To borrow from President Ronald Reagan: “There they go again.”
The “they” in this instance would be the Never Trumpers continuing their masquerade as conservatives.
Newsmax headlines:
Newsmax reports:
While the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gets underway next week outside of Washington, D.C., a rival “anti-CPAC” will take place inside the beltway at the same time.
The fourth annual Principles First Summit bills itself as an alternative to CPAC and it features a speaker’s list marking a who’s-who of anti-Donald Trump Republicans — former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former RNC chair Michael Steele, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump critic George Conway and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, to name a few.
Principles First defines itself as “principled Americans on the right and center-right who were concerned about the health of American democracy organized a series of meet-ups around the country to serve as an alternative to the Conservative Political Action Conference.”
In reality, there is nothing — zero — about this group that is “conservative.”
CPAC, on the other hand — long a decided favorite of President Reagan — lists the following decidedly conservatives as speakers: Dr. Ben Carson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Jim Jordan, U.K. Brexit leader Nigel Farage, Sen. J.D. Vance, Argentine President Javier Milei, journalist John Solomon, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, My Pillow’s Mike Lindell, Newsmax’s Ed Henry, former Ambassador Richard Grenell, China expert Gordon Chang, Monica Crowley, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Fox and talk radio’s Mark Levin, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Kari Lake, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Scott Perry, Breitbart’s Matt Boyle, and so many more. Including, yes indeed, former President Donald Trump. And there are more on the list.
This is as opposed to that cabal of anti-conservatives trying desperately to portray themselves as something they are not.
Note well that the anti-CPAC group includes ex-Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Kinzinger, of course — along with then-Rep. Liz Cheney — served on the seriously anti-democracy January 6th Committee that went out of its way to conduct hearings that denied due process to witnesses that held a different view on the events of J6 than the stacked deck of Pelosi-handpicked Committee members. Suffice to say, democracy worked its magic and neither are any longer in Congress per the voters of their states.
As that list of CPAC speakers illustrates, those are the real seriously principled conservatives, thoughtful and accomplished Americans one and all. They have records of accomplishment and one and all are fearless in standing up for democracy.
Indeed it speaks volumes that these Never Trump-anti-CPAC partisans are attacking an organization that President Reagan played such a real role in creating — and which has remained utterly faithful to his vision for CPAC. Which is to say a vision of being decidedly conservative.
I write this from, yes indeed, CPAC. There are thousands here. They are listening to speakers, taking in the long list of exhibits and making new friends from across the country when not seeing old friends.
Decades ago I attended the very first CPAC in the mid-1970s, which gathered at the old Shoreham Hotel in Washington. The event drew about 200 people in the hotel ballroom, and we listened to our featured speaker — then former California Governor Ronald Reagan.
Time has moved on and CPAC has blossomed, with thousands here these few days. And yes, former President Trump, like then-President Reagan before him, will close out the proceedings.
Not to be ignored either is the vigorous leadership of the current CPAC leaders, former Bush 43 White House Political Director Matt Schlapp and his wife, ex-Trump White House Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp.
Suffice to say the goal for CPAC so long ago envisioned by President Reagan has been reached — and CPAC will go on and go on growing no matter who the conservative president of the moment may be.
And it’s “First Principles” critics — who clearly have none — will over time vanish into the political mists.
Somewhere President Reagan is chuckling.
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