Courtesy: Mark Washburn David Rufful '12

Josh Riddle '10

 

By Tris Wykes
Valley News Staff Writer
Hanover -- The Dartmouth men's basketball program hasn't captured an Ivy League title since 1959 and has won just two of its first 12 games this season. But at least two of the Big Green's hoopsters are experiencing success, although it’s in the political arena and not on the hardwood.

Sophomore forwards David Rufful and Josh Riddle, the former from Warwick, R.I., and the latter from Denver, are creeping up on a combined 500,000 YouTube views for a pair of conservative rap videos they made last summer. The duo, dubbed The Young Cons, got another burst of international publicity when an Associated Press feature on their act ran across the U.S. and Canada shortly before Christmas.

Dressed in shirts and ties for their performances, the students strut about and make generalized hip-hop video gestures while praising deregulation and the power of the individual and attacking big government and abortion rights. They're outspoken fans of Ronald Reagan, Jesus Christ and the late Ayn Rand and her novel, Atlas Shrugged, and aren't likely to have sent Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi any holiday cards.
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