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All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

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Celebrities to campaign for Obama on campus

Two Television stars will hit the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama on Friday in an effort to get students to the polls.

Sophia Bush of “One Tree Hill” and Adam Rodriguez of “CSI: Miami” will be on campus to support Obama’s run for the presidency.

Debbie Mesloh, Dallas spokeswoman from the Obama campaign, said staffers contacted student coordinators from TCU Students for Barack Obama with an offer to have Bush and Rodriguez visit the campus.

“When Sen. Obama announced his campaign, college students were crucial,” Mesloh said. “Numerous people in the entertainment industry have volunteered to speak to universities, so we made the offer.”

The actors will speak to students for 45 minutes about why they have chosen to support the senator, inviting students to vote before the early polls close at 7 p.m. today.

“The idea is to lead voters over to the early voting booths after the event,” said Brian Young, student coordinator and junior political science major. “We’re expecting a caravan of early voters.”

Mesloh said events such as the one today are designed to inform and encourage students to vote.

“Texas is great with a lot of poll accessibility, but we just want to encourage people to go and cast their vote early,” Mesloh said.

Mesloh said the campaign is reliant on the student coordinators to organize their campuses to help reach young, potential voters.

“Some of the first people hired were student coordinators, and we need them to engage students and give information about Sen. Obama’s policies,” Mesloh said.

Having celebrities speak about a candidate can bring in students who are there only to see the personalities, but some students said they are interested in hearing what they have to say.

“You wouldn’t expect celebrities to be interested in the issues, but it brings them back down to Earth,” said Anna Waugh, a freshman news editorial and English major. “If anything, you can learn something from hearing someone else’s perspective.”

While not a recognized organization on campus, Young said TCU Students for Barack Obama is recognized by the national Obama campaign.

“Our goal is to do anything cool to get people informed and excited to vote,” Young said.

Bush and Rodriguez are not the only celebrities to campaign on college campuses for the senator. Actors Kal Penn and Eric Balfour, both of “House,” spoke at Ohio’s Kent State University last week, sharing Obama’s policies with potential voters. Ohio and Texas are two of four states with primaries on Tuesday.

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