Although several presidential candidates enjoy support from AU students via Facebook, this support has not translated into the formation of in-person meetings of these groups at AU, with three exceptions.
Groups of AU students meet in support of Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and former Democratic North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., have supportive Facebook groups started by AU students.
Facebook groups are a good way to capture a campus' overall support of a candidate, said Jacob Shelly, president of AU Students for Barack Obama and an editorial page columnist for The Eagle.
"I think Facebook is a fair measure of candidate support, both at AU and across the nation," he said in an online interview. "Social networking sites are where college students go to display their allegiances."
Robust Facebook groups do not always produce real participation, said Anthony Fragale, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences who is president of Students for Bill Richardson.
"It is extremely easy to hit 'accept' to a group invite coming from your friend, but it is quite another thing to show up at meetings, hang signs in your windows and doors and help the national campaign," Fragale said in an online interview. "Also, only a fraction of the AU student body is in any [Facebook] group."
Internet campaigning has proven to translate into actual votes, and 2008 presidential campaigns are capitalizing on this, said Kathryn Montgomery, a professor in the School of Communication and author of "Generation Digital."
"Candidates are using Facebook and MySpace to try to recruit and mobilize young people," Montgomery said.
Despite the campus groups and Internet support, candidates fail to really engage college students because they do not address issues that directly affect them, said Carl Anderson, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
"We don't want a draft, and we don't want to pay money because we don't have money," Anderson said. "Unless you have some special national interest, you won't be too engaged."
The most recent survey by Harvard's Institute of Politics found that Giuliani and Obama have the most support in their respective parties among 18- to 24-year-olds.
The survey, which polled 2,923 college-age people nationwide, found that 35 percent identified as Democrats, 25 percent as Republicans and 40 percent as independent or unidentified. Among the Democrats, 35 percent supported Obama and 29 percent supported Clinton. The Republicans backed Giuliani by 31 percent and McCain by 18 percent.
College students differ with the general public on who should be the Democratic presidential nominee - national polls reflect Clinton as the front-runner, according to the Web site.
Of those surveyed, 35 percent cited the Iraq war as the most important national issue, an opinion echoed by some AU students.
The Iraq war issue has a lot of resonance at AU and will mobilize students to the polls, said Alexandra Lane, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
"I think the Iraq War is going to be the key issue in this campaign," she said. "There's a lot of anti-war sentiment on campus, and I think kids will vote in fear of a draft."
How students vote in the 2008 election will test how serious they are about combating terrorism and defeating fascist extremists in Iraq, said Will Haun, president of AU College Republicans.
"Generally speaking, all 18- to 24-year-olds have an invested interest in the fight on the war on terror," he said. "We have to decide if we're going to get serious about fighting it"
