Two Steps Forward, Three Steps CPAC

Posted by My Sedentary Life on 2/21/10 • Categorized as Blog, Culture War, Featured, Politics

This week, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) saw appearances by some of the biggest names on the Right and gave us a great glimpse into the current conservative movement (Rachel Maddow had a segment on the many groups represented at CPAC).

Nothing was more telling than the different ways the crowd received Dick Cheney and Ron Paul. When our last vice president was introduced by Liz Cheney, his daughter and sith in training, Cheney was supposedly greeted with chants of “Run, Dick, Run!” Paul, on the other hand, was booed. And that was after he won the conference’s 2012 presidential straw poll. (Paul’s supporters were reportedly out in big numbers for the purpose of the vote, or so the RNC spinmeisters would have us believe).

It was a great example of where mainstream conservatism currently resides, as well as where it ultimately needs to go. If ever there was a valid yea or nay test for neo-conservatism and the leadership of Dick Cheney, it was the Bush Administration.

And by almost all measures, that was an epic fail.

On the other hand, support for Paul’s mix of traditional conservatism and radically progressive ideas is obviously growing strong.

Nevertheless, Paul is still shunned by mainstream conservatives, who continue to desperately cling to a past that, although rejected thoroughly by the American Electorate, remains represented by Tricky Dick Cheney.

Check out this video of Cheney’s CPAC reception: