GUY RAZ, host:
Early on, college students were among the most enthusiastic backers of candidate Barack Obama. They volunteered for the campaign and voted in greater numbers than ever before.
Now, as Mr. Obama's first year in office draws to a close, reporter Joel Rose visited Penn State University to gauge the political temperature before this year's elections.
JOEL ROSE: Tucked away in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania, far from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, Penn State is not a campus renowned for its political activism. But on Election Day 2008, the line to vote at the student center, known as The Hub, stretched out the door.
Ms. JESSICA PELLICIOTTA (President, Penn State College Democrats): Thousands of students lined up to vote, down around the building. I mean, this is a pretty big building.
ROSE: Jessica Pelliciotta is president of Penn State College Democrats. She spent weeks registering students to vote and then badgering them to turn out on Election Day. When the polls closed, Pelliciotta joined the impromptu parade around the campus.
Ms. PELLICIOTTA: We were able to turn Centre County blue, which is a huge accomplishment. I mean, we're the blue speck in the red sea, so we were ecstatic about it.
ROSE: But that won't be an easy thing to pull off again. Conversations at The Hub this week suggest that enthusiasm for the 2010 midterm elections is, well, modest.
Did you vote in 2008?
Ms. TEROI PETERKIN(ph) (Student, Penn State University): Yes.
ROSE: Are you going to vote this year?
Ms. PETERKIN: I hope to.
ROSE: But you're not sure.
Ms. PETERKIN: Yeah.
ROSE: Teroi Peterkin is eating lunch at The Hub with some friends. They all voted for Obama, and while they haven't given up on him yet, you can definitely sense a little impatience. Here's Kalid Brandon Hatcher(ph).
Mr. KALID BRANDON HATCHER (Student, Penn State University): Truthfully, I think he's doing all right.
ROSE: Just all right?
Mr. HATCHER: I'll give him, as a grade, he'll get like a C plus.
ROSE: Where does he need to improve?
Mr. HATCHER: The jobs and help schools lower the tuition. That's the two most basic things: jobs and help the schools out.
ROSE: In-state tuition at Penn State is set to go up almost five percent next year. That's an issue many students care about deeply. But not as many seem to get excited about the health care overhaul. Even competitive races for the governor's mansion and the U.S. Senate seat don't seem to resonate, says Cameron Clay(ph).
Mr. CAMERON CLAY (Student, Penn State University): I feel like up here, a lot of people aren't going to vote as much for the senators just because it's not as big a deal as the presidential vote is, and then with the whole, you know, first woman and first African-American, I don't think that the turnout is going to be anywhere near as much as it was for the presidential vote at all.
ROSE: Still, there's some evidence that high turnout among young voters in 2008 could have lasting implications. Eric Plutzer teaches political science at Penn State.
Professor ERIC PLUTZER (Political Science, Penn State University): If young people are coaxed into getting registered early in the process, and they actually get out to vote in their first eligible election, their turnout rates will be higher four years later, eight years later, even 20 years later. So early participation among young people is a gift that keeps on giving.
ROSE: But Plutzer says that's only true for presidential elections. Turnout among young voters is historically lower in midterm elections, when there's less attention from the media and the national party. That hasn't stopped the Penn State College Democrats from trying to get their peers motivated. Jessica Pelliciotta just finished hosting a campaign event for one of the party's gubernatorial candidates.
Ms. PELLICIOTTA: I believe there's 20 people in attendance. And when you're on a campus of 40,000, it's so frustrating, especially when the candidates come here expecting to see bigger crowds.
ROSE: That's a frustration Democratic candidates may come to share, especially if they're counting on the youth vote that helped carry Barack Obama to the White House.
For NPR News, I'm Joel Rose.