"The Young Cons," the pair of Dartmouth students responsible for a popular viral video that sought to champion conservative political values this spring, have now released a second video, "The Power of the Individual." Josh Riddle '12 and David Rufful '12, who appeared on national television shows this summer in the wake of the first video's release, seek to "spread the love and logic surrounding true conservatism" with their performances, according to the pair's web site.
Rufful and Riddle performed on the television show "The Strategy Room" on June 10, and then were featured on "Fox and Friends" on June 11. They performed again on Fox's "Huckabee," hosted by former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, on June 15.
In late July, the duo travelled to Riddle's hometown in Colorado to film their second video, "The Power of the Individual," which they posted on YouTube on Aug. 1, according to Rufful. This video addresses the state of the conservative movement in the United States, urging for support for the movement and declaring that the solution is individual rights.
"The state of the nation is far past critical, the solution, simple, it's called the individual," Riddle states.
The pair also travelled to New York to perform at the Staten Island Tea Party on Aug. 2, Rufful said. The Staten Island Tea Party was a public protest that featured speeches by other well known conservatives, including radio host and author Kevin McCullough.
The pair's first video garnered attention by media outlets nationwide, including the Huffington Post and USA Today.
VH1's Best Week Ever, which pokes fun at current events and pop culture, also featured the video, which is titled "The Young Con Anthem." Bill Maher made quips about the video on his talk show, and went on to read choice lyrics from the duo's album to a laughing crowd.
The video was praised on conservative political broadcasts such as The O'Reilly Factor.
"They don't fit the mold, they don't look like rap stars and their conservative views don't really mix with those of most of their peers at their Northeastern Ivy League school," Huckabee said in his introduction to the Young Cons' appearance on his show.
In "The Power of the Individual" the Young Cons address the fact that the come from Dartmouth.
"We only regress, when government is at its largest, yes we're Ivy, on the brink of a movement," Rufful states.
Riddle, who raps under the nickname, "Stiltz," and Rufful, whose nickname is "Serious C," filmed their first video at the College, in the Rockefeller Center and Occom Commons in McLaughlin residential cluster, and posted it on May 28, 2009, The Dartmouth previously reported. "The Young Con Anthem" has received over 450,000 hits on YouTube to date.
The pair, members of the Dartmouth men's basketball team who have been friends since attending prep school together, said they did not expect their video to create such a stir.
"We definitely didn't expect the reaction it got," Riddle said.
Some responses have been "hateful," according to Rufful. Hip-hop journalist Chris Faraone posted a retaliatory video titled "Shooting an Elephant (AKA F*** the Young Cons)." Rufful also received a death threat from YouTube user NikolaiRaged, The Dartmouth previously reported.
The duo's Facebook group's membership has grown significantly since the first video's posting. The group, which Riddle started when the two attended prep school together, grew from around 200 to 300 members to about 7,000 members in a matter of days, according to Rufful.
Riddle described the attention surrounding the video as a "huge blessing."
"We just want to spread a message to as many young people as possible," he said.
Riddle said that reactions to the video among his Dartmouth peers have been positive, "regardless of their political identities."
Rufful said that his peers' reactions have been "tough to gauge"as he has not seen many of his friends since the posting. Although his close friends have reacted positively to the videos, he said that he is skeptical that the majority of the campus feels the same.
"I would imagine that most people disagree," he said, referring to the values represented in the video.
Both expressed an interest in increasing their involvement with the "Young Conservative movement," but added that their commitments to school and basketball will take priority over their political interests.
