By Bob Culp, Youth Vote '08 correspondent
Barack Obama stood in front of the podium Tuesday and talked to his base. No, not just Democrats, but youth voters. Yet, the Illinois Senator may have left college students wanting more in the recent address he gave at Dayton, Ohio.
The title of his speech showed the issue at stake: Reforming and strengthening America's schools for the 21st century.
And, after the newest CNN poll shows John McCain at a stalemate with the Illinois Senator that once had a double-digit lead, the Obama campaign knew they had to regain the spotlight.
To get back on center stage, Obama announced updates to his education plan. The new policy rhetoric talked about fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act, drastically increasing education funding and trying to "replace" bad teachers.
However, Obama's stances on higher education remained the same.
He's still in favor of a $4,000 tax credit, as long as those students put in 100 hours of community service to obtain it. He's still in favor of making federal financial aid paperwork less cumbersome. And he's still in favor of more college credit classes becoming available in high schools - an issue that coincides with ideas from the Clinton years.
With the rest of Obama's education agenda changing, Gregory Cendana, vice president of the United States Students Association, said the Democratic nominee should re-evaluate his education plan.
"Education could be a higher priority in this race, especially because an investment in students is an investment in the future," he said.
Prior to Tuesday's announcement, the Obama campaign didn't bring up college affordability on the camapign trail since the announcement of the $4,000 tax credit last spring.
The 100 hours of community service associated with the tax credit is seen as unrealistic by many Ball State students, most already fighting a busy schedule.
Also, the community service requirement is no where to be found on the part of Obama's Web site that talks about funding higher education.
Both campaigns failed to return multiple phone calls clarifying details on this issue.
In his speech, Obama said a world-class education is essential in today's economy.
"Without a good pre-school education, our children are less likely to keep up with their peers," he said. "Without a high school diploma, you're likely to make about three times less than a college graduate. And without a college degree or industry certification, it's harder and harder to find a job that can help you support your family and keep up with rising costs. "
Obama said McCain "doesn't get it" and that he has voted with his party instead of implementing change on this issue.
"You don't reform our schools by opposing efforts to fully fund No Child Left Behind. And you certainly don't reform our education system by calling to close the Department of Education," the Democratic nominee said. "That would just make it harder for us to give out financial aid, harder for us to keep track of how our schools are doing, and lead to widening inequality in who gets a college degree."
With Election Day less than two months away, Cendana said the USSA along with current and potential college students should be listening to the candidates.
"It is our hope that each candidate for president expands their education policy. The higher turnout in the political process this year between both parties registering young people to vote will show just how much of an effect the youth vote has this year," he said.
Bob Culp is a junior at Ball State University majoring in Journalism and with a minor in Political Science. He reported on the Indiana Democratic primary last spring for his student newspaper, The Daily News.