As Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain and Mike Huckabee continually grab headlines with their campaign tours across America, the political interest among students is growing.

Although TCU is traditionally viewed as a conservative campus by groups such as The Princeton Review, the 2008 Presidential Eleciton is fast becoming a time of change.

Not necessarily change in the way Sens. Obama and Clinton describe, but rather in the form of students having a political interest that extends beyond a water cooler conversation about whether someone is “liberal” or “conservative.”

Four years ago, students had election-night watching parties in the old Texadelphia restaurant on University Drive and most of the students attending were cheering on the re-election of President George W. Bush.

Today, there are activist groups popping up on college campuses for Obama and Clinton. The number of 18- to 24-year-old voters flocking to the voting booths is approaching record highs in a historic election for Democrats. The outcome of the presidency is in the hands of young voters and, for once, activism means more than wearing a T-shirt or buttons; it is actually promoting and informing peers about the election process.

By the time this weekend comes to a close, former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Obama, McCain and Huckabee will have all passed through Fort Worth to try and corral voters for the March 4 primaries.

The opportunity to see and hear the issues the candidates are passionate about is at young voters’ fingertips. The chance to see the historic face of change for U.S. Democratic candidates will never happen again.

What started as conversation and topics in passing are now becoming politics in action from the candidates to the campaign managers to the youngest voters.

March 4 is on the horizon. It is time to turn words to actions.