Over 400 College Republicans from nearly 30 CA universities took to the streets of San Francisco last weekend at the Caliornia College Republicans convention. CRs, led by CCR Co-Chair Leigh Wolf and CR veteran Chandra Sharma, marched from Fisherman’s Wharf to Pier 39, protesting new taxes, the increased weight of the government on our generation, and Barack Obama’s socialist policies.

With all their San Fracisco class, liberals met the CRs with cries of “fascist” and “racists,” opting to wave the middle finger instead of the classic hippy peace sign. CRs were chanting slogans including “hey hey, ho ho, Barack Obama’s gotta go!,” and “say no to the Dems, we are not your ATMs!”

Friday, after most everyone checked-in and started getting to know each other, we got to listen to a great line up of speakers including CRP Vice Chairman Tom Del Beccaro, and Mason Weaver, a conservative activist and the author of It’s OK to Leave The Plantation.

Mason Weaver with CA College Republicans

Friday night was the CCR party, held at a nearby Irish pub called Fielder’s Green. It was a great party, everyone showed up, drank, danced and mingled regardless of who they supported for the election.

Saturday was the first full convention day. There were training sessions run by CR veterans, speeches from Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, CRP Chaiman Ron Nehring, activist and author David Horowitz.

CCR "Godfather" and resident "Old Guy" Chandra Sharma Giving a Training Session

David Horowitz at CCR Convention

CA College Republicans With Gov. Candidate Meg Witman

Then there was the Anti-Tax rally, a Tea Party after Tax Day. Hundreds of College Republicans took to the streets in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, protesting the Obama Administration’s bankrupting of our country, and the government’s theft from our generation. Republican’s held signs reading, among many slogans, “Spread my work ethic, not my wealth,” and “You keep the Hope, I’ll keep my Change.”

CA College Republicans Rally Against Obama's Socialist Policies

CA College Republicans Rally Against Obama's Socialist Policies

The CCR Convention banquet took place Saturday night, it included awards (The Dana Report got one! no picture but I’ll scan the award in soon) and a line-up of great speakers including CA Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, Gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner, the favorite speaker Greg Gutfeld from Fox News’ Red Eye, and the most important speaker Bush OLC Attorney and law professor John Yoo. Poizner won over the crowd at the beginning of his speech with a text message poll asking who your least favorite CA Democrat was (Pelosi by 81%), among other questions. Gutfeld was fantastic, the crowd laughed uncontrollably and enjoyed his humorous and …interesting anecdotes, one saying that “Liberalism is like herpes, it’s incurable, and it comes and it goes. Conservatism is like Valtrex, it can’t cure the disease, but it can suppress it.”

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher at CCR Banquet

Gov. Candidate Steve Poizner at CCR Banquet

Red Eye's Greg Gutfeld at CCR Banquet

CA College Republicans With John Yoo

The night ended (really, it started) with the convention’s slate parties. The Red State Rising party was held in a ballroom the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, where CRs partied to the music of an awesome live band. The Revolutionize CCR party was held at a bar a few blocks from the hotel, hundreds of CRs were there dancing and singing to Karaoke all night, with an open bar for the first few hours until the tab ran out.

Live Band at Red State Rising Party

Red State Rising Party at CCR Convention

Revolutionize CCR Party at CCR Convention

Greg Gutfeld With Some CRs at Revolutionize CCR Party

Sunday brought the elections, which are covered in an earlier post, with election results in an even earlier post. The weekend was amazing; can you think of anything more fun than hundreds of College Republicans in the heart of the Soviet Union, err, San Francisco? Thank you to the convention organizers and all of the CRs and speakers that made last weekend so great!

Congratulations to Michael Antonopoulos and the Revolutionize CCR team, we hope to see great things from CCR in the next year! We also hope to see Adam Ellison and the Red State Rising team help bring success to both CCR and CA Republicans over the next year, a loss is difficult but we’re all working for the same cause… Thank you all!

h/t to Tierney Burke, Lauren Korbatov and Megan Rodriguez for many of the pictures (stole ‘em off of Facebook). If you have more pictures send them over.

Michael Antonopoulos of Saint Mary’s College won the California College Republican election with a landslide vote of 416 to 18 against Adam Ellison of University of the Pacific. All of Antonopoulos’ Revolutionize CCR slate was elected, while Ellison’s Red State Rising slate failed to win a significant number of votes for any single position. The drama and infighting in CCR built up until the convention, which ended today. Apparently some CRs, on the losing side, still can’t get over the loss.

Adam Brickley, who’s not a College Republican and has been covering the infighting with a one-sided and deeply angry perspective on his blog “The Brickyard”, posted some news today that is both misinformed and misleading.

Election rules state that only registered delegates have a voice on the voting floor, because of this, “UCSD College Republicans” and “UCLA College Republicans” and “UC Berkeley College Republicans” were not allowed on the floor and sat in the viewing gallery at the back of the room. During the time allotted for motions and business, Marshall Roe from Pasadena City College, who received an extension himself to complete his chartering documents at the Friday night Ex-Comm meeting, motioned to charter UCLA. The UCLA CRs had more than 30 days to submit chartering documents, and three extensions were allowed for all CCR chapters; UCLA failed to submit their documentation by the Friday night deadline, arriving two hours late. The Chairwoman called for a voice-vote on UCLA’s chartering and it was defeated. Video will show that the “nays” definitively won the vote. The entire UCLA chapter walked out of the room, along with the UC Irvine College Republicans. Adam Ellison attempted to motion for a roll call vote, but UCLA had already stormed out of the room and a motion never made it to the floor.

Roe then moved to charter the “UCSD College Republicans,” who did submit documentation but were not chartered following a 6-1 Ex-Comm vote in favor of the “Triton College Republicans” last month. Again a voice vote was held and chartering was resoundingly denied by a majority of the delegates. CRs agreed UCSD was not disenfranchised, they were never franchised, Triton CRs was. This again prompted a walk-out of almost all of the delegates that supported the non-chartered chapters.

UC Irvine and Saddleback College voluntarily withdrew their charters, disenfranchising themselves.

The vote tallies leave the disgruntled chapters with little defense; their criticisms sound serious, but are unjustified, what is more fair than a vote of the entire state organization? UCSD CRs claim to have been “disenfranchised” or “overthrown” by the “corrupt establishment,” however, all of UCSD could have voted if they had resolved their internal problems, instead they decided to embarrass themselves and the entire organization. Either way, their votes would have had no significant effect on the outcome of the election; this fact leaves them with little more than a conspiracy theory. CRs is about a bigger picture, a cause that involves millions of Americans, it’s just not all about you.

College Republicans know about and are involved electoral politics–when the votes come in, the winner wins and the loser loses–that’s it; grievance mongering only damages the reputation of the organization. It’s time to move on.

Note: Brickley discusses the alleged withdrawal of $500 from the UCSD CRs bank account, an issue that I have not covered on this blog; it’s troubling, but, it’s being dealt with by the parties involved and I hope they’ll come to a satisfactory agreement.

The video says there were dozens of protesters, there were really about a dozen at most.

Blogger and USC CRs Chairman Joshua Sharp covered Mr. Yoo’s speech and the protest on AOL’s Politics Daily.

Voice vote to charter UCLA delegation, who missed all three chartering deadlines: Nays have it.

Adam Ellison calls for roll call vote…

Voice vote to charter “UCSD College Republicans”: Nays have it. Resoundingly denied.

CCR Chairman: Michael Antonopolous, Saint Mary’s

Michael Antonopoulos 416
Adam Ellison 18

If UCLA and UCSD had chartered and voted for Ellison: 398-47

Co-Chair: Falicia Mandel, USC

Falicia Mandel 403
Ben Myers 19

Administrative Vice-Chair:

…motion to adopt a voice vote.

Megan Rodriguez, UCSD wins.

Secretary: Rene Rodgers, Sac State

Treasurer: Tierney Burke, UC Davis

Regional Vice-Chairs:

Southern: Chasen Bullock
Los Angeles: Liran Machlouf
Central Coast: Kayleigh Bodan
Central Valley: Scott Raab
Capital: Izaak Pichardo
Bay Area: Jonathan Craig
Northern: Brian Lovatt

Full Revolutionize CCR slate elected.

From IndyBay:

The “California College Republicans” are having their statewide intolerance conference this weekend in San Francisco. John Yoo is speaking a their evening banquet saturday at 7 pm! Before that they are having a racist “tea party” protest at Fisherman’s wharf. Join us in standing against intolerance and racism in San Francisco. 

Intolerance, fascism, and racism, yeah…That’s exactly what the convention is about (sarcasm).

John Yoo, who will be speaking at the convention, is a distinguished attorney and international litigation professor, he is also one of the authors of the OLC memoranda on enhanced interrogation methods. I’m looking forward both to hearing him speak, and seeing the freak parade that this protest will bring. As a Southern California CR, I’m not used to the insane and offensive leftist attacks that CRs up north are confronted with every day.

The convention will be fun, if you’ve been following CCR news, you know this will just add to the fun. Follow the convention here on the blog and on Twitter. Stay tuned and check out, @TheDanaReport, @AlanDana and @SteveHagemann–we’ll be up there in the belly of the beast bringing the news to you live. For a convention schedule including the list of awesome speakers, click here.

When Maria, her executive board, and members of PCR decided to pull their endorsement of RSR, and announce one in favor of Revolutionize CCR, things changed. Adam Ellison, who is at the helm of RSR, posted a comment saying that Wade Holden was still the Chair at Pacific, and that the endorsement of RSR stood.

Something fishy was clearly going on at Pacific.

This video, accusing Revolutionize CCR and the current leaders of CCR of corruption, was posted by Wade Holden on Facebook, yesterday:

Beyond the creepy music, the video lacks in hard evidence against anyone on the Rev slate let alone the CCR E-Board. So, Maria and her Vice-Chair are friends with the Rev candidates, is that not allowed?

This video was released by PCR Vice-Chair elect Justine Speegle  and her board:

From what I can see on the documentation from Pacific and PCR’s meeting minutes from 5 March, Adam Ellison presided over the meeting where Maria and her team were duly elected. Wade and Adam were rightfully angry when they found that their own club, and even their hand-picked successors pulled their endorsement citing poor leadership.  They pulled a power-play, and according to the RSR video and Pacific Student Orgs., it looks like Wade is the Chair until Summer. What of it?

What’s the point of spreading this inane and endless drama and bickering–accusing friends and collegues of corruption and dirty tricks? It looks terrible. CRs are still going to work together after this weekend. Regardless of who the Chair is or, who rightfully gets the endorsement, CRs should vote for the candidates that will best lead CCR over the next year. Then, move on and get back to work spreading conservatism on campus and electing Republicans to office.

Note: Is blogging for Townhall so unbearably boring that Matt Lewis has nothing better to do than this: “California College Republicans Persecuted by Their Own Leadership“? “I’m not there, so maybe I’m missing something, but this looks really bad from where I sit,” says Lewis. Yeah, you missed half the story Matt.

SAN BERNARDINO – (22 April 2009) On Tuesday night the state board of the Young Republican Federation of California unanimously endorsed the Red State Rising team for election to the California College Republicans Executive Committee. The YRFC state board voted during a statewide Board meeting called by Chairman Ben Lopez.
…

“It is Adam Ellison and his team’s commitment to restore the brand of CCR’s that has earned the support of the YRFC Board,” Lopez said. “They share our belief that an effective GOP volunteer organization is one that does not compromise principle nor shies away from proclaiming those principles in bold colors. Leaders set the standard and carry the banner of our conservative principles. YRFC pledges to stand with Ellison and CCR’s to mutually grow our ranks so that the younger generation of conservative activists maintain our place at the table and our force that commands respect and are reckoned with.”

The YRFC’s official support follows YRFC Chairman Ben Lopez’s endorsement late last month and comes as Red State Rising is preparing for the 2009 CCR Convention to be held in San Francisco this weekend. For more information please visit http://RedStateRising.org.

Sacramento, CA – Several of California’s prominent Republican leaders announced their endorsement of Michael Antonopoulos and Revolutionize CCR, including Assembly Leader Mike Villines, Caucus Chair Cameron Smyth, and Republican Whip Nathan Fletcher.

“As Administrative Vice-Chair, Michael Antonopoulos has a proven record of building new clubs. I am confident that when elected to Chair of the California College Republicans he will continue to expand the organization across the state”, said Assemblyman Fletcher.

Assembly Leader Villines, Caucus Chair Smyth, and Republican Whip Fletcher all join Michael Antonopoulos and Revolutionize CCR’s growing list of supporters, including party leaders, elected officials, conservative activists, and College Republicans. For more information on Revolutionize CCR visit www.RevolutionizeCCR.com

The CCR Constitution may be viewed here.

The site lists RSR candidate for Co-Chair Ben Myers as Chairman of the USC College Republicans. That comes as news to us since Ben resigned early this semester, and just lost re-election to the new Chairman Joshua Sharp on Tuesday. **Similarly, Wade Holden, a candidate on the RSR slate, is listed as Chairman of University of the Pacific CRs, and an endorsement from UoP is listed. The new UoP Chair Maria Klingenfuss, pulled UoP’s endorsement of RSR on Tuesday.** UPDATE: If you’ve read Adam Ellison’s comment, there is clearly something fishy going on at Pacific. Developing…

San Francisco, CA – Thomas Del Beccaro, the Vice Chairman of the California Republican Party, and State Senator Tony Strickland (SD-19) announced this week their endorsement of the Revolutionize CCR team to be the next leaders of the California College Republicans.

CRP Vice Chairman Del Beccaro is one of California’s premier conservative activists, publisher of PoliticalVanguard.com, author of The New Conservative Paradigm, and frequent guest commentator on radio and television. State Senator Tony Strickland, the Assistant Minority Leader, is on the front lines of the ongoing battle to protect California’s tax payers from tax and spend Democrats.

CRP Vice Chair Del Baccaro and State Senator Tony Strickland join Revolutionize CCR’s growing list of supporters, including party leaders, elected officials, conservative activists, and College Republicans.  For more information on Revolutionize CCR visit www.RevolutionizeCCR.com

I wasn’t going to release this e-mail but after seeing recent blog posts regarding the UCSD situation I was left with no choice. At the College Republicans meeting during the California Republican Party convention we welcomed some of the biggest names from around the state. These speakers included gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner as well as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the state party.

Also present were countless elected officials from around the state. Inez Feltscher and the rest of the students accusing the CCR ExComm of corruption, decided to hand out a “press release” that detailed the extensive in-fighting at UCSD. There was no contact info on this “press release,” it was basically a hit piece. CCR does everything in it’s power to maintain and professional image. I was not happy because the entire state leadership was watching a CR club air their dirty laundry to the entire delegation. These actions served no purpose other than to make CCR look childish and petty.

I called over one of the students handing out the “press release” and told him to leave. I then told him if he pulled something like this again I would publicly embarrass him and make him famous to all of CCR. This was deemed an illegal “threat” by Inez Feltscher. She sent me this e-mail (see attached) warning me that i could be facing a lawsuit if I continued to threaten them with public humiliation. Inez Feltscher and her ilk are loose canons and shameless opportunists.

They are playing CCR politics with their clubs in-fighting to benefit one slate. The idea that a CR would threaten to sue the CCR ExComm for threatening to embarrass them for acting like children is both laughable and foolish.

You can see the e-mail from Inez Feltscher here. A statement from Ryan McNicholas, CCR Central Coast Vice-Chair, and the 1 vote for UCSD chartering is up on CR Nation.

Adam Brickley at The Brickyard, covers the UCSD infighting in a one sided and  lengthy post this morning (read it for background). The story was also picked up here. The full story is not necessarily what’s relevant here, more important are the allegations of corruption and dirty tricks that Brickley levels at the CCR Executive Committee.

From what I can see, if the former Chair of UCSD CRs Dejah Stanley was actually impeached, the melt-down of UCSD CRs was caused by Inez Feltscher and her friends when they supported Dejah in illegitimately removing several officers from the UCSD operations website and pushing Megan Rodriguez out of the club apparently for vindictive personal reasons. It’s hard to discern, not having been there, whether Stanley was impeached or not. Allegedly the impeachment was a circus, attended by non-UCSD students and non-CRs, many of whom cast “provisional” ballots against impeachment. (Updated from reader comments) Even if the impeachement was indeed invalid, the club’s actions under Stanley and Feltscher were turned towards removing Rodriguez from the club completely and reconstructing the chapter.

Everything went downhill from there for the UCSD chapter, External Vice-Chair Megan Rodriguez, and Secretary Ronsen Yako were “kicked out” of the club at an impeachment meeting at which they were not present, the new leadership drafted a new constitution, and aimed their attentions at tarnishing Rodriguez’s name in public. Rodriguez and the ousted officers, no longer able to conduct business after being removed from the UCSD student organizations site by the impeached Dejah, decided to open a charter called “Triton College Republicans” with UCSD to continue the legitimate club–something that was no longer possible at the re-made club headed by Feltscher.

When both “College Republicans at UCSD” and “Triton College Republicans” submitted chartering documents with the State Federation, the Executive Committee was forced to make a decision on which group would be recognized for the next year. In a heated conference call held last Thursday, described by one CR present as a “shit show,” the Executive Committee invited both Rodriguez and Feltscher to present their cases. According to sources, Rodriguez was calm and composed, basing her case for chartering on the claim that theirs was the original club, only renamed by necessity after the club headed by Feltscher crumbled. Feltscher, on the other hand, repeatedly insulted the Executive Committee, claiming that they were corrupt and that the vote was unjust and unconstitutional–It was actually required constitutionally.

It happens that some of the members of the CCR Executive Committee are running on the Revolutionize CCR slate, including Rodriguez, while Feltscher and her group have endorsed their opponents, Red State Rising. What this has to do with the outcome of the vote is beyond me, unless you’re prone to conspiracy theories.

The Chairwoman of CCR abstained from voting, as did RevCCR candidate Michael Antonopoulos, Ms. Rodriguez and the CCR Secretary. Triton CRs was chosen to be recognized in a 6-1 vote. The one vote for Feltscher was from Executive Committee member Ryan McNicholas, who read a prepared statement calling the vote unjust before voting.

It is unfortunate that the decision had to be made, and that UCSD had such a terrible internal struggle, but it happens, and everyone should try to move on for the good of their clubs and in the interest of working together across the state.

Just received a statement from Cheyenne Steel, Chairwoman of CCR:

It has come to my attention that several political blogs have taken interest in recent events that have transpired within the UCSD College Republicans and the California College Republicans. The statements made in these blogs, fed by a group of disenfranchised opportunists, are inaccurate and substantially misrepresent the situation. The decision of the California College Republicans Executive Committee with regard to the UCSD College Republicans was made out of
constitutional necessity and done so without bias or personal interest. Two clubs, each accredited and claiming the distinction that they were the legitimately chartered College Republican chapter at the university, submitted information for credentialing at our annual Convention.

After hearing accounts from representatives of both clubs, a vote took place to determine which club would assume the chartering expiring at the upcoming annual Convention. No chapters were un-chartered, and no one removed from the organization. The vote was simply to determine which club was the rightful owner of the original UCSD charter based on the facts presented and the actions of those involved. We clarified to everyone on the call that all parties involved were still invited to Convention and all discounts and privileges would be honored.

The impact, if any, the situation has on the designation of delegates from UCSD for Convention is a matter of internal discretion within the club. I am extremely disappointed in the actions taken by those unsatisfied with the decision and strongly encourage those involved to work together to resolve the situation internally.

UCSD College Republicans posted a statement on their website regarding the CCR decision.

UPDATE: The site is no longer up, probably filling out the text and adding finishing touches, sorry for the early announcement.

The CCR election is coming up at the end of the month at their convention in San Fransisco. Red State Rising will be up against Revolutionize CCR.

Here is an interview with Ellison and one with Matt Donnellan from Revolutionize CCR at Young Republicans TV.

Stay tuned for developing CCR news…

Los Angeles, CA – California’s Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel and State Senator Mark Wyland (CA‐38) have announced this week their endorsement of the  Revolutionize CCR team for the Executive Committee positions of the California College  Republicans.

Both Committeeman Steel and Senator Wyland are driving forces for conservative activism and have long been two of the organizations strongest supporters. “Michael Antonopoulos and Revolutionize CCR have the leadership and vision necessary to take CCR to the next level” said Committeeman Steel.

RNC Committeeman Steel and Senator Wyland add to Revolutionize CCR’s growing list of supporters, including party leaders, elected officials, conservative activists, and College Republicans.   For more information on Revolutionize CCR check out www.RevolutionizeCCR.com

We’ve had a platform from Revolutionize since January, and now we have one from Red State Rising, it’s time to look at both, look at the candidates, and decide who you think will be the best leaders to take CCR into the first year of the Obama administration and the 2010 election cycle.

The Revolutionize CCR platform is here, at RevolutionizeCCR.com. The Red State Rising platform is here, in PDF. (We’ve heard the RSR website should be up by the end of the week.)

Newport Beach – The Dana Report, a political blog that is geared toward young people, attempted to attack a College Republican by the name of Joseph Peter by releasing a false story accusing him of being arrested at a party in Newport Beach which was thrown by a slate running for the California College Republicans (CCR) state board, Red State Rising. The Dana Report has endorsed the Revolutionize CCR Slate, headed by Michael Antonopoulos. Joseph Peter has not endorsed Revolutionize CCR or Red State Rising. He has instead endorsed candidates on both slates.

I would like to set the record straight. On the night of February 28, 2009 I was issued a citation for having an open container of alcohol in Newport Beach. The Newport Beach officer instructed me to sit on the hood of his car while he issued me the citation. I was never handcuffed, and I never sat on the sidewalk. As the officer was issuing the citation, a gentleman from another party taking place two houses down from the Red State Rising party was caught opening the door of the officer’s car. The officer then proceeded to handcuff the individual and asked him to sit on the sidewalk and wait. The officer then issued me a citation for having an open container of alcohol. The officer then let me go on my way.

The police officer never set foot on the property that the party took place.

As for me, I take full responsibility for my actions and nobody is at fault except for me. I let my desire to have fun get the best of me and for that I apologize.

I also would like to request that the story the “Dana Report” issued regarding the Red State Rising Party be pulled immediately. The story is completely untrue and any blame should fall on me.

The original story was never meant to attack Joseph in any way, that is why his name was not used. I reported on a story that was significant, and did so with the information provided to me by my sources. The story was not false, the details were just not all there.

I hope no harm was caused to Joseph because of this story, and it’s good to see that he takes responsibility for his actions. We didn’t blame Red State Rising for his actions, this occured at their party.  The Dana Report accepts e-mails as well, maybe you could have cleared this up a week ago.

A Press Release from USC College Republicans:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2009

USC College Republicans’ Statement on Chairman’s Resignation

“At our chapter meeting yesterday, Chairman Ben Myers resigned his position with the USC College Republicans, saying a change in leadership was necessary for our organization to move forward and repair the damage caused by a series of mistakes he made while acting on behalf of the organization. Several of his actions were made unilaterally, reflected poorly on our organization, and were conducted without the consent or authorization of the USC College Republicans Executive Board. He is welcome to remain a member of the group, but is not authorized to speak on behalf of the organization.

“Our group serves a purpose that is greater than a single member, event or chapter leader. While we are working toward college degrees, the Democratic Congress has proposed a federal spending spree that threatens to burden our generation with trillions of dollars in debt and higher taxes. Even worse, their spending plans won’t create the jobs they promise, nor stimulate our nation’s crippled economy.

“The Republican ideals of low taxes, strong national defense and more responsible governance are a winning message for our generation’s future. USC College Republicans are committed to spreading that important message across this campus. Empowered by the enthusiasm of our members, we’re looking forward to an active slate of campus events, state conferences and chapter meetings throughout the upcoming semester.”

NOTES:

- Consistent with the chapter’s Constitution, Vice Chairman Steve Hagemann assumed the duties of Acting Chairman upon Ben Myers’ resignation last night. At present, no special election has been scheduled prior to our annual chapter elections at the end of the spring semester. All other officer positions remain the same.

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