CPAC came and went like a super train, and it didn’t stop to leave anything worthy. This year's convention put a giant spotlight on the differences between the two factions of the party. Rand Paul is clearly the leader of the libertarian wing and Marco Rubio might have an edge on the other half, but we’ll never know because Chris Christie did not attend. It is interesting that Christie beat out Paul Ryan.CPAC is a meeting of conservative minds and is attended mostly by young college students. Liberals and Democrats have Net Roots, but it doesn’t have near the national appeal that CPAC has.
The gang on “Morning Joe” dubbed the convention as the meeting of the “Whacko Birds” and Joe Scarborough kind of agreed but then he couldn’t stand it anymore. He said the democrats had their own “whacko birds” and the panel nonchalantly agreed; knowing that there is no moral equivalence at this time. Joe said the first time he ran for Congress he only had 3% of the African -American vote but the next time he ran he received 50% of their vote I don’t have the energy but I hope someone researches that and puts it in better context. Joe might have left out some important facts like that he ran against a former Klan member but that’s an exaggeration on my part.
Rand Paul’s speech was mostly about liberty (no surprise), but he needs a lot a work on his economic plan. He won’t find one economist who will agree with his plan to balance the budget in five years. Rand Paul, like his dad never met a government program to his liking. His economic plan is as follows:
- Cut $9+ trillion from the budget over the next decade
- Eliminate 4 departments (Energy, Education, Commerce, and HUD)
- Repeal ObamaCare in its entirety
- Reform entitlements
- Balance the budget in five years, and
- Stop the debt
The crowd was enthusiastic about Marco Rubio’s plan but to me it sounded like superficial rhetoric like when he said“As soon as I'm done speaking, I'll tell you what the criticism on the left is going to be," Rubio said. "Number one, he drank too much water. Number two: that he didn't offer any new ideas.
"And there's the fallacy of it. We don't need a new idea. There is an idea: the idea is called America, and it still works."
That’s a plan,Senator Rubio? Bill Clinton could have said those words with much more eloquence “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
How ironic, after mocking President Obama for being a community organizer, RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus rolled out his plan to spend $10 million for community organizers in Black, Hispanic and Asian communities. The chairman admitted that the GOP of the past, parachuted their operatives into those communities four months prior to an election but continued to get trounced because the Obama campaign lived in those communities. Joe Scarborough said that many republicans will be surprised by the lack of outreach of his party. Come on Joe, they are not that naïve, as long as they were the majority it didn’t matter. The republican community organizers will have a tough job in states where GOP governors and legislators are making it harder for minorities to vote. The GOP is seen as a party that aches for the days of old. The country has given up on supply side trickle-down economics, so good luck trying to rebrand it as a plan for upward mobility. They’re going to have to explain why there is money in the Ryan budget for tax cuts for the wealthy but no money for Pell Grants and grandma’s Meals- on- Wheels program.
I don’t know why people like RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus, can’t figure out the obvious. People vote for candidates who they can relate to; whether it’s appearance, rhetoric or basic trust. The reason for winning elections might be creative gerrymandering or lack of interest. For example, Victoria usually has a 17% voter turnout in non- presidential elections. Under those conditions, it’s not hard for the same people or political party to maintain their power. Victoria has an older population, so it’s only natural that they consistently vote for conservative republicans. Protecting the wealthy and being seen as less tolerant will not win many national elections. And that’s just a start because being the anti-science, anti-government, anti-women’s rights doesn’t appeal to our nation as a whole and the election results bear that out. Comparing local and state elections results to national ones is a classic “apples to oranges” ordeal.