There are roughly 18 of them.

They are young, the oldest of which being in their early 20s. And they have come from states as far away as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Louisi

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ana, and as close as Iowa and Illinois.

Their goal, as they paddle the 2,300 miles of the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans, is to motivate their contemporaries — regardless of political affiliations or beliefs — to get involved in America’s greatest asset: the democratic process.

For some of the area’s older politicians, the movement is reminiscent of the 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. For the youth, it is showing the often-entrenched politicians in Washington that the nation’s youth has a voice.

The group landed for the night Friday at Davenport’s LeClaire Park where a short rally was held featuring Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, 1st Congressional district candidate Bill Gluba and Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert.

“We’re fighting a long-standing inertia,” said Pat Homes, 23, a graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, one of the organizers of “Paddle for the Presidency,” a movement to encourage voter registration and participation, particularly among the youth. Their journey down the river began June 4.

“We’re pointing out that our generation is not apathetic, and that we’re going to make politicians stand up and take notice,” he said.

For some on the trip, it is just another movement in which to get involved.

“I was in death penalty marches at the age of 4,” said Andrew Doss, 23, of New Orleans, a graduate of Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., who joined the trip just a few days ago. “It’s wild and what I’d be into,” he said of the canoe trip. “It’s a great opportunity to be involved in a new way, and get other people involved.”

For others, such as Jennifer Douthwaite, 22, of New Orleans, a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., the movement into political activism has been slower.

“Wesleyan is politically and socially active,” she said. “The involvement is so in-your-face that I never got involved.”

But after working a bit with the Howard Dean campaign, and spending time working for the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she is slowly but surely getting into it.

“Politicians need to know our opinions,” she said. “And we need to know that when we speak our voice will be heard.”

Doug Vilsack, 23, the son of the Iowa governor, said the last presidential race was so close it did away with the idea that a single person’s vote does not count.

“There’s not so much attention paid to our age group,” he said. “I think most people see us sitting on the couch playing video games or watching TV. Politicians tend not to listen to people our age, not until we’re paying taxes anyway. But pay taxes we do.”

Gov. Vilsack said he is glad to see the youth getting out and voting, regardless of party affiliation.

“Halfway across the world, thousands of young people are in harm’s way trying to empower the youth of Iraq with what they don’t have, and that is the right to vote,” he said, adding that the right to vote is the most significant right in a democracy.

“The more young people who get involved the better off we’ll be as a nation, and the better off the world will be,” Schwiebert said.

Arlen Ginsburg, 23, of Chicago, and a graduate of Colorado College, said the nation’s youth is finding its voice. “The movement is gaining strength,” he said. “The last election started a wave that has been building and the tide is rolling.”

“Paddle for the Presidency” is being sponsored by U.S. Cellular, which put in $10,000 and armed the canoe crews the latest technology in cellular camera telephones to use, said Kathy Hust, the company’s regional vice president of central operations.

“U.S. Cellular is pleased to sponsor this creative, innovative campaign to ‘get out the vote’ among young people,” she said.

The next stop on the Mississippi River for the group will be in Burlington, Iowa’s Riverside Park from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday.

For more information, go to http://www.paddleforthepresidency.org/.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.