young conservatives

In an effort to win back the youth vote, Senate Policy Committee Chairman Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and House Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) co-chaired a Young Conservatives Leadership Summit in Washington, DC. The purpose of the summit was to connect young conservative leaders from around the country with one another, brainstorm ideas about fostering youth activism, and discussing the next generation of the conservative movement.

“Winning back the trust and support of our nation’s young people has to be a top priority for the Republican Party and I am encouraged to see so many dedicated young conservatives. This summit is just the beginning and I look forward to working with these groups to rebuild the support of younger generations in the future,” said Rep. Cantor.

The summit was sponsored by the Young Conservatives Coalition, a group dedicated to organizing the next generation of the conservative movement. The participants who attended were young conservative leaders, in between the ages of 18-40, and represented various political center-right young adult and college organizations. The day-long summit consisted of roundtable discussions, brainstorming sessions, and presentations from congressional leaders and media allies.

“After last year’s poor showing with the youth vote, we felt it was necessary to gather young leaders from across the country and strategize ways to foster youth activism within the conservative movement to ultimately win back the youth vote,” stated Christopher Malagisi, President of the YCC.

Guest speakers included summit co-chairs Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Republican Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), NRCC Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), RNC New Media Director Todd Herman, and Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard.

The group will release a national youth assessment, organize a national youth “strike force” ambassadors program and develop a strategic memo on winning back the conservative youth vote. A strong emphasis will be placed on conservative education, outreach, and harnessing new media and technology.

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: Message to young conservatives who are tired of being told that they're the future of the movement -- it's our turn!

Patrick Ruffini has focused on how Republicans on electoral entrepreneurship, and Rebuild the Party was born. Jon Henke has encouraged political and public policy entrepreneurship, and it encouraged me to focus on building a new theme for an agenda that the Right can move forward with: an agenda of equal opportunity. We did these things because we saw the need for a fundamental change for the Right, the Republican Party and conservatives in how we run campaigns, to formulate policy, to communicate principles, etc.

But when it comes to the conservative movement (the people, the organizations, the institutions), it seems as though some of the status quo leaders are still in the wilderness: still wanting to run a 1980s version of an election, still harkening back to Reagan, still valuing old methods of communication, and (most disappointingly) still shunning any intellectualism. Nothing confirmed these feelings more than going to CPAC today: looking at the agenda, attending some panels and speeches, and roaming through the halls of the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

I'm not sure that we're sending the right message about how best to advance conservatism to many of the students and young people attending CPAC. As Daniel Ruwe points out, if and when conservatives do have the White House and Congress again, it's not guaranteed that Republican control of government will lead to less of it. As Daniel asks: is it possible to advance conservatism?

Well, young people now have an opportunity to share their ideas on how to reshape and restructure the conservative movement: the Young Conservatives Coalition ...

In order to educate and articulate conservatism to a new American generation of voters and activists, a representative group of young professional conservatives in the Washington, DC area have formed the Young Conservative Coalition (YCC). They will formally launch their organization during their "Rebuilding the Movement" Brainstorming Session at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this Friday, February 27th from 10-11 AM at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in the Palladian Ballroom in Washington, DC.

"The YCC is an advocacy organization dedicated to leading the next generation of the conservative movement by organizing and mobilizing young professional conservatives across the country," stated YCC President Christopher Malagisi. "It's our turn to step up and start taking a greater leadership role within the movement by harnessing the power and ingenuity of young conservatives, while at the same time dispelling the myth that all voters under the age of 40 are liberals."

I am a charter member of YCC, and was a part of coming up with the Lake Anna Declaration, a platform for young conservatives to look to for 2009. I don't like everything in the platform, and a few things that I would've liked to see in the platform aren't in there. But the fact is that it should serve as a baseline for how the conservative movement can advance our principles in creative ways, and even promote healthy debate over how to formulate sound public policy.

There's one thing in the platform that I think all of us can agree with:

Every challenge facing the American people does not require a federal office and federal funding, especially during times of economic uncertainty.

For those of you at CPAC, please join the launch of the Young Conservative Coalition tomorrow morning, participate in "Rebuilding the Movement" brainstorming session and make your voice heard. Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) will be joining us.

Why did I join the YCC? Simple. I'm tired of being told that I'm the future of the movement. I'm here now. I'm ready now. Yes, this is only the first step towards reshaping the conservative movement, but it will be a great start!

The most recent Gallup tracking poll grants Obama a 55-38 advantage with voters in the 18-29 bracket, but that numerical disparity ignores the cultural, cultish following and outpouring of enthusiasm -- we all know Obama has triggered something in this younger generation, particularly for far left liberals. Palin might change the statistics, she might not -- but what she's already done is fired young conservatives the hell up about this election. Here's a sample of Facebook today:

That's majorly different than usual. Two liberal friends this afternoon volunteered that they would probably be giving McCain another look for this choice. Over at Right-Wing Vitriol, we've been proponents of Palin since March, but we were all legitimately excited about this pick. Only Bobby Jindal or Sarah Palin could have created a swelling of young support like this, and only McCain would ever pull the trigger on this one.

Not just the youth either. This afternoon, my grandmother, an avid NPR listener who remains a registered Democrat in Florida (because in the early 1950s in still Old South Florida, nobody was a Republican) wrote a check for the max to the McCain campaign. Per descriptions by my mother, grandpa, and herself, she has never been this excited about politics. Her younger sister, a Bush Pioneer in 2004, had reneged on her vow not to bundle this election cycle. McCain raised $3 million today. This is what can happen.

This can't be only framed as a play for independent voters -- it's a call to the faithful to energize and turn out.

Katherine Miller blogs daily at Right-Wing Vitriol.

 Beyond some friends who know Louisiana politics intimately, a year ago not many people I came across knew much about the man from Baton Rouge.  Today his name seems to be on the tongue of every young conservative I meet.  It's been a fascinating phenomenon to watch unfold.

He represents a new breed of conservative.  A new commitment to the values we envision when we hope for America's future, and the personal qualities to reassure a weary public about the ability to deliver.

Jindall represents the beating heart of a movement quieted by 2 decades of being buried in its own success.  The need for reform, a hunger for free markets across the spectrum of american society, the desire to shine a light on the inner workings of government, to rebuild in the image of transparent self-government a system that so many feel has abandoned them.

Many will jump to the conclusion that I am shilling for Jindall as a VP pick for Sen. McCain.  I am not.  While I certainly consider Gov. Jindall capable and qualified, I do not pretend to know what Sen. McCain needs in a running mate, but I have every confidence that he does.  I know that the person he picks will represent our party well, and will fight diligently beside the Senator to protect us from all enemies, foreign and domestic. 

I write about Gov. Jindall because many within the party and pundits from all corners talk about us being lost, about "the fall of conservatism".  If conservatism has faltered it is only because at our core we are a movement of change, and we have become entrenched.  We are guarding the castle, not storming it.  Over the past decade we have not been as introspective as we should have, we have not been as active in creating new solutions as we were in the early '90s.  Today, we have a unique opportunity to renew that search within ourselves, and recommit to the perpetual challenge of making America better, stronger, freer and more prosperous.  It is an opportunity we should not neglect.

When I look for conservatives moving down that path, seizing this opportunity I see Bobby Jindall.  And every day I find more people my age who seem to be looking that direction.