Quo Vadis, CPAC?

Recent developments had left us wondering about the sponsorship, content, value and importance of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).  The most recent meeting has convinced us that genuine conservatives either need to restructure the current meeting or start a new one that will effectively educate the public on the authentic, principled, conservative message.

Our suspicions that CPAC had lost its way were raised when we learned in recent months that The Citadel Republican Society, which hosts an annual dinner to fund their trip to CPAC, had chosen to present their Nathan Hale Patriot Award to that conservative icon, Lindsey Graham.  In return for the honor, the Graham campaign presented the cadets with a $2500 check.  The cadets have obviously learned a lesson about how modern Republican politics works, but principled conservatism?  We think not.

CPAC should be an opportunity to educate the public on conservative principles and their practical application in addressing the issues confronting our country.  It should not provide a showcase for any ambitious Republican politician, some of whom are at war with those very principles.  

Bloated, big government, "big tent" Republicans have a perfect torch-bearer in Governor Chris Christie; but why is CPAC providing Rockefeller Republicans a forum?

In the following clip the brilliant and principled conservative, Brent Bozell, has eloquently addressed the crisis facing the conservative movement, a crisis created when a principled message yields to the raw, unprincipled quest for power.