Early Iowa caucuses mean students will be on winter break: What effect for Obama?

LAT: Early caucuses put student pro-Obama vote in play
Iowa campuses will be on winter break Jan. 3, which could steer his young supporters to a hometown event, or leave them stranded.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 21, 2007

....The Iowa caucuses are being held Jan. 3, the middle of winter break. With college students home for the holidays, campuses across the state will be empty. But the early caucus date could shift voter dynamics, adding young voices at their hometown caucuses across the state while diminishing the turnout at college precincts. Or, it could mean even fewer college students will take part in the electoral process.

Either outcome will affect the tally for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who is in a tight race with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York to carry the state. The Obama campaign is banking on young voters, and the timing of this year's caucuses could work to his advantage. "It's much easier to get kids to caucus if they're on campus," said Gordon Fischer, former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party and an Obama supporter. "But when they're spread out, students can have a lot more impact."...

Although students tend to register as voters on campus in Iowa, it's easy to switch their registration on caucus night and vote at precincts in their hometowns.

The Republican presidential race appears unlikely to be swayed by the student turnout, but the Democratic primary could be, said Iowa State University political science professor Dianne Bystrom. "Obama is helped the most by turnout of young voters," she said.

Of the Democratic candidates, the Illinois senator has the greatest support among young people and the least among senior citizens. So if Obama student supporters caucus in their hometowns, where the average caucus-goer is in his early 60s, they could help the senator pick up delegates in areas where his support might otherwise be lukewarm, Bystrom said.

If fewer college students vote, that would hamper Obama's efforts and help former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who has weaker support among young people and higher support among baby boomers, she said. Clinton's candidacy is unlikely to be affected because she has broad support across age groups. But many question whether students would make the effort, particularly without the on-campus prodding of groups such as the Young Voters Project....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-collegevote21nov21,0,1607822,full.story?coll=la-tot-national

Really, it's not like there are a lot of students from out of state that are going to go to Iowa for college.

the world class quality of the Big Ten universities. Here at UW-Madison there are not only huge numbers of out of state students, but also foreign nationals. My roomate, for example, is from Hong Kong as are over 400 other students, and that's just Hong Kong.

How many of these students are registered voters in the state of Iowa?