Anderson@Large

CPAC 2010 Postscript

Earlier this week, I put a lid on CPAC 2010. But then I read Micah Sifry’s post about tea partiers’ response to rumors that Bill Clinton and James Carville are planning to go after their leaders.

Since it’s harder to hit a moving target, Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella organization of tea party groups, asked grassroots activists to proclaim themselves the leaders they’ve been looking for:

It is un-American and morally wrong for a former president to attack Americans who have gotten involved in the political system.

It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “When the people fear the government there is tyranny.”

What they still don’t understand is that this is a leaderless movement, this is a ‘We The People...’ movement. This site is a chance for ‘We The People’ to stand up and say that ‘I Am The Tea Party Leader.’

Their rapid response underscores RedState’s Erick Erickson’s observations during a CPAC panel discussion, “Saving Freedom through Technology: Growth of the Online Movement”:

The right and the left are on an equal playing field online and we have a significant advantage. The left cannot, will not win on the radio. Who wants to listen to that for three hours a day? I mean, Air America has shut down and Gitmo is still open.

[...]

We have a significant advantage that we haven’t fully exploited, that we’re just beginning to exploit…It’s a beautiful marriage – online, the radio together.

Indeed, nine of the top 10 talk radio hosts are conservative, according to Talkers magazine. And Rush Limbaugh “remains the most-listened-to talk host and more relevant culturally than ever.”

CPAC 2010 Wrap-Up

They say you always remember your first time. Well, my first Conservative Political Action Conference was indeed memorable. I want to thank Erick Erickson and RedState for sponsoring the Bloggers Lounge.

As I walked around the historic Marriott Wardman Park, listened to the speakers, sat in on workshops, wandered through the Exhibit Hall and interviewed a few of the 10,000 attendees, I was struck by what a difference a year makes. A year ago, conservatives were “moribund and on the run.” Progressives were triumphant and proclaimed a “permanent Democratic majority.”

After losses in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, conservatives are energized and on the move. As Bill Bennett observed:

You’re either playing offense or defense. Conservatives are on offense. We are moving the ball on them.

While the mainstream media focus on the differences among conservatives, Andrew Breitbart threw down the gauntlet:

Look mainstream media, the jig is up. We figured you out. You’re not on our team. You’re on the progressives’ team. We tried to play nice with you and nice is over.

[…]

You pit us against each other. We are going to come after you so hard. You have no idea what you have awoken in this country.

Sure, tea partiers and conservatives don’t agree on every issue. But they are united in the belief that my enemy’s enemy is my friend.

The CPAC straw poll results show that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, “two of the three horses of the Apocalypse,” are their common enemy.

During his presentation, pollster Tony Fabrizio noted:

This CPAC had the largest number of straw poll participants in CPAC history; just shy of 2400 participants.

[…]

More than half of this movement feel that we’re within striking distance of taking back. That’s a tremendous amount of optimism. While the Democrats are feeling dejected, we are obviously feeling optimistic and pumped up.

Indeed, with the midterm elections eight months away, conservatives are united in their determination to rock the House and Senate.

CPAC, Day 1

On Day One, CPAC 2010 served up a double helping of beefcake Bay Staters.

Sen. Scott Brown made a surprise appearance. The Marriott Ballroom roared when he introduced himself:

I’m Scott Brown and I’m the newly elected Republican senator from Massachusetts … My truck is parked outside.

Brown said his victory “changed the course of politics in America.” He noted that when he started his campaign, his supporters “could have met in the phone booth.”

He was at CPAC to “introduce one of those guys who was in the phone booth with me” – former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney began by saying, “I’d take him anywhere I can take him.” He then got down to business:

I’m not telling you something you don’t know when I say that our conservative movement took a real hit in the 2008 elections. The victors were not exactly gracious in their big win: Media legs were tingling. Time Magazine’s cover pictured the Republican elephant and declared it an endangered species. The new president himself promised change of biblical proportion. And given his filibuster-proof Senate and lopsided House, he had everything he needed to deliver it.

[...]

I know that most of you have watched intently as the conservative comeback began in Virginia and exploded onto the scene in New Jersey. But as a Massachusetts man, who, like my fellow Bay-Staters, has over the years, been understandably regarded somewhat suspiciously in gatherings like this, let me take just a moment to exalt in a Scott Brown victory!

For that victory that stopped ObamaCare and turned back the Reid-Pelosi liberal tide, we have something to that you’d never think you’d hear at CPAC, “Thank you Massachusetts!”

Romney said President Obama and congressional Democrats are responsible for “Obama’s lost year”:

So when it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys.

He bashed Obama’s “liberal agenda for government” – cap-and-trade, healthcare reform and government bailouts.

A couple of people brought to my attention a New York Times’ piece about the “racial tones” of one of the speakers, Jason Mattera, a twenty-something from Brooklyn, NY.

In an interview with Ed Morrissey in the Bloggers Lounge, Mattera blasted the Times reporter.

The speakers focused on policy differences and used mocking tones to attack Obama. While this is my first CPAC, I’ve attended several Take Back America conferences, where George W. Bush was mocked unmercifully.

BTW, the lack of diversity at CPAC is proportionately no worse than that at progressives’ annual gathering.

Bottom line: Calling conservatives “racist,” “obstructionist” or “Party of No” is like water on a duck’s back. They are fired up and ready to go to the polls in November.

CPAC 2010

I am on my way to DC for CPAC 2010, the 37th annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

I am attending as an official CPAC blogger, sponsored by RedState.com. Although I was surprised to receive the invitation, I readily accepted it.

While I don’t view myself as a conservative, many do. In a recent Facebook post, my colleague, Prof. Kim Pearson, wrote:

Thought I would explore a Black History Month-related topic that has contemporary relevance but isn’t often discussed. Might go further with this in a future post to talk about how today’s black conservatives break with the past. Although I’m not sure that “conservative” is the label that Faye Anderson chooses for herself. Faye, I’m certainly interested in your thoughts.

Well, it depends. I’m conservative on some issues, for example, illegal immigration.

But I’m progressive on voting rights and matters of race because, well, race matters.

Think Sen. Harry Reid or Chris Matthews rhapsodizing that he “forgot he [President Obama] was black tonight for an hour.”

Truth is, I’m not an ideologue. Instead, I’m animated by justice and fairness.

And I’m passionate about black folks getting a reasonable ROI on their political capital.

I have been both a Democratic and a Republican activist. I am now a registered independent and like 70 percent of Americans, I don’t like what’s going on in DC. In fact, I’m angry as a mofo.