Welcome, if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to our email newsletter. Thanks for visiting!

Thanks to all those who attended the Wisconsin College Republicans convention in Madison last weekend for once again voting GOP3.com the official blog of the State Convention. Connectivity issues kept us from live blogging, though Justin did get up a few thoughts. Allow me to add my own.

Friday night was great. Michelle Malkin delivered a very interesting lecture on US immigration policy and homeland security (MP3). Unfortunately, some of the locals were less than respectful.

Saturday morning we transacted convention business in the State Assembly chambers at the State Capitol, a very fitting venue. After a fine nomination speech by outgoing treasurer Brandon Goetzman, candidate for chairman Nick Carow of UW-River Falls delivered his address. In it, he discussed his past service in the Marine Corps and his desire to continuing serving in this new capacity. Next up was Luke Fuller of Marquette, who talked up the importance of his experience with the Walker campaign as an organizer of grassroots activists. When the ballots were totaled, Carow won the race 58-20.

For the office of vice chairman, Ripon College nominated Chris Schaefer, a very nice guy and GOP history buff. We’re glad to have Ripon as part of the Federation this year. I had the honor to nominate the one and only Sol Grosskopf, a dapper gentleman and the victor in the contest. Sol’s closing line from his speech was memorable: Ben Franklin once said that the only things that were certain in life are death and taxes. That’s why I’m glad to enjoy the endorsement of former State Treasurer Jack Voight and the Shawno County Coroner!

We also elected by acclamation a new treasurer from UW-Madison and a new secretary from UW-Whitewater, which were also the schools of both incumbents for each position. There was a presentation by the League of Conservation Voters, then remarks by CRNC’s Charlie Smith and Ethan Eilon, the latter of whom talked up STORM and the CRNC field rep program. The Leadership Institute also gave a pitch for its various programs, including field reps.

Finally, we passed several resolutions. I would like to particularly highlight the resolution honoring the fine work and dedication of outgoing WI CR chairman Ryan Wrasse. In December 2006, the then-chair of the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans, Mary Ellen Burke, asked me to recruit the best CR in the state to take the helm when she graduated. As I considered all of the state and chapter officers as possible successors, Ryan stood out as a leader with the vision and work ethic to excel in the post. As our state chair, Ryan has significantly increased direct mail and in-person fundraising, message communication and earned media, and cross-chapter networking. As he graduates, Ryan leaves a much strong federation in good hands.

I used the afternoon break to catch up with a good buddy of mine who works in the Madison area. Sat on a park bench on the State Capitol grounds for two hours chatting, it was such a nice day out.

Saturday evening was the annual banquet, held at Monona Terrace. In honor of the standard of fashion Sol sets for us all, the outgoing and incoming state E-Board all wore bow-ties. Scott Walker gave an excellent speech, calling CRs to dedicate themselves to making Wisconsin a red state, winning legislative races, and busing up to the 8th to help John Gard. Graduating UW senior Mike Hahn spoke briefly about his campaign for the Wisconsin Assembly. As another year, and my tenure as a member, of the Wisconsin College Republicans draws to a close, we can be proud of the work we’ve done and excited for the prospects of victory in fall.

Today the Wisconsin College Republicans filed a complaint with the US Department of Education alleging that the University of Wisconsin - Madison bureaucracy violated federal law seeking student props for a rally with Governor Doyle. You can read the press release online and the formal complaint as well.

A report today in the Daily Cardinal indicates why this complaint was so necessary:

UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said no student’s privacy was violated and only the appropriate Student Financial Services officials knew the names of the students. The Federal law concerning student information, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, was followed, according to Lucas. “We take student privacy very seriously,” he said.

As the WI CRs delineate in their complaint, the law is clear: student data can only be shared within an institution for “legitimate educational interests.” For UW Madison to think that using student data to recruit props for a political rally is a “legitimate educational interest” is a definite stretch.

Now at least that is for the federal DOE to decide, rather than UW bureaucrats with a clear bias and self-interest.

Full disclosure: I am a member of the Wisconsin College Republicans leadership team.

STEVENS POINT – The Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans held its annual state convention in Stevens Point on April 20th and 21st. With more than 100 delegates in attendance from 15 Wisconsin college campuses, this year’s convention was one of the largest in recent years.

The convention brings together the College Republicans chapters from across the state to debate and pass resolutions, honor individuals and chapters who dedicated this past year to the Republicans and the Republican movement on campus, and most importantly, elect officers for the coming year.

After a heated race for the state chairmanship, convention delegates elected former Republican Party of Oneida County Chairman and UW-Stevens Point junior, Ryan Wrasse to the job.

“We’ve laid out an ambitious plan for the next year and beyond, but I have no doubt that we’ll be able to reach our goals and help prepare the next generation of conservative leaders,” Wrasse said.

“The College Republicans have entered a new phase in grassroots activism here in Wisconsin. With the 2008 presidential elections coming up fast, it will be essential that the Wisconsin College Republicans are prepared for the challenges and opportunities that we are bound to face in the coming months – I’m humbled and honored to be a part of those preparations,” Wrasse said of his election.

Delegates also elected First Vice Chair Mike Hahn, a senior at UW-Madison; Second Vice Chair Emily Pedley, a sophomore at UW-Platteville; Treasurer Brandon Goetzman, a junior at UW-Madison; Secretary Jackie Goessl, a junior at UW-Madison.

UPDATE: THE BADGER HERALD DOES A STORY ON CONVENTION.

Here is our coverage from all angles:

Daniel Suhr
Brandon Henak
Justin Phillips

Gop3.com is the Official Blog of the Wisconsin College Republican Convention (3 years running)

Pre-Election Saturday morning of the WICR convention… I’m one for two on witnessing this event. I think I am the only one at this morning’s event without a white shirt and a patriotic tie. (All black with a purple tie )A lot of young folk seem to be stumbling in a bit late and a little groggy. There must have been some good events last night. I know Brent Gardner had a good night

John has just finished making his final rounds to the table, and Wrasse sits towards the front.

Mary calls things to order at 9 am (:04 actually)

…the hell is Robert’s rules?
-thank you Saul

Motions for time limits…hey great!

I’m live blogging the rules.

Madison nominates John Connors 2nd by White Water
Dan Suhr nominates Ryan Wrasse 2nd by someone

Madison gives quality nomination speech. -Address fundraising John raised a lot for MUCRs. -Diversity: building relationships; meeting members and Quote Reagan

John steps to the mic. Stronger as a group, elect republicans crush Hillary (applause)
Helped Scott Walker and students for Scott. Interned for American’s for Prosperity. Ran Perfecto for Congress. Ex. Director and Political director. Getting republican message out across campus. Monthly E-news letter and Emails. Pay directors. Get more women involved. And raise money. $10,000 raised. Read more »

One of the things that’s most interesting about CR conventions … when you bring all these people who love politics together in the same room, lots of politicing happens. Lots… particularly when there’s a hotly contested race for state chair to start the morning off.

Roll call.

15 chapters - - nice crew. Over 90 delegates attending - plus a couple well-loved alumni.

LaVonne Derkson from UW-Madison nominates John Connors… Daniel Suhr from Marquette nominates Ryan Wrasse.

I’m sure Brandon has been keeping you up to date on his running post. I hope my speech went well - at least people laughed at the country club/gun range impromptu joke. Ryan gave a fine speech as well.

Thanks to both candidates for running. John made a great point, echoing a point I had heard earlier at CPAC from KellyAnne Conway: We say we believe in competition because it brings out merit and ideas and energy. So thanks to both candidates for running, and congratulations to Ryan for winning. I said this already, but he’ll make a great chair.

UPDATE: ALSO BLOGGING: The Fighting Phoenix are back in action.

Okay, well, since i have it on J: drive, I will cut and paste my nomination speech for Ryan and put it below the jump for y’all to enjoy (or for Ryan’s mom to log on, read, and feel warm and fuzzy). Read more »

Everyone is bright eyed and bushy-tailed after a late night of pizza, pitchers and politicking. We’ll be breaking the fast at 8:30 and gaveling in at 9 so check back soon for all the updates…

All three of us in attendance, Daniel, Justin and I are liveblogging.

9:00 AM - Gaveled in and Roll Call

Agenda
1. Elections
2. Resolutions
3. Awards
4. All other business

9:07 AM - 3 Minute nomination speeches, 6 minute candidate speeches

9:08 AM - Marquette has nominated Ryan Wrasse for chair and UW- Madison nominated John Connors
The first nomination speech is Levonne Dirkson from Madison for John Connors

Themes of Levonne’s speech: America has not seen it’s best days, optomism is key.

3 key issues for next year:
1. Fundraising - John raised $5000 for Marquette
2. Reach out too all chapters - John has visited a number of campuses (the list is at rebuildwi.org
3. Communication

9:13 am - John is speaking - More people this year, celebrates huge attendance

Click read more for the latest updates. Read more »

Sitting here in the hotel room between sessions. We got up here at 4pm, started with a game of air hockey on a table that was lacking in air, which I lost to the UWM Chair, 7 to 2. Then we caught up with UW-Green Bay - nice win on the Green Bay Mayor’s Race.

Convention gaveled in at 6pm … the crowd is diverse, 90 delegates from 15 different chapters. Our chair, the one and only Ms. Mary Ellen Burke, ran a tight ship. We read letters of greeting from Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. We also heard from a representative from the Pax Americana Institute, based in Madison.

There were nominations for the various annual CR awards: CR of the Year, CR chapter of the year, Old Guard Award (for the CR that’s still fighting the Cold War), and the Ted Kennedy Award…

(Brandon grabbed the keyboard) Great to see 100 CRs in a room strewn with red, white and blue. Daniel is less than excited about his nomination for the Ted Kennedy award (for his ability to lead a late night tour of the Capitol after a few beers at the bar) but, I would definitely predict his victory in the Old Guard (most conservative) category. The Ted Kennedy award will most likely be lost to a more “serious contender”

For the record, Brandon is not the only old person here; there are several other recent alums supporting the cause and teachin the youngin’s how it’s done.

The Right Brothers Rock!

Tomorrow we’ll be simul-live-blogging the convention. Brandon, Mac Man that he is, brought two laptops, so we’ll have both the elder statesman and current activist perspectives. Until then, we’re off to Johnny T’s for pizza and pitchers. See you tomorrow morning, chipper and dapper!

As we have done for the past 2 years running, Daniel and I, along with Justin, will be liveblogging the Wisconsin College Republicans’ state convention this evening and tomorrow. Watch Gop3.com for up-to-the-minute information on the state elections (including the hotly contested race for WICR chair) as well as general commentary and speech analysis.

Okay, so this afternoon Justin Phillips, GOP3.com blogger, put up a post entitled “WICR Convention Curiosities” where he made a number of statements regarding this weekend’s Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans (WI CRs) convention, to be held at UW-Stevens Point. Justin’s post was later distributed to an unknown list of recipients by an anonymous emailer.

First, Justin said that the WI CRs were struggling financially, alluding to an earlier allegation which I have dealt with on this page.

Second, I think it is the height of fiscal responsibility to use Student Government grant funds to pay for our events rather than spending our donors’ dollars. We often talk about how conservatives need to demand fair funding from Student Government - when the UW-SP CRs secure it, now they’re criticized for it? One candidate for chair, John Connors, even highlights the amount of money he has secured from his university in his campaign bio. Conservatives pay in their student activity money; I see nothing wrong in applying for it back to sponsor interesting events. For more on the decision to host the convention at UW-SP, read the official statement from the WI CR chair.

Third, the allegation that any official convention money, either from WI CRs or from UW-SP, is going to fund the campaign of Ryan Wrasse for State Chair is absolutely false. As Chairwoman Burke noted in her statement, the UW-SP money doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of the convention, so there’s no left-overs to be had! And even if there were, it is a sad thing to attack their integrity by alleging the WI CR E-board would steer that money to one candidate in such a way.

Fourth, Ryan Wrasse, the candidate for state chair who attends UW-Stevens Point, issued a statement earlier this evening:

The notion that I am receiving student government/College Republican money is preposterous. In my opinion, this is nothing more than a smear tactic posted on a blog only hours before delegates would head to convention.
Why would you automatically jump to the conclusion that the CRs were paying for something like this? Any expenses incurred by my campaign came from donations or from my pocket - no one else’s.
… We have done nothing but attempt to run a positive campaign based on positive ideas for the future. … To say that I am greatly disappointed is an understatement. This is exactly the kind of stuff we don’t need in the Wisconsin CR’s.

I’ll echo Ryan’s closing line with an additional thought of my own. I believe our campaigns for public office, as with any other facet of our lives, should be, in Mike Pence’s phrase, run in a God-honoring way. Certainly one facet of such an endeavor must be that every argument is grounded in facts, true facts, and that you don’t make allegations that attack people’s integrity if you’re not darn sure that they’re true.