries earlier this year, that number had risen to 5,944.

News of Obama’s visit to Lynchburg spread like a virus after word got out among his grassroots supporters on Monday.

Of more than a dozen young people interviewed at the event, most planned to vote for Obama, but several were still wavering between the Democrat and McCain.

Anthony Adams, 26, was on his couch watching the 6 o’clock news when he heard Obama was coming to town.

“I jumped up to go downtown and get tickets. I thought it was a great moment in history and I wanted to be a part of it,” says Adams, who came with his 15-year-old sister in tow.

Adams served in the Marine Corps, though not in Iraq.

“The fact of bringing home the troops is very important to me,” he says.

Local hip hop artist Jamal Williams a.k.a. Rise, 23, attended the rally with his friend Skylyn Hagins, who is organizing Hip Hop 4 Obama, a grassroots hip hop summit planned for Sept. 20 at Dunbar Middle School. Rise will perform at the event, which aims to bring together local musicians, community members and politicians for a dialogue about hip hop music and Obama.

Though Rise does not keep up with the ins and outs of politics, he says he is tired of what he sees as “poli-tricks” and “silent poison” coming out of Washington.

Kindra Johnson, 23, a dance teacher and a teacher’s assistant at Linkhorne Elementary, didn’t vote in the primaries, but she plans to vote Obama in the fall.

“He didn’t talk over us. He talked to us,” Johnson says of Obama’s speech.

Anthony Long and two friends did not get tickets in time. Instead, the Liberty University freshman stood on the front law of E.C. Glass, listening to a loudspeaker broadcast of Obama’s speech.

Long, who went to Rustburg High School, decided to attend Liberty because it’s a Christian school and is close to home. But he didn’t realize how conservative the climate was on campus. Still, he holds strong in his support for Obama.

“I like his politicians. I like his stance on the war,” said Long, who has had several family members serve in Iraq.

But most importantly, Long believes, it is about time for a black man to become president.

Maggie Zellner, 17, will miss the vote by five days. Zellner, who attends boarding school is New Hampshire, says she was initially a Hillary Clinton supporter because of her stance on women’s issues, but switched to Obama when he won the primary.

“He’s a phenomenon. I see the appeal of his character,” Zellner says. “If nothing else, he’s getting young people excited about politics again.”