For those of us who listen to talk radio, we hear the expression a lot. It's someone who listens to the program for a long time, but has never called in to make their opinions felt. Yet this is not a phenomenon exclusive to sports talk radio. I've been following politics for as long as I can remember, but just cast a vote for the first time.
As my name suggests, I'm a freshman at Penn State. How interested in politics am I? Part of the reason I selected Penn State was so that I could vote in what was sure to be a swing state. At the time, I wasn't sure who I was going to vote for, or who the candidates would be, but I wanted to make sure that my vote would matter.
It ended up that Pennsylvania wasn't even close. Centre County, where Penn State is located, voted Democratic this year, and by a fairly large, 11% margin. Normally, you wouldn't think much of this. The college has 40,000 potential voters, and college students and faculty are well-known for being overwhelmingly liberal. Yet, Centre County was red, having voted for George W. Bush in both 2004 and in 2000. What turned the county, and the nation, so bright blue?
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