The youth vote

The youth turnout is largely attributed to the Obama draw, but Robert Burton, an 18-year-old senior at South Meford High School, is a McCain man all the way. He walked into the Republican headquarters a couple of weeks ago and volunteered to help out anyway he could. They put him to work on the phone, reminding voters to get their ballots turned in.

Robert says his political interest doesn't come from his family: "They don't even really know the difference between a Republican and a Democrat or a conservative and a liberal," he says of his family.

Robert says there's not a lot of interest among students at his school and he doubts that half of the eligible voters there would bother to vote. But he's gung-ho about his first vote and the chance to participate in the election.

"I think it's important to get people to vote and the youth vote is really important. I just wanted to be part of this."

Robert is worried about the presidential race -- looking at the nearby TV, he does a quick calculation and says Obama's projected 207 electoral votes so far would put him over the top -- since California and the West Coast states are a given for Obama.

"I'm a little nervous right now," he says.