Obama Urges Student Vote: "Prove The Critics Wrong"

Coralville, Ia. - Barack Obama, acknowledging that a significant portion of his supporter bloc comes from first-time Iowa caucusgoers, urged students here to prove critics wrong and show up en masse at tonight's Iowa caucuses.

"There's been a lot of discussion from the pundits lately because they don't think you're going to show up," Obama said to a crowd of more than 1,500 people in Coralville on Wednesday. "They look at these polls in The Des Moines Register showing Obama with this lead and they say, 'Ah, those people. They're not going to show up. They're young people. Students never show up.' "

Some in the crowd, which was heavily attended by college-aged supporters, booed.

"That's what they said," Obama responded. "They said, 'A lot of them are independents. They never show up.' Are you going to prove them wrong?"

The crowd erupted into loud cheers.

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