Barack Obama is running ads encouraging young voters to register.

The Democratic presidential candidate has a full-page ad in Wednesday's edition of The Independent, an alternative weekly based in Durham. He's run similar ads in The Daily Tar Heel, the student paper at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The ad shows an oil drop with wind turbines and plant designs inside. "I registered because the future won't run on oil. — Josie K." reads the headline. "Don't get mad. Get registered."

The ads are running with two weeks remaining before the Oct. 10 deadline for new voters to register. They coincide with tours by Obama surrogates on college campuses.

They are a further sign that the Obama campaign hopes to boost the turnout among young voters in North Carolina by a substantial margin this year. 

The Daily Tar Heel wonders why more young voters aren't polled.

An article in the UNC-Chapel Hill student paper notes that a recent survey by Public Policy Polling was "dominated by voters older than 45 years old."

A few unexplored reasons: Young people only have cell phones, they're less likely to have voted in the last two Congressional elections and they move around more.

Meantime, not everyone is troubled by the lack of young voices.

Brent Woodcox, communications director for the state Republican Party, told the Tar Heel that young people are exercising their constitutional right to, um, goof off.

"Maybe they want that to be their voice in the election — to not vote," he said. "That's what freedom allows in our country. You can choose who you want to vote for or if you want to vote at all."

(Note to Louis: Next time you quote someone defending his son's polling results, you might want to note the relationship. Just sayin'.)