Despite speculation that a boycott by several prominent conservative groups and figures may hurt attendance at CPAC 2011, there were more than double the amount of participants in the Straw Poll as in 2007 (a year prior to the 2008 Presidential election).
Presidential Straw Poll winner Congressman Ron Paul's base of support, Campaign for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty, had a strong influence on this year's conference. Interestingly enough, the day after his Straw Poll victory, Paul was expelled from the Advisory Board of the Young Americans for Freedom. Second place finisher, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney organized a strong effort as well. The only other potential candidate with volunteers, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, placed third.
In other words, those who made the strongest effort to place in the Straw Poll placed well. It has become apparent that the 2012 race for the GOP nomination for President is wide open. It has also become apparent that there is a great deal of disagreement among the ranks of the conservative movement, but not necessarily the dialogue the mainstream media portrays. While the results of the Straw Poll suggest conservatives do agree on reducing the size of the federal government, the combined 36% won by Ron Paul & Gary Johnson suggest there is a sizable sect of the movement is gravitating toward a "noninterventionist" approach to foreign affairs.
Still, the focus of the conservative movement post-CPAC 2011 can be unified by a desire to shrink government and reduce spending. In this spirit, CPAC was a success. Several notes of interest (at least for me) included several panels addressing the need to address the costs imposed by pubic employee unions and their role in political activism. A Friday afternoon workshop entitled "Fighting Big Labor's Anti-Worker Big Government Agenda" hosted by Vinnie Vernuccio (ran for Congress in Michigan) of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) was perhaps my favorite CPAC event. The panel had strong Michigan representation, including former MIGOP Chairman Saul Anuzis and Americans for Prosperity's Michigan Director Scott Hagerstrom. Anuzis is launching the Lansing based www.unionrefund.com, an organization aimed at giving labor union members an opportunity to opt out of the portion of their union dues going toward political donations (of which nearly 100% go to Democrats). This initiative gives union members, who take exception to their union's political activism. CEI also launched a labor news site, Workplacechoice.org. Another panel, specifically addressing issues related to public employees unions took place on Saturday.
Several other projects were launched at CPAC 2011, including FreedomWorks new social media program FreedomConnector. This online resource provides a forum, particularly for Tea Parties and other like-minded groups, to post events, exchange ideas and promote agendas in a Facebook-like setting. My attention was also caught by a group promoting the Madison Amendment, as an attempt to counteract federal power with state authority (i.e. 10th Amendment). A similar effort, specifically to address the federal debt, has been launched just days ago here in Michigan, by State Rep. Tom McMillin of Rochester Hills.
To be sure, CPAC 2011 did reflect the spirit of the groundswell of new activists brought into the movement through the Tea Parties. And despite the divisions that exist, a desire to restrain the size, scope and spending habits of the federal government is what unites conservatives in 2011.
2 comments:
The "Madison Amendment" is an old deal. It was old when I first heard of it at Young Republican Leadership Conference 2010, sad to say.
It's intriguing but unfortunately it is not particularly gripping, which is what is necessary to take hold (if you grab onto my play on words) as a viable political movement or effort.
The "Madison Amendment" is an old deal. It was old when I first heard of it at Young Republican Leadership Conference 2010, sad to say.
It's intriguing but unfortunately it is not particularly gripping, which is what is necessary to take hold (if you grab onto my play on words) as a viable political movement or effort.
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