With the November elections drawing near, incumbent Republican Sen. David Vitter and his challenger, Democrat Charlie Melancon, are swinging hard and fast in their fight for the seat. But one part of the state seems to have escaped the flurry of ads, signs and bumper stickers — the University campus.
“There’s enough of a student vote that, if it were mobilized, could really influence the election,” said Kirby Goidel, a political science professor and co-director of the Public Policy Research Lab.
But Goidel said the conventional political wisdom is that students only vote except in rare, extraordinary circumstances.
“It sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said.
Student turnout is low, so campaign managers target sparse              resources to more fruitful areas, deciding not to motivate students — so students continue not to vote.
“If [politicians] had unlimited money, then yes, you’d see more effort to target students,” Goidel said. “But they don’t, so they’re going to spend their money in other parishes.”
Goidel said it is possible for students to be a motivated voting bloc that influences elections. He cited the 2008 elections, in which Barack Obama mustered an energetic voting base that turned out in record numbers.
But Goidel said that election and candidate were special.
“Obama definitely had an appeal among young voters,” he said. “He was something different, something new. He is — or I should say he was — hip.”
Goidel also said “off-year” elections like the upcoming one generally draw lower turnout, especially among college students, and it’s unlikely either Melancon or Vitter will be able to match Obama’s appeal to students.
Goidel said campaigns don’t target college voters because those voters are not necessarily of one political mind.
“It’s not clear that if you motivate college students that they’ll vote the way you want,” he said.
Wayne Parent, political science professor who specializes in Louisiana politics, said the University in particular is a difficult demographic area for politicians to get enthused about because students here are perceived to be more conservative than the average student body.
“When a Democrat looks at LSU, I think they see that a healthy majority of students come from one of the most Republican demographics there is,” Parent said.
Meanwhile, Parent said a Republican would likely steer clear of a college campus, as well, as college students are widely perceived as more liberal than average.
“Neither side views [the University] as a gold mine,” he said.
Parent said the University is still useful for campaigns, though.
“I know campaigns view LSU as a place not to gear up votes, but as a place to get active workers,”  he said.
As coordinator of the Political Science Department’s internship program, Parent said those students that are passionate about campaigns can and do get involved.
“LSU is seen as a gold mine, but not in terms of votes,” he said.
Students questioned on campus Tuesday said they weren’t closely following the race and had no plans to get involved.
Some said they are just too busy with schoolwork.
“I probably should be [more interested in the election],” said J.P. Martinez, architecture graduate student. “I haven’t really looked into it. That probably has something to do with these budget cuts.”
Stefan Morris, chemical engineering sophomore, said he wouldn’t go to see Vitter and Melancon speak even if they came to campus.
“I’m not really into politics at all,” he said.
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Contact Matthew Albirght@[email protected]