(RepublicanInformer.com)- Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas is building quite a following in the Republican party among the younger generation.
He recently held a conservative youth confab in Houston. There were technical difficulties at the conference, so Crenshaw improvised and started taking questions from the audience. One person there asked if “Governor Crenshaw or President Crenshaw” would be coming next, and the crowd erupted in applause.
The people in attendance were mainly teenagers and young 20-year-olds who consider themselves conservatives. And Crenshaw is building a following among this group of people, who will make up a large portion of the GOP in the near future.
In response to that popular question, Crenshaw responded:
“Like a good politician, I have to say Congressman Crenshaw is what you’ll see next. I don’t know, you know, but to answer that honestly, always will keep options open.”
Crenshaw was at the center of the conference of young GOP members. He didn’t have to spend any money on outreach or try to find these people. They came directly to him, and paid him for the opportunity to hear him — and other members of the Republican conference — speak.
Alex Skatell, who founded a conservative news site and is a former Republican digital consultant, said:
“It is novel, and I think that we’re going to see more of it, especially on the right. Instead of using his brand to elevate other youth groups around the country, he can sort of capture that enthusiasm.”
The outing was called the Crenshaw Youth Summit. It’s an example of how some political campaigns are shifting from focusing on traditional ways of outreach and fundraising to a completely new way of communicating with their supporters.
Crenshaw is building a nice backbone, or infrastructure, of support that could serve him well in the future. This was a group of young, engaged activists who are aligned with the conservative movement. They were already willing to spend their hard-earned money to attend the summit, and they could be among his strongest supporters who are willing to spend money on his campaigns in the future.
One of the founding partners of Echelon Insights and GOP strategist Patrick Ruffini commented on the strategy:
“You are identifying that you can have a list of people who is interested in what he’s doing, support him and may be interested in supporting him in future campaigns, whether it’s a re-election to Congress or higher office. The side benefit is that you have a list of thousands of strong supporters who I think they can call upon in future campaigns.”
It’s a very risky strategic decision and proposition, but it looks as if Crenshaw is certainly pulling it off. He is already one of the more well-regarded members of the GOP in the House. He’s also built up quite the following and respect for challenging liberal members of the media as well as lawmakers on the other side of the aisle.
