Photo by Benjamin Gottlieb.

Several hundred people have already entered Alumni Park in the middle of the university's campus and dozens more are filling into a crowd now twenty feet deep on opposite corners of the steps Obama will speak from.

The skies remain gray and sobering, leaving the crowd quiet as music plays over their heads.

President Obama's get-out-the-vote blitz is en route to L.A. The president, who has been making his way down the West Coast, has high hopes of picking up Democratic voters along the way. Despite the rain, a few hundred people lined up as early as 6 a.m. to get a prime spot at Friday's rally. 

"They are all very interested," Andereck said. "It's a living classroom. You can't pass it up."
 Andereck said the president has done an excellent job considering the tough road laid out for him since his election.

Kevin Caballero, a 17- year-old student in Andereck's class, said he hopes to hear the plans Obama has to turn around a troubled economy and an explanation as to why people are still struggling.

"Maybe it's going to be a few years for us to finally see a change," said Caballero, an Obama supporter.

Rosalind Montgomery, a 49-year old Riverside County resident, drove to USC Thursday, slept in her car and lined up at 6:30 am to catch a glimpse of the president and hear him speak.

"This time I was set on it, I'm going to see him," said Montgomery, who missed a chance to see Obama several years ago in Orange County due to massive crowds.

"I think all the Democrats need to get out and come together. We can not let the tea party and the republicans take over," said Montgomery, who sported a button displaying a picture of Obama and the words "victory: November 4, 2008."

Montgomery said she doesn't want the republicans and tea party elected because they hold radical views that would hurt African Americans such as herself.

"They want to repeal the civil rights act they want to repeal minimum wage, and interfere with medicare. They don't understand the constitution," she said.

University officials are expecting as many as 30,000 at USC’s Alumni Park on Friday. The event opens at 11 a.m., and the President will speak at approximately 1:55 p.m. Visitors should come early, as the President’s arrival is wreaking havoc with traffic patterns. The presidential motorcade will be heading to Glendale after the rally, and freeway closures are likely.

The rally at USC is just one of a number of appeals the President has made to reinvigorate younger voters, who carried him to victory in 2008. Obama recently hosted a town hall discussion on MTV and he has traveled to a number of universities, including Ohio State University.

He spoke to a large crowd at the University of Washington on Thursday and urged students to vote for Sen. Patty Murray.

Obama began his speech by thanking young voters and said that the 2008 election was a reminder that the American dream is still alive.  He said little about the issues, but focused on imploring students to vote.

“If you have not voted yet, you’ve got to get that ballot and put it in the mail,” the President said. “Don't delay.  Do it right after this rally. You’ve got to then talk to your friends.  You’ve got to talk to your neighbors.  You’ve got to make phone calls.  You’ve got to knock on doors.  You have to make sure that you are as fired up and as excited now as you were two years ago - because the work is not yet done.”

Obama may be right to try to focus on younger voters. Polls show that the President is losing support among those who once voted for him, and young people in particular are lacking enthusiasm. 

For California Democrats, Obama’s message – that people need to vote – is especially important. The Democrats have very narrow leads in the latest polls in both the Senate and gubernatorial races, but experts say the races could swing Republican depending on who goes to the polls.

Obama should be well received in California, experts say. His job ratings in the state are higher than most anywhere else.