PRESS RELEASES from Young Americans for Liberty [one from before and one from after]

 
WASHINGTON, DC—More than 700 members of Young Americans for Liberty will attend CPAC 2011 and flood the conference with pro-liberty students. Joining hundreds of additional activists from sister organization Campaign for Liberty, YAL expects to draw the largest youth contingent to CPAC and shake up the political establishment.
 
With so many YAL members in attendance, their votes will undoubtedly make a significant impact on the presidential straw poll results, as they did in 2010.  “I’m excited to be at CPAC and vote for Ron Paul in the straw poll,” said Mikayla Hall, a senior at the University of Washington, “and I know a lot of my friends are here do the same.”
 
“If you thought last year was big, we expect at least twice as many YAL members this year,” said Jeff Frazee, YAL’s Executive Director.
 
“Young people possess the dedication, energy, and passion to carry on the freedom message. Real change will come from the next generation,” added Congressman Ron Paul, the Texas Republican whose 2008 presidential campaign was the impetus for YAL’s founding.
 
Find Young Americans for Liberty in the Exhibit Hall at Booths 504 and 506.
 
YAL events at CPAC include:
 

Time	Event	Location
Thursday, 8:30 p.m.	Liberty Forum with Rep. Ron Paul and Senator Rand Paul	Thurgood Marshall Ballroom North/West
Friday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.	YAL’s Year of Youth Training Workshop	Virginia Ballroom
Friday, 8 p.m.	YAL Presents: ‘Freedom’s Rising New Leaders’	Maryland Ballroom
A larger YAL/Campaign for Liberty schedule is available in this packet or at campaignforliberty.com/event/cpac2011.php

 
 

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WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Ron Paul’s enthusiastic supporters swept him to a second victory in CPAC’s influential presidential straw poll, considered a barometer of conservative support for potential Republican presidential nominees.  Paul’s win was widely expected by most observers of the conference, as members of organizations like Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) attended en masse, many to vote for Rep. Paul.
 
“Dr. Paul won the straw poll last year with a historic 31% of the vote, and since then his message of liberty has only gained followers among the conservative movement,” said Jeff Frazee, YAL’s Executive Director and Ron Paul 2008 National Youth Coordinator.
 
Piyali Bhattacharya, YAL’s Ohio State Chair, agreed:  “I think Ron Paul’s ideas really resonate with everyone who realizes just how little our government is interested in defending our freedom, and how far it’s strayed from its roots.  My generation is looking for a real change in Washington – for someone to keep our future from being nothing but paying back trillions of dollars in debt – and Ron Paul was the only one on CPAC’s list of candidates to offer substantive new ideas.”
 
Whether or not Paul will run for president in 2012 remains to be seen, though he has indicated that success at CPAC might push him towards declaring his candidacy:  “I haven’t decided yet, but if I were to come in fourth or fifth at CPAC, that might indicate that the young people have lost their enthusiasm.”
 
What Paul’s win bodes for his decision on running remains to be seen, but the win seems to make clear that the youth of CPAC still like Ron Paul.
 

 

Young Americans for Liberty is the continuation of Students for Ron Paul with an active network of more than 180 chapters and 26,000 activists committed to the principles of individual liberty and the U.S. Constitution. For more information visit: www.yaliberty.org.