Too Young to Vote, But Electing to Care

There is a heavy social element for some volunteers. (The Bethesda Obama office is known as "the BOO" among students, as in, "Are you going to the BOO today?") But the young activists can also be deeply serious about their politics.

Hannah Sherman, a 15-year-old at Walt Whitman and the daughter of a Democratic fundraiser, won't be a legal member of the electorate for three more years. She sees volunteering as a way to play a role in issues she feels passionately about.

"Part of the reason I come here, like, almost every day, is because I can't vote," she said. "We're compensating."

For his part, Cinquegrani has been with his candidate since the beginning, even back in the days when McCain was widely written off. The Bethesda teen met the senator one day at the campaign's Arlington office, which was so empty that Cinquegrani got 10 minutes with him one-on-one.

"He said, 'Hey, your shirt has my face on it,' " Cinquegrani recalled.

Cinquegrani, who is the only Republican in his family, met McCain again in New Hampshire, when he flew there at his own expense to work on that state's primary. He also attended the Republican convention in Minneapolis as a guest of the Maryland party.

Being politically active has become easier since he got his driver's license, Cinquegrani said. His mother, Gayle Cinquegrani, remembers driving him to Metro stations and waiting as he manned voter registration tables. In recent weeks, he has been driving himself and other teen Republicans to pitch McCain's message door to door in Northern Virginia.

"Only once has anyone said to me: 'You're too young to vote. It shouldn't matter to you,' " he said. "For the most part, people on both sides are very polite."

As Cinquegrani was getting deeper into conservative politics, his old Cub Scout mate Schwartzman was becoming an environmental and peace activist and, in recent months, working to elect Obama.

"It was at the beginning of high school when we really started to veer apart politically," Schwartzman said. "Right now, we're both so engaged, but there are definitely times when we can just sit down and talk about normal things at school."

Several high school volunteers agreed that young people seem to have an easier time getting along with political opponents than their adult counterparts. Although adults seem to develop ever-more sensitive hair triggers in the run-up to Election Day, the teenagers said they just don't find it that hard to put politics aside.

"My best friend is a Republican," Izurieta said. "We are still tight. No offense to the campaign, but my friendship with [her] is worth so much more than which candidate we like."