CPAC Sucks

A number of commentators faulted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for not attending CPAC this year.

Most likely, he was invited, but turned it down. The MAGA-Conservative intelligentsia on the blogs think that DeSantis is already showing some establishment leanings, that he is making a mistake not connecting with the grassroots at CPAC.

The truth is that lots of people skipped CPAC this year.

Stacey Lennox remarked that CPAC has reached the end of its influence, hollowed out to a “Only Trump” contingent that shows no interest in really talking with anyone else. Governor Chris Christie, whose non-invite invited massive speculation and inquiry from the press, left and right, remarked that the room was half-full when Trump addressed the crowd.

The Trump-Trump-Trump MAGA MAGA schtick has gotten old. CPAC has turned into ultimate in MAGA Grift, and now that Trump is no longer in office, the momentum has worn off.

But there’s more beneath the surface as to why CPAC now sucks.

A friend of mine, an independent journalist from Massachusetts, attended the event to record the speeches and meet with activists. One of the media agents in attendance? The Southern Poverty Law Center. This hate group from Alabama is not even media in any respectable sense, but a hate group dedicated to fundraising and smearing anyone they disagree with (predominantly conservatives). How could CPAC possibly consider them media, and even allow them a table at the event?!

And it gets worse.

CPAC has dedicated its time and energy to rolling out the rainbow carpet for homosexuals and transgenders, even those these aberrant, destructive behaviors are far from conservative. The corruption of identity politics, social liberalism, all advertised under the guise of “libertarianism” has so infected the conference. The normalization of homosexuality at CPAC goes as far back as 2010, when one of the keynote speakers at the conference, Ryan Sorba, condemned the gathering for allowing GOProud to attend the event. There was widespread booing in the audience, but at least the host came to the mike to defend Sorba’s comments.

Remark well that that level of LGBT hostility was already in display at CPAC as far back as 2010, at the height of the Tea Party movement crashing against Barack Obama’s efforts to fundamentally transform America. Even then, Obama was still opposing “gay” marriage, yet among the conservative who’s-who who attended CPAC, it was taboo and “bad taste” for anyone to criticize sodomy and transvestism as not conservative … even though it is not conservative to begin with.

And it gets worse. In 2018, when MassResistance (the effective international pro-family organization that I work for) was offered the opportunity to host a booth at the conference. CPAC organizers went out of their way to line them up and invite them in. Then all of a sudden, MassResistance’s application was rejected and they were cancelled. WHAT?!

(And remember that CPAC advertised one of their recent conferences as “America Uncancelled.” Sure!)

A number of conservative organizations took MassResistance’s side on this fracas, and even Michelle Malkin weighed in on MassRedsistance’s side a few years later. Malkin also exposed the corporate, pro-open borders lobbies that had been funding CPAC, as well.

The whole CPAC circus reminds me of that tone-deaf press conference/rally that Trump had in South Carolina earlier this year. Trump declares the usual MAGA-boilerplate talking points about going after the Deep State, draining the Swamp, taking the fight to the Dems, and cleaning out the RINOs. And all while Trump was piling on his red-meat pledges, right next to him stood Lindsey Graham, the biggest RINO in the crash. Why does Lindsey Graham get top billing at Trump Rallies, even though he actively thwarts his agenda every chance he gets?

Flattery, and Trump buys into it. And that’s what CPAC has turned into: a Trump flattery circle-jerk. They grovel for the MAGA grift as fast as they can, hoping to get an easy buck.

And that’s why it’s crashing and burning.

They celebrate drag queens, and they kick out pro-family activists who actually win the culture war.

Homosexuals get drunk off their butts wander freely and look for screen time.

The leadership for CPAC, Matt Schlapp, faces allegations of sexual misconduct, but no one seems to care.

When alternative journalists show up, they get shown the door (see what happened to Owen Shroyer of InfoWars here.)

And who can forget the Golden Calf, er Statue dedicated to (or deifying?) President Donald Trump? Yes, it’s crystal clear to anyone who is paying attention that CPAC is not longer about advancing or advocating conservative values. It’s turned into a self-righteous fawning expedition for grifters looking to cash in on gullible MAGA types who want to feel good and be “part of something.”

Thankfully this year, there were far fewer people there to be part of anything in the first place, since so few people attend in the first place.

Governor Ron DeSantis made the right move by not attending CPAC. There is no point in talking to an audience full of “Trump No Matter What” sycophants who are going to give Trump the win via the biased, skewed, and useless straw poll. DeSantis wasn’t ignoring the working or middle-class or grassroots crowd, since podcasters looking to cut some clips and make some money is what CPAC has been reduced to. If you want to run for President, you need to raise your name, game, and fame. That takes money and connections, and neither of them are in large supply at CPAC.

I would go one step further why CPAC sucks, and it goes beyond the fact that it’s turn into a RINO shill grift-fest. I think lots of conservatives, constitutionalists, etc. see the country in a really bad shape, in a really bad state. Great speeches, nice rallies, stirring talking points just aren’t enough anymore. No longer conservative, no longer engaging, no longer a robust convocation of communities within the conservative movement, CPAC needs to pack it up and say “See ya.”