How it all started...

How this started...
I am a 20-year old sophomore at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, double-majoring in economics and political science. I was born in Kansas City Missouri and lived in Shawnee, Kansas for 12 years, a place I still consider my home. In my spare time, I like to read, travel, play tennis, and add to my collections of Star Wars and Oz memorabilia.
How did I discover my passion for politics and government? My passion developed gradually, and I remember watching a few of President George H.W. Bush’s speeches on television, and watching Bill Clinton sign NAFTA, but I must say that in eighth grade social studies, we began to discuss the presidential primaries and the candidates, and I should have known that something was different about me as I was the only one who was genuinely interested in the primaries and researched the candidates. The catalyst, or turning point of my self-realization for my love of politics occurred early in the 2000 election. As we discussed the Democratic and Republican primaries in class, I was enamored and captivated by the process--I couldn't understand why my friends didn't feel the same way! As the election neared, I watched every debate and realized the importance of public policy and the sharply contrasting positions of Bush and Gore. I could not yet vote, but with each passing day I became more interested in the election and political process in general. On Nov. 7, 2004, I rushed home from school, turned on the television, waited for the election returns, and saw Florida go first for Bush, then for Gore, then Bush again, then to the undecided column. I devoured every scrap of news for the next 30 days as I learned more about the political process and the way our government works than I had in all my years of education.
From the moment Bush was sworn in as president, I knew my future was in politics. I discovered my moderate conservative roots and joined my school’s newly-formed Law and Politics Club that spring. I did enough fundraising to travel outside the Midwest for the first time with a group from school to participate in a model United Nations in Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital struck me with awe, and I took three more trips to D.C. to perform model U.N., researching the policies of the European Union, and the nations of Somalia and South Africa, and representing those nations and entities in national security crisis and simulations. In my senior year, I became Vice-President of Law and Politics Club and hosted the speakers program. I invited renowned Kansas City Star political columnist Steve Kraske to my high school to talk about the issues in the upcoming election and answer questions from students and others in an event that was open to everyone in the Kansas City area. As front page editor of my high school newspaper, I worked to increase coverage of national and local politics and be the “conservative voice” of the predominantly liberal paper.
September 11th changed my world forever. As I walked to my next class, I heard murmurs and whispers in the hall about a plane crashing into a building. As I entered my computer applications class, Mr. Wilhite had the projector on, showing footage of the World Trade Center in flames as he frantically began taping up white construction paper on the wall to make the picture more visible, although it was already clear to all of us what was happening. As other confused and fearful students poured into the room, I saw the second plane hit and I knew this wasn’t an accident. America was under attack. A plane hit the Pentagon and there were rumors of another hijacked plane still in the air. As I waited for my mom to arrive at the end of the day, I couldn’t help but notice the complete and utter silence that is unusual for a school yard where you have students talking and laughing, teachers yelling. Nothing. Just silence. As long lines of cars full of parents approached the school to pick up their sons and daughters, the first sounds reached my ears. Each car had the AM radio on and news of the attacks and possible responses to it filtered out into the seemingly-normal and misleading sunny, suburban, Shawnee day. These voices rang in our ears, their mixture creating a strange and incoherent uncertainty and doubt, the only noise that pierced the surrounding stillness. My world had changed in an instant, and I knew that public policy would also have to change, and that would require a new kind of leadership. And if anyone could deliver that leadership, it was President Bush.
In Spring and later August of 2004, I worked as an election worker in those elections for Johnson County, Kansas. I was able to witness the process of democracy firsthand in this job. Before the August election, I volunteered on Republican Kris Kobach’s congressional campaign for the 3rd District, in my first active effort to affect the race in my own congressional district. In my freshman year of college, I became actively involved with the College Republicans and I helped out at a campaign event for the President in Council Bluffs, Iowa and had the honor of shaking hands with the president, first lady, and NY mayor Rudy Giuliani. I even chatted with the first lady, Laura Bush, for a few minutes. As important as the 2000 election was to me, the 2004 election was even more important for America’s security and continuing the war on terror. I volunteered for 15 hours in Iowa, going door to door reminding people to vote and handing out absentee ballots. My work for the Iowa GOP paid off, as President Bush won the election with a commanding 51% of the vote and became the first Republican president to win the state of Iowa in twenty years.
I attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. in Feb. 2005, the nation’s largest gathering of young conservatives. I listened to speeches from Sen. Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, Col. Oliver North, journalist Sam Donaldson, and many other politicians and pundits on the right.
Currently, I am Vice-President of the College Republicans chapter here at Creighton and I am also a student representative in Creighton’s College of Business Congress (CUBAC). I'm also active in the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity, Pre-Law Society, and the Anna Tyler Waite Leadership program in the Business school. I also work in the law offices of Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison and on the campaign of my local state representative, Mary Pilcher Cook. This semester, I am taking classes in DC at George Washington University and interning on Capitol Hill for Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS). As I wandered among politicians and political players of all stripes, I had the idea to start a blog to explain my views, get out my message, and start a dialogue with my fellow Americans that is free from all the spin, propaganda, and politically correct garbage that is so prevalent in Washington, D.C. With this blog, I hope to continue to spread the Republican message, remain active in politics, and encourage others of all sides--right, left, middle, front, and back--to get involved.