Traffic is backed up around BSU, lines to get in are stretching around the building and through the campus, and the crowd inside already is huge for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s appearance in Boise this morning. When I checked in at 7:30 a.m., I was told that about 100 members of the press had checked in ahead of me. At the main public entrance, a handful of anti-abortion protesters are exchanging jeers with the generally good-natured crowd. The crowd outside in line is heavy with college students. Professors at College of Idaho, Northwest Nazarene University and North Idaho College all told me last night that students on their campus are jazzed in a big way about Obama. Said Jasper LiCalzi of College of Idaho, “I’ve never seen any kind of enthusiasm like this amongst the students. He’s exciting. He has a presence in the state.”

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