Bryan Fischer
Note to CPAC: Dump Ron Paul, GOProud ASAP
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer
It's time for CPAC to change its name or change its tune.
I've repeatedly made the point that it is no longer the "Conservative" Political Action Conference; it's instead become the LPAC, with the "L" standing for "Libertarian." It's a simple matter of truth in advertising.
CPAC is beginning to embarrass itself, and its straw polls for the last two years have tattered what remains of its diminishing credibility. Ron Paul acolytes packed the place out and stuffed the ballot box for their icon both years.
But Ron Paul is not a conservative. He's a flaming libertarian, who believes in gay marriage and the legalization of prostitution and even hard drugs, as he told John Stossel back in 2007. He also did his part in December to normalize sexual deviancy in the military by voting for the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. And he's a dangerous isolationist on foreign policy, apparently believing we just ought to let Al Qaeda and company beat us up anywhere in the world they want to with no retaliation.
Young Americans for Freedom unceremoniously booted Paul off their advisory board over the weekend for his lack of fidelity to the concept of a strong national defense. He got booted, in other words, because he's not a conservative.
Two of his enthusiastic followers booed Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney like Code Pinkers until they got tossed from the conference, offering living proof that being rabid and being right are two different things. The phrase from the Scripture "zeal but not according to knowledge" comes to mind.
CPAC was anxious to avoid a repeat of last year's straw poll debacle, and so they made a point of inviting another libertarian, Gary Johnson, who has moved the pegs of the Big Tent so far to the left the poles have snapped, leaving the canvas to flap aimlessly in the breeze. CPAC hoped in vain that Paul and Johnson would split the libertarian vote and give a conventional conservative a shot at winning the straw poll. Didn't work.
All CPAC got for its transparent strategy was a libertarian winning the poll (Paul), a libertarian finishing third (Johnson) and the flip-flopping father of ObamaCare (Mitt Romney) finishing second.
There's only one way to keep the Paulbots from distorting next year's straw poll as well: free up Ron Paul's schedule so that he can speak somewhere else at this time next February. And CPAC has no reason to invite him back. He believes in only one leg of the conservative tripod, fiscal conservatism, and a one-legged stool just falls over and is of no use to anyone. He's not a conservative on either social issues or national defense issues, and while he belongs at an LPAC, he has no place at a CPAC.
So that's job one in restoring CPAC to greatness: dump Ron Paul.
Job two: dump GOProud.
GOProud's chairman Chris Barron embarrassed himself and CPAC, first by calling the conservative organizations (like Heritage) who stayed home this year "losers." Then he compounded his transgression by calling American Conservative Union board member Cleta Mitchell a "nasty bigot" for her support of natural marriage, this exposing a little nasty bigotry of his own.
This drew a pointed rebuke not only from GOPRoud's own treasurer Bruce Carroll but also from CPAC's new chairman, Al Cardenas, who indicated he's not sure CPAC can invite GOProud back again next year, saying that continuing to "work with GOProud will be difficult."
He's apparently thinking, we dumped Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation for this bunch of hatemongering heterophobes?
Erick Erickson of Red State had finally had enough, saying Barron's comments were "too much for me."
Tammy Bruce jumped the GOProud ship this weekend for unstated reasons, but whatever they are, it's not a good sign for GOProud. And despite Ann Coulter's off-the-reservation endorsement of GOProud (she's apparently back as the goddess of gayness — what has happened to her??), conservative luminaries Mark Levin and Michelle Malkin pointedly rejected any claim GOProuders might make to being conservatives.
If CPAC wants to be a major player in the 2012 run-up, they need to get their minds right immediately if not sooner, get Ron Paul and GOProud off the roster, and appeal to FRC and Heritage to return. Mr. Cardenas publicly lamented their absence this weekend, and so here's hoping this year's conference has given the CPAC board the wake-up call they sorely needed.
Time to get this thing back to being CPAC and not just in name only.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
February 15, 2011
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer
It's time for CPAC to change its name or change its tune.
I've repeatedly made the point that it is no longer the "Conservative" Political Action Conference; it's instead become the LPAC, with the "L" standing for "Libertarian." It's a simple matter of truth in advertising.
CPAC is beginning to embarrass itself, and its straw polls for the last two years have tattered what remains of its diminishing credibility. Ron Paul acolytes packed the place out and stuffed the ballot box for their icon both years.
But Ron Paul is not a conservative. He's a flaming libertarian, who believes in gay marriage and the legalization of prostitution and even hard drugs, as he told John Stossel back in 2007. He also did his part in December to normalize sexual deviancy in the military by voting for the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. And he's a dangerous isolationist on foreign policy, apparently believing we just ought to let Al Qaeda and company beat us up anywhere in the world they want to with no retaliation.
Young Americans for Freedom unceremoniously booted Paul off their advisory board over the weekend for his lack of fidelity to the concept of a strong national defense. He got booted, in other words, because he's not a conservative.
Two of his enthusiastic followers booed Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney like Code Pinkers until they got tossed from the conference, offering living proof that being rabid and being right are two different things. The phrase from the Scripture "zeal but not according to knowledge" comes to mind.
CPAC was anxious to avoid a repeat of last year's straw poll debacle, and so they made a point of inviting another libertarian, Gary Johnson, who has moved the pegs of the Big Tent so far to the left the poles have snapped, leaving the canvas to flap aimlessly in the breeze. CPAC hoped in vain that Paul and Johnson would split the libertarian vote and give a conventional conservative a shot at winning the straw poll. Didn't work.
All CPAC got for its transparent strategy was a libertarian winning the poll (Paul), a libertarian finishing third (Johnson) and the flip-flopping father of ObamaCare (Mitt Romney) finishing second.
There's only one way to keep the Paulbots from distorting next year's straw poll as well: free up Ron Paul's schedule so that he can speak somewhere else at this time next February. And CPAC has no reason to invite him back. He believes in only one leg of the conservative tripod, fiscal conservatism, and a one-legged stool just falls over and is of no use to anyone. He's not a conservative on either social issues or national defense issues, and while he belongs at an LPAC, he has no place at a CPAC.
So that's job one in restoring CPAC to greatness: dump Ron Paul.
Job two: dump GOProud.
GOProud's chairman Chris Barron embarrassed himself and CPAC, first by calling the conservative organizations (like Heritage) who stayed home this year "losers." Then he compounded his transgression by calling American Conservative Union board member Cleta Mitchell a "nasty bigot" for her support of natural marriage, this exposing a little nasty bigotry of his own.
This drew a pointed rebuke not only from GOPRoud's own treasurer Bruce Carroll but also from CPAC's new chairman, Al Cardenas, who indicated he's not sure CPAC can invite GOProud back again next year, saying that continuing to "work with GOProud will be difficult."
He's apparently thinking, we dumped Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation for this bunch of hatemongering heterophobes?
Erick Erickson of Red State had finally had enough, saying Barron's comments were "too much for me."
Tammy Bruce jumped the GOProud ship this weekend for unstated reasons, but whatever they are, it's not a good sign for GOProud. And despite Ann Coulter's off-the-reservation endorsement of GOProud (she's apparently back as the goddess of gayness — what has happened to her??), conservative luminaries Mark Levin and Michelle Malkin pointedly rejected any claim GOProuders might make to being conservatives.
If CPAC wants to be a major player in the 2012 run-up, they need to get their minds right immediately if not sooner, get Ron Paul and GOProud off the roster, and appeal to FRC and Heritage to return. Mr. Cardenas publicly lamented their absence this weekend, and so here's hoping this year's conference has given the CPAC board the wake-up call they sorely needed.
Time to get this thing back to being CPAC and not just in name only.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
