Joe Biden Presses Youth to Vote in Midterms

At a rally today in State College, Pennsylvania, Vice President Joe Biden urged supporters to "keep the phone calls going, keep knocking on doors, and commit to vote."

With November's midterm election approaching and Pennsylvania Democrats fighting to keep one of their seats in the U.S. Senate, the vice president told the crowd they have to turn this election into a choice between the Obama Administration and the Tea Party.

"This isn't your father's Republican party," he said, warning the crowd that should Republicans take control of the House and Senate, the Obama agenda would "come to a screeching halt."

Biden spoke to an audience of about 1,000 people in an auditorium inside Penn State University's student union.

"It really inspired me and I'm so excited," said student Erin Murphy.

"We're the ones who put the people in office, so obviously we have to get out there and vote," said Yelena Novopachennaia, a Penn State sophomore.

The vice president's rally was met with a counter-rally held by about a dozen college Republicans in front of the student union.

"It was always that hope that never quite materialized," said Samuel Settle of the Obama administration's job two years after election. Settle is chairman of Penn State's Young Americans for Freedom.

"When you run a campaign on the promise of a better future, then your obligation is to deliver that future. When that doesn't seem to materialize you've essentially broken your promise," Settle added. "The question then becomes why should we trust you again and I don't see why we should."

Rich Secrest, another Penn State student, is planning on voting in the midterm election. His friends, he said, likely won't be.

"Even if they're registered to vote, they're not going to vote. They feel like it's not going to affect them," he said.

Youth voter apathy here in Pennsylvania could prove troublesome for the Democratic Party. Today's "Moving American Forward" rally comes as the Democratic candidates in the state's U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races trail in the polls.

The Pennsylvania Democrats are fighting to keep one of their seats in the U.S. Senate. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak seven points behind Republican opponent Pat Toomey (43 percent to 50 percent).

In the governor's race, Democrat Dan Onorato trails Pennsylvania's Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett by 10 points (39 percent to 49 percent) according to a Rasmussen Reports survey.