Oregon Charlie Kirk Interview from 2016

In some respect, yes. Turning Point USA is a nationwide student movement focused on training, educating and energizing the next generation of young leaders. We are focused primarily on fiscal issues and have had incredible success building our movement to more campuses than we ever envisioned. The political left has gotten very good at organizing college-age students over the years, and conservatives have barely shown up to play. You go around to some of these campuses and there will be eight or nine politically liberal organizations getting people signed up and involved on a regular basis. And then a lone conservative organization maybe pops their head up once or twice to cause a stir. We think it is important to put up a fight for the hearts and minds of young people instead of just writing them off. Too often interacting with our organization is one of the only times students are exposed to pro-free market rhetoric during their entire time in college, and that is valuable.

I have great advisors, donors, friends and mentors. It is important to stay grounded and not forget where you come from. I owe our success to our team; on my best day I could never do what they do to advance the cause.

Oregon is in desperate need of a free market revival. Oregon has so much potential that is being hampered by high taxes and wasteful spending. We have a presence on every major campus across Oregon with thousands of students identified and mobilized across the state. We have a big focus on the Portland State, Oregon State and University of Oregon campuses, but any student attending any school in Oregon can reach out to us and get involved in one way or another.

We provide full-time staff assistance called “field directors,” who help organize and facilitate campus activism. We keep our students engaged by using innovative sound bites, messaging material and ideas to keep students interested and active in the fight for freedom. Students care about things like the rising cost of education, lack of jobs, privacy, cronyism and the environment. The problem is that many of these issues have been almost ceded to the political left. We are getting out there and making the case for market-based solutions that will work.

Trump is a political phenomenon. I do not know if we will ever see something like this again. With that being said, younger voters are rejecting both candidates. They view Hillary as untrustworthy and dishonest. No matter the election results this November, Turning Point USA will continue to fight for free markets and limited government on campuses where it matters most.

Because Turning Point is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we do not take stances or get involved in elections. But we do have thousands of members who are getting more and more engaged in the process and voicing their opinion in this critical election year. Many of our activists go on to be very involved in the electoral process, and we hope that the training and leadership opportunities that we provide are useful to them. While we ourselves will not participate directly in the election, we will focus on registering and educating young people. Hopefully we can register or convert some new limited government voters.

That is the goal! It is hard to tell, but we definitely want to continue to grow and strengthen our membership. MoveOn is a political force, and that is one of our main objectives going forward.

Ronald Reagan for his eternal optimism and wit. Milton Friedman for his intellect and charm.