Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are like rock stars.

Clinton's laid-back, saxophone-playing attitude has many young voters wishing his name was back on the presidential ballot, while Obama's charisma has engaged an age group that's typically disinterested in politics, voting in record numbers.

Jason A. Frizzelle/mixer (ENLARGE)

Presidential candidate Barack Obama pauses during a speech April 17 at East Carolina University's Minges Coliseum in Greenville.

Lucky for Pitt county, they both made campaign stops in Greenville last month. Both events brought droves of young fans, many of voting age.

First, Clinton came to South Central High School on April 12.

Jasmine Flood, student body president, got to meet Clinton before his speech, along with fellow student Josh Grice.

"Meeting a former president is something we never would have imagined we would get to do, let alone talk on the stage before he came out at a campaign rally," said Flood. "It was a great honor."

Then April 17, Obama filled East Carolina University's Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum to capacity nearly an hour before he took the stage. Some ECU students began lining up at 8 a.m. for doors that weren't scheduled to open until 4 p.m. Inside, the 8,000 Obama campaign-rally attendees cheered for hours in anticipation, chanting "Purple! Gold!" while doing the wave.

Students Tammara Izzard and Aliza Alston took their spot in front of the stage after waiting since 12:30 p.m.

"We want change," Alston said.

The next day, the political excitement continued as ECU Students for Obama and other volunteers held a registration and voting event called "Barack the Vote" at the bottom of College Hill. Students tossed footballs and Frisbees, ate free pizza and listened to music provided by a DJ while volunteers drove people to early-voting sites every 30 minutes.

"This is one of the best (turnouts) I've seen on this campus," said Nadia Shazly, ECU student and volunteer. She also said that they had been registering young voters for weeks.

"This is a way to see there is more to politics than what George Bush has to offer."

Early voting will be available to North Carolina residents through May 3.

Brock Letchworth contributed to this article.

Contact Kristin Day at 329-9579 or kday@coxnc.com.