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COPYRIGHT 2004 Chicago Tribune
Oct. 19--MADISON, Wis.--Nothing so far seems to have persuaded Jordan Reilly to vote on Election Day.
Not the MTV spots or the Rock the Vote concerts or Comedy Central. Not the daily voter registration drives outside the University of Wisconsin library. Not the pressure from his peers. Not the hip-hop artists who have visited. Not the issues of war, a military draft and the economy. And certainly not George Bush or John Kerry.
As thousands of students on one of the most politically active campuses in the country gathered in clusters one night recently to watch a presidential debate, Reilly didn't bother. He pulled his clothes from a dryer at a downtown laundromat and walked out the front door past a throng of University of Wisconsin students whose eyes were glued to a bank of televisions.
"I've got stuff to do," said the 21-year-old senior majoring in history. "Your ability to influence the [election] outcome is insignificant. Who knows? Maybe I'll change my mind on Election Day."
Reilly represents one of this campaign year's conundrums: Will young people, who have shunned elections in increasing numbers since 1972, vote en masse this November? And if so, will first-time "Virgin Voters" -- as the non-partisan New Voters Project calls them -- change the tide of the election?
"They are the powerful great unknown," said Zach Brandon, a Madison alderman who for years has followed youth voting trends in this liberal university town. "They could either be a gigantic influence or a big flop."
In the campaign's final weeks, political prognosticators have been sizing up the youth vote like oddsmakers...
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