Revival and Reinvention in the Conservative Caucus
BY JIMMY LOOMIS
An all-star lineup of prominent conservative political leaders and activists convened on September 28 at the St. Charles Convention Center to kick off the pinnacle of conservative ideological gatherings: the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). CPAC is an annual forum sponsored by the nation’s leading conservative political body, the American Conservative Union (ACU). Founded in 1964, the ACU is the United States’ oldest and largest grassroots conservative group.
Local, state, and national speakers and panelists issued a “call to action” to an audience buzzing with a shared enthusiasm for a tidal wave of conservative change in political direction. The crisp, fall morning began with an invocation and prayer. Talk radio host Dana Loesch greeted the estimated 300 conservative patriots who had traveled from all across the United States.
Al Cardenas, Chairman of the ACU, presented a brief overview of the program to come. The first to speak was Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). Known for his youthful vigor and as a leader of the Tea Party movement, Senator Lee received a standing ovation as he took the stage. Comparing the federal government to a dictatorship, he criticized the policies of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party and stressed the importance of defeating the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). In closing, he pledged to continue the conservatives’ fight in Washington, reassuring the faithful: “Fear not—the American people will always have the final word…”
The daylong program continued until 6:00 p.m., and featured an impressive array of local, state, and national figures, including Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, Rick Santorum, Former US Senator, Elbert Guillory, State Senator from Louisiana, Sam Brownback, Governor of Kansas, along with members of renowned conservative think tanks, political organizations, and traditionally conservative media outlets.
Participants, diverse in their backgrounds and experience, spoke about the issues facing the country: US involvement in foreign combat, education, the dismal state of the economy, Obamacare, and the moral decay of society. Other speakers participated in panel discussions on political hot topics, such as healthcare, immigration, climate change, and IRS targeting of conservative individuals and groups.
Democrat-turned-Republican Elbert Guillory, the self-proclaimed “first black senator since Reconstruction” from Louisiana, implored conservatives to heed the sense of urgency for reform in America. He likened today’s Democratic Party and politics to “termites” who are attacking the moral foundation of our nation, and accused the “head termite” living in the White House of “destroying the fiscal integrity of our great nation.” Emphatically he claimed that the demise of morality and the decline of the traditional two-parent family structure, rather than guns or weapons, is what is responsible for the “culture of killing” which now reigns over America, the theory being that children who are exposed to violence in the streets and in the media from a very young age, grow up believing more violence is the appropriate consequence or response to almost any negative situation. In no uncertain terms, Guillory denounced homosexuality, stating that “the basic foundational or family unit consists of one man and one woman.” Using other examples to bolster his opinion, he told the story of creation, stating when God took Adam’s rib to create a partner, God did not awaken Adam to say “Adam, here is Leroy,” and the story of the flood, stating that God did not tell Noah to pick any two of every species, but rather a male and a female.
The program featured several of the “10 Under 40,” 10 rising young stars of the conservative party to watch, each of whom is younger than 40 years old, such as Clarice Navarro (Colorado state representative) and Casey Guernsey (Missouri state representative). Ms. Navarro-Ratzloff, a female Hispanic state representative from Colorado, used herself to illustrate the changing face of the Conservative Party. Telling the crowd of her working-class, one-parent upbringing, she spoke of the broadening appeal of the conservative ideology to traditionally liberal and Democratic demographics.
Possibly the most anticipated speaker of the day was Texas Governor Rick Perry. Driving home the party’s central theme of less federal government involvement, Perry told the crowd that, “[t]he answer to our economic ills will not be found in Washington, but rather among the states.” Governor Perry held up the booming Texas economy as living proof of the success of conservative policies. Texas, he boasted, has balanced its budgets, lowered taxes, created jobs, and, most importantly, has controlled spending. In stark contrast, he decried the present administration’s domestic and foreign policy failures, stating, “Long before our president presided over the downgrading of our credit, he had downgraded our standing in the world. He alienated Israel, he emboldened Iran, he muddled the foreign policy that we saw in the Arab Spring, and his latest gamble in Syria is a demonstration of weakness in a world that needs a strong America.” As many of the other speakers did, Perry also invoked the name of Ronald Reagan, as he called for a return to the Reagan foreign policy of “peace through strength.”
Former Senator Rick Santorum’s speech emphasized the importance of Christian family values. The audience watched a trailer from Santorum’s current project; a film entitled “The Christmas Candle,” to be released at Christmastime. As Santorum remarked, it is the only film being released during the holidays about the true meaning of Christmas, “which is not about Santa Claus, reindeer, or gift giving.”
Lt. Col. Oliver North, former United States Marine Corps member and White House advisor, proudly proclaimed the worldwide supremacy of the United States military, yet stated that recent foreign policy has made America weak, and appear weak in the eyes of our enemies. He showed footage of military operations, which featured a double amputee reaffirming his and the military’s commitment to continue to fight for Americans’ freedoms. North reminded the crowd that America remains “the home of the free, because of the brave.” During a closed press conference, this reporter had the opportunity to question Lt. Col. North on his view of the President’s handling of the most recent crisis in Syria, to which North retorted: “The administration has been making it up as they go along, do[ing] absolutely nothing to prepare for ‘what-if ’.
Another highly anticipated speaker was Grover Norquist, a conservative libertarian Republican and President and Founder of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). ATR is a taxpayer advocacy group Norquist founded in 1985 at the request of President Reagan. Norquist is best known for his “No Tax Pledge,” which binds signatories (elected officials) from voting for new or raising current taxes. Norquist succinctly summed up the ACU’s position vis-a-vis the federal government with his words: “We want one thing from the government. We wish to be left alone…Don’t raise our taxes, leave our property rights alone, leave our Second Amendment rights alone.”
The enthusiastic crowd responded to speakers with clapping, cheering, and nods of approval throughout. However, although the conservatives appeared to present a united front, with their focused and relentless criticism of current policy, it was apparent that there are several factions within the movement: the establishment, whose party faithful have been loyal to the Republican Party for generations; the Libertarian wing, bearing the brand of the
Paul family, which supports individual freedoms and property rights, as well as laissez-faire economics, and the Tea Partiers, perhaps the loudest fragment of the party. With Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) at the forefront, the Tea Party’s beliefs center on strong affirmation or vehement condemnation of social issues and on governmental reform in fiscal policies, such as decreasing the national debt through reduced government spending, and reshaping entitlement programs. Paradoxically, in the movement’s strength also lies its weakness, for as the conservative movement grows, the differences in ideology within the factions will yield a splintered Republican Party.
If the Republicans wish to successfully capture a majority in the Senate, maintain the current majority in the House, or achieve their ultimate goal of putting their nominee in the White House in 2016, they must first find a way to unify their own party. To do this, they must satisfy not only the needs of the often vociferous conservative and populist base, but also those of the less vocal “Silent Majority”; keep in mind that it was President Nixon’s ability to harness the power of this modest constituency that propelled a shaky former Vice-President into the Oval Office in his 1968 presidential election. However, today this large populace of moderate Republicans is leaving the ranks of the once-strong GOP in record numbers, hesitant to brand themselves as members of a party overtaken by political extremism. Losing valuable votes as this moderate element casts its ballots for independents, or a moderate Democrat here and there, it is almost as if the party is pushing them away, forcing them to cast a vote devoid of passion, in an act of resignation brought on by the alienation of their once-strong political identity. Though not as dominating as in years past, it is clear that the vein of populist American conservatism is alive and well among the party base, and will continue to be a significant force in shaping America’s political landscape.