Students get whipped into shape at political bootcamp
When most people think of boot camp, they picture scenes from movies like Full Metal Jacket or Jarhead where Marines are crawling under barbed-wire, leaping over giant logs, and scaling enormous walls. But for those students who have survived the “Boot Camp of Politics,” they can attest to the fact that it consists of intense mental and physical exertion of a much different level than that of the USMC.
Nov. 10-11, 2007, the Leadership Institute (LI), a well-known conservative training organization, brought their Youth Leadership School (YLS) to Minnesota. Also, known as the “Boot Camp of Politics,” this training equips its participants with the skills they need to be effective political leaders, organizers, and of course, winners!
Ryan Nichols, Director of YLS at the Leadership Institute, says: “Since 1979, no other organization has prepared as many students with the nuts-and-bolts techniques necessary to be effective youth leaders as the Leadership Institute. The Institute was founded in 1979 by Morton C. Blackwell to train the next generation of conservative leaders and to date we have trained over 57,000 conservatives!”
Students from across Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas traveled to Congressman John Kline’s office in Burnsville to get in shape under the direction of political drill instructors. All of whom are from Washington DC’s highly acclaimed Leadership Institute.
Arriving at 8:00 am on Saturday morning, the YLS attendees were registered, photographed and fed in preparation for the grueling day ahead of them. Given fair warning that they would be in training until 11:00 pm on Saturday night and that they would be missing the Vikings-Packers game on Sunday, each student got comfortable in their seat, opened their notebook and prepared themselves to take in all of the excitement LI had to offer.
All of the Leadership Institute’s workshops are based on the idea that “You owe it to your philosophy to study how to win;” but this concept is most evident in the training you receive at the Youth Leadership School. Bringing in speakers from all over the country who have immeasurable experience in the political world, the Leadership Institute’s YLS coaches its students on literally everything you need to know in order to be an effective conservative. From the basics of how to run a successful conservative club at your university to how to direct a winning campaign on the national level, this school teaches it all!
At YLS, students learn that the “Sir Galahad Theory” of “I will be successful because my heart is good” is not practical for politics in the real world—proper strategy, good organization, and high motivation are the keys to victory.
Students are taught that “being right, in the sense of being philosophically correct, is not sufficient to win.” Karl Rove, former chief political strategists to George W. Bush, learned this lesson at the Leadership Institute’s YLS when he was a young college student. Today he is one of LI’s most notable graduates and his political genius is recognized by conservatives and liberals alike. Each class of Leadership Institute graduates are reminded that any one of them could become the next Karl Rove.
“Thousands of today’s rising conservative leaders look to the Youth Leadership School for real world here’s-how-to-get-it-done techniques they can use to accomplish their goals, get ahead of the competition and make a difference.” says Gretchen Evanson, Assistant Director of YLS at the Leadership Institute, “YLS is not for the faint of heart. It’s designed for serious people interested in being leaders and making a difference.”
If you are serious about being an effective conservative leader, the YLS will not only teach you about campus or neighborhood canvassing, proper bumper sticker placement, and how to deal with the media, it will also help you launch a successful career in politics and develop a nationwide network of conservative friends.
The Leadership Institute’s Youth Leadership School may be the most intense political training in existence, but it is called the “Boot Camp of Politics” for a reason. Completing the training earns you an LI badge of honor and a certificate of achievement, but most importantly, YLS graduates leave prepared to take on the conservative cause…and win!
For more information about the Leadership Institute and their numerous training programs visit www.leadershipinstitute.org or call 1-800-827-LEAD.
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