The Daily O’Collegian

Stanford student Holly Miowak Stebing, 22, had been wearing her favorite shirt — an Obama tee with a dove on the front — for nearly two weeks now.

So when Obama’s campaign called to say she would speak to Sen. Barack Obama before his speech at the Democratic National Convention, she was beyond ecstatic.

“I just screamed,” Stebing said. “I screamed and [the campaign representative] told me to call him back. I was like, ‘No, I’m just wearing my Obama shirt [right now].’”

Stebing is one of 10 donors — three of them in their early 20s — chosen by the campaign to meet Obama just before he gives his speech at the convention.

In addition to meeting the presumptive nominee, the winners will be given a full itinerary of events throughout their time in Denver.

The campaign set a minimum donation of $5 to be considered for one of the spots.

Stebing, being a college student with limited means, donated $5 every month, starting in February.

“I don’t make that much money,” Stebing said. “I’m a student though, and I do support Obama and I wanted to show I support Obama because I don’t always have that much time to volunteer.”

That may be because she is busy focusing on her own projects.

Stebing, who is Native Alaskan, spent the last summer collecting stories from Native Alaskan elders in order to compile the untold stories of segregation and racism.

For Stebing, the way in which the government affects the Native Alaskan, American and Hawaiian people, especially with health care, is a major policy point she’d like to discuss with Obama.

“The average American gets $4,000 worth of health care, and the average Native American receives about $2,000,” she said. “Those statistics are pretty startling.”

If Stebing is your dyed-in-the-wool Obama supporter, the other two college students chosen are farther afield from the norm.

Take Jim Fondriest, 22, for example.

Fondriest is a law student at Ohio State University and a Republican.

Despite McCain’s pledge to cut spending and earmarks, Fondriest’s fiscally conservative roots are one of the things pushing him to back Obama this election season.

“John McCain would continue this progression of overspending, particularly overspending due to our foreign policies.

“Barack is the one with the ideas to get our spending under control and pay for the changes he wants to enact.”

While his decision eventually comes down to a holistic picture on a myriad of issues, Fondriest sees the war in Iraq as one of the major holes in America’s wallet.

Obama’s plan to withdraw the troops in 16 months seems to Fondriest like a reasonable plan to cut some of America’s biggest expenses in a responsible way.

His switch may seem odd for someone who campaigned for George W. Bush in 2004, but Fondriest says “it’s about more than [party] allegiance.”

He joins fellow convention winner and Minnesota State University undergrad Kayla Whitaker, 20, in going against conventional political wisdom.

While both Stebing and Fondriest were invested in politics early on, Whitaker says she didn’t pay attention to politicians until Obama gave his “Call to Renewal” speech on faith in politics.

As an Evangelical Christian, Obama’s view on the role of faith in politics aroused a lot of interest in Whitaker.

“Faith in politics is really the biggest thing,” Whitaker said.

“That view of appreciating a view but still being able to respect other views or people who don’t have certain beliefs.”

Whitaker said she shares Obama’s sentiment on topics like abortion; while she personally wishes to prevent abortion, she doesn’t want to prevent others from being able to make the choice.

While these students certainly chose their candidate based on certain issues, will they take the opportunity to push their own policy priorities when speaking to Obama?

Stebing said she’ll talk to Obama about Native Alaskan issues and ANWR, in particular.

Whitaker and Fondriest, however, are unsure what to say to Obama other than ‘thank you.’

Yet, both had definite messages for the youth vote: Educate yourself and weigh both sides before casting a ballot.

“Just educate yourself,” Whitaker said.

“I don’t care if you’re going to vote for Ron Paul, or John McCain or Obama, just make sure you do enough research to see who’s right for you.”

Jason Smathers is a senior at UW-Madison. He is also the current managing editor of The Badger Herald.