From the University of Wisconsin — Madison to the University of Washington, Sen. Barack Obama has taken campuses across the nation by political storm.

Today, student supporters throughout the Pacific Northwest are preparing for the presidential candidate's first visit to Seattle since Obama announced his plan to run. He will begin his Seattle Kickoff at 5:30 p.m. at the Qwest Field Event Center's WaMu Theater.

"So many people came out for him in Austin and Oakland," said Sophie Raider, a senior at The Center School and running-start student at Seattle Central Community College. "I'm excited to see what the turnout is like in Seattle."

Yet Raider wasn't expecting Obama to visit the historically blue state.

"I was surprised he was even coming to Washington," she said. "We're not a swing state."

Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Obama '08 campaign, said Seattleites' party affiliations had little to do with Obama's decision to visit the city.

"Seattle is a city that has a strong Democratic history, and it's a place where he has a very solid support network, and I think it's a place where he felt he really wanted to visit and get to know the people of the city better," Psaki said. "He's been doing events in parts of the country that are sometimes very blue or sometimes very red. This election is about changing who's in the White House, and everybody's involved in that process."

In April, Raider created a Facebook event to rally students in the area for the Obama appearance.

"A big part of it was [that] Facebook is a fantastic tool to connect students together," she said. "It's a great place to capture the youth."

The popular online social-networking site hosts a variety of Obama-related groups, including "Barack Obama for President." Facebook account holders can also find Obama's own profile, complete with education and work information, a wall with 8,563 posts and 83,491 supporters.

Some Obama support groups made their debut on Facebook prior to the campaign.

"The Students for Barack Obama group started on Facebook before he even decided to run for president," Psaki said. "Now, obviously, they're an integral part of the campaign."

Students for Barack Obama now has more than 300 chapters on more than 300 campuses, with more than 150,000 students involved, Psaki said.

"It seems like students are attracted to him because of his progressive policy. ... [T]he age range 18-35 is often more progressive, anyway," Raider said. "I think we're being drawn to him."

Galen Savidge, a UW junior and creator of the Facebook group "Barack Obama for President," sees Obama's attention on the younger age group as risky.

"His focus on the younger demographic, I think, is a bit of a gamble in the electoral sense, as we (18-25 year olds) tend to be fickle," Savidge said in an e-mail. "I think it's bold, on the other [hand] because he's trying to engender a sense of collective identity through government that is really lost in society. We've sort of been bombarded with the idea that people need to go it alone, and to me it's really important that he emphasize — and the youth culture understand — that our government has an obligation to us, not the other way around."

Reach reporter Meghan Peters at news@thedaily.washington.edu.