Maryland GOP State Convention 2013

I had the opportunity to attend my first Maryland GOP State Convention this past weekend in Annapolis.  There was definitely a sense of excitement in the air as conservatives are still celebrating Mike Pantelides win in the Annapolis mayoral race.  Below are a few takeaways from the day's event.

First, I can't count the number of times party officials stressed the fact that there are not enough Republicans running for office.  Who would have thought in this day and age of rampant narcissism that there are not enough folks running for office? I find this interesting and will try to write more about it at a later date...

Second, the Maryland GOP needs diversity.  Not just racial and ethnic diversity, either.  The party definitely needs more minority involvement, but they also need younger people to join.  I was one of the younger convention attendees and I'm almost 40!  There was a pretty fair representation of women, which should be applauded.

Last, I like the new Executive Director, Joe Cluster.  He gave a pretty rousing speech that included a political target for every county in the state.  This may be standard information for a state convention, but I was pretty impressed with the substance and the delivery.  He may be a one man shop for now, but it seems like he has the ability to build up momentum going into the 2014 elections. 

I left the convention feeling even more committed to my goal of promoting conservative principles and ideals to minority communities.  Now I just need to figure out how to get it done!