Swing states, the youth vote and a reinvigorated, impassioned country is what was supposed to dominate an election the likes of which few had ever seen.

In some areas that was the case, most of these places included college campuses that realized the student body was going to be an extremely influential group of voters. In places like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and Arizona the hype was matched by the flurry of activity.

In the state of Wisconsin many different student bodies were privileged to numerous trips from both candidates and others speaking for either Bush or Kerry. The candidates went to cities and colleges in Madison as well as LaCrosse.

Just a few days before the election, Democratic candidate John Kerry rallied the Madison campus in Wisconsin with a little help from Bruce Springsteen.

“Yeah, we had a little turn out for that – about 80,000 plus made their way to view Kerry,” said Maureen Backman, the city editor of The Daily Cardinal, University of Wisconsin’s student newspaper. “That just proved that there was a distinct get-out-and-vote effort here, and hopefully we’ll have the participation as a result.”

The state went back and forth between Kerry and Bush Tuesday night, despite the effort by Kerry in Madison.

There was a similar sort of endeavor taking place in the crucial state of Pennsylvania, which leaned to Kerry by the end of the night.

Across the campus, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, tables and signs were spread to voice and show the support to both candidates.

“There was a ton of signs and yelling and for the most part it seemed to be in the favor of Kerry,” said Editor in Chief Christopher George. “Kerry had a clear presence on this campus today, but more people just urged others to vote than try to push their opinions onto other people.”

The city of Philadelphia was especially needed for the Kerry camp after the state had been pinpointed as an important swing state. The Bush campaign dominated the majority of the state but Kerry concentrated on getting schools like Pennsylvania to get the vote out in Philadelphia.

“To an extent, people here have recognized they are acquisitions for the candidates, but they just want to stop people from saying the youth is apathetic,” George said.

At Arizona’s campus in Tucson a blitz of political activity highlighted an extremely anxious time.

According to Jim Todd, a senior lecturer in the political science department at the university, the school had plenty of opportunities to prove its passion for this year’s election.

“A lot of the activity here brings me back to the 60s,” Todd said. “Signs that say ‘we need to start a revolution’ and stuff along those lines prove the angle this campus has taken.”