On Geraldo, former Governor Mike Huckabee had this to say about CPAC this year:
Lets take a look at his claim of "CPAC Becoming too libertarian..." by looking at some of the speakers at CPAC this year in the main ballroom -- since that was the image of CPAC sent to millions over CSPAN.
The list included Dick Armey, Liz Cheney, Dick Cheney, A George Bush Look-a-like, Mitt Romney, Tim Palenty, Rep. Darrell Issa, Mike Pence, Rick Santorum, John Bolton, Michele Bachmann, John Ashcroft, Ann Coulter, and Newt Gingrich plus many others of which subscribe to neoconservatism. This is just a list of the main ballroom too, not to mention all of the smaller events and meetings that took place at CPAC this year.
Now let's see how many libertarians we can actually pin down that they allowed up on stage in the main ballroom.
Rep. Ron Paul, Bob Barr, our own Jeff Frazee, Alexander McCobin, Tucker Carlson and Glen Beck (though both need major shifts, they are at least warming up to the idea of being a libertarian), and...that seems to be about it. Oh and to be fair, Barr, Frazee, and McCobin were part of panels and not lone speakers.
As you can easily see the Huckster has Hucked us over again with his short-sided and incorrect view of CPAC. The only reason that claim could be made would be because of the people showing up, not the people putting it on. This is new base, Mike, we are the future, and while this year your neoconservative buddies dominated the forum it was the base who showed that they reject it.
While CPAC may not have been specifically more libertarian this year, with Paul winning the straw poll and Beck's keynote rant (it wasn't really a speech -- kinda just like an hour long episode of his show), it looks like we can expect even greater libertarian influence in years to come. I'll tell you what Mike, you stay home again next year. We didn't miss you this year and really don't want you back anyways.
Funny how it only became irrelevant after Ron Paul won. Would it have been irrelevant if Mitt won?
Look here! Look here America! See what real conservatives are all about...oops Ron Paul people...nevermind America.....look over here!.......ughhh...MORE Ron Paul People!!......
CPAC is just a convention of individuals who are interested in conservative politics. If CPAC is changing, Huck is really just saying that the American individuals opinion are changing.
Great for Freedom & Prosperity....bad for neocon's.
db
someone needs to draw a cartoon :
of all the candidates stands on the bow of a big ship arguing about whose going to be the captain (Romney, Palin, McCain,Hillary, Obama)
And then show ron paul down on the deck pointing and saying "boat's leaking".
its not about the man...its the message!
:)
^ That is a brilliant idea for a cartoon.
Also, wasn't it Phyllis Schlafly who called Mike Huckabee a "pro-life liberal"? Who appointed him arbiter of conservatism?
Ah, let him cling to his dying breed of bad ideas. I wouldn't worry considering the web is the greatest free market in the world, considering there's seriously no barrier that can't be broken considering it provides you an immense market to choose from anything. Which scares people who divide the word liberty into pieces.
President Ronald Reagan is highly praised among conservatives. Obvious evidence of this was observed at the 2010 CPAC. Also, what was obvious was the aversion for libertarianism ideals. While this was not a surprise to me, as I find the commonplace among many within the GOP establishment, I do find it contradicting. So how can we begin to bridge this gap? Perhaps the answer can be found in the very words of Ronald Reagan himself. When interviewed by Reason in July 1975, Governor Ronald Reagan was asked:
REASON: Governor Reagan, you have been quoted in the press as saying that you’re doing a lot of speaking now on behalf of the philosophy of conservatism and libertarianism. Is there a difference between the two?
REAGAN: If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.
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