By: via UWIRE Barack Obama continued his attempts to capture the student vote Friday, with a guest column in The Daily Iowan, the student newspaper at the University of Iowa.
Obama, who earlier this month encouraged students to return to Iowa ahead of classes to caucus, addressed topics ranging from student loans to the environment in his column. He promised to get U.S. troops out of Iraq in 16 months and ?save our generation from global catastrophe? by capping carbon emissions.
?This is our chance to forge a new majority to tackle problems that grew worse under George Bush but that have festered long before he took office,? he wrote.
In his column, the Illinois senator pressed ahead on topics that a recent opinion poll named as central issues for college voters: Iraq, education, health care and the environment.
Obama touted his plan for a $4,000-a-year tax credit for college tuition and vowed to sign a universal health-care plan by the end of his first term.
?Under my plan, if you graduate and don?t find a job that provides health insurance right away, you can stay on your parents? insurance until you?re 25,? he wrote.
"I'm running to save our generation from global catastrophe by putting a cap on carbon emissions and creating a low-carbon fuel standard that will take 50 million cars' worth of pollution off the road. And I'll raise the fuel-efficiency standards for our cars and trucks because we know we have the technology to do it, and it's time we did."
In an attempt to distance himself from perceptions about Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, Obama said he was the candidate who could unite the party and nation.
?The Democratic Party has made the most difference in people?s lives when we?ve led not by polls but by principle; not by triangulation and calculation but by conviction; when we?ve had leaders who could summon the entire nation to a common purpose,? he wrote. ?That?s why I?m running for president.?
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