Young Obama supporters nagging parents

WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- Young people across the United States have a new subject for nagging their parents -- Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.

Megan Simpson, a senior at Penn State who volunteers for the Obama campaign, told The New York Times she tried hard to convince her Republican father to switch to the Democratic Party to vote in the Pennsylvania primary. She came up with one last argument on the deadline day for party changes.

"I said, 'Dad, if you change your party affiliation in time to vote for Obama, I will get you the paperwork the day after the primary if you want to switch back to being a Republican,'" she said.

Simpson did switch and now is undecided about who to vote for in the general election.

Polls show Obama is the most popular candidate among voters under 30, beating both his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain. Clinton has a slight edge among the parents of those young voters.

Even many of the politicians who have backed Obama have mentioned their children as a factor. They include Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., whose endorsement could help Obama in the biggest primary still remaining, Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.