CPAC 2010: Day 1

What a weekend! CPAC 2010 was a conservative getaway filled with great speakers and an environment unlike any other.  The energy that filled the rooms of the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel was indeed a far cry from the doldrums the movement found itself in merely a year ago when critics cried out that conservatism had died.  No speaker missed a chance to make fun of those claims and, instead, all seemed to relish in the movement’s new-found momentum.

Now that I have recovered from the fast pace of getting up early in the morning to ride the Metro out to the events every morning and listening to a grueling schedule of lectures and panels for three days, I am going to go back through my notes and write a detailed analysis of the event.

Marco Rubio

Day one of CPAC got off to a great start with an address from Marco Rubio, the candidate in the Republican primary in Florida challenging Charlie Christ for the Senate seat.  Rubio set the tone for the event which tried to distance itself from the traditional establishment within the Republican Party represented by Christ and instead situate itself with the principles of conservatism represented by Rubio.

Rubio started out exalting the Tea Parties as the “single greatest political pushback in American history.” He highlighted the importance of 2010 as a “referendum on the very identity of America.” In an obvious jab at his opponent in the Republican primary, Rubio said that the US Senate already has one Arlen Specter too many and that the nation did not need two Democratic Parties.

Rubio received a standing ovation for his statement that Americans want leaders to fight against the “change” being presented right now in Washington.  Instead, he suggested a long list of priorities that the Senate should be focusing on:

• Cut taxes across the board,
• Eliminate death and capital gains taxes
• Lower corporate taxes
• Stop cap-and-trade
• Trust American innovation
• Put consumers in charge of healthcare spending
• Lawsuit abuse reform
• Get serious about getting control of National Debt
• Do whatever it takes for however long it takes to defeat Islamic terrorism
• Put captured terrorists in military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay (big standing ovation)

He moved on to tell a little bit of his life story.  His parents were exiles from a place where they were limited in life.  There was a cap on how far they could go no matter how hard they worked.  He made the point that America is different because the dreams that are impossible everywhere else are possible here.  He closed by saying that he owes everything to God, his parent’s sacrifices, and the United States of America.  His speech was followed by an extended standing ovation from the crowd.

Sen. Jim DeMint – South Carolina

Following Marco Rubio’s speech could have been difficult for many, but Sen. DeMint picked up right where he had left off.  He began by saying that he could use a man like Rubio in the United States Senate which was received with significant applause.

He said that we had reached a critical mass of conservative hope and change and that it had become the American people vs. the Democrats and he liked those odds.

He gave a plug for his web site, www.senateconservatives.com, and called for a balanced budget and a one-year moratorium on earmarks.  He noted that the borrower is slave to the lender.

Also, once again in an obvious slap to moderate Republicans in races across the country, DeMint said that he would “rather have 30 Marco Rubios in the Senate than 60 Arlen Specters.”

He listed Marco Rubio (FL), Chuck DeVore (CA), Mike Williams (TX), and Pat Toomey (PA) as better kinds of Republicans who will fight the conservative fight alongside him.

He then went on to list the qualities needed in the 2012 President, a position his name has been mentioned for.

• Can’t govern from a teleprompter
• Federal government must do less, not more
• No more bailouts
• Will not spend money we don’t have
• Will not throw out the faith of our fathers
• Will not give in to terrorists
• Will stop using other people’s money to impose goodwill on others
• Will return power, people, and money to states

State Rep. Josh Mandel - Ohio

Josh Mandel is one of the youngest office-holders in the country.  At CPAC, he told his story of how much hard work can achieve despite all expectations.

He first ran for city council at the age of 18 and was elected because of his hard work ethic.  He knocked on the doors of every voter in the district and was elected despite all of the naysayers.

Mandel had also enlisted in the United States Marines and was deployed to Iraq.  After he returned, he proposed legislation to reduce property taxes even though the others said it couldn’t be done.  He fought for it anyway and went to the people, hundreds of whom showed up for the next city council meeting.  Even though the other city council members told him he would be embarrassed, his legislation passed by a vote of 6-1.

Then, he decided to run for the state legislature in a district partially represented in Congress by Dennis Kucinich.  He knocked on 19,679 doors and won the election once again defying all expectations.

In 2007, he volunteered to return to service in Iraq despite the option to stay and serve in the legislature.  In 2008, when he returned, he was challenged by an opponent who labeled Mandel an absentee legislator.  Needless to say, he was reelected with over 70% of the vote.

Mandel held up the pair of shoes he wore out on the campaign trail, how worn down they were, and told of how he keeps them mounted on the wall behind his desk so that people who visit him in his office see the holes in them and how worn down they are and are reminded of the work he puts into his office every day.

He left the audience with two commitments he has made and charged the audience to do the same:

1. Sand on principle.  Don’t blindly follow the leaders.
2. Don’t be outworked.

Dick Armey

Dick Armey is a name from the past for many of us, but he demonstrated in his speech at CPAC that he still knows a thing or two about the political climate in the country.

He charged President Obama and the Democrats in control in Washington of aiming to redistribute income, knowing how to take advantage of bad times by claiming them as catastrophes and using them as excuse to gain control.

He said that, despite Democratic aims, the private sector pulls the government, not the other way around.  Using some good ole Texas logic, he noted that “when a jockey is fatter than the horse, you will lose the race.”

Liz Cheney

Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz presented an expert dismantling of President Obama’s handling of the war against terror.  Perhaps one of the best lines of the day was when she quoted her daughter who, upon hearing news talk about shutting down Guantanamo Bay, asked, “Is President Obama really trying to bring terrorists into the United States?”

She said that the administration should focus a little more on interrogating terrorists and a little less time convicting CIA officials who she said kept us safe after 9/11 and are patriots.

She went into detail of how the enhanced interrogation program that has received so much attention was shut down by President Obama, but he did not follow up to ensure it was replaced.  Instead, he has focused on other things and, to the best of her knowledge, not a single terrorists has been interrogated while they have been busy in other places.

She noted the ties that Yemen had to all recent terror attacks and noted with disgust a recent statement from administration officials that they were shocked to see Yemen connections to another attack.

She received a standing ovation for proclaiming, “President Obama, you will never silence us!”

Then, she mentioned her father who she said she usually talked to before giving a big speech.  This time, she brought him with her.

Dick Cheney

The former Vice President received one of the warmest welcomes of the whole conference, a long standing ovation perhaps excited most of all because nobody knew he was coming.

He started by saying that a welcome like that was almost enough to make him want to run for office which was greeted by more applause.  He then said it wasn’t quite enough, though.  He continued by talking about how proud he was of his daughters and that there comes a time to step aside and let the next generation take charge. 

“2010,” he said, “is gonna be a phenomenal year.” He then predicted that Barack Obama would be a one-term President which was, of course, followed by a standing ovation.

Sen. Scott Brown - Massachusetts

Sen. Brown was met with a lot of enthusiasm by the CPAC crowd which showed much appreciation for the fact that he had taken Ted Kennedy’s seat for Republicans and had provided a spark for the conservative movement.

Aside from mentioning that he had indeed driven there in his truck, there was not a whole lot of substance to the speech to report.

Mitt Romney

One of the frontrunners for the nomination in 2012, Romney provided a sneak peak into his strategy for election.

He began with one of the best delivered jokes of the entire conference.  After saying he had just arrived from the Vancouver Olympics, he asked if everybody had heard the news that the gold medal had been stripped from American Lindsey Vonn.  He briefly paused to a gasp from the crowd.  He then explained that it had been determined that President Obama had been going down hill faster than she had.

The humor didn’t end there.  He said that President Obama giving himself a B+ for his first year was the biggest exaggeration since Al Gore’s invention of the internet.

After even going so far as to defend President Bush, which hasn’t really been done by any politician since about 2006, he began to attack President Obama’s agenda.  “Obama called his agenda ambitious, I call it reckless.”

“America,” he said, “is not better off than it was $1.8 trillion ago.

He then laid out what seems to be his preliminary platform.

• Health coverage for the uninsured should be a state issue
• The answer for healthcare is market incentives
• Truth trumps hope
• People shape enterprises
• People shape countries
• Founders shaped country built around freedom of the people
• We are a nation of pioneers

He then classified the Democrats currently in charge as “liberal neo-monarchists.” He said that they are trying to take control of the country and, while pounding the podium with his fist, shouted, “We won’t let ‘em do it!”  He received a large standing ovation for the statement which was followed by a strong closing line once again attacking Pres. Obama.

“America has been a force for good like no other in the world and for that we make no apologies!”

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter – Michigan

The contrast between Mitt Romney’s energetic speech and what followed from Rep. McCotter could not be greater.  In a tone that would have fit right in to the funeral predicted by liberals for conservatism one year ago, Rep. McCotter stated the grave nature of the policies enacted by Democrats in DC.  Unfortunately, the only thing I took away from the speech was how utterly depressing his speech was.

Rep. John Boehner – Ohio

Introduced as the next Speaker of the House, Rep. Boehner received a large ovation upon his introduction.  He promised that, if given the majority later this year, they will run the House differently from both Republicans and Democrats in the past.

First of all, they will get the reform started after the Republican Revolution in 1994 going again.  They will post every bill online for at least 72 hours prior to the vote.  They will put cameras in the Rules Committee meetings.  They will outlaw “monuments to me,” which is when politicians get their names put on buildings or other things they earmarked the funding for.  He also said more ideas could be found at http://gopleader.gov/readthebill.

He also said that, for now, he will continue to insist that Democrats start over on healthcare legislation.  He also said that 340 out of 435 House races across the country have Republican candidates already and it was his aim to challenge every single one.

He has also created a web site with more information regarding his agenda at http://freedomproject.org/

He said that he will not attempt to co-opt the Tea Parties.  Instead, he said that Republicans will respect them, listen to them, and walk among them.  This was greeted by significant applause.

He closed by stating that he hoped to be open, transparent, and to listen for good ideas.  He left with a standing ovation.

Wayne LaPierre

The final speaker of Day One was Wayne Lapierre, Executive VP and CEO of the NRA.  A little out of place, he spoke a lot about the fight that took place under the Clinton administration and made only passing references to the current administration.  This was highlighted by playing many clips from Meet the Press and other television news programs from the 90s in which he had spoken out against Clinton’s policies including a controversial statement regarding Clinton’s intentions of allowing people to be killed for political purposes.

He noted that all of the laws needed to protect people from gun crimes were already on the books, but they were not being enforced then and still aren’t today.  He said the key is not new laws, but enforcement.

He said the NRA is going to go in front of the Supreme Court soon with a case that would incorporate the second amendment to cities and states by applying to them a ruling that only applies in federal districts currently.

Summary

Overall, Day One of CPAC 2010 was a great way to kick off a great weekend.  There were several electric moments from the passionate speech of Marco Rubio to the surprise introduction of Dick Cheney.  It was great to hear from such a wide range of conservative leaders of today and tomorrow and see that they are concentrating on returning the Republican parties to the fiscally conservative roots from which it came.