When Hillary Clinton, a 1969 graduate of Wellesley College, kicked off her student movement, Hillblazers, she chose her alma mater as a venue.
But Barack Obama, a 1983 graduate of Columbia University, has not appeared on the New York campus, despite campaigning nearby. Jonathan Backer, a sophomore and the head of the Columbia College Democrats, told the Daily Pennsylvanian, the University of Pennsylvania’s student newspaper, that his organization had reached out to Mr. Obama’s staff several times. The campaign, he said, has been receptive, but “never follows through with details.”
Mr. Backer called Mr. Obama’s absence “disappointing” but said his group believed it was a result of scheduling difficulties. Mr. Obama has been leading Ms. Clinton among youth voters.
John McCain, a 1958 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and the presumptive Republican nominee, has not visited his alma mater and is unlikely to because government institutions are required to be politically neutral, the article notes.
