CPAC 2003: DC Chapter After-Action Report and PHOTOS

tgslTakoma, Angelwood | February 2, 2003 | tgslTakoma, Angelwood

[Libertina]

Thanks Freethehostages... wish the one with Terry McCauliffe hugging me and Diotima could have looked better. I blame it all on McAwful though, he squeezed me too hard and made my cheeck swell. ;)

[FreeTheHostages]

No, it's this CPAC lighting, I tell you, it makes me look overweight!

[noexcuses]

I am so happy you survived your encounter with terrible terry and made it back home safely to the Great Northwest!!

[Libertina]

Thanks Noexcuses! I just had a remarkable time - I met with so many leaders of conservativism, heard inspiring talks, and even cheered for Ann Coulter as she filmed Cross Fire. (Thank you Angelwood for the ticket!) Our FRN booth recorded probably 60 FReepers who were attending. I heard Registered came over but I wasn't at the booth then. Note to Free: Next year change the lighting at CPAC! :)

[FreeTheHostages]

Thanks for all the photos. Yes, wasn't the SAS booth great!? I loved the photos at the FRN booth from around the country and I loved the SAS booth.

[Exit148]

It was great meeting you and working with you, Libertina. (I was going to call you "Lib" but thought better of it!)

Also, thanks for setting up the 'puter threads. It was our link to the outside world when the news became serious.

I just go a call from the ACU (Peter Roach??) who asked me if I enjoyed the conference and what suggestion I had to improve it. I told him that TV monitors in the co-sponsor room (is that what that room is called?) would be appreciated - both for breaking news and also to tune into whomever is speaking in the main ballroom. A couple of years ago, they had monitors and you could see the debates, speakers, etc., but for some reason they were removed. He said he would pass my request along.

Glad you got home safely, but how come 24 hours???

[Mudboy Slim]

"Right is Gonna Swarm"
(To be sung to the Doors' "Riders on the Storm")

Riders on the Storm...Right-Wing's gotta Swarm...
Trash the White House with scorn...Ol' Slick has been forewarned...
Slick's a dawg without a soul, that Traitor'll be dethroned...
Right is gonna Swarm...
Slick's "The Killer of Waco"...Jan Reno's nuthin' but his 'HO'...
Heed not what the Med'yuh say...Truth'll win the day!
If we let this Tyrant slide, our Freedom it will die...
Will ya help me, folks?!...yeaaahhhh...

(Kewl Guitar/Synthesizer Jammin')

Folks, we gotta fight Clinton...folks, we gotta take Slick down...
Heed our Righteous Band...make Left understand...
The World on you depends...fer Slick to meet his end...
Gotta fight Clinton...yeaaahhhh...

(Keyboard/Guitar Jammin')

Right is gonna Swarm...the Vile should be forewarned...
It's our White House Slick's scorned...in Jail, Slick will be thrown...
Just a Rapist and his drones, the Lib'rals sold their souls...
Right is gonna swarm...

Right-Wing's gonna swarm...Right-Wing's gonna swarm...
MUD's views will be the norm...Sheeple'll know Slick's harm...

FReegards...MUD

[firebrand]

On Thursday, just a hand-lettered sign and the handouts, but on Friday morning, POOF!, a full-scale booth, like magic! Very impressive! The giveaways were a very nice touch. I cherish my "Never Forget 9/11" button.

Good to see all the D.C. folks again. Hope to see a quorum of you guys on the 15th in NY.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Beautiful. Thank you.

[Bigg Red]

OMG! Your freep of McAuliffe was so incredible!! And no rehearsal. You girls are the best! I hope you know where your cats are, though!

[Bigg Red]

Terry McAuliffe making a point to stop by both FR booths is a testament to how seriously he takes our efforts to expose and defeat the 'Rats.


So astute, as usual, friend. I'll bet he sees you in his nightmares. He's probably lurking now. Watch your cat.

[Bigg Red]

Wow! Sounds like you were a hero here! Love the beard, BTW!

[Bigg Red]

Happy anniversary!

[Taxman]

Well, the Chapter needed their own booth, and the Weekly Standard was not using theirs. All it took for us to get the booth was $2.00 worth of (4) phone calls and a polite "Ask." I was happy to be able to help out.

Thank you Weekly Standard!

Re: the new facial hair. Thank you, ma'am. I'm getting to like my beard more and more each day. I purely hate to shave!

We missed you. Will we see you next year? I'll personally guarantee you a good time, and you'll get some more edumacation, to boot!

[Mudboy Slim]

Thank you...10-year Anniversary actually ain't 'til 7/31/03, but I appreciate the generous sentiment...MUD

[L_Von_Mises]

I had a great time at CPAC this year. My wife and I got there just in time to be one of the last to get in to hear Cheney's speech. We then stopped by Taxman's booth and found out that the DC Chapter had their own booth this year. My wife and I stuck around and helped man the booth for much of the day. It was a hoot. There were more people at CPAC this year than I have ever seen (I have been going since 1993). Much of that was because of the number of College students. I think that was the most promising part of the whole conference - they are our future.

Many of those college students came by the booth and I got to talk to them. I was able to turn a lot of them on to FR and insisted that they go down and see the main booth where they had lots of pictures of freeps and much of Registered's terrific artwork. Also it would give them a chance to talk about getting active in their area.

Another plus was spending some time getting to know many of the freepers there. There were too many for me to list and I don't want to leave any out so to all of you - It was great meeting and talking to you.

That night we went home and all did what we could to spruce up the booth for the next day and print up some informational pieces. tgslTakoma, Angelwood, and Kristinn did a terrific job putting material together including a collage of many pictures from various events.

The next day the booth looked great - like it had been planned for months!

We had plenty of volunteers to work the booth so I was able to take in more of the conference. There were some great panels. I am sure that they will all be on C-Span soon. I worked the booth for a while that afternoon and having that collage and some of the signs was very helpful - as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Many people took pens and buttons which was great because they all had the URL for Free Republic on them. I bet some of them are reading this right now. To those people I say Welcome!!!

Saturday I got there early and people slowly trickled in. I got to see the annual Sam Donaldson - Bob Novak show. I went back and forth throughout the day between the panels and the booth.

Some of the notable panels throughout the conference were one with Bob Barr on civil liberties, one with David Horowitz on Hollywood, one with Daniel Pipes on Islam (he was the most moderate on the panel), and one on the war on terror with Ollie North. Each panel had three or more speakers and all were good but their names escape me at the moment.

I don't know what was more fun - talking to the people who came by the booth or listening to the speakers. I have to admit that it was a long three days but worth every minute of it.

[basil]

Thanks for all the great photos, and especially, thanks for the SAS photos. It was a really successful event for SASTERS, too.

Great seeing all of you again!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Wish I could've made it...

[nutmeg]

Great report, tgslTakoma! You and the other members of the DC Chapter did a fantastic job manning the booth! The free buttons and pens were a great idea. I hope you got lots of donations and new recruits.

Guns_are_OK and ned13: I don't know how we missed you, but I'm sorry we did! Hope to see you again soon.

nutmeg & zelig

[nutmeg]

CPAC was an absolutely amazing experience for us! We have never seen so many bright, articulate college students from all over the country in one place like this before – it was so refreshing. They were well-dressed, polished and extremely savvy about politics and current events. After being exposed to so many feeble-minded, unwashed, uninformed and just plain spoiled young people at the various anti-war rallies (and in the audience of "Crossfire" last Wednesday night) we both have renewed hope for the future of this country... it is in very capable hands with these wonderful young conservatives.

The speakers at CPAC were outstanding, as were the many thought-provoking questions asked by members of the audience (many of whom were FReepers). We came away from the conference with a wealth of knowledge and "all fired up" in our commitment to conservative causes. We also came home with a big stack of author-signed books! It was particularly nice to meet and spend a few minutes speaking with Michele Malkin, Katherine Harris, J.C. Watts, Michael Barone and Mark Levin.

And, of course, the best thing about CPAC was the ability to spend three whole days with new and long-time FReeper FRiends! I only wish we could’ve been two places at once – we were so busy listening to the various speakers in the ballroom, we really didn’t have a lot of time to spend in the exhibit room. When we did have time, though, we were sure to hang out by the Free Republic Network booth and by the DC Chapter booth. The FReepers running both booths did a fabulous job! SeekingTheTruth and his wife had their fantastic 0Cents shop set up, and Taxman was working hard at his booth as well. I am sorry to say that we didn’t realize the Second Amendment Sisters were FReepers… We won’t make that mistake next time!

We would highly recommend CPAC to each and every FReeper! I would imagine the 2004 CPAC will be even more exciting with the upcoming Presidential election. We are already looking forward to it.

nutmeg & zelig