CR Nation

A piece written by Daniel Hartman that was originally published in Tufts Daily, the independent student newspaper of Tufts University. Daniel is an economics and political science major.

With public opinion polls low and the media and college students swooning over President Barack Obama, it is important to look back at the past eight years and examine the presidency of George W. Bush. Many can criticize his deficit spending or the poor response surrounding Hurricane Katrina, but Bush has a lot to be proud of. History will look back and agree, just as it has with past presidents such as Harry Truman and Abraham Lincoln, both of whom exited the presidency with low popularity. Bush can look back at three accomplishments that will shape his profound legacy in history. In a post-Sept. 11 world, he has kept this country safe and secure. During his presidency, he has seen that a close relationship with a strong and healthy Africa is a beneficial one, and he has dedicated unprecedented targeted funding to strengthen the entire continent. Most of all, he will be remembered for having the courage to oppose public opinion and many experts and leaders in his decision to surge in Iraq, which has proved to be the riskiest but most noble of his decisions.

One aspect of the Bush presidency that no American can deny is that our country has been kept safe and secure for the past seven years. In the wake of Sept. 11, which ultimately will define his presidency, he took it upon himself to make sure America would never have to suffer an attack on its soil again. Bush took up measures such as terrorist surveillance, enhanced interrogation techniques of terrorists and the USA PATRIOT Act to monitor suspicious activity and thwart terrorist attacks before they could happen. Additionally, he took on the fight with al-Qaeda and provided a fierce response against the Taliban in Afghanistan; we were taking the fight to the terrorists across the globe so that we would not have to face them here at home.

Many have criticized Bush for impeding our civil liberties by his actions, but one only has to look back on history to see similar sacrifices. For example, in order to preserve the Union, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in 1861; it was also suspended during and after World War II. Thus, in times of war like these, it is not uncommon to see necessary steps taken to secure the homeland, and Bush has succeeded in that goal and has returned a country, shocked by Sept. 11, back to normalcy.

Another overlooked accomplishment of the now- former president was his dedication to creating and strengthening allies in the developing world, especially in Africa. He saw that a developed African continent leads to a safer, more prosperous and more generous America. A developed Africa will lead to responsible governments that do not harbor terrorists and to economically stronger countries that can trade in the global markets. It represents America’s moral responsibility to provide for those less fortunate. These are a few of the reasons that explain why Bush has over an 80 percent approval rating on the continent of Africa.

Bush’s programs include the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Before PEPFAR, only 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving treatment for HIV and/or AIDS, and today there are nearly 1.68 million people being treated in the region; PEPFAR is the single greatest effort against a disease in international history, and it’s an accomplishment the 43rd president can be proud of. The President’s Malaria Initiative has been helpful for the continent in fighting the horrible disease of malaria. Finally, the Millennium Challenge Account is a microfinance program that invests in over 35 nations across the world. It has involved targeting over $6 billion of financing to businesses and governments that promote positive change in the developing world. As history looks back, Bush will be credited with a better-developed, safer and prosperous international community.

While American security and international development have been proud accomplishments, Bush’s toughest, most noble decision was the surge in Iraq. In January 2007, the Iraq War was going terribly; the Iraq Study Group had just recommended a withdrawal of troops, and the American people, in addition to many generals on the ground, were calling for an end to the war and an admission of defeat. But Bush decided to go against that strong wave of anti-war sentiment and instead of withdrawing troops, he took the opposite course and put more troops in with a different strategy; it was a decision that defined the Iraq War and much of his presidency. Bush sought out General David Petraeus, who developed a new counterinsurgency plan for Iraq. When considering the political winds that were blowing directly in his face at the time, this decision was nothing less than the most courageous of his presidency — and he was right.

As a result of the surge, we now see a safer, more secure Iraq allowing for a withdrawal of American troops in victory rather than defeat. And when history judges Bush’s Iraq War, the surge ought to be revered as much of a success as the situation preceding it was a failure. If Iraq is a strong ally of America and a beacon of hope for freedom and women’s rights in the Middle East in the next few decades, the country can thank Bush’s courage and determination
to succeed.

Bush was dealt a hand that no one expected on Sept. 11, 2001, and whether you agree with him or not, he has always looked at decisions as a matter of right or wrong, not left or right. Every decision he has made has, in his view, been in the best interest of the United States, and it would be shortsighted of Americans to ignore that as he vacates 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Americans everywhere should be appreciative of the man who gave his all to his country over the past eight years, and the nation should give him a proper send-off as a respected, honorable and
courageous leader.

Lance Kennedy, the Chairman of the Texas College Republicans, has written another article at NextGenGOP titled We Need College Republicans: Why I’ve endorsed Ken Blackwell for RNC Chair.

I don’t intend to over-highlight Mr. Kennedy’s efforts and opinions, but he is the only one that I can find who is writing anything.

The lesson to be taken away from this is this: if you have an opinion you would like to share, or have recently been published, please share it with me (crnation@gmail.com) and I will probably put it up.

The following piece was written by Texas College Republican Chairman Lance Kennedy, was originally published on the blog NextGenGOP and was in response to a previous NextGenGOP blog post titled “Mr. Blackwell, College Republicans Aren’t Enough.”

The cause for liberty is the sole purpose of the existence of the United States of America. When our forefathers set forth on the ambitious quest of founding a nation that would respect the rights of its citizens, it did so into an unknown world where all things are possible and the individual is king. The United States, being comprised of fifty distinct states, allows for the expansion of its freedoms from sea to shining sea, while also allowing for vast regional differences. This sort of governmental framework is termed “federalism” and allows for flexibility amongst its varied and somewhere independent states.

By birth I am Texan, and therefore a state’s rights supporter with significant belief in the limitation of the federal government. This belief translates into the way I envision the way College Republicans should function between the state and national levels. As the state chairman of Texas College Republicans I feel that it is my obligation to empower my coworkers in the varied states by reaching out to them and giving them the tools that they need to succeed, while at the same time trimming the national organization and downsize any wasteful spending and failed initiatives that it has engaged in the past. College Republican National Committee has the ability to implement beneficial concepts into state federations and campuses, thereby outfitting the Republican Party for future electoral successes. By limiting itself, and empowering states, CRNC will be setting itself up for a future filled with achievements that have never been seen before. This can simply be done by demonstrating the merit of the federal framework of government instead of the centralized bureaucracy that has challenged College Republicans for years.

Following the lead of Aaron’s article, I have written several prescriptions that College Republican National Committee can implement if it wishes to have an impact on the GOP’s future victories.

1. Change the GOP’s “seeming lack of interest in fighting to win over young voters.” CRNC needs to make sure it engages Republican Party leadership in reaching out to young voters in ways that the GOP has failed to do so in the past. This means going to campuses and engaging students on their own terms and by their own means.

Marks advocates a ‘“Young Voter Outreach arm” of the RNC that would “actively serve to ’sell’ the Republican Party to young voters,’ and I cannot agree more. CRNC is a perfect place to start in the development of the Republican Party’s base of younger voters, it only needs to learn that to do so means to utilize the tools that are available out there and not compete against them (e.g. Instead of fighting against Facebook by creating the “STORM” networking system, CRNC should utilize Facebook’s massive membership! It is free and will save CRNC hundreds of thousands of dollars without risking a PR nightmare.)

2. “Young voters see the Republican Party as old and outdated.” CRNC needs to advocate and support younger candidates under the age of 40. This is critical in building the next generation’s GOP. It also needs to return to its values of limited government and stick to them! This will help the Republican Party re-brand itself as the party of liberty and freedom, helping court the growing libertarian base.

The Republican Party needs College Republicans more than ever before, but we must focus on how to reform the organization before we can truly become an asset. This means challenging national College Republican leaders to change their habits, not use their position as a resume booster, and truly give back to the states that have made CR’s a successful political force. In short, downsize the CRNC infrastructure, change its marketing strategies and image, and use the tools that are available cost free instead of trying to compete and develop your own. The same system that insured the liberty for Americans for hundreds of years can help bring CRNC into the forefront of national politics.

This is an article co-authored by James Barnes and Brandon Hines who are both members of the George Washington University College Republicans

Fellow Republicans: As we enter a fresh new year, it’s easy to be discouraged by the battle ahead. The Obama Administration promises to pursue an agenda of socialist redistribution. On top of this, the 111th Congress has just convened, and it’s the most liberal in our nation’s history. Together, this double-headed monster threatens to grow another in the form of a new judiciary.

Sitting in a position we have long been removed from, our first step has been to question what got us here. We’ve started to regroup, on Twitter, on the web, and soon by reconsidering who should lead the RNC into 2010 and beyond. And, through these exercises, we’ve come up with some basic answers to the question of what got us in trouble. We’ve blamed it on our grassroots, our fundraising, our web presence, our message, and a slew of other equally valid reasons, which we promise to overcome in the next election cycle. We hope to argue, however, that many of these issues boil down to one oft-overlooked component: a focus on engaging and activating the 18-24 demographic—College Republicans.

As the future of our party and, in many cases, the most passionate advocates for our platform, it is important that the RNC not only reach out and speak the language that we speak and communicate the way that we communicate, but that it engage and empower the youth of the party in helping to win elections. In this vein, the party already has a virtual army of well informed and connected potential activists, who, in many cases, simply haven’t been asked to volunteer the resource they have the most of: their time. Though we lack the ability to donate large sums of cash, or the experience needed to run campaigns, we make up for this with cheap labor and an uncanny, even absurd, ability to remain in instantaneous contact with our peers and advocate for what we believe in. It is time for these and other potential resources to stop being overlooked, and for the RNC to directly engage the future of the party.

Consider this: during our organization’s deployment by the RNC this year in Ohio, a state never lost by a Republican president, we never met a single student from an Ohio college. Elsewhere, in 2007, many argue that we lost the Massachusetts special election due entirely to a complete absence of area college students. Contrastingly, in Georgia’s recent runoff, the unusually strong showing of college students from Maine to Texas served to bolster a winning campaign—a notable exception to a troubling rule. College Republicans exist everywhere. In this regard, it’s very simple; it’s not about changing the minds of college students– it’s about activating and empowering the ones who already care. To our detriment, this is something that Barack Obama knew all too well.

In the coming years, the promise of victory does not tolerate the prospect of an inactive college demographic. This is why we, with the support of many of our friends in the young conservative movement, are calling on the next RNC chairman to pledge to directly engage the next chairman of the College Republican National Committee in kick-starting a strong partnership for a radically better next four years. In this, they should plan for a future that utilizes CR’s in dominating new media, more directly involves college students in party operations, and most importantly, ensures that, in 2010 and beyond, every willing College Republican will be afforded the chance to work for a Republican candidate through a better organized and more broadly utilized College Republican grassroots operation in every state. On the path to victory, this is an important stop that has the promise to change the future (and the face) of our party for the better.

James Barnes and Brandon Hines are the Political and Public Relations Directors, respectively, of the George Washington University College Republicans and are working to re-engage Republican youth.

An article written by Chistopher Banerjee, Chairman of the University of Maryland College Republicans:

In the aftermath of this past election, we are faced with questions. Where do we go from here? What does this mean for the future of the Republican Party, the conservative movement, and our College Republicans chapter? In this time of discord for conservatives, there are varying opinions as to what must be done to regain political power. However, it is clear that now is the time to look forward, not back. We must learn from our past mistakes and defeats, but we should not dwell on them, or lose heart because of them.

Although I certainly don’t claim to know all the solutions to the tough challenges facing our party in the coming months and years, there is one thing I strongly believe. We must ignore the siren calls of the left that aim to entice us into abandoning our conservative values and vitiating our Party, in favor of an approach that would turn the G.O.P. into merely a more moderate version of the Democrats. Alexander Hamilton once said, “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” At this defining moment in the history of our party, it is time to ask ourselves what we truly stand for. What are the core values and beliefs of the conservative movement in the 21st century? Our answer to this question will likely determine the future of the Republican Party for many years.

As the U.M.D. College Republicans, we form only a tiny part of the Party as a whole, but there is still much we can do on this campus in the coming weeks and months to promote the conservative ideals that most Americans share. Although the election is over, the fight in defense of our time-honored beliefs and principles will continue. Now that we are in the minority as a political party, we must fight even harder against the onslaught of liberal initiatives that will surely begin in January. In the spring semester, we will be organizing a conference on campus to discuss the future of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

While many on the left are arrogantly predicting the demise of conservatism, they could not be more mistaken. Our movement has outlasted the New Deal during the 1930s and 1940s, the big-government programs of Lyndon Johnson, the humiliation of Watergate, and the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Undoubtedly, the defeats of this past November 4th were devastating; however, if we rebuild our party and our movement on the steel foundation of fiscal conservatism, traditional values, and a strong military and foreign policy, we will endure and the American people will rally to our cause.

There is an ancient Roman proverb I like that goes “Ad astra, per aspera,” which means “to the stars, through adversity.” Our journey out of the political wilderness will not be short, or easy. It may even be longer and more difficult than we imagine. Yet if we as Republicans remain true to our conservative values and work indefatigably to win back the respect of the American people by restoring our image as the party of reform and responsible government, we will ultimately prevail.

The immediate future may look bleak, but our day will come again.