URBANDALE -- An energetic Sen. Barack Obama told a packed, enthusiastic crowd at Hoover High School they have a chance to prove the cynics and the pundits wrong by propelling him to victory in Thursday's Iowa Caucus.

In a slightly hoarse voice, Obama said pundits are predicting first-time caucus goers wouldn't show up, believing that they're "so disappointed with the politics of the past that you can't reach for the politics of the future."

That is not the case, the presidential hopeful said.

"I believe they are wrong," Obama said to rousing applause.

With Iowa's colleges and universities on holiday break, many pundits are also predicting youth won't attend Thursday and take their democratic responsibilities seriously, Obama said.

"But tomorrow you have the chance to cast a new vision, to set a new direction to this country," he said. "Tomorrow you have a chance to say, 'yes we can.'"

Obama addressed criticism that he talks about hope too much, joking that he's a "hope monger."

"There's nothing in this country worthwhile has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere, was willing to hope," Obama said.

Obama also joked about the theme of change resonating across the campaigns, suggesting he was the first to begin talking about it.

"This whole change thing must be working, because now everybody's talking about change," he said to laughs in the crowd. "That's OK, we want everybody to be involved in the process of transforming this country.

"The question we can answer tomorrow is 'who can best deliver on change,'" Obama said, punctuated by the crowd chanting his name.

The event, which featured actress Scarlett Johansson, drew an estimated crowd of more than 2,000, composed mostly of the young and middle aged prospective caucus goers.

Outside of the gym, several people were selling political buttons and students were selling "Students for Obama" t-shirts they hoped their counterparts would wear to class tomorrow.

See video of the students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGc54lnGUoU

Labels: Democrats