Conservative Confab Ends with More Questions than Answers
If I had to sum up the three days of the Conservative Political Action Conference in as many words, it would have to be “Breitbart versus Occupiers.”
Because if reaching for more serious summaries about cohesive message, party unity, or a strongly emerging candidate, the words that hung in the air over the DC event were a solid, pervasive “what now?”
There were campaign signs and stickers dotting the landscape, and overflow seating to watch the speeches of the three GOP presidential candidates. Former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) toted his family onstage to drive home his message that he’s the family values candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich got the most standing ovations with a string of Pavlovian talking points yet finished third in the straw poll, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney dropped “conservative” or some variant of the word 24 times in his address — including the “severely conservative” label that left more than a few scratching their heads.
There was the second-highest number of voters in the history of the straw poll, with nearly half of those voters being students and an almost disquieting lack of Ron Paul faithful. But those committed to other candidates weren’t exactly closing the enthusiasm gap left by Paul’s no-show, and even more attendees were overheard grousing about having to pick which candidate he or she disliked the least.
There were two hearty doses of crowd-pleasing populism in the electric speeches of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Those, and addresses by other conservative favorites such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), both excited attendees and reminded them that no candidate who can truly stoke the base and drive the right to the polls is actually running in this year’s presidential race.
And if such a candidate to rally the right jumped into the race, perhaps in the possibility of a brokered convention, there are no guarantees that a dream CPAC candidate could win a general election.
Yet one of the messages sent strongly by CPAC voters — and the corresponding Washington Times phone poll of 600 self-identified conservatives — is that the general election isn’t their point.
At the conference, 59 percent of straw poll voters picked a candidate’s stances on the issues as the most important quality in choosing a nominee, compared to 56 percent in the nationwide poll. Thirty-eight percent at CPAC and 33 percent nationwide picked the candidate’s chances to beat President Obama in November as most important.
http://tinyurl.com/87klarv
Illinois based manufacturer Caterpillar has decided to build its new manufacturing plant in North Carolina, rather than Illinois, after Illinois governor Pat Quinn (D-IL) said
“We don’t have any ocean front property in Illinois, so with that particular facility we weren’t in the ball game to begin with,” Quinn said Sunday at an unrelated news conference. “We met with the Caterpillar people and they made it pretty clear that the logistics would drive the decision.”
Of course there is that big plot of land which has been converted to a public park, fronting on Lake Michigan, with access to the Seven Seas through the St. Lawrence Seaway, that used to be occupied by U S Steel’s South Works! http://tinyurl.com/753annl
No, Illinois does not need high paying manufacturing jobs on Chicago’s South Side about 3-4 miles from the Obama mansion! What it needs is REGIME CHANGE!
hell is about to rain down on Rick Santorum
http://www.therightscoop.com/2012-santorum-leads-in-michigan/
The smear merchant has to take Santorum out now or the dream of McMitt being the dispenser of the goodies for the next four years will become a nightmare again.
“…the dream of McMitt being the dispenser of the goodies for the next four years…” versus the dream of fewer goodies being passed out at the expense of the personally responsible.
What happens when the irresistible force meets the immovable object?
“…and CPAC straw poll voters gave Congress a sky-high, sunny 70 percent approval rating.”
Were these attendees stoned out of their minds or was this perhaps a misdirected sense of trying to demonstrate cohesion? Either way, it puts most of the rest of their “input” under a cloud out here in the hinterlands.
I think the best thing about CPAC was Sarah Palin and her saying that the Tea Parties are alive and well and that we are just itching to vote come November. We didn’t go anywhere and we are still fighting for our conservative and Constitutional values now more than ever. Whoever gets the nomination knows that he will have to deal with the Tea Parties and our conservative agenda, especially if more Tea Party candidates are elected to Congress and the Republicans take over both the Senate and the House. We are not saying much now because we want the primary process to run its course. But as soon as there is a clear winner, we will give him our fullest support because whichever candidate we have will be a million times better than Obama. And if a conservative Congress is elected, then that Congress can help steer the president into a more conservative agenda (if needed, depending on the candidate). So thank you, Sarah Palin, for telling the world that the Tea Parties are alive and well, that we’re still out there, and that we’re a force to be reconed with.
Libertyship46,
You couldn’t be more correct: to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the tea party’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. We are funneling money DIRECTLY to candidates of our choice. The RNC – and its House and Senate counterparts – can pound sand. Those whose hands are on the levers of power within the GOP would like nothing more than for tea party members to just shut up and vote for the RINOs the GOP serves up (e.g. Dick Lugar). Fat chance. Tea party members understand clearly that this is a long war; that it took us decades of complacency to reach the miserable state wherein; and that it will take a sustained effort over many years to restore America’s founding principles of individual freedom and liberty, limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility.
If all of CPAC can be summarized by “Breitbart v. the Occupiers” we should despair. It is interesting that many of the highlighted speeches focused on “social issues” but the real strength of CPAC was those speakers who addressed economic and foreign policy issues. For me, that is the real story of the Tea Party influence and the success of CPAC.
The assorted protest/occupier stuff isn’t happening without some very deep (and intentionally obscure) pockets organizing and enabling it.
Check this guy out: A protester at CPAC
We had better consider who is electable because we can’t loose to obama this time!
True enough, but whom?
“Electible” means “someone the lefties would vote for if Obama dropped dead”.
So far, “the couch” and “the bar stool” seem to be running neck and neck for the Republican Party nominee.
To summarize, Bridget…people came away from CPAC the way they have been coming away from the entire Republican primary season.
Meh.
The best thing Santorum has going for him, is he’s not Romney. The second best thing…is he’s not any of the other “not Romneys)
The editors at NRO would like to see a Romney/Santorum faceoff.
“Gingrich’s verbal and intellectual talents should make him a resource for any future Republican president. But it would be a grave mistake for the party to make someone with such poor judgment and persistent unpopularity its presidential nominee. It is not clear whether Gingrich remains in the race because he still believes he could become president next year or because he wants to avenge his wounded pride: an ambiguity that suggests the problem with him as a leader. When he led Santorum in the polls, he urged the Pennsylvanian to leave the race. On his own arguments the proper course for him now is to endorse Santorum and exit.”
While their sentiments are widely held (and vehemently opposed by 15% that support Gingrich), unless and until Santorum can put Gingrich away in the South, he can’t claim the mantle of “non Romney”. Not really.
He’s riding a crest of a wave now, but if Gingrich stays…HE has to pick the fight with Santorum.
They are battling over the same bone.
If Gingrich hangs on until the South rises again…and Santorum doesn’t put him away then, we are “going for brokered” in August.
With three candidates that would clearly not be what the voters wanted and most were “severely” settling for any one of them.
Karl Rove’s Super Pac looked mysteriously similar to Rick Perry’s base of support. Maybe Perry thinks he can be the “consensus” candidate, in a Lazarus move that would put Gingrich’s nine lives to shame.
Ryan/Rubio is still my ticket. As long as we are going to have chaos in August, we ought to at least come out of it with a fighting chance.
Ryan…Rubio? They don’t want it, Mr. Bleachers.
http://www.anyclip.com/movies/unforgiven/CDMc27tYthtmb/#!quotes/
If I had to sum up the three days of the Conservative Political Action Conference in as many words, it would have to be “CPAC welcomes White Nationalist.”
Oh and a new conservative was born – “severely conservative”
– a job.
It has a job. It works for Obama Propaganda, Inc.
One wonders how much longer we can afford the reflexive but ultimately sterile posturing of both the left and the right? The labels and the accompanying rhetoric are increasingly of no consequence. The National Debt climbs, as do the interest payments. We are every day closer to becoming a bankrupt nation, which is handiwork of both the left and the right. Is the National Debt a “conservative” debt or a “liberal” debt? Perhaps it’s a “moderate” debt. Maybe an “independent” debt. In any case, do check out the latest story in “The Daily,” which tells us that the Congressional barbershop lost some $300,000 last year. It’s the perfect symbol. These self-important bags of wind on the Hill can’t run a barbershop! And we expect them to fix the economy? We have become a country with serious problems but without serious leadership. The real issue facing us is whether our democracy can find a way to govern itself. Current prospects are not encouraging.
Sounds like an observation Michael Gerson made in the Washington Post a while back: A large part of the “base” has lost any interest it ever had in, you know, actually governing. I used to think the same thing when I saw Robert Novak always talking about energizing the base; it’s interesting to see a former Bush speechwriter like Gerson making the same point.