The College Republicans attended the “First In The Nation Republican Leadership Summit” for the first time this past weekend. The State Committee hosted the summit in Nashua, New Hampshire, and it included speeches by prominent members of the GOP, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL; Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY; Gov. Chris Christie, R-NJ and former governor of Florida Jeb Bush.
The summit is seen as a way for potential presidential candidates to meet New Hampshire republicans, donors and potential campaign supporters. Students in the group acted as volunteers at the conference.
College Republican president Michelle Knesbach ’17 said that, with 16 students in attendance, the College had the largest student group at the conference, adding that there were more students who had wanted to attend.
Knesback said that the conference was most helpful to students who are looking to become more involved in future campaigns, adding that it was useful for students to have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the number of potential GOP candidates.
“A lot of our members are going to dedicate hundreds and hundreds of hours campaigning for Republican candidates, so it was good for them to meet who they’d be working for,” Knesback said.
The conference effectively analyzed the political climate in New Hampshire before the 2016 presidential election, she said.
“New Hampshire is the first primary state, so it was really good to see how things are feeling for 2016,” Knesback said. She added that the summit was the largest of its kind, noting that audience members said it was the largest event in recent memory.
Summit attendee Audrey Zheng ’18, who self-identifies as a moderate independent, agreed with Knesback in saying that the event gave her insight to what the likely political situation will be in 2016.
“I’m more moderate than a lot of the members, and I wasn’t as enthusiastic about the event as some other members were,” she said, but added that the event made her consider which of the candidates will likely receive her vote in 2016.
The event was broken up into speeches with large audiences of 200 to 300 people and smaller question and answer sessions of 20 to 30, Zheng said.
“The smaller Q&A sessions were the most valuable to me, since we got to meet candidates and really hear their point of view on a smaller scale,” Zheng said.
Summit attendee Abraham Herrera ’18, a self-identified conservative, said that he found the event to be the most effective way for students to understand the views of potential candidates.
“This was definitely a paramount experience for students to get in contact with potential candidates and see what they are about.”
Herrera said that he and the other student volunteers held doors open for audience members and made sure that the event ran smoothly. In addition, the students were able to attend question and answer sessions with Paul, potential presidential candidate Carly Fiorina and Gov. Scott Walker, R-WI, Herrera said.
Matthew Durkin ’17 said that meeting potential GOP candidates swayed his opinions on who he is going to support in 2016.
“I went into the process relatively undecided, but leaning towards Jeb Bush,” he said. “We got to meet a bunch of other candidates, so I really started thinking about who I’m going to vote for in 2016.”
Durkin said that he had the opportunity to ask Rubio a question about retirement reform, and he said that the small sessions were most useful.
“They weren’t one-on-one, but they were definitely an intimate setting,” he said.
Durkin said that the group was able to meet with some of the heads of the potential campaigns, something he found valuable given his goal of working on a GOP campaign in the near future.
“It’s hard since a lot of the potential candidates haven’t announced yet, but it was still cool for anyone who might want to get involved or intern for a campaign.”
