CR Composition Corner: Afghanistan, a Work in Progress
The article comes compliments of MO CR and Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Daniel Bell. The article was posted on the website Blackfive, which is intended to (1) support the military, (2) care for the wounded, (3) remember the fallen and (4) honor the sacrifices.
Historically, Afghanistan has been...
I have no idea who Joe Birkett is, but he recently congratulated Matt Zimmerman on his election as Chairman of the Illinois College Republicans.
A reader comments:
Joe Birkett is the State’s Attorney for the 2nd most populous county in Illinois, DuPage County. In the past, he has also been the Republican candidate for Illinois Attorney General (2002), Lieutenant Governor (2006), and intends to run for statewide office in 2010 as well.
Joe is a Republican icon in the state and has always been a great friend to CRs across Illinois.
The Maine College Republicans recently held their convention. As a guest speaker, Maine’s convention was attended by CRNC Chairman candidate Zach Howell.
As the press release CR Nation received reports:
…Zach Howell, candidate for chair of the College Republican National Committee, travelled from Utah…to speak to the Maine College Republicans. Howell, currently a regional vice-chair of the CRNC, is campaigning on a platform for more efficient communication, revision of the field program, and improving chapter resources.
At the convention, the Maine CR’s elected the new State Committee Executive Board. Alexander Willette (UMF) will serve a second term as state chairman, Brendan O’Brien (Bates) will serve as vice-chairman, Hope Staneski (Bates) will serve as secretary, and Jarad Doyon (Colby) will serve as treasurer of the State Committee for the 2009-2010 year.
With more than 100 in attendance, the Oregon College Republicans held their annual convention on April 25th and 26th at the Salbasgeon Hotel in Corvallis Oregon.
Those in attendance heard speeches from State Senator Jason Atkinson, Allen Alley- Republican Candidate for Governor, State Representatives Andy Olson, Sherrie Sprenger, Jim Thompson, and Matt Wingard, and Mayor of Springfield, Oregon Sid Leiken.
On Sunday morning delegates elected a new executive board and ended the convention with a steak BBQ. The new officers in Oregon are:
Chairman: John Granat, Oregon State University
Co-Chair: Ross Harke, University of Oregon
Treasurer: Ben Garrett, Columbia Gorge Community College
Secretary: Barbie McGehee, Western Oregon University
First Vice Chair: Joel Everett, Western Oregon University
Second Vice Chair: Kenny Crabtree, University of Oregon
A well-informed Arizona College Republican source reports:
The Arizona Federation of College Republicans convention started off on Friday in Phoenix, Arizonan with James Bond Casino night. Despite all of the drama leading up to the convention the majority of the students were civil and seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Most male attendees were dressed in tuxedos and the females were dressed like “Bond girls.” Playboy recently announced the University of Arizona (UA) as the number five party-school in the nation and the girls from UA were definitely living up to that title that night. Numerous prizes were given out and the event turned out to be a very successful fundraising event for the Arizona Federation.
The convention began at 10:00 AM on Saturday morning. The agenda consisted of several guest speakers, including Arizona CD-8 candidate Jesse Kelley, Kevin McCullough from TownHall.com and BMX Radio, actor and author Stephen Baldwin, CD-5 candidate David Schweikert and the controversial Arizona GOP Chairman and RNC Treasurer Randy Pullen. Awards were given out in between speakers and the notable awards are as follows; Best Chapter- Arizona State University (ASU), Best Chapter Chair- Ry Ellison (UA), Goldwater Activist of the Year- Jennifer Rogers (UA) and Outstanding CR Award- Benjamin Stewart (ASU). As you can see the intense instate rivalry between ASU and UA lives off of the football fields and the basketball courts.
The tension in the room could be felt throughout the convention and the tired faces of Chairman Wharton and Vice Chair Stewart said it all. All forty-four delegates plus alternates waited anxiously to hear the outcome of the Secretary and Chairman races. The agenda was finally winding down as Kevin McCullough finished his speech and the restlessness in the room grew to a new high. Chapter Chairs read off their delegate votes for all the positions and there was a brief pause for the AZFCR executive board to break the tie for Secretary. The tie was between Noelle Beydoun (ASU- West) and Coty McKenzie (UA). The votes were cast and the tie was broken with a 3-2 win for McKenzie. McKenzie will now have two votes on the State Board as the Secretary and the UA Chapter Chair. Even though it was a silent vote it is believed that the females on the board, Vice Chair of Finance Dodge and Secretary Bender voted for Noelle while the males, Vice Chairs Stewart and Ellison and Treasurer Robinson voted for McKenzie. Stewart was overheard saying that he voted for McKenzie because he wanted to make sure there was a voice from UA on the board. Yes, this is a bit of foreshadowing for what would take place next.
The final delegate vote would be for the Chairman race, which was a dead even tie at 22-22. Right after Secretary Bender called for Stewart to read off the delegate vote for ASU, Ellison shot out of seat asking Chairman Wharton for the microphone. The faces in the audience were struck with the look of pure confusion and Clark (Ellison’s challenger) looked slightly panicked. Ellison then began with thanking the UA delegation for making the trek to Phoenix and said he was humbled by the support he was given throughout his campaign. He then went on to concede the election because he felt that he would be unable to serve with a board that was mainly comprised of his opposing ticket. He felt that serving as Chairman would cause more divisions and in the best interest of the Federation he would step down and yield the Chairmanship to Clark.
The UA delegation appeared to be in shock and there were even a few misty eyes in the crowd. The Arizona Federation will never know how the executive board would have voted. It was said that it continued to be unknown whom Treasurer Robinson and Vice Chair Stewart were going to vote for. Maybe Ellison knew something that the rest of the Federation did not. And the other question that dwells is why did Stewart felt the need to vote for McKenzie in order to give UA a voice on the board before the determination of the next chairman? Was Stewart aware of Ellison’s intention of dropping out? During my research for this story, many believed that Ellison had only told a few close friends of his intension to concede and that even they were unsure of how serious Ellison was.
The board was sworn in as the tension was lifted from the convention. Clark then addressed the Federation as their new Chairman as everyone except for the UA delegation stood in applause. Chairman Clark first thanked Wharton and the rest of the State Board for their service, which lead to another standing ovation. Then Clark turned to his former opponent and thanked him for humble service to the organization, which lead the longest and loudest standing ovation of the meeting. Chairman Clark pledged to lead with transparency and honor and promised to always have an open door policy for anyone in the Federation. In Stewart’s farewell speech he reminded the group of the famous quote “United we stand, divided we fall” and Clark echoed these sentiments calling for unity in the Arizona Federation.
