From the Flint Journal and the article quoted on www.michaelmoore.com, UM-Flint CRs predict an increase in youth voter turnout…
Facebook won’t win any elections, said Harry Awdey, president of UM-Flint’s College Republicans.
“We’re trying to energize who we have out there but a lot of young people aren’t going to vote,” he said. “It seems like every couple of years they say it’s going to be the year of the youth vote and it hasn’t been yet.
“I’d like to think people are more civilly engaged but it’s really that voter participation was so low that it had nowhere to go but up.”
…And UM-Flint’s College Republicans are hoping their campus will be the site of a McCain appearance in September.
“With the magnitude of this presidential campaign, I’m anticipating much more activity when school starts,” said Jesse Hurse, UM-Flint’s student activities coordinator.
“The younger people are a little apathetic to United States politics, but with it being such a historic year that’s receiving so much media attention, that apathy may be turning around.”
This past weekend, over 40 Michigan College Republicans gathered in Jackson County to volunteer on a Congressman’s re-elect campaign.
Literature was distributed to over 2,700 voters’ households.
Following their door to door, volunteers were joined by State Committeewoman Lola Peterson (and her dog, Bo), who spoke about working together to spread our message via new technology & letters to the editor.
This weedend’s volunteer effort came on the heels of a similar weekend three weeks ago where over 75 College Republicans hit over 2,000 doors for 9th District Congressman Joe Knollenberg in Michigan’s other battleground Congressional race.
Both of these events were led by our State College Republican Chairman, Justin Zatkoff, who, some say, has turned the Michigan College Republicans into a model CR organization.
The conservative student newsapaper, the Michigan Review, has released a nine-page article detailing Justin Zatkoff’s allegedly divisive tenure chairman of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans.
The article begins by saying:
In an election year, Michigan’s umbrella organization of College Republicans-The Michigan Federation of College Republicans (MFCR)-has effectively crumbled, reflecting the controversial tenure of U-M student Justin Zatkoff as the organization’s chairman.
After transferring from Oakland University to the University of Michigan in early 2007, an ambitious Zatkoff embarked on a path to power that has been marked by strong-arm tactics, rancorous presidential politics, and, critics say, potential violations of Michigan campaign finance law
I asked for Mr. Zatkoff to provide a response to this video. He graciously complied with the following statement:
These type of things do not help any Republicans get elected, all they do is hinder our efforts. The College Republicans have a great plan in Michigan and we are working closely with elected officials and candidates to elect Republicans in November. Anyone that would want to join the cause of helping Republicans is more than welcome to join me.
Additionally, according to Mr. Zatkoff, fundraising seems to be going well in Michigan.
A CR Nation mole along with my favorite CR blogger, Joe Sylvester, are reporting that Michigan State University College Republicans disaffiliated themselves with the statewide College Republicans organization during a meeting held Wednesday evening on the campus.
They are the fourth College Republicans chapter in the state to withdraw this spring.
