CPAC Reenergizes Conservative Movement

For the past year, events like tea parties and town hall meetings have shown that people are beginning to form a general distaste toward liberal programs such as cap-and-trade and government-run healthcare. Conservatism seems to be on the rise right now because Americans are upset about a lack of efficiency in Washington. They are also beginning to show that they do not connect with a Presidential administration that has proven itself nothing short of radical. 

This current movement was reinvigorated just a few weeks ago with the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C. During this event, the American Conservative Union programs focused on defining conservatism and discussing ways to expand the ongoing movement through 2010. Key political figures such as Mitt Romney, Mike Pence, and Glenn Beck were some of the most popular speakers at the three-day event. 

The 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference was held on the weekend of February 18th-20th. An estimated 10,000 people all of ages and from all over the country attended this event. CPAC began on Thursday and featured speakers Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney. Rubio is a young conservative who is currently the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. He is planning to transition on to the national political stage by running for the Senate in 2010. He attributes his current successes  to having the opportunity of growing up in America. Rubio’s relatives came to America after they were exiled from a small town in Cuba.  

One of the most powerful voices at CPAC was potential presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Throughout his speech, Romney highlighted some of the programs that Obama has proposed and that Americans have rejected. Most importantly, Romney noted that the Obama administration has lost focus on the ability to help rebuild the economy and create jobs. Romney did not see the stimulus bill, in which America borrows and spends more money, as a way of fulfilling this purpose. Instead, Romney believes that America’s economy can be regenerated by lowering taxes and promoting more capital investments. Romney emphasized the importance of strengthening the economy by proclaiming, “Instead of leading the world in how much we borrow, it’s time that we make sure we lead the world in how much we build and create and invest.”

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence was one of the featured speakers on Friday. In his address, Pence praised the American people for fighting back against some of the liberal programs that have been pushed by the Obama administration. He strongly believes that the reason these programs were not passed, despite Congressional control and a liberal influence in most outlets of the media, was because the American people stood up against big government in 2009. Pence had a showing on the straw poll that was announced later in the convention. Of all the registrants polled, 5% said they would prefer Pence as the 2012 Republican candidate for president. 

At the end of the day on Saturday, the results of the annual straw poll were cast. Residents for all 50 states and Washington D.C. were represented in the balloting. Of all the registrants in the poll, 48% were students and 54% were ages 18-25. In the poll, most registrants said that their main goal was to promote the expansion of freedom and reduce the size of the federal government. Others said they were most focused on protecting traditional values, traditional marriage, and the lives of the unborn. A smaller proportion said that they were primarily focused on guaranteeing security and safety at home and abroad. 

Registrants were then asked to rate their approval of some well known political figures. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck all scored high favorability ratings of at least 70%. Mike Pence (R-IN) had a 59% favorability rating while Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele scored 42% favorability. Harry Reid (D-NV) had an 88% unfavorable rating while Nancy Pelosi’s unfavorable rating was a whopping 94%. In terms of job approval, Barack Obama scored a 98% disapproval rating from all respondents, while the Republicans in Congress scored 62% approval for their efforts to combat some of the Democrats’ big-government programs. 

Then, participants were asked, “Thinking ahead to the November elections, how many seats, if any, will Republicans pick up in the U.S. House of Representatives?” Over a third of respondents believed that the Republicans would pick up 40 or more seats in 2010. This would give the Republicans back the majority in the House, which they have not had since 2006.

Finally, members were asked who they would prefer to vote for as the next Republican president in 2012. Texas Congressmen Ron Paul won the highest proportion of straw poll votes with 31%. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney scored the second highest amount with 22%. Coming in third place was Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin with 7%. Ron Paul’s victory in the polling represents the conservative’s growing desire for limiting the scope of the federal government. Paul is a member of the Liberty Caucus of the Republican Party, which seeks to promote this very task. Paul’s victory can be attributed to people’s anger toward the Obama administration’s attempts to expand government as well as his popularity among younger conservatives, who made up the greatest proportion of the straw poll. 

In his CPAC address, Paul declared, “The purpose of government is to protect liberty, not to run your personal lives, not to run the economy, and not to pretend that we can tell the world how they ought to live.” Everyone seemed to enjoy Paul’s speech on limited government and less federal spending. However, a mixed reaction, with both cheers and boos, came from the crowd of conservatives after it was announced that Paul was the presidential winner. 

Later that night, a large crowd was energized and ready to listen to the keynote speaker, Glenn Beck. As a talk radio and TV show host, Beck has been one of the faces of the conservative movement in 2009. His show has entertained and informed Americans about the history of the United States and the role government has played throughout the 20th century. Beck acknowledged that both Democrats and Republicans have had problems when they were in power. He sees America’s problems not stemming from everyday liberals and conservatives, but from the influence of progressivism. Early in his speech, Beck announced, “Progressivism is the cancer in America and it’s eating our Constitution and it was designed to eat the Constitution, to progress past the Constitution.” Beck argues that progressivism has slowly been developing big government programs that have, to an extent, taken people’s rights away or have regulated their lifestyles. At the end of his speech, however, Beck acknowledged that he had hope for America to lift itself off its feet and restore itself to the original principles created by the Founding Fathers. 

The theme of CPAC has deviated from those of years past. This year, speakers like Ron Paul and Glenn Beck set the stage for a conference devoted to more people being against big government. Not only were people there to promote conservative values, but also to outright reject the liberal programs proposed by the Obama administration. Anger towards Washington and some policies Congress has attempted to pass set the conservative movement in motion. Time will only tell what kind of influence the tea parties, town hall meetings, and CPAC have on the 2010 and 2012 elections. However, the anti-big government and anti-heavy spending tone of CPAC clearly represents how millions of conservatives across America are feeling right now.