Impressions from CPAC 2008

This is really not very good form, to blog about 2-month-old news, but it was certainly a life highlight for me, and I wasn't blogging yet at that point, so there's no time like the present and all that....

Pam and I were able to attend the last day of the 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 9, but we also were present on Friday afternoon (the 8th) for a speech by Ann Coulter, sponsored by the Young America's Foundation. More on Ann Coulter's speech in a moment.

I didn't envision CPAC being the grand-scale presentation it is. I should have known better; this was, after all, the 35th annual CPAC, and it is the premier annual conservative event. Pam had argued with me that we should probably show up at least in casual-dressy attire, but I felt jeans were just fine. She was right this time; we should have gone with her recommendation. I felt overwhelmed walking into a throng of well-dressed people of all ages, especially walking through the exhibit hall with booths by the American Conservative Union, Liberty University, Young America's Foundation, Human Events, National Review, the Huckabee, McCain and Romney campaigns, and on and on it went.

If you feel lonely as a conservative, you need to make your reservation now for CPAC 2009, except that you can't because we don't know the dates yet. With very minor exceptions, everyone there is of one mind and heart on the issues, and this includes around 6,000 attendees at any given moment. It is held in an absolutely state-of-the-art location, the Omni Shoreham Hotel. If any of you have seen The Pelican Brief, some of the scenes were filmed there.

I remember a number of different incidents from the conference, but one especially is a humorous, though pleasant memory that illustrates my point in the last paragraph.

After waiting in line for around 80-90 minutes, we finally entered the banquet hall where Ann Coulter was speaking. Pam and I took seats about 2/3 of the way up the row, on the aisle, and a group of 4-5 students whom we'd been chatting with in line sat in the row in front of us. There was one seat on the aisle right in front of me that was taken a few minutes later by a very beautiful young girl who was obviously with this same student group. It was easy to see, though, that she was very anxious, as she kept looking at her watch, then looking around the room. Finally, she told the rest of us what was bothering her: she had been in the line in the exhibit hall for Tom Delay's book signing, but didn't want to miss the Coulter speech, so she had come back to rejoin her school buddies. But, oh how badly she wanted Congressman Delay's autograph! We all assured her that we would make sure her seat was saved so that she could hightail it over to the exhibit hall, get her book signed and then get back in time for the speech. "Are you sure?" she asked. Yes, we were positive we could hold the seat. "You won't give it away?" No, we would retain the chair for the cute little Delay admirer. So, she scampered away...and returned about 20 minutes later. The starstruck look on her pretty face was priceless as she displayed her autographed copy of Delay's memoir...AND a photo on her digital camera as the Congressman posed with her. Only at CPAC would you meet a college coed who would manifest as much enthusiasm for standing in a line for Tom Delay's autograph as your typical student would for a Justin Timberlake concert ticket. I still smile inside when it comes to mind.

Ann Coulter's speech was typical red-meat fare; this was just a few days after she'd announced on Hannity & Colmes that she was supporting Hillary if McCain were the Republican nominee. The students loved her, and Pam was right in there with them. (Pam stood in her book line later to get our copy of "Godless" autographed.) I find Ann Coulter entertaining, but it is hard for me to take her seriously anymore. I think the whole Hillary endorsement thing is a publicity stunt; I was more bothered by her reference to John Edwards as a "faggot" at CPAC 2007. Evidently, so were the CPAC organizers, as she spoke in an ancillary ballroom to the Regency (which is the main one in the Omni Shoreham Hotel) and she was sponsored by YAF this year, not CPAC. But, in fairness to Ann, the ballroom was jammed to capacity, with more wanting to get in and insufficient seats to provide for them. Her speech was not as good as the Q & A portion, where she demonstrated the prowess she has accumulated by speaking on college campuses for the last several years, and deftly fielded every single question to resounding applause.

We got there just 5 minutes too late on Saturday to hear Gov. Mike Huckabee's speech. This was the one where he declared that he "didn't major in math; I majored in miracles and I believe in them."

Newt Gingrich was the rock star draw for Saturday; the Regency Ballroom was packed, standing room only, and Gingrich entered to the tune of "Stars and Stripes Forever", from the back of the room, shaking hands all the way to the front like the President at the State of the Union address. He gave a powerful speech that also received some attention in the succeeding month.

Additional highlights for me included seeing one of my heroes, David Horowitz, on a panel with John Leo, discussing the necessity of infiltrating modern university campuses with conservative thought on an offensive basis. He stated that although conservatives have the best ideas, they fall down on the job when it comes to organization over the long haul. Nowhere has this played itself out more unfortunately than on college campuses, according to Horowitz.

Columnist Mike Adams' panel on Religion in American Life was also very riveting, with assistance from Angela McGlowan , author Mary Beth Brown and radio talk show host Martha Zoller. Probably the most entertaining panel was the one designated to address the question "Is Hillary Electable?" (Guess what the conclusion was?) This one featured R. Emmett "Bob" Tyrell, editor of the American Spectator, Kellyanne Conway (pollster and TV commentator on Fox and CNN), Townhall commentator Amanda Carpenter and Concerned Women for America's Janice Shaw Crouse.

Congressman Tom Delay, John Gizzi of Human Events and Brad Blakeman of Freedom Watch also chaired a panel on Saturday afternoon. This one involved a look ahead at the fall elections, and hearing their insights firsthand was a valuable opportunity.

Tony Snow closed out the evening with a rousing stemwinder on the winning virtues of conservatism and how it affects the promise of tomorrow.

This was my first CPAC, but I know it won't be my last!