CPAC is always a great event, as it was once again this year. I’ve attended over twenty times since I began going in 1998. These days it occurs more than once a year, and not always in the Washington D.C. area. Matt Schlapp and the American Conservative Union have taken the show on the road, having recently held conferences in Israel, Brazil and this one from August 4th through the 6th was in Dallas.
The theme was Fire Pelosi, Save America. The whole thing, at least all of the speakers in the main room on all three days, is now online so that you can watch all of the speakers and panels, from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, to Steve Bannon, Burgess Owens, Ted Cruz, former President Donald Trump and many, many more.
There was a greater than normal level of concern for the country based on the disastrous policies of the Biden administration. One such policy is resulting in a flood of illegal aliens coming across our southern border with the Border Patrol largely assuming the role of a welcoming committee. They are processing people who come across the border and head straight for a Border Patrol agent, knowing that means they have made it into the U.S. In addition, Biden’s energy policy has triggered massive inflation, empowered and enriched Russia, even financing its war against Ukraine.
But there were two overriding concerns, at least from what I was hearing. One was the concern that under the Biden administration, the Justice Department and justice in general has become more politicized and weaponized than ever before. And it is aimed at Republicans and conservatives, particularly Trump and Trump supporters, while Lady Justice wears her blindfold when looking at the deeds of the Biden family, the Clinton family, and the Obama family. And it is all enabled and empowered by a corrupt news media, led by the three major broadcast networks and their cable affiliates, plus the New York Times, Washington Post, the AP, and a few more.
The second overriding concern was election integrity. While there is a strong belief that Republicans will take over at least the House in the November elections, and very possibly the Senate, there is also great concern that the elections will not be free and fair. There is an overwhelming belief, despite the Election Fraud Deniers who populate CNN and MSNBC on a nightly basis, and the January 6 Committee, that the 2020 elections were anything but free and fair.
When it came down to the straw poll, Donald Trump was the choice of the attendees to be the GOP nominee in 2024 by a margin of 69% to 24% for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz at 2% and no one else above 1%. With Trump removed from the list, DeSantis got 65% with everyone else in single digits. As far as the issues that were most important, number one was election integrity with 61% and number two was the border wall and immigration, followed by energy independence and constitutional rights.
I spent parts of two days on Radio Row doing our new CCNS video podcast, The National Security Alert. I had some terrific guests including Rep. Brian Babin of Texas, Rich Baris, The People’s Pundit, James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation, David Tice, producer/director of a new documentary, “Grid Down, Power Up,” and one of the founding members of the CCNS, MG Paul Vallely. You can see the episode with Rep. Babin and Rich Baris here, and the one with Carafano, Tice and Vallely here.
The views expressed in CCNS member articles are not necessarily the views or positions of the entire CCNS. They are the views of the authors, who are members of the CCNS.
