"Less Experienced With The Online World" Will Cost Her Dearly
Clay
when I saw this article:
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July 06, 2009
Politics, Policy and the Future of the GOP
by Jillian Bandes
Audra Shay of Louisiana has been touring the country for seven months,
drumming up support for her campaign to become chairwoman of the Young
Republican National Federation, an organization that consists of
10,000 members nationwide.
“The country wasn’t going where I think it should be going,” she said,
so she entered the race to try and get YRNF, which limits its
membership to Republicans aged 18-40, “back to its original
platform.”
For her, that means a renewed adherence to the principles of national
defense, school choice, limited government, lower taxes and
conservative social values.
Shay differs little in principle with her only competitor in the YRNF
Chairman race, Rachel Hoff, who resides in Washington, D.C. But these
principles aren't what Hoff emphasizes.
"The YRNF is a grassroots political organization, and our strength is
our members and member states," said Hoff.
In other words, Hoff is concentrating on the politics rather than the
policy. It's a fine line in a race filled with predictable political
rhetoric like "taking the YRNF to the next level" and "working to
revitalize the GOP from the ground up"— and one that probably won't
attract too much attention, given YRNF's small size and relative
influence.
But perhaps it should. The race involves a key growth constituency for
the GOP — young people — and the two candidates have come to represent
a microcosm of the divisions being worked out in the Republican Party
as a whole.
Hoff, 26, is focused on “engaging more of our generation” and
“organizing the grassroots to help Republicans win elections again."
That focus seems to be on target with the official mission of the
YRNF, which calls itself the "premier Republican grassroots
organization in the nation" focused on "recruiting, training and
mobilizing people" towards the cause.
"I am a Republican, to the core, because I believe in the conservative
principles that built this Party and have stood the test of time," she
said. But Hoff understands that "it is going to take a broad coalition
of diverse Americans who believe in our principles to take this Party
where it needs to go."
Hoff wants to increase the GOP's "influence, engagement and relevance"
to young people, by focusing on the GOP's weak spots. That includes
pitching a larger tent and focusing on technology. She's "weaponized"
Facebook, Twitter, and web videos along with sites such as
YRNetwork.com and ThisIsMyParty.org to increase young Republicans’
online presence and to catch those who aren't yet politically active.
"New technologies have transformed how we engage voters, how we
campaign, and how we identify and inspire activists," said Hoff.
Shay is relatively less experienced with the online world — her
hometown YRNF chapter doesn't even have a website — but what she lacks
in technological aggression, she makes up for in hard-line rhetoric.
"We must get BACK TO BASICS," reads her online mission. "Those being
the basics of Membership, Media and Money."
_________
Shay, 38, is a mother of two and has served 8 years in the military.
She's quick to criticize those leaders who are "70% Republican or 80%
Republican.”
"Then they demand that we change our platform instead of them
adapting," she said.
Shay's criticism of Hoff is manifold.
"She is a moderate," Shay said. "She is pro same-sex civil
unions...believes she has the pulse of the youth, and feels as though
our party needs to go in a different direction."
"I do believe we need to go in a different direction," said Hoff. "A
direction where our leaders live up their stated principles, a
direction where young voters can believe that the GOP's message of
opportunity is authentic, a direction that pushes our Party into
tomorrow with the same conservative principles that have solved the
problems of yesterday."
Shay has held more elected positions than Hoff in YRNF, and has done
other political work ranging from work on Bobby Jindal's campaign to
assisting with the Bush-Cheney race in '04. She is currently the third
ranking office in YRNF.
"I bring a vast array of experience that Rachel, being much younger
than I, does not. She’s never held a national position, a state chair
or a club chair, and doesn't have the experience of being in the
military, being married, raising children or paying a mortgage," said
Shay. "Just my experience, period, is something that Rachel does not
have."
Hoff doesn't see that as a disadvantage.
"I’d rather focus less on titles and more on accomplishments," said
Hoff. "She doesn’t have accomplishments to point to as her position as
third ranking officer, so I’m curious as to why we should elevate her
to first chair."
As YRNF Director of Media Relations Hoff built a media program that
put YRNF leaders on most major television networks, winning them 2
million dollars in earned media thus far. Hoff also helped deploy
hundreds of YRNF members into swing states in 2006 and 2007 and
coordinated a $20 million media program for the National Republican
Congressional Committee's media outreach programs.
"When we talk about experience, we shouldn’t be looking for titles, we
should be looking for results. And while she has a few more titles,
she hasn’t done anything with them," said Hoff.
Hoff grew up on military bases outside the U.S., and was educated at
Tufts University in Boston. Shay was born in Arkansas, quit college
after her freshman year and joined the Army, where she served for
eight years. On her website, Hoff emphasizes her endorsements from
Sarah Huckabee and George P. Bush. Shay's website emphasizes her
Baptist upbringing and the raising of her two children, 9 and 17.
_______________
The Hoff-Shay showdown comes on the heels of a rather unfortunate
episode in YRNF history. The last chairmanship election resulted in a
victory for Glenn Murphy Jr., who was ousted less than halfway through
his term after an embarrassing sex scandal involving the assault of
another man—while he was sleeping.
Shay was part of the team that took over after Murphy left. Despite
her deep involvement in YRNF leadership, she still thinks there's
still a lot of room for improvement within the organization.
"We believe that there needs to be a new culture and new way to deal
with the whole of the organization. We believe it has been kind of a
cool kids’ clique, if you will, and we want to be able to bring
everybody to the table," said Shay.
Hoff questions whether or not this insider institutional experience
life is really what the organization needs most.
"The status quo in this organization is absolutely unacceptable," said
Hoff. Barack Obama, 47, took young voters away from John McCain, 72,
at a rate of 2-1 in the 2008 presidential election. Hoff thinks that
she's the answer to that predicament.
"We’re a forward looking campaign—we’re about vision," she said.
"We’re about plans that look for a vision."
Shay currently leads Hoff in endorsements, but Hoff says that she's
still very much in the running for the election that will take place
at YRNF's National Convention in Indanapolis this week.
"There are a lot delegates in states that have endorsed her that are
flying to Indianapolis to vote for me," said
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-C-