OperationRedNovember

It is the Sunday afternoon before fall classes commence at the University of Kentucky.  Hovercraft parents can be seen shuffling their precious cargo into dormitories, traffic is horrendous, and sorority tank-tops run up and down the sidewalks; either to get in shape for tailgate season or to show off their recruitment bids.  The heart and soul of Lexington is back.  Summer has come to an end, and 27,000 Wildcats zero in on a campus that boasts seven governors on their alumni list.  Tatum Dale, a rising senior and Public Service and Leadership major at UK's School of Agriculture, has a "Proud Americans Live Here" doormat outside her home.  She is one of many College Republicans spending the summer volunteering on the state's off-year campaigns.

Brian Rose, the twenty-year-old State Chairman at the Kentucky Federation of College Republicans, spent this past Spring interning in the General Assembly for Representative Ryan Quarles and part of his summer interning in Washington, D.C. for Speaker of the House John Boehner.  Ryan is one of three new members under the age of thirty, and the first Republican to ever hold his seat.  "I was sitting behind Quarles' desk when I first found out I got the internship on the Hill," said Brian.  "Shortly afterwards, I got an email saying Speaker Boehner prefers to be called John... or Boehner.  It was one of the more intimidating things about my time there."  Henry Clay biography in one hand, black coffee in the other, Mr. Rose has one goal for the KFCR in his term: Expansion.  Ashley Rose, unrelated to Brian but Vice-Chair at KFCR, worked for Hal Rogers in our nation's capitol this summer.  Representative Rogers is the longest serving Republican from Kentucky ever elected to federal office and Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations.  After her experience in DC, Ashley felt that Rogers does not receive enough credit for his accomplishments.  She was reminded that Congressmen are people, too, and we often forget that.

With five student involvement fair recruitment visits underway and three new chapters in the works, the Kentucky Federation of College Republicans are ready to send a message.  In a state celebrated for the bourbon trail and thoroughbreads, the Commonwealth has a less known but energetic group on the rise: College Republicans.  Kentucky is the only state in the nation with a chance to knock a Democrat out of the Governor's mansion this November.  Max Smith, of Georgetown College CR's, thinks that his campus has an opportunity to grow the voice of young conservatives immensely.  He is not the only one.  As Brian Rose put it, "There aren't many people excited about statewide elections.  I think if there was one year, one time, that College Republicans could send a message, it is this year."