#YALCon13 Days 1 & 2

Two days down, two to go!

Last night YAL’s 5th Annual National Convention kicked off with our 2012-2013 Activism Awards and a FANTASTIC roundtable discussion with Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz, moderated by YAL’s Executive Director, Jeff Frazee. We packed the audience with 500+ Convention attendees, media members, and local supporters, and more than 2,000 additional viewers tuned in online. If you missed the roundtable, you can watch it in the video above.

This morning, we started the day with a talk from Florida’s Rep. Ted Yoho, followed by several hours of activism training (view the full Convention Schedule here). Then, attendees gave a standing ovation to a moving speech entitled, “My Foreign Policy Story” from Rep. Walter Jones. Next, our group photo!

In the afternoon, attendees split into breakout sessions with topics ranging from free speech on campus to building a career in the liberty movement! After dinner, Representatives Justin Amash, Thomas Massie, Raúl Labrador, and Mick Mulvaney joined us for a roundtable conversation — all moderated by Next Generation TV’s Michelle Fields.

We’ll be back with more updates tomorrow!

Media Coverage

• Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee in rare form — POLITICO
• Ted Cruz: ‘Right Now We Don’t Have the Votes’ to Defund Obamacare — Huffington Post
• Paul: ‘Damn that NSA’ — World Net Daily
• Ted Cruz Could Be Trouble for Next Fed Chair — National Journal
• Cruz needles Obama on gun background checks and Syria — The Hill
• Senators Rally Crowd of Young Activists — Watchdogwire
• Libertarians in Love — Yahoo!
• Rand Paul open to compromise on defunding Obamacare — Washington Examiner
• Audience at Young Americans for Liberty Conference Catches Rand Fever — Red Alert Politics
• Senate ‘wacko birds’ at home among the Ron Paul faithful — Yahoo!
• Rand Paul: Joe Biden agrees with me on Social Security but won’t admit it — Slate

Stay Updated on #YALCon13