Posted on 02/19/2014 8:42:04 AM PST by kristinn
Meet the kinder, gentler Conservative Political Action Conference.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, snubbed last year after palling around with President Obama, is coming. So is GOProud, the gay rights group that was banned for the past few years amid noisy boycotts from critics and supporters. There's even a panel debating the merits of medical marijuana.
"CPAC is about finding conservative solutions to every challenge in America and not just saying 'no'," said Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which runs the conference in Washington, D.C. "We're determined to win the majority of American support."
The annual debate over CPAC's participants and focus reflects the broader, ongoing dialogue over growing the conservative movement and the Republican Party without compromising core principles. Gay rights are a major part of that debate, as conservative groups remain firmly opposed to gay marriage despite polls showing increasing and majority support.
The dispute with GOProud dates back to 2011, when a number of socially conservative groups, including the Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council, objected to the group's involvement and declined to participate. Insults were traded between GOProud leaders and ACU board members, culminating in the group's exclusion.
Two former GOProud summer interns, Ross Hemminger and Matt Bechstein, took over last summer and sought to repair the bitterly frayed relationship. Under a compromise reached last week, they will attend the March 6-8 gathering as guests, without sponsorship or a booth. GOProud sees the lower-profile role as an important first step.
"We really just want to be part of the conservative movement," said Hemminger, a veteran of the losing Senate campaigns by Scott Brown and Gabriel Gomez in Massachusetts. "We want to establish a fruitful and respectful relationship."
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
Conservative? I don’t think so. I can call my F150 a 747, but it won’t fly.
Wow.
Doesn’t sound very “Conservative” to me!
They’re nothing but an agenda looking to infect the GOP.
Dave Agema is correct, the GOP puts opposition to gay marriage in the platform but has zero intent to uphold it. The GOP platform is nothing but voter bait.
I’ll never go again.
Lesser evil. We were told that’s needed remember?
I hope they will invite contingents of both abortionists and Stalinists. Both add so much diversity to an otherwise homogenous gathering.
Their values are not ours. Their values are based on their sexual desires.
That we share some beliefs does not make them ‘one of us’.
Karl Rove and Reince Pukus must be excommunicated.
Christopher Barron, GOProud Chairman of the Board: "We are a gay organization, we only work on gay issues, we have never claimed otherwise. My God people."
http://twitter.com/ChrisRBarron Aug 4, 2010; 4:04pm
They might as well take the “Conservative” out of the CPAC name since it ain’t Conservative no more.
Another poor choice. But it is politically correct, I guess.
Sad days in and for America and many Americans.
Anyone who self identifies as anything other than a taxpaying American citizen is no conservative.
We'll be happy to have you, when you stop advertising your sex life and identifying your political cause around who you sleep with.
you aerophobe!
When people endorsed the ‘moderate’ Romney with their votes, and lesser evil bullXhit, they kicked the door wide open for this. Many of us said exactly this would be the result. We were attacked for it.
Yet we were right. Whether anyone will man up and admit it or not.
America is done ... roll up the sidewalks ... turn out the lights ...
FudgPAC
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