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With November rapidly approaching, politicians everywhere are reaching out to the voters.
Amidst political conventions and Puff Daddy viral tirades, one locally elected official took time away from the nation's capital to visit Towson Wednesday.
John Sarbanes, D-Md., took center stage at the Speaker's Circle, located next to Hawkins Hall, in front of a rowdy group of potential young voters. Governor Martin O'Malley was scheduled to speak at the rally, but was unable to attend due to a commitment in Ellicott City, according to Sarbanes communications director David Paulson.
Congressman Sarbanes spoke and encouraged students to get out and vote and to be a margin of difference in the November election.
"You have a lot of heavy lifting to do to show that you matter," he said addressing the crowd of students and staff along the hill outside Smith Hall.
"If you don't turn out on Election Day nobody will listen to you come January. There's a different feel to it this time, different energy. I know your going to be there."
Sarbanes and others are scheduled to give similar addresses at Bowie State University, University of Maryland at College Park and Morgan State University.
Along with Towson, the tour has also hit University of Maryland Eastern Shore so far.
"Essentially what this tour is, is an unconventional rally for change," Travis Tazelaar, the coordinating campaign director for the tour, said. "Due to the Republican convention this week, we are holding these conventions to counterpoise us against the Republicans."
Sarbanes encouraged students to become volunteers, crediting their energy and enthusiasm to get things on the ground done.
"They have the energy to spend 12 hours a day knocking on doors," Sarbanes said.
One key point Sarbanes highlighted was that the upcoming election is not about Barack Obama, despite being from the same political party. People who think that need to get reoriented, according to Sarbanes.
"It's about you, and if you make a difference on Election Day, the history we'll be celebrating is that young people in this country beat the odds and fought back and made the margin of difference in this election," Sarbanes said.
Some student organizations were present at the rally, including the Progressive Democrats of Towson.
"We are here because we want to talk about not only progressive candidates but progressive issues," Heather Kangas, junior political science major, said.
"The six months before an election is when people start to become the most active. The energy seems to drop off after they're elected. It's important to hold elected officials to their campaign promises."
According to Kangas, her group wants to prove that there are students that are aware and that care about the issues all the time, not just when its time to vote.
"There should be momentum all of the time," she said.
A select number of students brought posters advocating legislation that Senator Barack Obama has supported, as well as publicizing healthcare issues.
Roughly 100 students were present at the rally despite the heat, most students found hidden areas for shade.
The rallies across the USM campuses are not being run by the Democratic Party or Obama for America, according to Tazelaar, this was the result of student dedication.
Clifton Blount, one of the student coordinators for the event, has been working with the campaign for a year and a half.
"I started in my hometown of Frederick, I have worked here in Baltimore County and Montgomery County," Blount said. "My goal is to engage students, since you won't typically find them watching CNN or researching election coverage."
According to Sarbanes, Towson had one of the best turnouts. People are starting to get revved up.
"The key is to ramp students up, and that is certainly happening with this student body," Sarbanes said.
Despite the high energy some were disappointed that O'Malley was missing from the rally.
"The governor is enthusiastic about doing this but his day job interfered. Today he was doing his day job instead of his political job," Paulson said.
According to Paulson, the governor will be attending the remaining rallies.
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