The GOP's Pauline conversion
Given the current Tea Party flavour of US
conservativism, CPAC was highly susceptible to the preaching of Paul –
Ron and Rand
James Antle guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 February 2011 01.41 GMT
Senator Rand Paul, a possible contender for the 2012 Republican
presidential nomination, speaking at CPAC in Washington, DC. Photograph:
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
It was either a scheduling blunder or a publicity-generating stroke of
genius.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC),
America's largest gathering of conservative activists,
Donald Trump taunted Ron Paul supporters as they waited for the Texas
congressman's son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, to replace him at the
podium. The elder Paul had "zero chance" of being elected
president Trump said to the Paulites' boos and jeers.
But the real fireworks were yet to come. Immediately after Rand Paul's
speech, former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld was to be presented
with the "defender of the constitution" award -- by a surprise
guest, former Vice-President Dick Cheney. To the Ron Paul supporters in
the crowd, dubbing the two Iraq war architects defenders of the
constitution was like having John Edwards present Bill Clinton with a
defender of monogamy award.
"War criminal!" the Paul supporters shouted at the two men.
"Murdering scum!" The rest of the crowd tried to drown them out
with chants of, "USA! USA!" Some of the Paulites also began
yelling, "USA! USA!" Cheney and Rumsfeld both appeared unmoved
by the demonstrations, and were unapologetic in defending the Bush
administration's conduct in the war on terror.
In the runup to CPAC, the big controversy involved the
American Conservative Union's
decision to allow GOProud, a gay Republican group, sign on as an
event sponsor. Several socially conservative organisations, including the
Family Research Council and Concerned Women
for America, announced that they would boycott CPAC over GOProud's
involvement. The Heritage
Foundation and the Media Research
Centre, both venerable conservative outfits with portfolios that
stretch far beyond social issues, also declined to participate this
year.
Simmering beneath the surface, however, was discontent with the growing
influence of libertarians and antiwar conservatives at CPAC. Ron Paul won
the confab's straw poll in 2010, beating out Mitt Romney. The
Campaign for Liberty, a
Paul-aligned group, held well-attended events. "We believe in truth
in advertising," complained Bryan Fischer of the American Family
Association. "They should call themselves the Libertarian Political
Action Committee."
Former (and perhaps future) presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said
much the same thing after Paul's straw poll victory: "CPAC has
become increasingly libertarian and less Republican over the last years,
one of the reasons I didn't go this year." Both
the American
Conservative and
FrumForum, writing from vastly different perspectives, argued that
this was a bigger driver of CPAC boycotts than the social conservatives'
war on GOProud.
This year, the Campaign for Liberty had an even bigger profile, as more
mainstream conservative groups like Americans for Tax Reform also
contemplated defence budget cuts. And
Paul was a repeat winner of the straw poll, defeating Romney 30% to
23% as other candidates lagged behind. Fellow libertarian Gary Johnson,
the former New Mexico governor who endorsed Paul for president in 2008,
tied with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 6% apiece. Ex-House
Speaker Newt Gingrich, a longtime conservative movement favourite, took
just 5%.
Despite all the controversy, it was still a CPAC like any other. The
event attendees were mostly social conservatives. The audience was more
willing to contemplate Pentagon budget scrutiny – but still more hawkish
than not and very concerned about radical Islam. The boycotts did not
hurt attendance: the conference attracted more than 11,000 conservative
activists and its DC venue was packed with people.
But the hostility between Ron Paul's supporters and everyone else was
palpable. When Paul won the straw poll, about half the crowd shouted
"Ron Paul!" – but the other half booed. When Senator Orrin
Hatch of Utah, who is being targeted for a possible Tea Party challenge
in 2012, attempted to defend his vote for the Wall Street bailout,
Paulites cried out, "Liar!" This prompted a Hatch supporter to
sternly remind the audience, "As conservatives, we can disagree
without being disagreeable."
In many respects, the climate within the Republican party and
conservative movement has never been more favourable to Ron Paul and his
ideas. Conservatives are once again emphasising fiscal discipline,
deficit reduction, and the constitution. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
compared the United States' debt crisis to the "red menace".
But for the most part, Paul supporters showed little engagement with the
broader movement and the other conservatives were equally off-hand with
them.
The one exception was Paul's son Rand. The freshman senator tried, in his
speech, to appeal to both groups. He quoted Barry Goldwater and bashed
Nancy Pelosi. But he also urged the Tea Party movement to keep up the
pressure. "It is not enough to have Republicans in charge," he
said. "We are not inherently exceptional as
Republicans."
Despite this implicit criticism of "unexceptional" Republicans,
Rand Paul played to the Big Tent, even giving moderate GOP Senator Susan
Collins a favourable mention. But some Paul supporters and old-line
conservatives are still looking at each other thinking: "This tent's
not big enough for the both of us."
• This article was amended on 14 February 2011. It was originally
accompanied by a photograph of Ron Paul, captioned incorrectly as being
of his son, Rand Paul. This has now been corrected
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/14/republicans-us-politics
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