College Republicans abuzz with election fever

So far as I know, those involved in College Republicans nationwide are still focused on the general elections next Tuesday, but there is another election coming up that is of great interest to College Republicans. The College Republican National Committee holds elections in every odd-numbered year for the Executive Board, and this coming June is the next such election. Potential candidates are (and have been) jockeying for position for the better part of a year, but within the past week there have been several developments (all of which I am late in getting to).
First of all, and probably most importantly there are two proposed amendments to the CRNC Constitution that will be voted upon at the next National Board meeting, to be held in Denver this December. I will have more analysis in the coming weeks, as I study the language more closely and get an idea of where the various state chairs (who actually get a vote on this) stand on the issues. Accompanying the amendments is a cover letter signed by College Republican Federation of Alabama Chairman Blake Harris, in which he asks the addressees to wait until after November 7 to study them. Briefly, though, the first amendment, titled the "Fair Elections Amendment", is co-sponsored by Colorado's Charlie Smith, Michigan's Dan Carlson, Nebraska's Scott Strain, and Ohio's Brian Siler, and would change the language in parts of Article 9, Dispute Resolution. Most notably, the amendment provides for a dispute process following elections, so long as 20 sitting state chairmen support filing of a dispute, and this would also throw the arbitration to the American Arbitration Association. The second amendment is the "True Membership" proposal, which would amend sections 4 and 6 of Article 5, and is sponsored by CRNC Co-Chair Jess Beeson, New Jersey's Frank Luna, Utah's Zachary Howell, and Massachusetts's Mike Miltenberger. Essentially, it would change the process of determining membership for the purposes of assigning electoral votes to each state during the credentialing process. On the surface, I like the True Membership initiative, but I am very undecided about the Fair Elections proposal as of yet. More on this soon.
CR circles are buzzing with news of CRNC Treasurer Tom Robins sending the state chairmen an e-mail prior to Nov. 7 elections. It is your standard rally the troops, congratulatory pat on the back letter, so I will not re-publish it here. If you would like to see it in full, please go check it out on the CR Blog over at CRNC Grindstone. They do a good job over there, so you should check it out regardless. Anyhow, Robins last made CR news with the rumors that he would be making a run to succeed current Chairman H. Paul Gourley. He was also supposedly making calls on behalf of Pennsylvania, but this was never substantiated. The latest, though, is that Robins will not be running; I am sure people will start to think otherwise after this e-mail, though.
Finally, here in Ohio, there was a stir last week when someone created a "Draft Siler for CRNC Chair" Facebook group. First, let me say that I probably would have joined had I received an invite or had the group not been removed within hours. I have no clue who did join up, but I bet that it was mostly Ohio CRs at this point, and I seriously doubt that Siler himself created the group. Despite what some say, he doesn't have that big of an ego (or I could be blind to it). I would normally follow with what the group had to say on Facebook, but it is no longer there. Whoever did this, send me an invite!
In closing, the next few months should be rather interesting, but I would hope that CRs keep an open ear and open mind in the upcoming elections. For now, keep knocking on doors, dialing the phones, and pounding the pavement for your local slate; we need all of the help we can get this year!