An Ohio State senior is setting his sights on Washington, D.C., by running for an elected office.Ben Cramer, a political science major, announced his candidacy for secretary of the College Republican National Committee last week.”It is important that OSU students have leadership positions off campus and with national organizations because it sends a signal about the quality of our students,” said Herbert Asher, a professor emeritus in political science.Cramer is currently running unopposed, but he plans to run a national campaign because he will need the support of the majority of state College Republican organizations at the national committee’s biennial convention in July. Fund raising is under way and campaigning trips have already been planned for Nevada, New York and Illinois, Cramer said.Cramer is hoping his accomplishments as chairman of the Ohio College Republican Federation will help him gain support from other states. While chairman of the federation, Cramer implemented a college targeting program, by using public records, to identify college republican voters and mailing them absentee ballots to increase voter turnout.”Because of Ben’s initiative over 2,000 more college students voted in last November’s elections, which is a lot of votes in an Ohio election. Some races are won by only a 1,000 votes,” said Andrew Westfall, chairman of the Ohio College Republican Federation.If elected, Cramer intends to implement a Republican college targeting program nationwide for the 2000 elections. “Too often, the youth of America are ignored by politicians. Much of that is due to the fact that voter turnout among college students is so low, that has to change. My goal in running for this position is to work to increase student awareness and participation in the political process,” Cramer said. Cramer said he also wants to improve communications between College Republican organizations and state parties by encouraging them to use students to network by stuffing fliers, going door to door and making phone calls.”Races are won by people knocking on doors,” Cramer said. “There is no better time than now, as the turn of the millennium approaches, for students to step up and have a seat at the table. After all, we are the future of the party, and the nation.”