A lot of the debate during this race has revolved around personality, but not a lot of talk on either sides has been about issues. So here is my crash course on what the CRNC Chairman next should do:

1. Fundraising - A total overhaul is needed obviously but it needs to be fundamental also. There needs to be a switch to more of the high dollar long term big fish type of donations, where we can build solid relationships with donors. This has a much lower overhead than direct mail programs. Direct mail is obviously needed but each piece needs to be straight to the point about it being from the CRs and what we will use the money for. A good Direct Mail firm can write copy that talks about how bad things are on campus, which is the truth, without lying. Also the whole “block grant” system needs a total overhaul with an emphasis on long term stability of state feds.

2. Grassroots - The CRNC needs to be less about getting the Chairman on TV and setting himself up for a future political career and more about the establishment of solid college grassroots. HoplinCo for all there failings has done a decent job at this but much more needs to be done. We need to work to train State Chairs & Chapter Chairs on how to run grassroots organizations so that they can then focus on training their members. A trained CR isn’t just a benefit for the time they are in college but will be an asset to the movement post-graduation too. Leadership Institute style intensive training as while as focus on internt campaigning and netroots could really make the CRs an incredibly effective organization.

3. Chapters - The heart of the College Republicans lie in the chapters. The CRNC needs to be a tool for empowering chapters to be better by training them on how to handle media, get good earned press, develop talking points, recruit, etc. Too many chapters have only a transient field rep who doesn’t have the time to build relationships with chapters or worse the only thing they ever see from the CRNC is the “Chapter Box” in the begining of the year. We need to work to also focus chapters on campus activism and really working to change the generation of students to a more conservative, Republican direction.

4. State Federations - The Davidson proposal for FULL TIME Regional officers is a good one that has been used succesfully by other grassroots organizations, but our long term goal should be to turn each State Fed into a large enough operation to have an executive director to handle its operations also. This is obviously a very long term goal, but by getting State Feds incorporated in their states, filed under the proper tax codes, and developing their fundraising programs it could be achieved in the long run. Just think of the tremendous benefits that could be reaped by expanding our operation to a more professional level where paid EDs for State Feds could help build chapters, train members, and work as campaign liasions to match CRs with where they are needed, as well as raise money to make it all possible.

5. The National Organization’s Mission - For too long the CRNC has been viewed more as the Nat’l Assn of State Chairman and not as a true organization of College Republicans. Reform is needed in the delegation selection process and in other areas to make the CRNC more responsive to the average College Republican. The Davidson campaigns revamping of the site and buildiong of an online community to allow for the exchange of good ideas among chapters and chapter officers would be fantastic. But more than anything it is a change in outlook, for too long careerists and political sell outs have dominated the leadership of the CRs. People whose only concern is moving up in the political food chain and not about the movement itself, which is the plague that has so crippled the CRs that we’ve come to this national chair election.

Well those are just five points I think could be really helpful no matter who is chair next, but make no mistake the biggest problem facing the CRs are the souless careerists. In the end, if they stay in power as they have been for decades then the CRNC is doomed, and this election no matter who wins will likely not change that. Davidson is a good guy and represents more hope than the clearly status-quo old school Gourley, but there are still some of the hucksters on both sides. We’ll see who is the real man when tickets come out, if both have sold out as many ticket spots as possible to careerists to win their votes then we’ll know its business as usual at the CRNC.