College Republicans On The March

Well-Funded Campus Conservatives Take On Liberal Academia

(CBS)  This article was written by Lauren H. Clark.

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Berkeley, Oberlin, and NYU beware -- college Republicans are taking aim at the bastions of liberal academia, equipped with resources that blow most of their Democratic counterparts out of the water.

Feisty college Republicans are taking on what they see as the liberal establishment on college campuses across the country. They have $17 million in their war chest from the last two years alone, and three times as many chapters and twice the membership that they had just six years ago.

These young GOP's have a clear plan of attack that has already been executed at some of the nation's most traditionally leftie institutions.

First, confront liberal bias at the core by calling out professors they think are guilty. Next, get creative about attracting members and making conservatism cool on campus. Then, get prominent conservative speakers on campus, push to open student publications to conservative voices or start conservative newspapers.

Tired of being cast out on the sidelines of college life, a growing sector of the campus cons is looking to extend beyond the party's seersucker and horn-rimmed reputation -- and if that means spending hours passing out flyers in the middle of campus and adopting keg parties, so be it.

In the recent election for the new chairman of the College Republican National Committee, CRNC, a self-described "populist" from University of Calif. -- Berkeley nearly upset the frontrunner from South Dakota. In the tightest race in over 30 years, delegates from over 200 chapters barely chose former CRNC treasurer Paul Gourley -- seen as a stalwart from the previous administration -- over upstart candidate Michael Davidson.

A narrow 16-vote margin decided the eventual winner; the last time the election for chair was that close, an ambitious dropout from the University of Utah named Karl Rove came out on top. The College Republicans have been a GOP breeding ground whose past chairmen also include controversial strategist Lee Atwater, head of the Americans For Tax Reform Grover Norquist, and scandal-ridden lobbyist Jack Abramoff (he served twice). The notion their president could come from Berkeley was quite an awakening.

So how was Berkley’s Davidson able to pick up so much steam? With R&B artist Usher blasting in the background, Davidson described his goals as "more of a desire to include and empower the everyday college Republican -- the guy or girl who just gets picked up at a membership table." Calling for "more transparency" within the CRNC, his campaign fed off of the growing idea that college Republicans are now primed and ready to extend their influence among a greater variety of students.

"It's a matter of style," Davidson explained.