This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: August 29, 2009- This is part of the Beacon's coverage of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Hi, I'm Lucinda Housley. I'm 22, and I graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in May 2008 with degrees in news-editorial journalism and political science. In college, I focused my political science studies on K-12 education policy, legislative term limits and judicial selection. A graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, I have also worked as a local government and education beat reporter for a daily newspaper and as a staff writer for an international travel magazine in London. Now I'm a first-year law student at Mizzou.
Born and raised in southwest Missouri, I have been passionate about politics for years. My foray into politics began in 2006 when, as a college sophomore, I worked as a full-time communications intern for Missouri Senate Republicans. I'm a longtime supporter of Sen. John McCain so I was thrilled to see the Straight Talk Express roll through the primaries earlier this year. I began working as the state youth chair for McCain in February, appointing campus chairs and working within Missouri's College Republican network to energize and unite students for McCain.
I am thrilled to represent Missouri as an alternate delegate to the national convention in St. Paul and to see my favorite candidate from the beginning, John McCain, clinch his party's nomination and move even closer to the presidency.
Hello, my name is Justin Smith. I joined the UMKC College Republicans in 2003. Now, I am a second-year law student at Mizzou and beginning my sixth year as a College Republican. During those six years, I have served as a chapter chairman, a state chairman and a national vice chairman. As the chairman of the Missouri College Republicans, during the final 100 days of the 2006 election, I volunteered more than 800 hours and added 10,000 miles to my car's odometer to visit 30 Missouri colleges and universities to recruit Republican students and train future Republican leaders.
My involvement in politics began at a very early age. At the age of 9, in 1994, I distributed John Ashcroft yard signs. I have volunteered on more than 50 campaigns since then, performing almost every imaginable campaign activity, including campaign manager and treasurer.
I am a Republican because I believe that life begins at conception, that smaller government is better government, that I can spend my money better than Uncle Sam, that we should bring our brave men and women home from Iraq after we have won, and that peace is secured through a strong military.