CPAC Speeches Have Become Symbols of Complacency

The big news going into this year’s annual CPAC conference was, as everyone who cares has now heard, the invitation to Milo Yiannopoulos to be a keynote speaker, the revocation of that invitation, and Yiannopoulos’ subsequent loss of his book deal and resignation as senior editor of Breitbart. I had no desire to discuss the drama while it was unfolding, and see no need to offer any exhaustive summary or commentary here.

But it is a symptom of a wider problem with CPAC in particular, and the conservative movement more generally. In recent years, as CPAC has become a bigger and more influential event, the focus has gradually begun to stray from promoting conservative values, and toward promoting the Republican Party in general. When Mitch McConnell and the rest of GOP Congressional leadership is regularly given a favorable platform, by virtue merely of their status in leadership, it is perhaps time for some self-examination. McConnell, and the rest of leadership, has done some good, conservative things. But in what universe is Mitch McConnell emblematic of steadfast conservative leadership?

In a similar vein, in several recent years gay Republican and gay conservative organizations (such as the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud) were barred from CPAC entirely over their more libertarian attitudes toward homosexuality. But Milo Yiannopoulos, an extravagant celebrity who is openly gay and often talks about his affairs with other men, is offered a keynote speaking role. The invitation was only rescinded after not just videos surfaced of him endorsing what is essentially pedophilia, but after intense public backlash. In other words, it was the reaction to the videos that got the invite rescinded, more so than the actual content of the videos (which were already public). Yiannopoulos might make liberals mad, but he is no conservative and that fact by itself should not be enough to garner a prime speaking slot.

 The vast majority of the attendees understand all this. It’s among the crowds and on the floor of conventions like CPAC that you are most likely to find the most interesting array of differing, yet still conservative viewpoints, not with the (majority) pandering speeches and attention-seekers on the main stage.