ASHINGTON - Presidential candidates will have a large new crop of voters in the 2000 elections - but they won't be easy to corral.
With nearly 26 million people in the United States between the ages of 18 and 24, two-thirds of them eligible to vote for the first time in a presidential election, this generation of young adults is a giant X-factor in the political arena.
But young voters, even those actively following the presidential politics, say the candidates are not hitting the right buttons.
''I want to hold an ideal view of government,'' said Kelly Grieco, 20, a sophomore at Dartmouth College. ''I want to believe that our candidates are qualified, our politicians are honest, and they are out there to help us.''
Grieco, who was attending a three-day national convention of College Republicans here this week, is president of the Dartmouth group backing candidate Elizabeth Dole.
Grieco said the way politics works today is far from her ideal and turns away college-age voters.
Grieco, who pointedly said she does not want to be labeled a feminist, explained that gender has nothing to do with her support for Dole. ''She is not a seasoned politician. Because of that, I see an enormous amount of integrity in her,'' Grieco said.
Jeffrey Shulman, executive director of the College Democrats of America, which will hold its national convention here next week, said young voters are turned off by the ''game-playing and glitziness'' of the political process.
''Students will go out and volunteer for the homeless, they'll help the environment, because they see themselves affecting change that way,'' Shulman said. ''But politics has a lot of spin, and it's not so clear-cut where the change comes from.''
College campuses often attract presidential hopefuls. And with the New Hampshire primary scheduled for February, plenty of candidates have made early visits to Granite State colleges, searching for potential votes and campaign workers.
''Young people can provide that margin of victory for a candidate,'' said Todd Harris, a spokesman for Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who has appeared at several New Hampshire colleges already. ''We certainly want to make an appeal to them.''
Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Vice President Al Gore's campaign, said, ''Young people add so much energy to the campaign.''
Salazar said the notion that college students are ''apathetic'' is a myth. ''They are just as interested in the future of the country as older voters are,'' he said.
But Patricia Tarabelsi, a member of the Massachusetts chapter of College Democrats of America, said candidates do consider students ''apathetic.''
''They know that the base of their votes doesn't come from us, so they don't aggressively reach out to us as much as they should,'' said Tarabelsi, 20, a Boston University junior.
George Gunning, 22, who was attending the College Republicans convention that ends today, said candidates do not address issues important to students.
''Students feel far removed from the political process,'' said Gunning, a senior at Montgomery County Community College in Bell Town, Pa., who supports Texas Governor George W. Bush. ''They want to know that the candidates care about issues that students care about.''
But which issues? These newly minted voters split along party lines.
Young Democrats, Shulman said, want the new president to toughen gun-control laws, support abortion rights, and strengthen environmental protection laws.
Students at the College Republicans convention list education reform, Social Security, and, as Gunning put it, ''restoring moral leadership in the presidency.''
''Values and morality have plummeted with the Clinton administration,'' Gunning said, referring to President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern, which led to his impeachment and eventual acquittal.
But young Democrats said college students should not focus on the Clinton sex scandal but on what his administration has accomplished during the past 6 1/2 years.
''Clinton has done more for college students than what Reagan and Bush have ever done,'' said Toby Choudhuri, 22, president of the Massachusetts chapter of College Democrats. ''He's increased federal grants, basically making higher education more accessible for everybody.''
Young voters-to-be from both parties said they are concerned about the rising cost of higher education and maintaining a healthy job market.
''The immediate really concerns a lot of students,'' Choudhuri said. ''We are facing some real high costs when it comes to education, and students worry about how they are going to pay for it.''
Shulman said candidates will need to convince these first-timers that they will be voting for someone of substance to run the country.
''When the elections are all said and done, college voters need to feel like they've chosen a leader, not someone with the prettiest campaign poster,'' he said.
