US News reports that twenty-year-old Doug Massengill grew up poor, raised by grandparents in a rural enclave in North Carolina, a state that hasn't picked a Democrat for president since Jimmy Carter first ran in 1976. Today, the North Caro-lina State University junior is pounding the pavement for Barack Obama, defying familial Republican roots and persuading peers to register to vote and give Barack Obama the nod.

"He really represents the promise of the younger generation," Massengill says. This southern state is crowded with almost a half-million college and university students, and Massengill is convinced that if he can lure them to the polls, "North Carolina is Barack Obama's to win."

That's not to say McCain doesn't have campus support. At Drake University in Des Moines, political scientist Dennis Goldford watched Obama campaign and found he radiated "a certain cool, a certain charisma" that is attractive to college students. Still, Goldford does not diminish McCain's appeal, saying, "He will activate Republican students the way another Republican would, talking about the military, character, and traditional values." McCain's campaign boasts organizations on more than 100 campuses, and Ethan Eilon, executive director of the College Republican National Committee, is sending 60 paid organizers to colleges and universities. "It's going to be a tough fight," Eilon, 24, says, but McCain "works best when he's the underdog."

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato says, "Not only did students turn out in big numbers for Obama in the primaries; they've also flocked to his rallies. Obama has attracted huge college crowds, notably as many as 22,000 at Pennsylvania State University in March. The McCain campaign, asked where the Republican was a big draw on campuses, names three Catholic schools, giving the largest turnout as 4,000 at Villanova University in Philadelphia in April when McCain dropped in on MSNBC's touring Hardball With Chris Matthews."

Related News:
Jackson Browne Sues John McCain Over Copyright Infringement
John McCain's Email: I Am a Man of My Word
Barack Obama: Fight the Smears
US Warns Russia on Georgia But Readies Concessions
U.S. Troops Abroad Donate 6:1 to Obama than McCain
Obama Hit Back Against "Obama Nation" Book Claim