By
Daniel Herbster
Conservatism
in America is alive and well if the record-setting crowd at this year’s CPAC is
any indication. I spent much of the day
in some of the extremely helpful and professional classes put on by the Leadership Institute. LI is famous for training the conservative
candidates and activists of the future, and the instruction I received on
television interviews and public speaking was first rate.
I
did get to hear two notable speakers today.
Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) gave an excellent speech on the need to
stay true to our first principles and to not give up the fight. He used the image of Fort McHenry in the War
of 1812 to illustrate the need for determination and resolve. He cautioned against redefining conservatism
or compromising our first principles, but made the case that free markets and
traditional values were both equally important to the conservative agenda. Pence’s performance led to speculation that
he might make an excellent presidential candidate in the future. (Hopefully I
can get you some good speech excerpts in the future. There really were some great quotes.)
Former
Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AK), after receiving a sweet introduction from his
daughter, displayed his typical folksy charm and homespun humor. His speech seemed to drag a little times and
some of his jokes fell flat, but many in the room showed enthusiastic approval.
I
had a great time talking with friends from other conservative organizations and
friendly Hill staffers, and am looking forward to tomorrow’s agenda.
I’m
hoping to take in one more LI class, listen to Mitt Romney’s speech (and
hopefully meet him), and check out several of the screenings of conservative
films and documentaries. Oh, and it
would be fun to run into my old acquaintance Stephen Baldwin since he’ll be there
signing copies of his new book.
Check
out www.CPAC.org for more info.