Posted by BEN BEAUMONT – The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas has an account this morning of the visit of Texas State Rep Mark Strama to the Clinton School yesterday. Strama, the former program director for MTV’s Rock the Vote, said Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama could be a factor in local races this year because of his support among young voters. From the article:
By engaging the younger generation, the Illinois senator has gotten younger voters excited about politics, and they are likely to stay involved in the process, said Mark Strama, now a Democratic state representative in Texas.“I wouldn’t be surprised if the folks who’d gotten newly engaged through the presidential campaign become activists up and down the ballot and throughout their communities,” Strama said in an interview with the Arkansas News Bureau after giving a speech at the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service.
At 35 percent, voter turnout was slightly higher than normal in Arkansas’ Feb. 5 presidential primary, which was moved from mid-May this year to increase the state’s influence in the presidential nominating process.
That level of turnout possibly could carry over to the May 20 primary for state and local offices because voting is habit forming, said Strama, also founder of the first online voter registration company.
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Mark Strama visits with Clinton School students.