Free food and beverage to be in abundance at CPAC

Let alone the fact that this is a CRNC campaign year, and that candidates in that race will undoubtedly throw open-bar bashes, and you will still find plenty of free plunder to be had during next month's edition of CPAC. Mainefest is always on everyone's calendar for the trip to DC, and we reported last week that Ohio will also throw a separate party during CPAC as well. Ohio has historically hosted an event for all Ohio CRs in attendance, but will for the first time be opening the doors to all. Emails were sent out yesterday to state chairmen inviting them to DC Fest 2007, hosted by Mike Keough's DC Federation of College Republicans on the first day of CPAC at the Hawk n Dove. Please consider this my open plea to OCRF officers to NOT name the Ohio party "Ohio Fest". I thought that a "fest" was usually a title reserved for a hippie convention, but I could very well be wrong.

Boehner speaks to high school and college crowd in hometown

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) spoke in the city he calls home in Ohio's 8th District this morning to a crowd of high school and college students gathered at Westchester's Lakota West High School. The event was organized by Lakota senior Parker Novak, who is also a member of the SOB Alliance (Viking Spirit Blog) and is a very involved GOP grassroots worker in Southwest Ohio. Boehner spoke for about 25 minutes to the assembled crowd and covered several topics currently being debated in Congress. Boehner mused that Republicans largely lost control due to a combination of factors, but that too many of his colleagues valued re-election more than real results. Rep. Boehner urged finding solutions that lead to success in Iraq, lest the terrorists follow US troops home, and he spoke generally about developing a new group of Republican solutions to the problems being faced here at home with entitlement programs and fiscal matters.
More pertinent to College Republicans reading this would be the attendance of OCRF Chairman Brian Siler, and the surprise appearance of Morgan Wilkins, candidate for KFCR Chairman. One must wonder if anything was discussed between them, but to the best of our knowledge, the two do not see eye-to-eye on matters of consequence. This probably bodes nothing, but it still an interesting encounter.

Buckeye State Breakdown

This past weekend, the state board of the Ohio College Republican Federation gathered, and a few things of note came out of the meeting:

-Ohio will be holding a party/event at CPAC to rival MaineFest, although the two events will not be held at the same time to allow you, Joe CR, and you, pompous jackass (better known as Joe State Chairman), to attend both celebrations. Watch your mail for invitations to the gala, likely to be held at either Stars & Stripes or Hawk & Dove.

-It appears as well that Ohio will be a large presence again at CPAC with chapters attending the meeting reporting at least 300 Ohio CRs are making plans to attend the annual convention.

-Bids were entertained for the upcoming OCRF Convention, to be held in mid-April, and three separate bids were submitted to the board: Bowling Green State University, University of Akron, and a collaborative effort between Ohio State, Columbus State, and Otterbein College, three Columbus-area schools. The collaborators are seeking to bring 2007's convention to Downtown Columbus and were reportedly the only bidders ready to present said bid. A source has informed us that a website will soon be up and running to promote the effort.

-Keen listeners at the meeting noted the seeming annointment of a hand-picked successor to Chairman Brian Siler, and we will report more on this development as it unfolds.

-We at Red State Rampage would like to congratulate two of the newly elected Chapter Chairmen in Ohio: Natalie Brown of Franciscan University of Steubenville and Mary Estock of The Ohio State University. Best of luck to both of them in the next year, and a special thanks to outgoing FUS Chairman Billy Valentine and outgoing OSU Chairman Matt Kocsan for their service to their chapters, and the state organization itself.