Students for Rand and College Republicans traveled with over 60 Hillsdale students to Mackinac Island for the Sept. 18 to 20 Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference.
The Detroit News and The Michigan Daily recognized Students for Rand and College Republicans in their coverage of the MRLC that took place Sept. 18 to 20. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) won the Mackinac Island straw poll with the help of Students for Rand and College Republicans.
In an interview with The Detroit News, senior John Bell said why he believes Paul is a unique candidate.
“His views align most with the Founders of our country,” Bell told the newspaper. “He preaches limited government more than any other candidate.”
During the conference, a straw poll gaged conference-goers’ opinion for the GOP presidential nominee.
Paul placed first with 22 percent of the vote. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina came in second with 15 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich took 14 percent and third place.
The straw poll at the MRLC is the most important of the year because it has a history of predicting the presidential nominee, according to the Paul campaign. In 2011 former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the straw poll and secured the Republican presidential nomination.
“They made sure every student had taken the straw poll,” College Republicans senior Alex Buchmann said. “They didn’t say to vote for Paul, but it was heavily implied.”
Many students went to Mackinac undecided on their choice of presidential candidate. However, the Paul campaign spoke to them in an effort to garner their support.
“Paul gave the opportunity to come and hear the Libertarian message,” sophomore Rachael Behr said, “but there were definitely Hillsdale students that didn’t vote for him in the straw poll.”
Students for Rand later attended a Paul rally. There, he spoke about the constitutional right to privacy and the spying of the National Security Agency on U.S. citizens.
“He argued that constitutional rights, specifically the Fourth Amendment, protect the American people from the NSA,” said sophomore Adrienne Carrier, the Students for Rand phone bank coordinator.
Buchmann said he appealed to the Constitution and Founding principles.
“It was more of a history lesson than a political speech,” Buchmann said.
Students for Rand will continue to share Paul’s message on campus, but Carrier said she also hopes the club involves the community.
“We need to make sure that his voice is heard among voters as well. We might be making calls and doing door-knocking in the future,” Carrier said. “We are looking into him coming to speak on campus and getting more people excited about Rand 2016.”
Paul’s polling average is just above 2 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.
Carrier said there is no need to worry because Paul’s supporters are ideologically motivated and will stay around until the end.
At the conference, candidates discussed how the Republican party is going to win Michigan in 2016.
Paul tried to expand the party’s base to places that don’t traditionally vote Republican, such as Detroit.
At MRLC he talked about his plan for Detroit to become an “economic freedom zone.”
His plan for Detroit would reduce federal corporate and personal taxes to 5 percent and leave $1.3 billion in the city over 10 years, Paul said at the conference.
Sophomore Tanner Wright, in an interview with The Michigan Daily, said Michigan could vote Republican in 2016 due to increased frustration with the Obama administration.
“I think the straw polls represents that people are fed up with cronyism on both sides of the aisle. The Republicans are just as corrupt as the Democrats,” Behr said. “People like that there is a candidate willing to stand against both parties.”
