Rachel Feinstein has done all the unglamorous grunt work associated with political campaigns: stuffing envelopes, circulating petitions and knocking on doors to ask people to consider voting for a candidate or cause.

Feinstein, 20, a University of Pittsburgh junior from Valley Forge, has done this for members of both political parties. And that taught her something.

"Those experiences and the knowledge of where the candidates stood made me realize that I line up with conservative values, rather than liberal," she said.

Civic involvement among politically aware young people is growing, based on attendance at the Feb. 18-20 Conservative Political Action Conference in the nation's capital.

Elementary, high school and college students who pre-registered for the conference accounted for 60 percent of the crowd, up 10 percent from 2009, said the event's director, Lisa De Pasquale. They wore business attire, but many could be seen connecting to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook while mingling.