Students travel south for GOP's national convention
As tens of thousands of Republicans converged in Tampa, Fla., for the Republican National Convention, two USC students were among them.
"It's been absolutely inspiring to be here," said Lauren Luxenburg, a fourth-year political science student who is attending the convention with the Palladian View, a digital magazine for conservative women. "There are 50,000 Republicans here, and it's absolutely igniting."
Fearing the landfall of Hurricane Isaac earlier in the week, RNC events scheduled for Monday were rescheduled until later in the week, including a speech by Gov. Nikki Haley. Haley's speech was moved to Tuesday night, where she spoke on her biggest stage yet in a program packed with both rising and high-profile Republican women.
"It's really exciting that Gov. Haley [spoke]," said fourth-year political science student Matt Orr, an intern with the South Carolina Republican Party. "I used to intern for her 2010 campaign, so it's especially exciting for me."
Ann Romney spoke after Haley on Tuesday night, delivering a speech that rallied Republican women around her husband former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, who has been trailing President Barack Obama in polls of female voters. Ann Romney packed her speech with anecdotes from her 43 year marriage to illustrate that "you can trust Mitt."
"Besides Nikki Haley, Ann Romney had to be my favorite speaker," Luxenburg said. "She looked amazing on stage, she was vibrant and she really ignited the party and connected with women through her speech."
While speeches from Haley, Ann Romney and other prominent women of the GOP Tuesday night aimed to galvanize support from female voters, the Republican party is still trying to win the youth vote that Obama held in the 2008 presidential election.
"Paul Ryan is a great [vice presidential] pick. He's 42 — one of the youngest in a couple decades," Orr said. "I think he's going to bring up the youth vote for [Mitt] Romney; he's already gotten the gap smaller."
While Orr believes Ryan, who made his first speech as the official candidate for vice president last night, will help Republicans get the youth vote, he also notes the importance of young adults getting involved in the political process.
"We really need to get more young people involved. If we don't get involved, we're still going to be running into all these problems like Social Security and a poor job market," Orr said. "Now's the time if there ever was one."
Luxenburg also expressed hope for more youth involvement.
"To ensure the future of our generation, we have to be involved."