CPAC 2007: An Adventure to the Nation’s Capital
O n spring break, four staff members, Trent Hagerty, Tyler Gibson, Josh Bellis, and Brandon Stewart went to Washington D.C. to take part in an intensive three day conference. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) began in 1973 as a small group of conservatives. Since that time, the conference has grown into a major national event with Congressmen, Senators, political commentators, and other major players in the conservative movement. CPAC is sponsored by the American Conservative Union along with the Young America’s Foundation and Human Events. The event was unlike any conference they had attended for its sheer size and notoriety for the staffers that made the trip. CPAC was much different from the type of conferences that staffers usually attend. Rather, than 100 – 400 attendees and regimented schedules, CPAC had over 6,000 attendees, both young and old, and so many sessions that it was literally impossible to see and do everything at the conference. Although the sessions overlapped and had no scheduled breaks between, the staffers did their best to attend what they thought would be the most thought provoking and high profile sessions.
One particularly interesting thing to note about CPAC is that is served as a staging ground for the majority of the main Republican presidential candidates, by allowing them to bring their candidacy for the White House to college students. The staffers present were fortunate enough to have lunch with a presidential hopeful Senator Sam Brownback, along with a handful of other college students. After lunch, Senator Brownback presented his plan for the presidency to the small group of students. Later, he received more than a little applause at the conference for his support of life, small government, and the protection of traditional marriage. The staffers also heard from popular Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney, who is also seeking the White House in 2008. Romney’s campaign is focused more on specifics, while some believe that this is necessary, others said that it is too early in the game to be making promises. Other more well-known candidates such as Rudy Giuliani, who made a surprise visit to CPAC, were also well-received, but also criticized for some more moderate views such as his pro-choice stance. One disappointment was that Senator John McCain declined his invitation to CPAC, which he received much criticism about later.
Perhaps the biggest highlight for the TWC staffers was being front-and-center when Ann Coulter made her joking remark about John Edwards and his run for the Democratic nomination that has been gleefully reproduced again and again on CNN and other news networks. Unfortunately, this was virtually the only sentence that made national news from the CPAC conference, not that anyone should be particularly surprised. The comment was made in a joking manner,
and following that she did make a statement that she in no way meant to imply that she was against homosexuals. However, none of that made it onto the six o’clock news.
Among the talks the staffers sat-in on were panels such as “Strategies for a Bold Conservative Future” with panelists like Phyllis Schlafly (Eagle Forum) and the Honorable Kenneth Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State and honorary co-chair of the “Committee to re-elect George W. Bush”. They also attended other panels, such as “The Left’s Repeated Campaign Against the American Soldier” and “Are We Safer Than On 9/10? National Security 5 Years Later.”
Additionally, there were lectures by Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Tony Snow, Sean Hannity, and others. The staff also attended auxiliary sessions by various conservative organizations like Young America’s Foundation, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and others.
Overall, the four staffers had a blast at the conference. They learned a lot from every one of the sessions and came back excited to implement the ideas they discovered on campus in the upcoming year.
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