CR Nation

More 400 College Republicans representing 30 schools participated in a march from fisherman’s wharf to pier 39 and back again chanting “hey hey, ho ho, Barack Obama’s gotta go” or “no new taxes” or “say no to the dems, we are not your atms”.

Unsurprisingly, the rally was “met with middle fingers and cries of ‘racism’ and ‘fascists’ from the San Francisco locals,” according to Leigh Wolf, who organized the rally with Chandra Charma. Here is some video of the march/rally:

Maryland made many strides, despite being one of the bluest states:

Increased statewide activities from a handful, to over two dozen statewide events starting last summer and going through this coming weekend, some included:

* Two MDGOP Conventions (increased our recognition in state party; CR Hospitality Suite)
* House energy protest on House floor last summer
* Over 30 Students at CPAC
* Fundraisers for Congressman Bartlett and State Senator Harris
* Republican Club events throughout the state
* Helping with BARs (Baltimore Area Republicans)
* State Fair Exhibition
* Rallying for RNC Chairman Steele at RNC Meeting, and many others events

Increased individual chapter networking with state/local parties/clubs
Increased chapter participation: 9 to 16 chapters
Sent volunteers for a dozen days of GOTV in VA and RNC72hr-GOTV deployment, making thousands of voter contacts
Provided dozens of CRs for door-to-door/phone-banking for AndyHarris4Congress
Two STORM top-40 winners
Increased Convention participants from last year, despite off year

Of the following, which state federation improved the most over the course of the last year?

Arizona
Delaware
Iowa
Kansas
Maryland
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Texas

UPDATE: Iowa takes a big lead. My question: whatever happened to “don’t mess with Texas?…”

Iowa’s case:

One year in Iowa…

1. State party would not speak to CR’s last year; now giving $2,500 to IFCR
2. Expanded from 15 chapters to 24
3. Four chapters (including biggest chapter) threatening to leave federation are now strong contributors to federation
4. Went from invisible to highly regarded in state house and senate
5. Updated website, started twitter and youtube, and improved use of facebook
6. Built relationships with many county parties
7. At least four members worked in Minnesota GOTV
8. Went from three members running the state to a full ten-member board.
9. Started public relations campaign
10. Built strong working relationship with neighbor state Wisconsin

In a bruising battle between Missouri and California, Missouri emerges victorious in our poll seeking which state College Republicans across the country thought had the best federation over the course of the next year.

Missouri was up, then California was up, then Missouri was up, then California was up, then Missouri went up one last time, only this time it was not to surrender the lead again.

When all was said and done, there were 3,137 votes cast – the most ever in a CR Nation poll. Missouri claimed 1,574 of them, comprising just over 50%. The complete final results of the poll are as follows:

Missouri, 1,574 (50%)
California, 1,338 (43%)
D.C., 103 (3%)
Michigan, 59 (2%)
Ohio, 41 (1%)
Minnesota, 21 (1%)

In 2008, the Missouri College Republicans helped ensure Missouri was the only battleground state to vote for John McCain, doing so by a margin of 3,902 votes out of several million cast.

They also, I am told, played a significant role in electing three new GOP state senators and keeping a majority in the State House, something that was initially thought to be unlikely. One of the state senators was elected in the college town of Columbia, MO, where a Republican state senator had not been seen since the early 1970s.

Lastly, the youth vote in Missouri was 7 points better than the national average, which was 66%-34%. In Missouri, people aged 18-29 voted for Obama by a margin of 59%-41%.

Congratulations to the Missouri College Republicans for a great year.