CDMO/YDMO Connections

I mentioned earlier that the College Democrats of Missouri and Young Democrats of Missouri are coordinating their efforts at least to some degree through their officers having roles in each organization. I said that I would try to sort through it all. I had grand aspirations of drawing a diagram, but you'll just have to settle for this instead.

Nate Kennedy - CDMO President, YDMO Nat'l Committeeman, Mizzou Dems Member
Rick Puig - CDMO Comm. Director, YDMO President, Mizzou Dems Treasurer
Mark Buhrmester - CDMO Pol. Director, YDMO Member, Mizzou Dems President
Stephen Griffard - CDMO Member, YDMO Secretary-Treasurer, Mizzou Dems Vice-President

Clearly, Mizzou is the nexus of power for the CDMO and YDMO, but expect to see the responsibilities start to move out to other chapters like Missouri State, Missouri Southern, SLU and WashU as they are strengthened and brought into the CDMO/YDMO organization.

Hodge Fundraiser Report

Sam Hodge's Thursday fundraiser in DC was , by all accounts, a success. There were about 45 people in attendance, including former CDMO President Aaron Keyak, CDA Communications Director Ethan Porter, candidate for CDA Development Director Kyle Schulberg, Russ Carnahan's campaign director Ben Murray, and President of My Rural America and former Vice-Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party Barbara Leach.

I'm not sure how much was raised, but given the number of people in attendance, I would estimate about $500.

Congrats to Nate Kennedy

Nate Kennedy of Mizzou, the former President of the Mizzou College Democrats and current President of the College Democrats of Missouri, received the Young Democrat of the Year Award at the Boone County Democrats annual picnic last Sunday. Just wanted to give Nate a quick high-five.

YDMO in Dallas

The Young Democrats of Missouri arrived in Dallas today for the Young Democrats of America National Convention. There are no contested elections for national executive board positions that I'm aware of, and neither are there any Missourians running. Rick Puig, President of YDMO and an intern with the Nixon campaign, gathered an entourage of about ten Missourians to make the trek down to Dallas. This is a large improvement for YDMO after years of turmoil.

A side note: YDMO and CDMO are cooperating, as opposed to competing which they do in some states. Nate Kennedy, the President of CDMO, is the YDMO National Committeeman. There's actually quite a tangled web of CDMOers, YDMOers and individual chapter leaders (most notably from Mizzou) that I will attempt to unravel at some point.

YDA and CDA Conventions coming up, too

I just wanted to make a quick post to mention that the Young Democrats of America Convention and the College Democrats of America Convention are both coming up as well. The YDA Convention is July 18-21 in Dallas and the CDA Convention is July 26-29 in Columbia, SC.

A bit of background: Many states are active in either YDA or CDA, but not both. Many other states are active in both, allowing YDA to focus on youth pre- and post-college, and having the college students be the niche of CDA. Traditionally, Missouri has only been active in CDA, but they've been shifting to the latter model ever since Rick Puig of Mizzou was elected President of YDMO in March.

CRNC Convention

The CRNC is in the midst of their biennial convention this weekend. Friday they heard speeches from important public officials such as former House Majority Leader Tom Delay and Sen. Sam Brownback. The keynote speaker was David Horowitz who, as you might recall, helped inspire the Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Bill that was hotly debated in the Missouri State House. This bill also spurred a series of letters to the editor by student political leaders.

(There were more letters, but I couldn't find links to them. One was written by the President of the Mizzou College Republicans and another was written by someone in the leadership of the Missouri College Republicans.)

The New CRNC ticket (which is like a political party within the CRNC) has produced some jostling in the Missouri College Republicans, but is expected to do well, as they have several unopposed candidates including their candidate for Chairman, Charlie Smith. This consensus is in stark contrast to their last convention that was marred by conflict and scandal.

Justin Smith of the UMKC Law School, former MOCR Chair and a member for the New CRNC ticket, is running for Midwest Regional Vice-Chair and is favored to win.

Hodge Running for CDA Exec. Board

Sam Hodge, a Senior at Truman State University, is running for Political Affairs Director of the College Democrats of America (CDA) and seems to be the favorite at this point. He is currently Vice President of the College Democrats of Missouri (CDMO), and Co-Chair of the CDMO GLBT Caucus.

His only announced opponent is B. Lee Drake from the University of Wyoming who appears to have only nominal support. Hodge on the other hand has the support of the current Political Affairs Director as well as a number of other current Executive Board members.

It has been reported and confirmed that Hodge is having a fundraiser in Washington, DC with Frank Chi of Maine, a candidate for CDA Communications Director. The kicker, though, is that Rep. Russ Carnahan has confirmed his attendance at the event. Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver and Rep. Lacy Clay are also said to be working with their schedules trying to make the time to attend.