Reflections on the Revolution at CPAC 2010

I have been to two CPACs, in 2008 and 2010.  In 2008, the Ron Paul supporters were a few isolated crazy people and Paul came in fourth in the presidential straw poll, with 12% of the vote. In 2010 -- well, you already know.

The shift in power toward Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty is so astounding that I probably would not fully believe it had I not been present at CPAC this year myself -- which is not to say that C4L is anywhere close to its goal of reclaiming the Republican Party. We should remember that 69% of straw poll voters voted for someone other than Ron Paul. Dick Cheney got a standing ovation, to chants of "Run, Dick, Run!" (meaning "run for president," not "you better run, you bastard" as per my chant.) And Marco Rubio got similar applause when he giggled over the thought of waterboarding terrorists.

Nevertheless, revolutions don't occur by sheer majority force alone. They occur when a determined minority is well organized enough to actually realize its ideals. It is often cited that before the American revolution, one third of people were patriots, one third were loyalists, and one third were indifferent. By this standard, the libertarians are well on their way to reclaiming the GOP. When I was passing out flyers for C4L, more than a few people responded, "I already have five of those! You people are everywhere!" This is true testament to C4L's excellent organizational capacity.