CPAC &The State of Conservatism
My Fellow Conservatives (and any liberals within earshot):
I spent the past three days at CPAC, surrounded by conservatives. For anyone who resides on a college campus for most of the year, this is an unusual event indeed. However, all was not up to par for me. There were too many Republicans, and not enough conservatives (and certainly not enough libertarians). I describe myself politically as an American first, a conservative second, and a Republican third. I am not a conservative because I am Republican, but rather the other way around. The GOP is the party that irks me least.
CPAC this year had a very "we're doing great" tone, with many speakers including Ken Mehlman and Bill Frist not promising anything for the future. FoxNews has an article highliting the GOP criticism, but I didn't see much of it. President Bush squandered his first year of his second term, DeLay and others caused scandal and plauged the GOP, which has remained stagnant in Congress. Boehner is a cautious step forward, but I think Representative Todd Tiahrt said it best when he spoke on Saturday, saying the "conservatives are not in control of Congress."
Most speakers were not pragmatic, citing Supreme Court nominations as victories, but not Social Security reform as a defeat. We need a new conservative revolution, to take the GOP back from those whom power has corrupted.
I spent the past three days at CPAC, surrounded by conservatives. For anyone who resides on a college campus for most of the year, this is an unusual event indeed. However, all was not up to par for me. There were too many Republicans, and not enough conservatives (and certainly not enough libertarians). I describe myself politically as an American first, a conservative second, and a Republican third. I am not a conservative because I am Republican, but rather the other way around. The GOP is the party that irks me least.
CPAC this year had a very "we're doing great" tone, with many speakers including Ken Mehlman and Bill Frist not promising anything for the future. FoxNews has an article highliting the GOP criticism, but I didn't see much of it. President Bush squandered his first year of his second term, DeLay and others caused scandal and plauged the GOP, which has remained stagnant in Congress. Boehner is a cautious step forward, but I think Representative Todd Tiahrt said it best when he spoke on Saturday, saying the "conservatives are not in control of Congress."
Most speakers were not pragmatic, citing Supreme Court nominations as victories, but not Social Security reform as a defeat. We need a new conservative revolution, to take the GOP back from those whom power has corrupted.
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