Democratic candidate Howard Dean, rallied for support from college-age voters in Story City Wednesday.

“The reason young people don’t vote is the same [reason] the other 50 percent of the population doesn’t,” Dean said. “The reason is you can’t tell the difference between the parties. That is about to end.”

John Day, sophomore in history, was at the rally.

Day said he thinks the reason college students don’t participate in the presidential election is because they don’t care.

“So far in our lives the people in office haven’t really done much to change the way things are,” Day said.

In the past there hasn’t been a candidate college students can believe in, said Jenn Osen, junior in political science.

Osen said even with nine Democratic candidates, she thinks Dean stands out in the crowd.

“There’s a spectrum of people from Kucinich, who is more radical, to Lieberman, who really isn’t a Democrat, and then you have people like Dean who’s ornery and [who] speaks up,” Osen said.

Dean’s pep talk to the huddled mass surrounding him touched other issues such as health care, education and his plan to win the White House in 2004.

Dean said the problem the Democratic party has had is that they’ve been trying to act too much like Republicans.

“If you want to defeat George Bush, you have to stop behaving like Bush lite,” Dean said.

Dean gave the example of Democrats voting for the No Child Left Behind act.

“The school boards call it no school boards left standing and the teacher call it no behind left,” Dean joked.

A time had been set aside for questions, but Dean left the crowd as fat raindrops began to fall, only allowing for two questions.

“The biggest lie people like me tell people like you at election time is I can solve all your problems,” Dean said in closing. “The power to change this country is in your hands, not mine.”

Dean has not visited Iowa State during the current school year, but said he plans on visiting, it’s just a question of when.