CPAC Radio FR - Reflections

The Shrew ^ | February 4, 2003 | The Shrew

[The Shrew]

CPAC 2003 Impressions – The Shrew

As I am winging my way from Chicago back to Denver after having been on a business trip following CPAC I thought I would take some time and share some impressions of the 30th annual event. This was the fifth time I had the opportunity to attend this conference and while my experience grows with each event my excitement, anticipation and enjoyment of the event and the friends that I have made grows each year.

As those who have read the previous CPAC threads are aware I spent 95% of my time at CPAC involved with Radio Free Republic. I had the great fortune to work closely with Executive Producer – Bob J, Producer – Diotima, Technical Production – Agitator; Co-Host – Glaswegian and did we ever get some outstanding opportunities to interview some of the leading personalities in the Conservative movement today!

For those of you who don’t know Radio Free Republic is the brain-child and tempestuous offspring of Bob J. He has primarily funded this entire project out of his own pocket! Our very own Agitator has also contributed greatly in equipment, expertise and technical know-how. I bring all of this up because there is no way to overestimate the value that Radio Free Republic brings to the Free Republic Network and the Free Republic Forum! Essentially, Radio FR is primary reporting/interviewing that gives Freepers direct access to some of the leading minds and projects of the conservative movement. Radio FR represents an electronic ‘Freep’ of the first order.

We conducted approximately 48 interviews over three days! David Horowitz, David Keene – ACU; Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center, Parents Television Council, and now of Conservative News Service; Ward Connerly, Grover Norquist Mark Levin of the Landmark Legal Foundation, Gary Aldrich, Art Linkletter of USA Seniors; Bill Federer – former Congressional Candidate, Peter Roff of UPI, Chuck Muth of ACU, …….

These interviews are far too extensive to cover here in depth suffice it to say I believe that they are well worth your time. Both the big-name interviews and the behind the scenes players show a perspective of Conservatism that is not easily found in the ‘left-wing media’ to quote Joseph Farah of World Net Daily in the interview we conducted with him!

One of the primary lessons for me from CPAC was that words mean things. Contrary to the efforts of Bill Clinton to redefine the meaning of the word ‘IS’ these conservative speakers constantly reiterated the importance of precise definition of words and phrases. Ward Connerly, David Horowitz, Michelle Malkin, Scott Hoganson and Joe Farah in particular were quite forceful in defining the Conservative argument instead of letting ‘the left’ define the terms for us! Their efforts had an effect upon me and I am sure that having heard the interviews we will all be more precise and more careful in our forum postings.

There was a tremendous energy at CPAC this year. David Keene was quite emphatic that next year’s CPAC conference would be sold on a ‘first come first served’ basis. I took that to mean for attendees, booth registrants and speakers. He anticipates over 5,000 attendees. That is easily the maximum number of people the current facility at the Crystal Gateway Marriott could support. I agree with Mr. Keene in that it will be a Presidential Election year and the need to impact the U.S. House and Senate races as well will drive the number of attendees. I would highly recommend making your reservations early.

IMHO, Free Republic was very well represented with in excess of 100 Freepers joining the fun at CPAC! FRN, Radio FR and the DC Chapter each had a contingent of attendees and all worked well and cordially together! This reflected very well upon all and led to a dynamic synergy that brought great credit to Jim Robinson (FR), Interesting Times(FRN), and the DC Chapter - (DCC). Taxman, SAS, Seeking the Truth, Bob J of Radio FR and the US Flag Balloon tea, all made their presence felt with the CPAC attendees well aware of the power and influence of Free Republic. You should never wonder again if the luminaries of the Conservative movement Freep – you may rest assured that they lurk, Freep, post and read your comments, notice your cartoons, laugh at your humor and are influenced by your opinions. I found this to be a somewhat earthshaking confirmation of what I have long suspected and alleged. Free Republic in all of its forms is making an impact.

For those of you who have not yet attended CPAC there is usually a bank of computers that are sponsored by xxx and attendees use these machines to check up on news, check email and increasingly to Freep. I would estimate that there were approximately 1,500 – 2,000 student attendees at this year’s conference and with a huge percentage of them being computer savvy the numbers of lurkers and Freepers in the college/youth ranks is growing dramatically. Glaswegian interviewed a leader of YAF and we both had the good fortune to interview Bryan Kemper of Rock for Life. If the youth of America is represented by the youth at CPAC we are gaining a vital contingent in the culture wars. You heard it here first: Jessica Federer – daughter of Bill Federer – is going to be a conservative star!

From the perspective of your humble interviewer CPAC was a huge success. The Administration supported the conference by sending Vice-President Cheney, Secretary Chao and innumerable supporters with the message that the principles of conservatism are good for America and that policy will be based upon those principles – if sought incrementally. It was such a pleasure to meet and renew friendships with so many Freepers. In addition to the many aforementioned Freepers: it was a great pleasure to see all of the Freepers in attendance including: Libertina, Registered, MAF, Exit 148, Sauropod, NaughtiNurse, Abner, Victim of Circumstance, BadRay, Dixie Sass, FreetheHostages, Warrior Nurse, HoldOnNow, Kristinn, Angelwood, Dr. Raoul, and others too numerous or too fleeting of an acquaintance for an old man to remember.

It was a daunting challenge to be one of your representatives in these interviews. Any errors, verbal dyslexia, forgotten names, poor questions, factual mis-statements and errors in logic or presentation of conservative ideas are mine and mine alone. I owe a great debt of thanks to Diotima, Libertina, Interesting Times, Bob J, Agitator and Glaswegian for their help in making Radio FR a success over the course of the conference.

Regards,

The Shrew

[Capitalism2003]

Radio Free Republic? Huh?? Wha?? Where? When? Website? Sounds awesome!

[The Shrew]

Radio FR Bump!

Regards,

TS

[The Shrew]

Here's a story about numerous offspring of your brain-child FreeRepublic.com

Thanks for all that you do!

TS

[Timesink]

Shock Troops for Bush (Major-League CPAC/Conservative Bashing, Courtesy of Salon!)

[The Shrew]

CPAC 2003 bump!

Nice to see all of you!

TS

[It's me]

I would estimate that there were approximately 1,500 – 2,000 student attendees at this year’s conference

My daughter was one of them and she had a great time. One of you even fed her! You gave her your french fries! Thanks! ;o)

[The Shrew]

CPAC Co-Host Bump!

You did an outstanding job Sir! It was a pleasure working with you!

Regards,

TS

[The Shrew]

US Flag Balloon!

A Patriotic Airborne Bump to you two!

Regards,

TS

[blam]

"Free Republic in all of its forms is making an impact."

Excellent. Thanks for the reflections.

[agitator]

Here are the archives, the bottom show in the list was on tonight.

http://www.theotherradionetwork.com/pgs/archives-fr.htm

 

[The Shrew]

"Free Republic in all of its forms is making an impact."

Excellent. Thanks for the reflections.

Thank you! It was fun to be a part of!

Regards,

TS

[LurkerNoMore!]

Great interviews, TimMan. Thanks for all your hard work.

[The Shrew]

Great interviews, TimMan. Thanks for all your hard work.

Thank you kindly Ma'am!

Or, as my partner from Glasgow would say:

"Och Aye Lassie! It was great fun, but you were sorely missed!"

Regards,

TS

[agitator]

Both The Shrew and The Glaswegian did an *impressive* job at CPAC :) How many Freepers could conduct 48 interviews in 3 days covering the entire spectrum of conservative thought and put up with me hassling them about audio levels all day? :) Bob J and Diotima were busy rustling up a 5-star lineup of interview-ees faster than they could be interviewed. As if that wasn't enough, they stuck around Saturday after all of the regular radio hosts had left and got some of the best, in-depth interviews out there. In any event, thanks to their efforts, Radio FreeRepublic got more high-profile, longer duration interviews in three days than Fox gets in three weeks, they represented FreeRepublic as professionals and a genuine force in conservatism, and it couldn't have been done without the dedication that they demonstrated over and over again. A fine job indeed!

Stay tuned for program announcements on when those interviews will air, you won't want to miss them :)

[The Shrew]

Wow! I'm humbled! Thank you for all of your efforts sir! I know that we will have a significantly better product because of your technical expertise!

On that note it's off to bed! I'm totally shot!

Regards,

TS

[diotima]

Thanks for the kind words, TS. I was half expecting you to still be sitting at the RadioFR table on RadioRow or that we simply packed you up with the RadioFR stuff and you were trapped in Pelikan Box. I glad to hear you alive and well. ;^)

You worked incredibly hard. I hope most people realize that those of us who worked CPAC do it at our own expense and on our own time. (I still chuckle recalling my "vacation" last week.) The Shrew and The Glaswegian were proverbially CHAINED to RadioFR. To further pat our effort on the back, we were in smack in the middle of RadioRow. We had a first class operation running.

Agitator is unbelievable. I had the privilage of meeting him last May and touring the RadioFR compound. I had a first class tour from the Station Manager (a fiesty cat aptly named "weasel") and good look at the technology. We are on the cutting edge. So thanks to you Ag, I know you had as much sleep as I did.

Thank you for your hard work, TS and everyone who was there to help.

[Taxman]

Well said, my FRiend. Thanks for all that you do for the FRee Republic.

I thoroughly enjoyed our interview. As they say, "You do good radio!"

OooooRah!

[Badray]

Thanks for the great report and all of your hard work.

[Badray]

CPAC report ping