With a historic choice to make, new voters are excited about their chance to be part of something monumental and Virginia Tech College Republicans Chair Carlin Crowder looks to make hay while the sun shines -- politically.
For the first time since 1964, Virginia looks as though it may cross party lines. Recent polls show Virginia a statistical dead heat between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.
"We're absolutely seeing more involvement than usual," Crowder said, "We have such a level of excitement and new involvement with the College Republicans; you have people from political junkies to complete rookies who don't know much but want to know more about Republican and conservative ideas.
Crowder, who was elected chair of the VT College Republicans in April, said he got involved because of his love for his country and for politics.
"I have a passion for politics. I have a passion to see college-age people get involved. The college age bracket is always taken for granted as voting Democrat, if they vote at all," Crowder said.
Crowder said his biggest surprise was the level of women's involvement in the campaign.
"What's exciting is a large turnout from women on campus," Crowder said, "I've seen while talking with the college-age female population (and) they're very excited to see Sarah Palin on the ticket."
Crowder said he felt this worked for the College Republicans.
"I'd say our membership is 60 percent women and they're very involved and very excited," Crowder said. "I think part of that has to do with the nomination of Sarah Palin, but even prior to that we were seeing a lot of women involved and then (Palin's nomination) just emphasized it."
Crowder said he saw enthusiasm and interest higher across the political spectrum as a result of the upcoming elections.
"I think the excitement level is high overall. We cosponsored the Rock the Vote bus with the Young Democrats. We've had an agreeable relationship with them," Crowder said.
Rock the Vote is an organization that tries to get students and young voters involved in the political process and registered to vote.
"The thing we do agree on is that we want young people more involved in politics, we want people to register no matter how they plan to vote. We want to help them get their ducks in a row so they can vote. For many of them this is the first general election where they can vote," Crowder said.
Crowder characterized the new interest among students as not automatically benefitting the traditional Democratic voting block associated with high youth vote turnout.
"We're seeing a real turnaround; we're not seeing mind-numb college students that are just going to vote one way because that's how they've been influenced by their peers," Crowder said.
Crowder said he felt confident the College Republicans could turn this opportunity into a Republican victory this November.
"Every year we're told, 'this time it really matters' but this time it really does. You couldn't have two people running that are more dissimilar," Crowder said, "We have a strong group at the College Republicans who are very politically savvy. They realize the importance of this election."
The new Republican Party offices on Blacksburg's Main Street were buzzing with activity. Volunteers manned phones, several people waited in line to sign registration and volunteer forms, a dwindling supply of McCain/Palin '08 yard signs and bumper stickers sat below a sign that politely offered them free, but suggested a small donation.
Crowder sat on a folding chair in front of a volunteer scheduling calendar penciled several times over with names, times and assignments.
"This office belongs to the county party, so I don't work here full-time," Crowder said, "We're distributing signs and bumper stickers now, but we're focusing on the college-age students, trying to get them as involved as possible, so we're volunteering at different local events, there's door knocking and we're also installing these 4'x8' signs that say 'McCain Country'."
Crowder said the College Republicans were not directly involved in any fund raising, but were mostly trying to work on voter awareness.
"We're just calling local voters, touching base with them. If they have fairs in the area, we go out those," Crowder said. "The idea behind the door knocking and such is to let people know why community members should support and vote for Sen. McCain, to make sure people are registered and make sure they know where their polling place is."
Crowder said the College Republicans were also involved in some nonpolitical volunteer work on campus.
"Recently the College Republicans did a memorial for Sept. 11 on the campus, which was a nonpolitical event," Crowder said, "We set out a flag for every victim that perished in the attacks on the towers and elsewhere."
Crowder said he hopes there will also be some further cooperative efforts with Democrats.
"The political science club is looking at organizing some debates once we get into October, but I don't have anything specific yet," Crowder said.
While it's generally held that 2008 is going to be a tough year for Republicans, with a tough economy, an unpopular war and polls showing a majority of the public feel the country is going the wrong way, Crowder said he feels sanguine about Republicans' prospects in the upcoming election.
"I think the polls reflect just the opposite. I think that, particularly in this area, Southwest Virginia is an area that gets it. It's consistently voted for, this has been a red voting area and we see no reason why that should change," Crowder said, "We're absolutely feeling confident about the upcoming elections. You don't want to get overconfident; we have to redouble our efforts."