WASHINGTON, D.C. – Conservatives are worried – no, make that "scared shitless" – that a Democrat will win the White House in 2008 ... so much so that after Mitt Romney announced to the approximately 2500 attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 7 that he was "suspending" his presidential campaign, he was quickly drafted into a private meeting with high-level conservative and fundamentalist leaders, who essentially anointed him the "new Ronald Reagan."
"The movement needs someone of Ronald Reagan's stature and Romney could fill that role," stated attendee Jay Sekulow, head of Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, to the ultra-conservative Washington Times.
Others attending Romney's coronation were former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed; right-wing radio talker Laura Ingraham; Tim Winter, editor-in-chief of the ultraconservative Human Events magazine and website; well-known conservative activist Bay Buchanan, author of "The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton" (and sister of even-more-conservative activist Pat Buchanan); Paul Weyrich, head of the Free Congress Foundation, one of the seminal theocon activist groups; Tom Kilgannon of Freedom Alliance, a rabidly anti-United Nations isolationist group; and the heads of several state Republican Party election committees. The meeting was chaired by David Keane, head of the American Conservative Union.
Romney's withdrawal from the presidential race was a stunning blow to many of the CPAC attendees, with 35% having indicated by conference end that they'd vote for Romney despite his having dropped out – and when the straw poll's figures were broken out between those who'd voted before Romney's announcement and those who voted after, 44% had supported him pre-announcement, compared to just 27% giving early support to McCain, who finished just one point behind Romney in the final results. By comparison, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul finished with just 12% each, Paul having picked up 2% of the disgruntled early Romney supporters.
Moreover, 31% of the attendees polled indicated that they wouldn't vote for McCain under any circumstances, with a surprising 36% saying the same about a Huckabee candidacy.
The meaning of the Romney lovefest was immediately clear: The splintered conservative movement, distressed by rumors that a President McCain would support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants – they'd call that "amnesty" – and might not appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade (as McCain has promised to do); dismayed that "America's Mayor," Rudy Giuliani, had had New York's taxpayers paying for police to guard his then-mistress, Judy Nathan (not to mention Giuliani's early support for abortion rights and gun control); worried that Mike Huckabee would make good on his pledge to "amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards"; distrusting of Ron Paul's libertarian background (he might legalize drugs!); and recognizing that religious fanatic Alan Keyes didn't stand a chance in hell of being elected, needed a "leader" who could successfully kibitz (read: attack) the Democratic platform from the sidelines while not having to worry about actually running for office ... and Romney appeared to be their best choice, even if he is a Mormon, which many of the more religious conservatives regard as "unChristian." There was even some talk of grooming Romney for a presidential run in 2012 – a possibility that Romney eagerly embraced.
The 2008 CPAC, celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, was also notable for having snagged both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney as speakers – even if Bush's speech did take place at 7:15 Friday morning, when many conventioneers were still recovering from the previous evening's banquet (featured speakers: Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who's been accused of manipulating the 2004 vote to secure the winning electoral votes for Bush; far-right Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn; and Plamegate instigator Robert Novak) and the premiers of full-length video hit-job Hillary: The Movie and Newt Gingrich's propaganda-laden Rediscovering God in America, both produced by former House Government Reform and Oversight Committee investigator (read: Republican hitman) David Bossie, now head of Citizens United for the Bush Agenda. Notably, neither Bush nor Cheney endorsed McCain at CPAC, although Bush gave his old adversary a favorable nod on the Feb. 10 Fox News Sunday.
Other notable speakers at the conference included Kayne Robinson and Wayne LaPierre, leaders of the National Rifle Assn.; Rep. Mike Pence ("We cannot allow a President Obama or another President Clinton in the White House"); Joseph Farah, owner of WorldNetDaily and author of "Taking America Back: A Radical Plan to Revive Freedom, Morality & Justice" ("I am here to warn you what will become of the First Amendment if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama become president."); Rep. Tom Price ("A commitment to conservatism is a commitment to freedom"); author Dinesh D'Souza ("Morality is one of the domains of government"); Concerned Women for America president Wendy Wright ("In Kenya, they have so many condoms that kids use them for balloons"); former Sen. Rick "Man-On-Dog" Santorum (the "war on terrorism" is "a war against people who want to destroy western civilization"); Reason Magazine editor Matt Welch ("John McCain is a sincere man of faith"); right-wing radio talker John Ziegler ("If we can't beat these people, we don't deserve to be in the White House"); Newt Gingrich ("We're going to have to learn conservative government, not conservative politics"); and former White House press secretary Tony Snow ("When liberals fold, bend and spindle our values, who you gonna call? Conservatives!").
But all of that will be more fully reported in the coming days.
