An orchestra for the group behind affirmative-action bake sales and "Deport an Immigrant" football..... :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:
No Fight Left
Just like grown-up Republicans, College Republicans face an identity crisis.By Lydia DePillis
Posted Monday, June 8, 2009, at 10:15 AM ET
The College Republican National Committee is a famously cutthroat operation. Karl Rove and Lee Atwater learned the ropes there in the 1970s, dragging then-RNC Chairman George H.W. Bush into a disputed election. More recently, two people you never heard of (at least until their campaign was hilariously recounted in the New Republic) spent several hundred thousand dollars in a bare-knuckled fight for chairman.
By historical standards, then, this year's convention, which took place last week at the Renaissance Marriott in Washington, D.C., was tame. There was only one contested race—for the Midwestern regional chair, fought with Midwestern collegiality—and no constitutional amendments to debate. This uncharacteristic politesse could not have come at a worse time: the first convention in the age of Obama, the first in eight years without a Republican in the White House. After an election in which young voters went 2-1 for the Democrat, colleges Baracked the vote, and Sarah Palin was trotted out as a role model for youth, what's a young conservative to do?
According to those headlining the conference, who ranged from the baby-faced Rep. Aaron Schock, 28, to the rapidly fossilizing Phyllis Schlafly, 75, the party needs to diversify. Get back to principles. And, oh, use Twitter.
On the first point: Most speakers exhorted the students to recruit more black and Hispanic members, to get outside the stuffy-white-guy stereotype that follows the party like a shadow. This became especially awkward at Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's keynote speech, where seven white guys—including the College Republican of the Year, white guy Leigh Wolf—sat on the dais to his right. Last year's national leadership had three women; this year's has none. According to those present, in his speech, RNC Chairman Michael Steele singled out the one black woman in the room for special recognition. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2219989/?from=rss