I seriously doubt any of the non-confirmed invitees will agree to appear at this late date, and you can’t rules out that some of the confirmed speakers may decide to withdraw.
Last year, Rush's speech was announced just a couple of weeks before the event as a surprise.
CPAC's agenda is always confirmed only a few days before the start of the conference. Last year, Rush Limbaugh’s appearance was confirmed only a few days prior. It is my understanding that Sarah Palin was invited, but pulled out at the last minute. The CPAC organizers were VERY excited to announce that Sarah Palin had (supposedly) accepted their invitation to speak at CPAC 2009. Once Sarah dropped out, CPAC scrambled and delivered Rush Limbaugh, who, IMHO, was an excellent substitute for Sarah.
We sat near the front row center last year for Rush's fabulous speech... I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
My husband and I have attended CPAC every year since 2003, and it is a bedrock of conservatism overall. Sorry, I don't get this boycott.
The CPAC organizers work hard to include wounded troops who have just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. They are given free tickets to the conference, plus they are included at the “high-rent” cocktail parties and banquets (that feature conservative speakers). My husband and I have had the privilege of meeting these heroes, along with inspirational young college students who are fighting back against the extreme liberal agenda - at their own peril - in universities across this country. We always meet solid conservative families attending CPAC with their children – MANY of them home-schooled. We have made life-long conservative friends at CPAC, some are FReepers, some aren’t. I wouldn’t have missed my CPAC experiences of the past 7 years for anything.
My husband and I can barely afford this trip to CPAC every year (especially since they jacked up the Diamond Package price over 60%), but I am proud that our Diamond Package donation helps to bring in wounded warriors and conservative college students who could not otherwise afford to make the trip to DC and attend CPAC.
Unless CPAC becomes a full-blown RINO-fest or lib-fest, we have no plans to boycott it because of one obscure sponsor. For the past couple of years, the ACLU has had a booth in the exhibit area of CPAC. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but CPAC puts the ACLU booth in the worst possible place... the furthest from the main entrance in a deep, dark corner. CPAC attendees who can even find the booth stroll by and laugh and mock the dweeb sitting at the booth: "The ACLU? What the heck are YOU doing here?!"
It is RARE, but every once in awhile, there will be some RINO on one of the many panels that run during CPAC. These RINOs are soundly BOOed by the conservative crowd when they espouse their RINO ideas.
At CPAC 2008, they brought in ALL the GOP candidates for president including Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, Ron Paul and Fred Thompson. And each candidate brought in their "people" who appeared to invade the ballroom, handing out signs for "Fred", "Huck", Romney, McCain, etc. It wasn't just the RINO candidates whose people "invaded" the ballroom as some have posted on this thread.
At CPAC 2006, Sen. George "Macaca" Allen was a speaker and had his "people" there, handing out Allen signs. It goes on at CPAC every year, whether the candidates are conservative or RINO. Actually, the majority of the signs I saw at CPAC 2008 were Sam Brownback's.
To name a FEW speakers we have seen (and met some of ‘em) at CPAC over the years: President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney (numerous times), John Bolton (numerous times), TONY SNOW, Sen. Sam Brownback, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Tom Coburn, Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Marsh Blackburn, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, Rep. Mike Pence, Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Rep. Paul Ryan, G. Gordon Liddy, Andrew Breitbart (numerous times), Wayne LaPierre, president of the NRA (he gives a fire-and-brimstone speech every year). Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter (every year), Joe the Plumber, Michelle Malkin (just about every year), Mark Levin (numerous times), Sean Hannity, Star Parker, Mark Steyn, Laura Ingraham, Fred Barnes, Ward Connerly, S.E. Cupp, Frank Gaffney, Michael Barone, Steve Moore, Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum, Roy and Niger Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality, David Horowitz, Frances Rice of the National Black Republican Association, Niles Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation….
Grover Norquist is always there, but he does NOT run CPAC, as many on this thread have stated. I have never gone to any of his side-sessions at CPAC, btw.
There are ALWAYS many speakers representing pro-life groups, the Heritage Foundation, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, College Republicans, FairTax.org, Young America’s Foundation, Americans United for Life, Catholic Families for America, Citizens United, Liberty University, National Organization for Marriage, National Rifle Association. The list goes on…
Here's a full list of CPAC 2010 cosponsors:
http://www.cpac.org/sponsors.html
Marco Rubio will be CPAC 2010’s keynote speaker. Sarah Palin and Doug Hoffman have been invited, but not confirmed yet.
I don't like the inclusion of this GOProud group, and I will express my displeasure when I get to CPAC. I am no big fan of David Keene, but he was always easily available to speak with during the early years we attended CPAC, especially for Diamond Package attendees. The "problem" now is that CPAC has grown to be so huge, it is tough to seek Keene out to talk to him. The hotel venues for CPAC keep getting bigger. In 2010 CPAC will be moving to one of the largest venues in DC: The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
So as it stands right now, I'm sorry, Jim, but I respectfully disagree. I don't support any full-blown boycott of CPAC 2010. When I get there and find that CPAC is indeed tilting way to the left, then my husband and I and other conservatives will certainly express our displeasure to the organizers and consider a boycott of CPAC in 2011 and beyond if the majority of sponsors are like GOProud. I highly doubt, however, that CPAC will indeed be “taken over” by the likes of GOProud and other fringe groups.