The Mile High Club

Coming up on Saturday is the moment we have all been waiting months now for. Oh, you don't actually care about the petty politics in College Republicans? Well, don't feel alone; there are plenty who would just like to get some damn Republicans elected. But, if it is backstabbing, smack-talking, and chicanery that you enjoy, I would recommend a trip to lovely Denver this weekend. There are the two amendments on the table, one regarding "Fair Elections" and one regarding "True Membership", and as I see it now, both will pass. The initiative dealing with membership and credentialing for CRNC Elections should slide through without trouble, but the "Fair Elections" piece of work is not so much of a sure thing. The votes are there at this point, but word on the street is that a couple of states are looking to amend this one from the floor. It is a close cousin to the failed amendment at the 2005 CRNC Winter Board Meeting in Houston, but there are many new State Chairmen sitting at the table and some of the folks who opposed it last year have crossed the aisle. Look for an in-depth summary of both amendments and my personal thoughts on them later this week, but just know that both should be on the books by Sunday.
Speaking of the amendments, do not look for anyone to actually make use of the elections appeal in 2007. From what I have been told, all potential candidates have agreed to lay off of it this time. This is obviously a verbal/e-mail accord, so it is by no means set in stone, but in the absence of obvious nefarious activities it should hold.
And, since I just spoke of candidates, a quick update on the ever-changing field is necessary. TRUTH CAUCUS held a poll last week to see who was the preferred candidate for CRNC Chairman in 2007, and Charlie Smith of Colorado squeaked by Ohio's Brian Siler, both of whom were ahead of Washington's Brent Ludeman. So that you are not surprised, even though I have said this before many times, Charlie Smith will be announcing his campaign this weekend, most likely at the Colorado CR-sponsored event that evening. Ludeman has been rumored as following suit, but I would imagine he will want more supporters in hand before making anything formal. Make no mistake, there will be many a smoke-filled back room (good thing the meeting isn't in Ohio; we just shamefully banned smoking).
Two of the men that will surely be working behind the scenes are Nevada's George Higgins and Illinois' John Donnelly, who each are fringe candidates at this point. Higgins has been testing the waters for some time now, but has found them to be rather chilly. This has not dissuaded him from continuous pushes to raise Nevada's profile, but he will need to work some miracles to get an entry to the Big Dance. Donnelly has gone so far as to make a campaign video, and he surely has operatives working the blog circuit in his favor. He is, and has been, a Davidson holdover, but he certainly is not garnering much support from anywhere yet. That could change if he can get some 1-on-1 sit-downs in Denver.
To this point, no platforms have emerged, so one can only speculate what the race will be run on. So long as it is not solely based on 2005 and flag pins, I will be a happy man. We need more than rhetoric; we must have reform. It is in this spirit that I would like to propose a simple platform in the hopes that someone will pick it up and run with it. I will be posting something with details later in the week, but here are the bare bones for now:
-Financial reform
-Transparency is the catchphrase, but better accountability is needed here.
-Fundraising reform
-Give back where you get it from
-Better returns for FR dollars, i.e,-Don't spend $3 million to raise $1 million
-Send State Chairs copies of direct mail letters
-Full disclosure and honesty to state feds about funds pulled from their state
-Field Program reform
-eliminate middle managers and communicate directly with state feds whenever possible
-more thoroughly prepared chapter boxes
-better results, period
-Fresh public face
-continued image reform; high priority on honesty in all dealings
-a decent website
-revamped/improved Op. Big Trunk
-work to be more vocal in the public arena (appearing on network programs, print media, etc.)

I will flesh this out and have more in a few days. One final thought on the upcoming election: if California, Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri are all supporting the same candidate (and credentialing goes as expected), the other 46 states hold far less influence. Barring too many surprises from the Credentials Committee, far fewer than half of the states could elect the next Chairman.