Obama seeks support of first-time voters

WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Barack Obama's Democratic presidential campaign is looking to bring new U.S. voters into the fold, party officials said.

Encouraging first-time voters "is going to be a very big part of how we win," said Steve Hildebrand, Obama's deputy campaign manager.

Obama's campaign will probably start to focus strongly on getting African-Americans and people younger than 35 registered in prime states, the Politico reported Wednesday.

"There's the potential here to change American politics for a while. Under-35 voters are just so overwhelmingly Democrats. Getting them registered is a simple, important, not-easy part of that -- and Obama can," said Jim Jordan, 2004 consultant of the independent group America Coming Together.

Obama's continued support from independent voters and his push for gaining African-Americans and younger people's votes could potentially compensate for his lack of support from more conventional middle-class white voters, the Times reported.