Young Americans for Obama to launch campaign in Houston Hall

The Young Americans for Obama program will hold its national launch event in Houston Hall’s Hall of Flags tonight at 6 p.m.

The National Obama Student Summit, which will be broadcast on national television, will feature appearances by Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes and Philadelphia Mayor and 1976 Wharton graduate Michael Nutter. A special guest, whose name has yet to be released, will also be present.

Young Americans for Barack Obama is a program of youth leaders who aim to keep President Barack Obama in office for a second term.

The launch event comes as part of Greater Together, a campaign initiative to engage young Americans.

Over 600 people have RSVP’d, according to Penn Democrats President and College senior Isabel Friedman. About 30 Penn Dems members met with the regional campaign manager last night for a training session to ensure everything runs smoothly tonight.

She added that the event is “not a Penn event,” but an open event — while many Penn students will be in attendance, leaders of the Democratic communities at Temple and Drexel universities plan to attend, along with the president of High School Democrats of America.

The summit will be “more of a conversation” about how the next four years would look if Obama were reelected in 2012, she said.

Friedman views the 2012 Obama campaign on campus as “a different kind of energy” from 2008. “The challenge will be reminding students what he’s accomplished for them — and he has accomplished a tremendous amount,” she said.

College junior Colin Zelicof, a Pennsylvania State Director of Students for Barack Obama who is helping run tonight’s event, has spoken with thousands of students across the state. “Students in Pennsylvania are fired up and ready to go,” he said.

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