By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

James Fain is a wanted man. Who wants this 26-year-old, eating lunch at Little Havana on Main Street? Ten presidential candidates who say they are making unprecedented efforts to woo young voters.

"The youth vote is poised to be the swing vote for 2004," said Michael Whitney, spokesman for Generation Dean, the well-organized youth wing of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's campaign. "The way we can get them to our side is simply by speaking to them."

ELECTION COVERAGE IN TODAY'S ENQUIRER

• Chasing young voters: An untapped gold mine • Student volunteers get full exposure to campaign • Council campaign enters last lap • Council hopefuls waver on tax breaks • 'Overvoting' can be spoiler • About voting in Tuesday's election • Cincinnati.Com election coverage

On Tuesday, as Tristate voters go to the polls in local elections, the nine Democrats will speak directly to twentysomethings in a nationally televised town hall meeting sponsored by Rock the Vote and CNN.

Campaigns have been organizing young voters via coffee- and beer-fueled "meet-ups" organized on the Web, campus rallies, and even - as the Dean campaign did this past weekend - "house parties."

It's part of an effort to reach what the Youth Vote Coalition calls a gold mine of votes.

"While security moms and NASCAR dads attract time and resources, another powerful voting bloc lies untapped," the coalition wrote in a pamphlet mailed in October to political consultants.

Voters 18 to 30 years old account for a quarter of the voting-age population, even though in recent elections the turnout of young voters has been somewhere between discouraging and dismal.

Neither Fain, a waiter from Over-the-Rhine, nor friend Susy Ruiz, 21, of Glendale, have decided which candidate to support. But both agree that young voters are more energized than ever to decide next year's presidential race.

"Young people want to see movement," said Ruiz, who knows only that she won't be supporting President Bush. She said she would like to see less money going toward Iraq and more toward fixing up Cincinnati communities.

"I think with our generation, there's a lot of emphasis on working to improve your community, however big or small you see that community as being," said Matt Byrne, a senior from Waynesville at Xavier University and co-chairman of the Ohio College Republicans. "If that idea is there, they're always interested in politics in some way."

Young Americans are actually more supportive of President Bush than their older counterparts, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll taken in October. They're more likely to support the Iraq war, more trusting of Washington - and less likely to follow political news.

Students more interested

A separate study from the Harvard University Institute of Politics released in October documented a reawakening of political interest on college campuses. The organization surveyed 1,202 students, primarily 18- to 24-year-olds, on campuses across the nation.

In an earlier Harvard poll taken in April 2000, 51 percent said political involvement rarely produced tangible results. In the latest poll, only 34 percent agreed with that statement. The poll also found that college voters are more likely than the general population to support President Bush, and that a majority of students supported the war in Iraq.

In the post-Sept. 11 world, more students say they will vote, that politics is meaningful, that their vote matters, said Dan Glickman, a former Kansas congressman and secretary of agriculture who now heads the Harvard Institute of Politics.

Young voters tend to identify less with party, and that makes them a target of both sides - if the campaigns are smart - Glickman said.

"You're talking 15 (million) to 20 million people. That's enough to influence elections," he said. "Neglect this group at your peril."

No one has done a better job at energizing the young than Dean, whose anti-war message resonated with college students even though the Harvard poll showed most students supported the war.

Young voters tend to appreciate authenticity, outspokenness and general "realness" in a candidate, according to interviews and surveys.

"I think people realize politicians equivocate all the time. It's a rare thing when you find a politician who doesn't," said Niroshan Wijesooriya, 30, a University of Cincinnati law student eating lunch at Harry's pizza. Dean, he said, "is out there saying, 'This is what I believe in."'

Even other politicians are attracted to that. The youngest Democrat in Congress, 30-year-old Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, endorsed Dean in October, saying: "His message is honest. And I find that refreshing in the political arena."

'Mavericks' organizing

The Bush-Cheney campaign is starting its youth outreach eight months earlier than in 2000, campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said. It's building a national Students for Bush organization, even creating a new fund-raiser category, called Mavericks, for people younger than 40 who can raise $50,000 for the campaign.

"This sector of the electorate - they're energetic; they're focused," Madden said.

In August, the Bush campaign even sent a representative to the Village Tavern in Montgomery to talk to Blue Chip Young Republicans, said club president James Bogen, a downtown lawyer.

The Lieberman campaign has set up a Students for Joe Web site, and plans to include them in campaign strategy. A poll of college students last month found Lieberman and Dean leading among students.

"Young people are the gas that powers presidential campaigns," Lieberman spokesman Adam Kovacevich said. "They bring excitement to the campaign, a willingness to work long hours, and a desire to be a part of the political process."

'Something to do'

If there's one key to getting young voters involved, it's giving them something to do, said John Cranley, a 29-year-old Cincinnati city councilman. Give them real work and put them with other young people.

"A big part of it is social," he said. After all, most college students and many twentysomethings are single. Byrne of the College Republicans met his girlfriend through the GOP. The Young Voter Coalition will be putting together debate-watching parties for the Rock the Vote-CNN forum Tuesday.

But many young voters, even those angry over Iraq, still end up outside the political process.

Katie Freshley, a 21-year-old waitress at a coffee house on Main Street, calls Bush a "warmongering, bloodthirsty, racist, homophobic person who should not be in office."

But the Mount Auburn resident can't name any of the Democrats running against him.

"Scary, huh?" she said. "I'm very undecided."

Antonio Wright, 28, a professional stand-up comedian from Over-the-Rhine leaning against a parking meter along Main Street, said he knows only that he'll be voting against Bush, who he considers "too aggressive." But he acknowledges he knows little about the Democrats except that Al Sharpton's "perm is too good."

Jon Sinclair, a 35-year-old lawyer from Madisonville, said he didn't think the Dean buzz had yet permeated Cincinnati. He even tried to find out if any Dean-related events were coming up.

"I went to the Web site and put in my ZIP code," he said. "And nothing came back."

On the Web

Register to vote

• www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm, Federal Election Commission's national mail voter registration form.

Learn more about the presidential candidates

• www.democrats.org/whitehouse, the nine Democratic contenders, including links to each campaign's Web site.

• www.georgewbush.com, Bush Cheney 2004 re-election campaign.

Volunteer for young voter outreach (Campaigns with specific sites)

• www.studentsforclark.com, Students for Wesley Clark.

• www.generationdean.com, Generation Dean.

• www.studentsforedwards.com, Students for John Edwards.

• www.studentsforjoe.com, Students for Joe Lieberman.

Learn more about getting out the vote

• www.youthvote.org, Youth Vote Coalition.

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E-mail cweiser@enquirer.com