Young Democrats get out in force

Young Democrats Abi Byrd, 17, left, and Amber Hicks, 18, of Pendleton High campaigned for Howard Dean on Highway 93 in Central Tuesday. Staff/TANYA ACKERMAN e-mail this story

The 20-year-old Greenville resident who had never voted was passing out literature, urging support for U.S. Sen. John Edwards, the presidential candidate she believes will cure her biggest problem.

"Jobs. We need jobs," Elrod said. "I cannot find a job."

Across town, 21-year-old Shawn Reilly held up a "John Kerry for President" sign as people drove to the polls at the Phillis Wheatley Center. Reilly, a Greenville Tech student from Simpsonville, said he is fed up with President Bush.

"A year ago I told myself I'd work for anyone who'd run against George Bush," he said. "Here I am."

Quincey Gamble, a regional director of the Howard Dean campaign, who at 28 has been part of a number of campaigns, said the youth movement has made an impact early in the political season.

"I'm really surprised at the level of youth involved in a primary," he said. "It speaks to the dissatisfaction of the youth."

Elrod and Reilly were among a number of young Democrats in Greenville who knocked on doors, passed out fliers and made countless phone calls in support of their candidates in a last days of the South Carolina primary.

Reilly, who started volunteering last week, said the youth participation also speaks to the strength of the Democratic party. "There's so many candidates that it brought a lot of good attention to the party," he said.

Like many young Democrats, Reilly said he will support the Democratic nominee even if it's not his candidate.

While Reilly recently became an activist, members of Furman University's College Democrats have been working for months to energize young voters and volunteers in preparation of the primary and last Thursday's debate at the Peace Center.

Megan Kendall, a freshman from Irmo, started Students for Dean at Furman. Kendall, 18, said that when she was passing out Howard Dean flyers in her dorm about two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, one student asked, "Who's Howard Dean?"

It's easy for students to live in an issue-free bubble, she said, since, food, shelter and even medical attention can be found on campus.

Although she's seen quite a bit of apathy, Kendall said she's also noticed an emerging interest among people her age. "There's definitely a market and a need and a lot of candidates are reaching out to voters," she said.

Kendall and 20-year-old Ashley Carroll spent Tuesday afternoon handing out ballots at the Wren Memorial Baptist Church.

Carroll, a junior from Columbia, said she got involved with the Democratic party spurred by "a real unhappiness with President Bush" and his decision to go to war.

"I wanted to do whatever I could do to help get him out of office," she said.

So did Elrod, who got up at 6:30 a.m. and was at a polling station a half hour later passing out papers with a group of people she didn't know.

With any luck, she said, she'd be on her way to Columbia by the end of the day to celebrate Edwards' victory with the candidate himself.

"We're going all day," she said.

Paul Alongi contributed to this story.