Despite his popularity among young voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama isn’t getting much obvious financial support from students in Onondaga County.
Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) is running against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the Nov. 4 election. In a recent Gallup poll of registered voters aged 18 to 29 years old, Obama leads McCain 59 percent to 38 percent.
But Obama’s political donations credited to students are meager in campaign finance reports. Some reasons: Some students donate from their home state, instead of where they go to school. Their incomes are notoriously low, leaving little for political donations. And some who do donate simply don’t identify themselves as students.
“It’s very difficult to accurately measure money from students,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D. C. The Center is a non-partisan analyst of campaign fundraising and spending.
As of Sept. 30, nationally Obama had raised more than $600 million, compared to McCain’s $358 million.
But in Onondaga County, only five Obama donors identified themselves as students, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Those five students accounted for $4,050.
McCain has only received one donation of $2,300 from a self-identified student in Onondaga County.
One possible explanation for these low numbers is that students are submitting their home zip codes instead of school zip codes when donating. Six in 10 Syracuse University students are from out of state, according to CollegeBoard. And most in-state students are not necessarily from Onondaga County.
Students may not show up as donors because they may be small contributors, suggested Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics. Campaigns are not required to submit names and occupations of donors who give $200 or less, he explained.
“Students don’t have a lot of disposable income,” Ritsch said. “If they’re giving at all, they’re giving at relatively low levels.”
Michael Short, Students for Barack Obama’s Syracuse University chapter director and New York state field director, agreed with Ritsch. But college students have contributed time instead of money, he said.
“There’s a million and one things that the campaign needs help with,” said Short, a junior political science, public relations and policy studies major. “And time, in many regards, can be more valuable.”
Nick Johnson, chairman of SU’s chapters of College Republicans and Students for John McCain, said he has only donated $20 to the McCain campaign. But, he said, he has worked on campaigns such as Rudy Giuliani’s campaign during the Republican presidential primaries.
“They don’t really expect money from kids our age,” said Johnson, a junior political science and international relations major. “What’s more important is volunteer time — getting people to vote, calling people, going door-to-door and things like that.”
(Megan Saucke is a junior newspaper journalism and political science major.)
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