The below video covers the opening of the Washington (state) HQ for McCain as part of the Street Team ‘08 journalism effort from MTV. Notice anything? I’d say the average age of the volunteers manning the phones is somewhere around 20 years old and the guy they interview on screen is shown as 29.

The youth believe McCain truly means it when he says he will work to change the way Washington works, not because of some digengenuous lofty rhetoric, but because of his long record of doing so while serving our country. That’s why we support him for president over The One.

MTV’s Street Team ‘08 reports can be viewed here.

Or, “Flip-Flops Can Kill”

It appears that the editorial board members at the University of Florida are fed-up with Barack Obama’s flip-flips on every issue from the Iraq War to FISA. Despite endorsing him way back in January saying, “We feel Obama’s message in the Oval Office will inspire young people and resonate with all Americans,” they now seem to feel differently.

Since clinching his party’s nomination for president, however, Obama has started to clarify, qualify and triangulate to such a degree that we can hardly recognize him from the inspirational “change” candidate he represented a few short months ago.

Barack Obama has been an inspiring figure for many youth voters up until this point. However, his profound tendency to waver in the face of political hardship has taken the shine right off of the sparkling image he has as something other than a typical politician, and this is beginning erode his support among youth voters.

Perhaps Obama isn’t the great change agent we thought he was. Perhaps no one can change the system. Or maybe we expected too much from someone who is, after all, just another politician.

Maybe these folks should look to someone who has stood up to say what he believes even when it wasn’t the easiest thing to do; someone who loves his country so much that he will do whatever it takes to protect it even if that means losing an election. Someone like John McCain.

With the 2008 election only a few months away, we want to get as many young activists ready for the fall as we can. It is important that College Republicans stay active and continue to recruit over the summer. Invite new friends to STORM and update contact information for existing STORM members, so that when the semester starts we are ready to hit the ground running.

To help you get moving, we are offering a great incentive to the top 40 STORM activists. The “STORM Top 40” will each win free housing in Minneapolis-St. Paul during the week of the Republican National Convention! The winners will have the exciting opportunity to participate in the Convention without the hassle and cost of finding and paying for a hotel room.

The winners will be determined by the number of points earned over the contest period. The contest will run from Thursday, July 3rd, from 9:00 AM EDT through Thursday, July 31st at Midnight EDT.

Log in now and get started!

Cross-posted from The Next Right 

It wasn’t the senior staffers to Barry Goldwaters 1964 campaign who would go on to change this party and this country.  They certainly did a great deal to set the stage, but in reality their greatest feat was to activate an army of young, engaged, thoughtful conservative activists. Young men and women who could think, who could execute, and who recognized the mission ahead.

As it stands, we are failing ourselves as a party for lack of investment in our own survival.  I’m the first to admit a bit of bias because of where i work but I think if we as a party want to pull things back together we need have a vibrant, engaged youth component.  When you look at the voter skews from 2004, 2006, and the disparity in primary results in 2008 one thing sticks out above all others. Younger generations are voting against the Republican brand.

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