They're young, they're idealistic--and their cholesterol levels are rapidly approaching 200.

Six months from now, the youth will still be there but the idealism will be waning and, thanks to McDonald's, the cholesterol will probably still be climbing.

As America swings again into the quadrennial process of choosing a president, they are the hand-shakers, the sign-holders, the press release writers, the coffee makers, the umbrella holders and the faxers. Toiling in obscurity, hundreds of twenty-somethings are already heavily involved in next year's presidential campaigns.

With the first primary just five months away in neighboring New Hampshire on February 20, these young politicos are already hard at work, utilizing, every minute to increase support for their candidate.

For these campaign workers, campaign mode means 15-hour days, the constant companionship of a beeper, greasy Chinese take-out food and CHIPS re-runs at three in the morning.

But as these tireless workers told hundreds of Harvard and area college students last weekend at the Institute of Politics 1996 Presidential Campaign Organizing Conference, the job is worthwhile because they love politics, they want to make a difference in the lives of others and because they hate 9-5, coat and tie, desk jobs.

"I absolutely love this," said Matt Mayberry, 30, assistant to the state director in New Hampshire for the Lamar Alexander for president campaign, as he surveyed the hubbub of the conference below.

"Politics gives young people the opportunity to make tremendous differences. I got involved because I wanted to empower the powerless, and there is no other business but politics where you can do that," Mayberry said.

However, in order for most of the young campaign workers to make a difference and to get ahead in the political world, their candidate must win next year.

The task seems especially daunting to the workers on the Republican side, because not one of the GOP candidates has emerged as a clear favorite in next year's primary.

Yet, still they persist, even in freezing weather in New Hampshire's North Country, where winter temperatures usually do not exceed the state's number of votes in the Electoral College.

In the end, just one day, November 5, will decide if their next move will be to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or back home.

Varied Backgrounds

Campaign workers come from widely different political and educational backgrounds.

Some said they got their start at a early age, one night captivated by a rowdy convention or a rancorous debate which pre-empted their favorite sit-com.