“This is an aggressive effort to recruit, train and activate college students in grassroots Republican politics,” said CCR Chairman Michael Davidson. “And it’s also the best way for young people to get involved in the political process and help the Republican Party win elections statewide.”

The schools were hosted in San Diego, Long Beach, Palo Alto, Davis and Fresno, each in the vicinity of a hotly contested State Assembly seat. In most cases, the collegiate activists were actively recruited to help in the various campaigns.

Bay Area College Republicans turned out in huge numbers to train for the President, as 60 college activists flocked to Stanford University. Bay Area Vice-Chair Amaury Gallais was excited by the exuberance of those in attendance.

"There were students coming as far south as Monterey and as far north as Humboldt,” Gallais said. “They're now excited by the local races and are equipped to walk the precincts, make the calls, turn out the votes and help win the elections."

The training itself was performed by a wide range of professional campaign consultants whose hands-on training techniques gave the CRs a lesson they could never learn in a political science lecture.

“Having a real campaign strategist talk to you opens your eyes and shows you that a book with a bunch of theories can’t teach you everything,” said Capital Region Vice-Chair George Andrews.

“It was the first time an organization had put together such concise yet practical training seminar.” Added Gallais, who was also confident that Bay Area attendees were well trained. The instructors covered the issues very well; students now have all the tools they need to work on the local campaigns.”

Seminar attendees were also visited by Republican candidates for targeted seats in the state legislature. San Diego students were visited by incumbent Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, while senate challenger Gary Podesta visited the Davis school.

“The best part was meeting Shirley Horton,” said Zach Rosen of UC San Diego. “It was the first time I’ve met an elected official.”

The candidate visits were especially helpful because it brought College Republicans face to face with the Republicans whose campaigns they might join. Each district is different, so the candidates were able to explain exactly what they need out of the College Republicans in order to win in their region.

“College Republicans can really make a dent if we can get Republican voter registration up in some notorious Democratic strongholds,” Andrews said. “The first step was getting motivated.”