Although University students are known for being political, campus buzz about the 2008 presidential election is not as strong as one might expect, especially considering that the nation is embroiled in one of the most competitive campaigns in decades.

Don't expect it to be quiet for long.

So far, there are three student groups supporting candidates for the Democratic and Republican nominations: Students for Obama, Students for John Edwards for President and Students for McCain.

All three are independent of the College Republicans and College Democrats, both of which don't endorse candidates in primaries.

LSA sophomore Hannah Madoff and LSA freshman Kelly Bernero said they plan to register a Students for Hillary group with the University but have not yet worked out the group's leadership structure.

Outgoing Chair of the College Republicans Rob Scott said he expects a Students for Romney group and a Students for Giuliani group to assemble next fall.

Other "students for groups" may follow in their wake, he said.

Students may be more preoccupied with finishing the school year than focusing on primaries 10 months away.

LSA junior Travis Radina, chair of Students for Edwards, said the reason his group has not been active on campus yet is because there isn't much time before the end of the term, when most students leave Ann Arbor for the summer.

"Most of the hype that is gained before summer will need to be re-gained next fall," he said. "It'd be hard to keep the momentum going over the summer (if we started now)."

Even the Students for Obama group, which was one of the earliest to start campaigning on campus, has had trouble attracting the kind of attention in Ann Arbor that the Obama campaign is drawing nationwide.

Only 14 students attended an informational meeting that the group held on March 7. But the group plans to start laying the groundwork for next year's campaign by distributing information about the Illinois senator on the Diag on April 3.

"There's definitely a lot of energy around Obama," said former College Democrats Chair Jamie Ruth. Ruth said Obama's popularity with young voters was similar to what Howard Dean enjoyed in 2004.

"All of (the hype) helps attract attention from young people," Ruth said.

LSA junior Sam Harper, chair of the College Democrats, attributed the excitement around Obama and Clinton to the fact that these two candidates represent a change in presidential politics.

"They're trying to bring a lot of (voters) into the fold that haven't been, especially Obama," Harper said.

Bernero, who plans to form a group to back Clinton, attributed the Obama group's success with students to the fact that it is exciting to see an African-American run for president.

"Maybe more so than a woman," she said.

Bernero said that though Clinton has more support in the national polls, she wouldn't be surprised if Obama was more popular among younger voters.

"Our generation is the least racist - the most open to having a black president," she said.

Even though the percentage of youth voters increased in both 2004 and 2006, people under 30 still vote at lower levels than the rest of the voting-age population.

And Michigan could be an important state for both parties next February.

If the Michigan Democratic Party moves its caucus date to Feb. 5, as party officials have considered, the caucus will be held the same day that over 55 percent of the Democratic delegates will be up for grabs. The caucus is currently scheduled for Feb. 9.

Tom Duvall, an LSA freshman who chairs the University's Students for Obama chapter, said the evident excitement surrounding Obama's candidacy was the reason the group decided to take action early.

"There was such enthusiasm within the campus community that it was decided that there was a need to harness that and set up a couple events during the spring," he said.

Bernero said the students who support Clinton decided to take a more conservative approach with their support.

"It's so far away," she said. "But we wanted to have at least one major event before the end of the school year."

They hope to bring in prominent political speakers to generate excitement about Clinton's campaign near the end of April, coinciding with former President Bill Clinton's commencement address at the University.

They also hope to hold an informational meeting before then to introduce Clinton's platform to campus.

Madoff traveled to New York City over Spring Break to work with Clinton's national campaign. Both she and Bernero plan to coordinate their campaign with managers from the national and local campaign.

The students who support Obama, Edwards and Clinton are all in contact with their respective candidate's national presidential campaign. The groups expect to receive resources from these organizations, including T-shirts, stickers and possibly money.