CR Nation

Well, I must apologize for the unnatural silence recently. There is really no excuse beyond a lack of especially notable CR activity during the summer months. That pattern has been broken, however, by the Wisconsin-Iowa Leadership Summit held at the Maquoketa State Park in Iowa last weekend. It was too far for me to drive, (don’t think folks outside the Midwest were invited anyway), but several tidbits have filtered in to us that provide a nice summary.

State chairs Dane (Iowa) and Lora Rae (Wisconsin) led their respective states in planning and hosting the campout/training that began Friday afternoon with the early arrival of Zach Howell and continued through a full day’s activities Saturday to Sunday morning’s gradual departure of the other attending states (including Jon Ratliff with a crew from Missouri and Lauren Fakes with an Indiana contingent). The training session lasted most of the day Saturday and included talks from Zach, Jeremy Hagen, former Iowa state chair Greg Baker, Dane, Lora and others, as well as some general discussion and Q and A time.

High points:

Food and drink was abundant. All took full advantage of the fact. All were dubbed great Americans in the spirit of conservative fellowship. This may or may not explain the midnight group who went out for a jog after the festivities Friday night, led by an Indiana gentleman said to be training for a marathon.

Saturday’s events were crowned with afternoon cave explorations in which Iowa held their own but Missouri got really dirty. (Wisconsin and Indiana exercised discretion and served more as support staff.) Mr. Hagen seemed to have some experience in spelunking and was outfitted to the teeth. The honorable national chair came less prepared but was game for most of the trek. All the appropriate Boy Scout skills were on full display around the fires both evenings, and I understand the ladies were appropriately impressed.

For more details, feel free to consult Dane’s more official report here. Kudos to these states for hosting a uniquely creative, not to mention adventurous, event. Might be a little rough for my taste, but you can’t say those Midwesterners aren’t tough!

From the College Republican blog:

As many of you know, on Wednesday, June 24th, ABC has turned over an hour of prime-time programming to President Obama to promote his government healthcare program. This “infomercial” starts at 10pm (Eastern) live from the White House. ABC has rejected the RNC’s requests to counter the President’s debate and has turned down all commercials that oppose a democrat, liberal solution.

Therefore, to make sure our voices of opposition are heard, College Republicans from the DC area will be taking part in a demonstration outside the White House. College Republicans are joining forces to shine a light on the weaknesses and high-cost of a government run option.

Tomorrow night, however, College Republicans from across the country can take place in the debate regardless of location. We are encouraging you to join us on Twitter and let us know what you and fellow young conservatives think about the policies the President is promoting regarding health care. Simply use the #CRNC hashtag with your posts which will show up on the CRNC website’s Twitter-feed. We’ll use your thoughts, quotes, and opinions for future healthcare related projects.

The writers of the three most insightful quotes and opinions that point out the inadequacies of government run healthcare will receive a $25 iTunes gift card from the CRNC.

All tweets must be submitted by midnight (Pacific) Thursday, June 25th and must use the #CRNC hashtag to qualify. Please spread the word and take part in the discussion LIVE with College Republicans across the country!

As I understand it, most, if not all, of the National Officers will be participating. So will CR Nation. Should be a fun time, aside from, ya know, the brazen and blatant unfairness intended to shut one-side out of the debate in order to build support for a massive government takeover of yet another private industry.

With about 25 State Chairs and the entire CRNC Executive Board, the bomb-shell announcement of the new administration’s first conference call with the National Board on Thursday was that the CRNC has cut STORM.

On the call, the announcement was made by CRNC Treasurer Brand Kroeger.

According to Mr. Kroeger, after reviewing the books and looking at STORM’s analytics, the CRNC could not justify continuing to pay for the database.

STORM was costing the CRNC upwards of $14,000 per month to maintain, but only generating a little over 100 hits in the same period.

Running the numbers, that means the CRNC was paying $140 per hit – an astounding amount.

Asking around, College Republican leaders seem pleased with the decision, and Mr. Howell’s budget cutting measures.

The CRNC will not be database-less for long. A new database is reportedly being built around the results of a survey of College Republicans conducted several months ago by the CRNC and the David All Group.

The call was also used to introduce Tommy Jardon, former Southern Regional Vice-Chairman, as CRNC Executive Director. In an email following the call, Mr. Jardon said,

As members of the Committee, I consider each and every one of you my “boss.” Please feel free to reach out to me with any comments, concerns, questions, or ideas you may have. I, Zach Howell our Chairman, the national officers, and the entire CRNC are resources at your disposal.

Additionally, we found out on the call that the CRNC Fall Board Meeting will be held November 20-22 at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando Studios in Orlando, FL.

For State Chairs, the CRNC will reportedly cover the hotel and two meals. This board meeting, however, will be the first in which ALL College Republicans are welcome.

To make it more economically feasible for non-State Chair College Republicans the CRNC has secured deeply discounted rates on hotels and other attractions in the Orlando area.

Lastly, the call was used to push efforts to get College Republicans to deploy to the upcoming gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.

Terence Grado, former NJ College Republican Chairman and current Northeast Regional Vice-Chairman, and current VA College Republican Chairwoman Kate Maxwell both talked about their respective states.

Mr. Howell is reportedly meeting with RGA Executive Director Nick Ayers to discuss how the College Republicans can best be of service.

As always, your thoughts?

From the PHC College Republicans blog:

CRFV Summer Volunteer Contest

The CRFV Executive Committee is proud to announce the first Summer Volunteer Contest open to all College Republicans statewide. We have teamed up with the McDonnell Campaign to offer incentives for volunteers who are able to give 10 HOURS of work (door-knocking or phone-banking at a local Victory office) between now and August 1st.

Those who complete the most hours will be given individual prizes, including the opportunity to introduce our candidates at local rallies, free access to fundraisers and ticketed events, and much more! All volunteers who meet the minimum 10 hour requirement will be eligible to attend the First Annual CRFV Fall Kick-Off with Bob McDonnell at the end of summer. Music, food, and drinks will be provided, and all guests will have the opportunity to spend time with fellow College Republicans & enjoy a meet and greet with our future governor! A complimentary photo with Bob McDonnell will also be provided.

More details to be announced soon, and we are looking forward to providing a great time and a well-earned reward for our most dedicated volunteers.

To RSVP, send an email pledging to complete the 10 hour minimum requirement to crfvcontest@gmail.com. Include your name, school, and registered voting address. You will be sent a volunteer time log to record your hours. Pledge today so that we can put together the best event possible!

We have the potential to win the races for governor in both Virginia and New Jersey. These elections will give one party momentum heading into next year’s elections. And do we really want a third straight Democratic governor in Virginia?

It’s time Republicans started winning again. Let’s make it happen.

The voting part of convention went off without a hitch as far as I could tell. All the National officers, with the exception of Pete Vitale in the Midwest, were elected by acclamation as each did not have opposition.

In the Midwest Regional Vice-Chair race, Pete Vitale won easily. I forget what the exact vote number was, but it was not close. All the big Midwestern states (Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan) lined up behind Mr. Vitale while the smaller states (Kansas, North Dakota, Iowa) lined up behind Mr. Vitale’s opposition, George Weston. Indiana, interestingly, split their votes: one vote for Mr. Vitale and one vote for Mr. Weston.

In the end, the credential success of Missouri (successfully appealed for three votes), Michigan (successfully appealed for six votes) and Minnesota (successfully appealed for one vote) was too much for Mr. Weston to overcome.

The new College Republican National Committee leadership is as follows:

Zach Howell, Chairman
Jeremy Hagen, Co-Chairman
Brand Kroeger, Treasurer
Chandler Harris, Secretary
Terence Grado, Northeast Regional Vice-Chairman
R.J. Perciful, South Regional Vice-Chairman
Pete Vitale, Midwest Regional Vice-Chairman
Michael Antonopolous, West Regional Vice-Chairman