2013 Recruiting Lead

Since the National Chairman of the College Republicans isn't much of a leader, conservative youths are looking to a homeschooled 8th grader to advance them back to relevancy.

The interview concluded, Jonathan wistfully handed his mother her cellphone. His parents still won’t let him have one, even though he turned 14 last Sunday, right after he became an instant news media darling and the conservative movement’s underage graybeard at last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

The annual convention brings in the movement’s grand old lions, like Rush Limbaugh, as well as cubs to rally 8,500 of the faithful, who were shaken by the election of Barack Obama. Jonathan, a slight, home-schooled only child whose teeth are in braces, is so passionate about his beliefs that he spent his summer writing “Define Conservatism,” an 86-page book outlining what he says are its core values. In January, he contacted CPAC organizers, asking to speak there.

With some skepticism, they gave him a spot on a Friday panel of grassroots activists. But Jonathan, an experienced child actor, rocked the house with a three-minute speech, which was remarkable not so much for what he said, but his electrifying delivery. The speech was part pep talk, part book promotion. By Saturday morning, an archdeacon of the movement was saying, “I’m Bill Bennett: I used to work for Ronald Reagan and now I’m a colleague of Jonathan Krohn’s!”

Video of Jonathon's CPAC speech:


OYE Comment: We have our suspicions that Jonathon's upbringing parallels that of OYE Hall of Famer, Jonah Goldberg. Yet, for the meantime, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he's still 2 years away from even obtaining a driver's license (and probably another 20 years away from getting laid), so we'll hold off in telling him to Be A Man! Enlist! (for now)