The Conservative Revolution

Watch this video of Republicans and Democrats disagreeing about the nature of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac problems. Who was right and who was wrong? You decide.

Watch this video that already has 1 million views. Wow.

I just got back from Oxford, Mississippi a few hours ago. I had a great couple of days there, and even got to spend some time in Memphis. I set up a FreedomWorks booth on campus at The Grove, and handed out hundreds of bumper stickers, door hangers and flyers.

Our “Barack Obama is a pain in my gas” bumper stickers were wildly popular and I burned through them within a couple of hours. FreedomWorks was the only national conservative group at the festival, but there were a couple of student groups that had booths. One group is brand new and is aligning itself with Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty. These self-described “Constitutionalists” seemed to have a robust membership and even got a speaker on state at the Rock the Vote event at The Grove. I plan to work with these guys throughout the school year, and send them a few copies of my book.

There was definitely a lot of energy on campus, with supporters of both candidates loud and excited. It was clear that this was a huge deal for Oxford and for Ole Miss. The students were extremely excited to have the opportunity to host the debate, and they were very nice and accommodating.

Ole Miss has a beautiful campus and the weather was fantastic. I spent the entire day and evening there, and really enjoyed the atmosphere. After the debate, I spent a few minutes watching Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell talk about it. When he came over to sign autographs for people, I asked him why MSNBC was in the tank for Obama. He said that it was just him that wanted Obama to win. I told him Keith Olbermann was even worse than him and I asked him if MSNBC was purposefully trying to be an Obama network, or if that was an accident.

I told him that the network could learn about journalism by watching CNN. This seemed to really get under his skin and he made what the left would call a “homophobic” remark about Anderson Cooper, who hosts a program on CNN. If only I had gotten this remark on video it would have been a great YouTube moment. I couldn’t believe how much of a jerk this guy was, and how thin his skin was.

Of course none of the Obama supporters were upset by his “discriminatory” and “bigoted” remarks. They just laughed and cheered him on. The hypocrisy of some on the left is breathtaking. Maybe Anderson will find out about the comment eventually and demand an apology from Chris. Maybe not. Either way, he really showed his true colors last night.

I’ll post my thoughts on the debate itself tomorrow.

Hat tip to my facebook friend Kenneth Taylor for posting this video of Barack Obama stumbling over his words at a “town hall” meeting. Aren’t town hall meetings supposed to be off-the-cuff, spontaneous talks with voters?

As my friend Adam said, this clip makes Bush look like a good speaker.

The socialist policies of late have irked many Americans who pay their taxes, and pay their rent or mortgages on time. Both CNN and The Washington Post have stories up today about the growing backlash against the government over the nationalization of bad mortgages, and the bailouts of giant financial companies like AIG.

From the Post:

This may be a Main Street bailout backlash in the making. The details of the financial crisis are still hard for most people to follow — what with talk of exotic “derivatives” known as “credit-default swaps” and so on — but the central fact of the matter hasn’t been lost on anyone in this Northern Virginia community: The taxpayers are on the hook for the bad judgment of others.

It looks like a bailout bill is about to fly through Congress this week, despite public opinion being overwhelmingly against unloading all this bad debt on the taxpayers. There are a handful of Congressmen and limited government groups fighting this, but I foresee getting steamrolled on this one. A sad day for freedom, indeed.

FreedomWorks just released a new voter education effort on Barack Obama’s record on energy policy. You can request free bumper stickers and door hangers by visiting our campaign website.

We will be sending these items out all across the country to educate voters about Obama’s record on gas prices, energy exploration and energy taxes. You can request these items for FREE! Just visit the website and ask for them.

This week has been a headache for commuters in south Fairfax County, Virginia. The local 3001 AFSCME based in Annandale has been leading a Fairfax Connector bus drivers strike, causing me and thousands of others in the area to be late for work. These guys make $15 to $20 per hour, and have a sweet 401k plan, but they are demanding more!

That kind of salary and benefit package is pretty good if you ask me. It’s time for the bus drivers to end their strike and get back to their jobs. Or, they should be replaced by drivers willing to do the job for the same amount of money and benefits, or less.

Tonight, I put up 50 flyers at bus stops in Kingstowne, Rose Hill and South Van Dorn. I plan to put up more each night until the bus drivers end their strike. The flyers tell riders that AFSCME is to blame, and asks them to call their local office to complain. If you live in south Fairfax County and want some flyers to distribute on the Metro, or at bus stops, just let me know.

Here is the contact information for the Local 3001 if you’d like to sound off:

patbayliss@afscmelocal3001.org
703-941-2806

I’m pretty sick and tired of unions making everyone else’s lives more difficult because of their own greed and selfishness.

Members and alumni of The Young Conservatives of Texas were pleased to read in today’s Daily Kansan that students at Kansas University are forming The Young Conservatives of Kansas.

Jack Hutsey, Wichita junior, officially founded the Young Conservatives of the University of Kansas on Sept. 4, a week before the group’s first public outreach effort.

“Right now, the conservative voice is just a whisper on campus,” Hutsey said. “We just want the liberals to know that we’re going to raise our voice. They can have demonstrations and rallies, and so can we. It’ll take time, obviously, but we’ll have small successes and just build on those.”

Hutsey has it right. The only way to build and sustain a conservative group at a liberal campus is to recruit members one by one, to get them active right away and have fun while doing it. I haven’t talked to the new group yet, but hopefully they will get in touch with YCT so that we can provide our advice, event ideas and moral support to them. I’d also like to send them a copy of my book, The Conservative Revolution: How to Win the Battle for College Campuses.

Congrats to Hutsey and his fellow conservative Jayhawks for rolling up their sleeves and getting ready to do battle with the campus left. Good luck!

Here is an article that appeared on ABC News website a few days ago. It’s about The Young Conservatives of Texas, and it quotes a few past and current leaders of the organization.

Founded in 1980, the group advocates for student conservative activism across campuses in Texas. The organization tries to educate students about conservative ideals while battling liberalism at Texas universities. All told, they’re represented at eight schools throughout the state.

“We stand for true conservative principles,” says Laura Elizabeth Morales, spokeswoman for the Young Conservatives of Texas. “Less government, more freedom and less taxes.”

Having to pull its members from a liberal student body, the group’s UT chapter has, at times, struggled to fill its ranks. There were seven members in 2000 but conservatism was due to make a comeback.

The article goes on to talk about our professor watch list, affirmative action bake sale and other events. Then it quotes yours truly on the importance of getting involved in YCT.

“The main thing was just to get involved,” says Brendan Steinhauser, a UT member from 2000 to 2004. “We went to the debates, student government meetings. The more active we got, the more people we brought in. Then we started to organize the group and raise money.”

By 2001, the UT chapter had grown to 115 students, and started getting a lot of attention for its activities. Today, it has 75 members.

The article concludes by noting that former YCT members continue to stay involved in the political process.

Still, the group is producing tomorrow’s conservative leaders. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, was a member of the Young Conservatives when he was at the university, graduating with a law degree in 1982.

Steinhauser, the former UT member who graduated four years ago, went on to work for a conservative non-profit based in Washington, D.C. He also wrote “The Conservative Revolution,” a book based on his success organizing conservative students at UT.

“I believe in these ideas,” Steinhauser said. “They go to school to learn new ideas and it’s important to open them up to that.”

This is actually one of the most favorable pieces I’ve seen by a major media outlet about YCT. The organization deserves a lot of credit for influencing thousands of students over the years, and it’s nice to get some recognition for the work we do.

Just a few minutes ago I was interviewed by Carmen Pate from the national radio show “Point of View.” You can listen to the interview by clicking on “broadcast archive” on the Point of View website. I discussed Obama’s views on foreign affairs and economics, which make up the first two chapters of my new book.

The first half of the show was an interview with my fellow co-authors of “Who is the REAL Barack Obama?” — Steve Bierfeldt and Francisco Gonzalez. My interview starts about one hour into the show.