The American Conservative Union made a splash by announcing they will welcome GOProud back to CPAC this year. Well, sort of. They may attend, but they may not sponsor — same as last year’s stink. Noah Rothman responds:
The question conservatives involved with this conference appear to be focused on are which groups provide the ACU and the movement as a whole with greater value. They would seem to view this event as more an exclusive club than a big tent political gathering. But, if that is the case, it is beneficial to review just how much value each group brings to the Republican table.
Certainly, GOProud co-founder Jimmy LaSalvia‘s shots at the GOP in media outlets like MSNBC will understandably rub conservatives the wrong way. But it was Heritage’s political action wing, not GOProud, which pushed for and succeeded in forcing the most obviously disastrous political misstep in more than a year: the government shutdown.
It was not GOProud’s actions that resulted in a Democratic revival and a shocking disparity favoring the president’s party in the generic congressional ballot. It was not GOProud that marshalled more than half a million dollars and launched digital advertising campaigns designed to reduce the support of conservative lawmakers in their districts in pursuit of that ill-conceived political maneuver.
What’s more, it is not GOProud that is petulantly threatening to not take part in an increasingly insular political conference if it is not able to threaten the event’s organizers into sharing their point of view. There is room within the conservative movement for both these groups, but only one seems to see it that way.
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