Students Use Site to Choose Favorite Candidates

Facebook Offers Way for Students to Blend Networking and Politics Through Online Vote

While many see Facebook as a social-networking service to connect with friends, some students are tapping into the site to sound off on who should be the next United States president.

The League of Young Voters Facebook Primary, hosted on the site in conjunction with political group MoveOn.org, lets students choose their favorite candidate in the presidential primaries.

Officials said the poll aims to engage America's youth in politics, adding that they picked the site due to its popularity among college students.

"We try to meet young people where they are," said Sam Dorman, director of online programs for the League of Young Voters. "It's been shown that peer-to-peer outreach is one of the most effective ways for young people to engage each other."

Tens of thousands of students nationwide have participated, Dorman said, with UC Berkeley among the top ten universities with the highest percentage of support for Barack Obama.

As of 6 p.m. yesterday, 63 percent of students in the UC Berkeley network who participated in the poll supported Obama, compared to 45 percent nationwide.

Campus Obama supporters said they are not surprised by the results.

"The students at UC Berkeley are historically progressive and involved in the political process, and hence are fed up when the government is stalled in partisan bickering," said Rohan Wagle, a freshman and member of the UC Berkeley chapter of Students for Barack Obama. "Barack focuses on bringing the country together, which is something a lot of people, especially students, identify with."

UC Berkeley students also differed with the poll's national average with respect to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. According to the poll at 6 p.m. yesterday, nationwide support for Clinton was at 13 percent, compared to six percent at UC Berkeley.

Freshman Dao Nguyen, a Clinton supporter, said she believes Obama has proven successful in the league's poll due to his charisma.

"I think Obama's got a great personality," she said. "People are banking on the fact that he looks like a good guy."

Among UC Berkeley students participating in the poll, Clinton placed fourth, trailing John Edwards in second place and Dennis Kucinich in third.

Students who voted for candidates no longer in the race, such as Edwards, receive invitations to recast their votes, Dorman said.

Dorman said he cannot speculate as to whether or not the poll will actually reflect how UC Berkeley students vote.

But some Obama supporters at UC Berkeley said the participants who voted for him on the site will likely cast their official votes for him in the California Feb. 5 primary.

"He's the first candidate of a major party who has been able to successfully bring the youth to vote, Wagle said. "His inspirational qualities give the youth a reason to join in the political process and take a stand."