February 22nd, 2005
Ryan Sager comments on last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC):
Arrogance toward Democrats isn’t the problem — though that was everywhere, from Ann Coulter’s conservative stand-up routine (kind of a Republican version of “You might be a redneck if…” delivered to wildly cheering fans) to the popular t-shirt slogan, “What blue states? I only see red?”
No, the arrogance that will prove problematic, ultimately, was that directed at the libertarian-leaning conservatives by the social conservatives. The message in that regard was clear: We Christians can do this alone, y’all who ain’t down with J.C. best be running along. [...]
In fact, if there was anything particularly striking about this year’s CPAC, it is to just what extent Republicans have given up being the party of small government and individual liberty.
Make absolutely no mistake about it: This party, among its most hard-core supporters, is not about freedom anymore. It is about foisting its members’ version of morality and economic intervention on the country. It is, in other words, the mirror image of its hated enemy.
Sager concludes:
Conservatism can’t survive by religious extremism and tax cuts alone.
There needs to be something more than Ann Coulter’s substanceless ranting and faux-provocative calls for a “new McCarthyism.” There needs to be something more than immigration opponents comparing Mexicans to burglars stealing American jobs. There needs to be something more than treating the Log Cabin Republicans like a punchline conservatives would rather forget.
Agreed. If it weren’t for centrist Republicans in general, the GOP would not be the governing party right now. Social conservatives need to remember that. A purge of those who don’t see things their way 100% combined with a theocratic bent will spell repeats of 1992 and 1996 — this time, with a Democratic Party that is lurching hard and fast toward extreme leftism.
We libertarians need not lament the alleged lack of welcome at CPAC for long. We’ll have our turn to articulate our voices at FreedomFest this Spring (where social conservatives can also be found in attendance, I might add) — and we’ll rejoin our social conservative brethren again for the next CPAC. Despite our many differences, we still have many things in common. Let’s strive to remember that in the election years to come.
Update: Mary Katherine Ham, who also attended CPAC, has a different, well-reasoned perspective on what took place. Also, La Shawn Barber respectfully dissents (with links to other counter-arguments by social conservatives). And Francis Porretto’s comments on the entire debacle are definitely worth reading as well.
Update (2/24): Eric Scheie asks the question: “How much does it really cost not to insult people, anyway?”
Filed under Commentary, Politics | Comment (1)
To set the record straight, my shirt I had for sale is titled “What Blue States?, I see Red” Two meanings to the shirt, first is that democrats are socialists. Two when Reagan won in 80 and 84 it was called lake Reagan because all the states were colored blue. The big networks took it upon them selves to make the switch in 88′ I wonder why?