Area college students get behind Obama

Pennsylvania National Guardsman veteran Chad Harrington believes no matter which presidential candidate you support, it’s everyone’s duty to cast a ballot.

He and fellow King’s College classmate Alex Schroeder, 24, formed King’s Students for Obama in late February to support Illinois Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama after noticing what Harrington called a “general apathy” regarding politics among students.

Harrington, 27, said he chose to support Obama for two reasons: The last eight years have been rough for this country and the Illinois senator has a clear vision for the future.

“We have a man that has been honest, he has integrity and promises that he is going to change things,” he said, adding that Obama was right to oppose the war in Iraq.

Harrington and Schroeder don’t plan to limit the organization to just their fellow King’s classmates. They are reaching across downtown and Public Square to team up with some Wilkes University students.

One of those is Wilkes University senior Angela Wood, who aspires to be a politician someday, but right now she’s focusing on supporting Obama before she enters law school.

“A problem with our system is we tend to exclude. Democracy is about inclusion and getting everyone involved. It’s not about exclusion,” she said adding that’s what Obama is about because he reaches out to a diverse array of people.

After seeing a video on the Internet last summer for presidential candidate Ron Paul, Misericordia student Eileen Reinert changed her voter registration from Democrat to Republican to vote for him. Paul, a U.S. representative in Texas, has suspended his bid for the presidency.

Last week, members of Misericordia University’s Student Government Association partnered with the League of Women Voters of the Wilkes-Barre Area to sponsor a two-hour voter registration drive on the campus.

There was a great turnout of students filling out voter registration cards at the event, said 21-year-old Ashley Wolanski, president of the Misericordia Student Government Association.

Other students stopped by the booth asking questions on how they could vote absentee in their home counties.

She said it’s important that college students have a voice in the elections – especially this year’s presidential contest because it will directly affect their futures.

No Luzerne County colleges reported any student organizations supporting U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton or John McCain.