Independent Activity

Student Initiative to Draft Daniels PAC
http://studentsfordaniels.com
"The Candidate We Can Believe In"

National Director  Max Eden (Yale)
Executive Director  Trevor Wagener (Yale)
Political Director  Michael Knowles (Yale)
Finance Director  Victoria Buhler (Yale)
Developement Director  Micheal Ventre (University of Albany)
Communications Director  Jeremy Rozansky (University of Chicago)
Deputy Assistant Director  Ted Rubin (Kenyon College)
Midwest Chair  Akash Appachi (Emory University)
Southern Chair  Cyprien Sarteau (Yale)
Western Chair  Kate Havard (St. John's College in Annapolis, MD)
Northeastern Chair Nicholas J. D'Angelo (Union College)
Indiana Chair  Nick Barbknecht (Manchester College)

launched Sept. 2010.

Our Mission
The Student Initiative to Draft Daniels for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination was launched by students whose diverse political beliefs are united by two seminal issues: the degradation of American political discourse and the drastic rise in our national debt.

We do not fault either party for either problem. The unreal rhetoric of our national politicians and the angry antics of our pundits have mired the most vital issues so deeply in Potomac muck that to buy into the rhetoric of any political party would be a mark not of conviction, but of naiveté.

We hope – however unlikely it might seem today – that the Presidential election of 2012 will, rather than entrench both sides deeper within their prejudices, start a mature and serious discussion about the future of the United States.

We believe that the best candidate to lead that discussion for the Republican Party is Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana.

If you are not familiar with Mitch Daniels then you should be. He has chosen to devote his energies to his job as Indiana’s chief executive rather than spend years raising his national profile or cashing in on political notoriety. His speeches are marked by their substance, not by their superlatives. His ideas are sound and responsible. His personal character has been tried and tested.

Governor Daniels is exactly the kind of candidate that students concerned about our future economic security can proudly stand behind.

We encourage you to join us in doing so by signing the petition.

Our Methods

In today’s politics, money speaks louder than merit. But, thankfully, with today’s social media technology a small group of committed students can try to change the political landscape to one in which a politician’s record – not the spin of pundits – determines elections.

We are a national netroots student organization dedicated to showing our peers the necessity of Daniels’ candidacy.

In the last election, our generation came out and participated in the democratic process like never before. We must keep that flame alive, but also fan it further than simple party politics. America’s students must make it their civic duty to overcome the blinders thrown up to the left and the right of our eyes, to see the whole picture, and help show it to our friends, family, and fellow citizens.

As the 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate, we believe a Daniels campaign would promote the change we hope to see in American politics.

Our means are three-fold. The first is an internet-based campaign to raise Daniels’ profile. The second is a nation-wide, campus-based initiative so the discussion on Daniels can jump from the computer to the common room. And third is a fund-raising effort to help get the word out.

Ed. Notes

>This was one of and possibly the most active of the independent efforts in terms of its offline activities.  They produced a couple of ads.  The first, featuring Yale student Coco Pannell, ran in Iowa and NH and attracted a lot of free media attention; the second featured Jimmy McMillan, "the rent is too D* high" gubernatorial candidate from New York.  The group produced cards and buttons and in February 2011 traveled to Washington, DC for CPAC; Daniels met with them before his speech there.

>On May 22, 2011 Daniels announced he would not run.  On June 6, Students for Daniels founders Max Eden and Michael Knowles issued this press release:

*Students for Daniels Founders Endorse Huntsman*

NORTH CONWAY, NH -- Students for Daniels founders Max Eden and Michael Knowles traveled to New Hampshire this past Friday to meet with Governor Jon Huntsman. At a Carroll County GOP breakfast with the Governor the following morning, the two endorsed Huntsman and passed along the similar endorsement of 38 former Students for Daniels chapters.

"Governor Huntsman is the strongest candidate on our generation's biggest issue: the national debt," said Eden.

"Jon Huntsman can bring young voters back into the Republican party because he is a serious candidate, a big thinker, and an authentic guy. He is a statesman, not just a politician," said Knowles.

Eden, Knowles, and the 38 chapter chairs will help build a youth coalition to introduce Governor Huntsman to voters in early primary states.

The Students for Solvency PAC, formed the day after Daniels decided against running, will continue to focus its activities on fiscal issues, rather than direct campaign work, for the summer.

 

For more information, contact

Max Eden
National Director
max.c.eden@gmail.com
203.645.0226

 

Michael Knowles
Political Director, Spokesman
michael.knowles@yale.edu
917.727.9253