In his spare time (didn’t know he ever had that!), Ethan put together a video on why John McCain is the type of man that the youth in this country want to support. I doubt Ethan will plug his own video, so I’m letting you all know about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrQZQCrlf1Q.

Make sure you watch it now - its just a minute long - and share with your friends!

“Today’s youth knows the virtues required to lead. We are looking for someone who leads by example, who pushes us to achieve something greater then ourselves, who urges us forward past fear and reticence, who will lead in dark times and glory. We have found John McCain.”

The famous St. Louis Arch (photo compliments of Will’s amazing photography skills!)

MOCR’s enjoyed lunch under the Arch

Will and I with Immediate Past Chairman Samantha Hill and newly-elected Chairman Jeremy Hagen

This weekend, Will Crosswell (National Field Director) and I spent our time with Missouri College Republicans at their State Convention! Its been an awesome time with a great group of CR’s. Almost 100 students were in attendance. Their incrdible lineup of speakers included Congressman Kenny Hulshof; Governor Blunt’s Chief of Staff Ed Martin; and John Hancock (he fired Karl Rove before Rove’s climb to fame!).

MOCR’s newly elected officers are:

Jeremy Hagen, State Chairman
Amy Kaufmann, Vice-Chairman
Kristen, Treasurer
Rachel Hassani, Secretary
Justin Smith, Executive Director

After a lunch of subs underneath the famous St. Louis Arch, Jeremy took a few minutes to share a little about MOCR’s upcoming year…

Attention State and Chapter Chairmen! Tomorrow you’ll be able to launch public sites for your federations and chapters. You can then put the site on your business cards, flyers, and email signatures.  You can request the blank.collegerepublicans.org url of your choice by emailing storm@crnc.org with your chapter name, state and desired URL.The sites were created with a very simple, clean web 2.0 feel. Best of all, the sites were designed in such a way that as you add and update events and CR news in your STORM federation/chapter page, the technology automatically updates your public website as well. Even leadership positions and bios will automatically update as you appoint/remove executive board members.Never has maintaining a public website been simpler.

See email below…

Members of the National Board,

The CRNC Executive Board is pleased to announce the election of Blake Harris as National Co-Chairman. During a Sunday evening vote, Blake was unanimously elected by the national officers. The former Chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama and Political Director of the CRNC played an important role in the election of the New CRNC team last year and we enthusiastically welcome him back to the team. We eagerly look forward to working together towards ensuring Republican victories in 2008.

As you know, Blake is filing the position of former National Co-Chairman Nick Miccarelli who resigned his post to run for state representative in Pennsylvania. Blake will join other national officers in traveling to many of your state conventions this spring. If you have not already made the office aware of your state’s convention, please do so as soon as possible. You can contact Blake at bharris@crnc.org or the CRNC office at info@crnc.org or by phone at 202-608-1411.

Thank you-

Charlie Smith
National Chairman

Dan Carlson Esther Clark
National Secretary

Esther Clark
National Treasurer

Michael Keough
Northeast Regional Vice Chairman

Kristy Cottrell
Southern Regional Vice Chairman

Justin Smith
Midwestern Regional Vice Chairman

Zach Howell
Western Regional Vice Chairman

We read the deep political commentaries. We listen to the talk radios. We watch the news. Its all the same ol’, same ol’.

But now there’s a different kind of blog on the scenes, one written by a girl our age who talks not only about politics but pop culture too. This blogger provides a unique perspective that no one else has — she is the 23-year-old daughter of John McCain.

That’s right. McCain’s daughter Meghan shares her experience as she travels the country on the Straight Talk Express. Check out her blog for a lighthearted, inner look at her father’s campaign.

http://www.mccainblogette.com

On youth voters, with a few words from yours truly

Check out the story from Hot Air

After all he’s been there for 24 YEARS! Jim Ogonowski has an uphill battle to be sure in unseating such an entrenched insider, but he’s got a great start with creative messaging like this:

Whenever new technology is released, there are always numerous questions swirling around. A new approach leaves us a little hesitant, especially if we don’t understand the technology or the reasoning behind its development.

With that in mind, over the coming weeks and months, I plan to address commonly-asked questions, as well as provide tips and understanding as to the how’s and why’s of the STORM technology.

First, let’s address a widely-held misperception: “This must be a mini-Facebook for College Republicans?” No. Not at all. STORM is an action network that goes beyond the functionality of a basic social network.  The new class of technology that drives STORM is called social mobilization. The two have totally different purposes. Where social networking focuses on entertaining users, social mobilization focuses on channeling users into real world action that can be tracked.

Through STORM, social mobilization users (College Republicans) will have the ability to recruit others online and then self-organize around existing networks, be they Chapters, geographical regions (State Federations), or common interests (political leanings and campaigns). Facebook is limited, in that it is only designed for connecting people. A Chapter Chair can start a College Republican group and plan events through Facebook, but it is impossible to use Facebook to manage Chapter members with a CRM solution, target messages to segments of the supporter base, or track and quantify the actions that members are completing. STORM brings all these capabilities to a State Federation, plus many more.  STORM is only in the beginning phases of its rollout to the College Republicans, and a number of new features will be forthcoming in the months ahead. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, remember, STORM is an Action Network, not a social network. As you see its full capabilities unfold, you’ll understand how STORM can organize and mobilize members into actions that directly benefit our Chapters, State Federations…and ultimately, the election of Republicans to office.