Young Conservative Coalition

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.

(promoted by Soren. This is a valuable debate)

I want to give my support to my friend Gary Emineth, the North Dakota GOP chairman. 

Gary's a good man and a good conservative who's made real progress in modernizing the North Dakota GOP.

Ryan James pointed out that Gary got himself into The Hill with an unfortunate quote.

I believe that Gary was telling the literal truth -- that only the 168 RNC members are the ones who will elect the next chairman. That's why RNC members, who represent us as party members, need as many opportunities as possible to see the Chairman candidates.

 Emineth is on our side -- creating another opportunity for the party to see the Chairman candidates and make them answer the tough questions.

I think that's critical. Let us see the candidates, on the blogs and in person. Let us question them and determine who's the best choice to lead the party.

To my knowledge, Gary is neutral in the Chairman's race at this point. That's all the more reason why we should support his proposal -- there's no strings attached.

Gary's the right kind of chairman. Conservative, smart, collaborative, and quick to support the changes we need. I support him.

UPDATE: Chairman Emineth responds in the comments, and Matt Dabrowski, who knows Emineth, posts a blog on the matter here.

The Chairman of the Republican National Committee represents the 59 million Americans who voted Republican on November 4th, not just 168 party officials. And through county committees and state committees, WE elect the 168. We may not have a vote, but we DO have a voice. Make sure that the choice for the next RNC Chair represents YOUR hopes for the future of the Republican Party by making your voice heard at RebuildTheParty.com or ChooseYourChairman.com. -Patrick

I wish to alert many of my fellow young conservative activists to the quote in this post’s title. It comes from North Dakota Republican Party Chairman Gary Emineth in a story posted today at TheHill.com.

The story details Mr. Emineth’s call for a special meeting of the full RNC in order to attend the ATR debate at the National Press Club on January 5.

While is it commendable that Mr. Emineth feels the need to gather as many voting members of the RNC to this important event, I feel it would be remiss not to challenge the North Dakota chairman for his comment. It is, on its face, an extremely arrogant one which lends credence to the belief that the Republican Party is elitist and it is, at the very least, a slap in the face of those young Republican and conservative activists who have joined together out of a common concern about the direction of the Republican Party.

Whether it occurs at Rebuild the Party, the YRNetwork, the Young Conservative Coalition or meetings like the forum we held in Washington, D.C., in early December, I would submit to Mr. Emineth that it very much matters what we (the public) thinks about the selection of our party’s next chairman. We, as young activists, have the opportunity to put pressure on our state party’s elected leadership - even going as far as to vote them out if they do not listen to a group which will represent their donor and volunteer lists for the next few decades.

I wonder what the then 28-year-old Mr. Emineth would think of the present-day version of himself when he was serving as the executive director of the North Dakota party back in 1986? Would the 1986 version agree that it did not matter what a young person like himself thought about the future of his party? I would think that Mr. Emineth, the 1986 version, would have an outlook similar to mine.

I do not know Mr. Emineth personally, so I cannot judge the chairman any further than his call for a special meeting (which I applaud) and the comment in the report (which I admonish). It is my hope that Mr. Emineth will disavow his comment which, in my opinion, is detrimental toward the movement that all of us are trying to build.

If you are so inclined, I encourage you to make contact with Chairman Emineth in order to let him know your reaction to his comments. All that I ask is that you are polite and offer the chairman a modicum of respect.

Moving forward, I believe it is in our best interests to get as many young people to contact your state’s chairman, national committeeman, national committeewoman and executive director in order to communicate your desires as to the future of the party in your state, the GOP as a whole and who will lead us in the future.