Free Republic

We don’t need a fight on the Convention floor in Tampa to justify the strength of the conservative movement. One needs to look no further than the 2010 repossession of the House of Representatives, our big gains in the Senate and 10 big gubernatorial victories as evidence of the power of our conservative principles and ideas. As of today, it is clear neither Senator Santorum nor Speaker Gingrich nor Congressman Paul can amass the majority of delegates required to be the Republican nominee. Their only paths to victory feature a contested, anarchic floor fight just weeks before Americans vote on...

Jeb Bush Could Emerge As GOP Nominee At A Brokered Convention, Says Top Republican By TOBY HARNDEN 11th February 2012 Al Cardenas, head of the American Conservative Union, has said that Republican turmoil might lead to a brokered convention in which Jeb Bush, former Florida governor, would emerge as a 'possible alternative' party nominee. Mr Cardenas, who is running this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a gathering in Washington of some 10,000 conservatives, told MailOnline that it was not certain that one of the four current Republican candidates would emerge victorious. His comments came as Republicans fretted publicly about...

The folks at Club for Growth has white papers on all the GOP candidates summarizing their public records and does a pretty objective job. Looking at Newt's I really was struck by how conservative Newt's actual voting record was (which of course was mischaracterized by Jennifer Rubin, who I think must have been offered a post in a Romney administration. How else do you explain her going full spittle in support of Romney and anti-Newt?)., with most of the worrisome aspects of his record coming from speeches AFTER he left public office. This is pretty much the exact opposite of...

1998 was the last year that Gingrich, Paul and Santorum were all in Congress. Gingrich’s annual and lifetime ACU ratings were far better than both of the others: 100% - Gingrich: Annual 1998 ACU Rating (90% Lifetime Rating as of 1998) 88% - Paul: Annual 1998 ACU Rating (88% Lifetime Rating as of 1998) 84% - Santorum: Annual 1998 ACU Rating (83% Lifetime Rating as of 1998) Source: http://www.conservative.org/ratings/ratingsarchive/1998/98houseratings.htm

ACU Announces Ann Coulter Will Join CPAC FL For Immediate Release: August 3, 2011Contact: Kristy Campbell, (703) 836-8602, KCampbell@conservative.org   ACU Announces Ann Coulter Will Join CPAC FLAll-star Panels to Feature Bill Kristol, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed and Jim Talent ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Conservative Union (ACU) today announced eight-time New York Times’ bestselling author Ann Coulter will be a headliner at CPAC FL – the organization’s first in an inaugural series of regional events expanding on the legacy of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Additionally, ACU announced several national conservative leaders will serve on CPAC FL panels, including the founder...

The American Conservative Union is taking CPAC on the road! As our inaugural regional event in Orlando, Florida, CPAC FL will bring national and state conservative leaders and regional grassroots activists together for a day of blockbuster speeches, policy discussions and networking opportunities -- all celebrating the shared principles of limited government, a strong national defense and traditional values. This is the don't miss event of the year! Register today!

Turning the tradition of seniority in politics on its head, the 20-month-old tea party movement suddenly finds itself courted by the 47-year-old American Conservative Union. "To bring America back and defeat President Obama next year will require humility and gratitude by those of us who have toiled in the vineyards of the conservative movement for decades and suddenly find ourselves as outsiders by some in the tea party who are rightfully skeptical of all which occurred before their uprising," ACU Chairman Alberto Cardenas told The Washington Times in announcing staff changes at the organization. His words are calculated to counter...

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice to borrow money and add to this year’s expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn’t seem possible... Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, “Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority...

The former executive director for the American Conservative Union has agreed to serve on the advisory council for GOProud, a homosexual lobby that has approved of same-sex "marriage" and the repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy that allowed homosexuals to serve in the military if they didn't make an issue of their lifestyle choice even though the law banned that. According to an announcement today from GOProud, Chuck Muth, the former executive director of the ACU, is joining the GOProud leadership team. Christopher Barron, chairman of GOProud's board, said in a prepared statement the organization was honored to...

Take Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee out of the 2012 presidential mix, says Al Cardenas, new chair of the American Conservative Union: If they were serious about running, "they'd probably be here." Interviewed at the end of the second busy day of his organization's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Cardenas dismissed the chances of the two high-profile no-shows. "Both Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin would be formidable contenders, but are unlikely to be nominees," he told On Calll. "But my sense I they're not serious about running because I would think they'd probably be here if they were."

Many conservative organizations have chosen to boycott this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), but Veterans in Defense of Liberty will be there in force. Our group is going to CPAC to fulfill our sworn and solemn oath to “defend and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” Unfortunately, the nation’s pre-eminent grass-roots conservative gathering has become a showcase for the enemies of the American tradition. The American Conservative Union‘s (ACU) board of directors, led by Grover Norquist, Suhail Khan and until he stepped down yesterday, David Keene, seems to have forgotten the constitutional grounding of American society....

David Keene, the longtime chairman of the American Conservative Union, stepped down on Wednesday as the leader of the organization, one day ahead of the first of its annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Keene had chaired the organization since 1984 and will still preside over the annual conservative gathering. His impending exit had been anticipated, but not the timing. Al Cardenas was selected to succeed Keene. Cardenas was born in Cuba in 1948, and has been a player in conservative politics since the Reagan presidency. “I look forward to taking advantage of the new energies we see today in...

Al Cardenas is one of Miami's top political insiders. He's a former two-term chair of the state GOP, and a former member of the nation-wide Executive Committee of the Republican Party. The guy even gave Marco Rubio his first break in politics. The Cuban-American has just been named the president of the influential American Conservative Union, and while he's about as Republican as they come, some insiders are gasping that he may not be conservative enough. Cardenas, now a prominent Miami lawyer and lobbyist who previously served as the group's treasurer, will be the ACU's first new president in more...

The news that Sarah Palin won’t be attending CPAC next week doesn’t come as much surprise. For those keeping score, she’s now been invited three times — and said no thanks each time. A Palin aide did not immediately return a request to explain why, but her reasoning is pretty evident. A Palin source bashed CPAC and its leader David Keene in an interview last year with POLITICO announcing that the former governor wouldn’t be attending – even though CPAC had listed her as an invited guest for the second year in a row. The source called the annual...

WASHINGTON -- Allegations of a pro-gay takeover, boycotts, embezzlement and terrorist-loving board members. Sounds like a Hollywood version of a conspiracy thriller, but it's not. It's the buzz around this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation's single largest annual congregation of conservative leaders. Conservatives riding a new wave of momentum thanks to the strength of the Tea Party movement and big wins in the November midterm election should be riding high ahead of this year's CPAC,scheduled to take place in Washington on Feb. 10-13. But the conference, which has met for 38 years, has found itself beset by conflict...

Friction between parts of the social conservative and libertarian wings of the conservative movement has escalated into a shooting war in the run-up to the 28-year old Conservative Political Action Conference, with accusations of embezzlement (true), homosexuality (true), and creeping sharia (disputed) hurled against the 28-year old conservative institution. CPAC’s leaders respond that its foes’ real gripe is that it won’t give a platform to their lunatic conspiracy theories about presidential birth certificates (disputed). ...Two of the heavyweight groups of the broader right, the Heritage Foundation and the Media Research Center, have dropped out of CPAC and are expected, planners...

David A. Keene WASHINGTON – The non-profit organization responsible for the largest annual conservative gathering in the U.S. is under investigation for embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor money over several years, WND has learned. The American Conservative Union, headed by David Keene and best known for its organization of the Conservative Political Action Conference each year in the nation's capital, has been embroiled in controversies in recent years, but this one is shaking the foundations of the Washington institution. The American Conservative Union reported to the Internal Revenue Service last month a "material diversion of...

WASHINGTON -- “What's "in the closet" at the American Conservative Union? ACU staffers repeatedly declined to respond to questions about a report that the organization changed the status of GOProud, a homosexual activist organization that claims to be "conservative," for the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference. GOProud is listed on ACU's website as an "affiliate" for the 2011 CPAC conference. But sources reported GOProud was a "sponsor" last year, a higher status that provides greater influence over conference planning and selection of speakers.

Democrats are in for ugly blowback once they realize how soundly they are defeated in November, Dave Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells Newsmax. Already, because of a belief they will lose, the Democratic leadership has gone into “triage mode” by deciding to cut off support for 30 members of Congress seeking re-election, Keene says. “Once that happens to those members, it’s no longer the Republicans’ fault, it's no longer the tsunami that is approaching, it’s their leaders who have sold them out, and you can see the results already,” Keene says. “On the Hill, they are fighting...

...a state registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 329,000 to 179,000. Castle voting history suggests he will vote with conservatives 52 percent of the time. If Coons is elected and votes in a pattern similar to Delaware’s other senator, he will vote the conservative 12 percent; if he emulates current Democratic senator Ted Kaufman, he will vote the conservative position 4 percent. Over his 17 complete years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Castle has voted the conservative position, as defined by the American Conservative Union, about 52 percent of the time. In 2009, ACU scored Castle at 56. Castle opposed the...

The Heritage Foundation Bloggers Briefing on August 10, 2010 welcomed guest speaker David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union, speaking on his organization’s recently launched project aimed at exposing ACORN spin-offs, and unmasking what they have done in the past. Given the political situation the country is currently facing today, the American Conservative Union puts forth the questions of what are we [America] going to be facing this fall, and further, what role will ACORN play? ACORN is a community organizing group which was found to have forged thousands of voter registration cards in dozens of states. Former employees...

Washington, DC – David Keene, Chairman of the largest and oldest conservative organization in America, the American Conservative Union, today commented on the decision by Washington liberals in the House to pass the Obama / Pelosi / Reid health bill. “With this vote, the U.S. House has chosen big government over freedom and bureaucracy over people,” said David Keene, “The American Conservative Union has opposed this bill from the start because of its massive cost and red tape. The more we learn and Americans learn about the devil in the details of this bill the more disgust among Americans will...

<p>But what many people don’t realize is that Sorba’s “outburst” was provoked by a speaker who preceded him, Alexander McCobin of Students For Liberty (SFL). McCobin went out of his way to use valuable time from the podium to thank the American Conservative Union, the main CPAC organizer, for making the controversial decision to approve GOProud’s participation.</p>

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has criticized the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), whose recent conference he refused to attend, alleging it has departed from its conservative principles. Speaking on Fox News last weekend, Huckabee said that CPAC has become "more libertarian and less Republican over the last few years, one of the reasons why I [did not attend the event] this year." The former GOP presidential candidate also suggested that the popularity of the Tea Party nation movement and its events all over the country have caused the influence of the CPAC to rapidly decline, and the organization is...

What’s expanding faster than the federal government? CPAC! Last year the diminutive crowd of a mere 8500 overwhelmed the traditional venue, the Omni Shoreham in Washington. This year, the conference was held across the street at the ginormous Marriot, which also became overwhelmed when the crowd swelled to over 10,000. About 5000 attendees were college students, which accounts for the freakish straw poll victory by Ron Paul Perot. Growing even faster than the federal deficit or CPAC, is the Tea Party Movement whose presence was felt throughout the convention. Conservative ideals have always been appealing to most Americans. The problem...

(excerpt) This moment at CPAC is even more important for the conservative movement as it happened at an important time when there is already a generational change going on in America. Boomers are fading, Xer’s are ruling, and Millenials are finding their way. Forty-eight percent of those who participated in the CPAC straw poll last week identified themselves as students. They are the future of conservativism. And they shouted down an anti-gay bigot. There will surely be other homocon-related clashes within the conservative movement, just as the Democrat Party has regularly used the gay community as pawns in their re-election...

The few controversial parts of CPAC 2010 were outweighed by the momentum driving the various factions on the right together - opposition to the federal government's spending, bailouts, and attempted takeover of healthcare. 10,000 turned out for CPAC 2010 this year, 1500 more than last year. With Republicans out of power in Washington and Tea Partiers revolting against the Obama administration's massive spending and bailouts, conservatives are coming together stronger than ever. Although there was a National Tea Party convention earlier this month in Nashville featuring Sarah Palin, attended by 1500, it was clear that Tea Partiers were unified with...

California Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chairman Ryan Sorba generated a media controversy when he was shown at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) denouncing the organizers for inviting a homosexual Republican group, GOProud, into the event as an official sponsor. In "controversial" remarks, Sorba said homosexuality was unnatural and that he welcomed more debate and discussion about the subject from his political adversaries. But what many people don't realize is that Sorba's "outburst" was provoked by a speaker who preceded him, Alexander McCobin of Students For Liberty (SFL). McCobin went out of his way to use valuable time from...

When I attend many conservative functions in my early 20's, I was usually the young "whipper snapper" in the room. Now that I am 39 years of age, one troubling thing that I have noticed is that I am -STILL- the young Whipper Snapper in the room. Morality is dying off with the “greatest generation”. As I look into this CPAC audience I noticed something a little different than the conservative functions to which I am accustomed. I see allot of...

http://www.acuratings.org/ They were released last week. Currently they're only available in PDF format. They aren't the be all end all but they are a usual barometer among many. They look at 25 votes for each house across a wide spectrum of issues. In 2008 there was a huge lurch to the left according to their scores. Some called their ratings outliers because of this. 2009 saw a general improvement of scores more in line with other years.

During a CPAC segment to recognize student conservative activists from across the country, one particular conservative, Ryan Sorba of the California Young Americans for Freedom, denounced CPAC for allowing the gay conservative group GOProud to co-sponsor the event and host a booth. After finishing his short speech against homosexuality as being contrary to the concept of natural rights -- amidst booing from the crowd -- he walked off the stage. "Just to change the subject for just a second, I'd like to condemn CPAC for bringing GOPride (sic) to this event," said Sorba. The young activist crowd erupted into booing,...

Today is the opening of the Conservative Political Action conference (CPAC) — the storied annual gathering of the Right. As I noted the other day, it’s also the season for a bumper crop of conservative manifestos, action plans, and ideological contracts. The Mount Vernon Statement, which lays out broad principles for “constitutional conservatism,” has garnered the most buzz. An elegant tribute to limited government and the Founding Fathers, the document carries the signatures of movement leaders, Beltway heavyweights, and veteran activists. Two of the most prominent backers: the American Conservative Union’s David Keene and Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist....

Tomorrow, for the 37th time, conservatives will gather in Washington to discuss, debate, and forge new solutions at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. For those who may be tempted to despair about the state of the limited government, pro-market and pro-family movement, a little history is in order. In 1975, then-Governor Ronald Reagan inspired a dispirited conservative movement to revolution at CPAC. In a message that resonates to this day, President Reagan proclaimed, “Our people look for a cause to believe in,” and then asked: “Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and...

The Tea Partiers have spooked the political establishment. Many Washington insiders who cling to their faith in democracy while deathly afraid that people unlike themselves might actually get involved in politics are busy assuring each other at cocktail parties and on Sunday talk shows that the newly involved will lose interest before the next election. Or, better yet, they might turn on the Republicans who have thus far been the beneficiaries of their numbers and energy. The phenomenon began with last year’s town hall meetings. Hundreds and then thousands of people showed up at congressional town halls traditionally attended by...

I'm not entirely sure which topic got more buzz yesterday: the introduction of Apple's iPad or President Obama's State of the Union address. Either way, it was pretty clear which one's buzz will last longer: the iPad. Everyone's talking about the tablet computer designed to compete with the Kindle. Abilene Christian University's student newspaper, the Optimist, hoping to capitalize on the buzz, will be the first student publication to publish using the iPad, the Optimist reports. The gadget will be available in 60 days, and a team of faculty and student researchers is planning for the Optimist to be ready...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Pain is turning down an invitation to speak at one high-profile conservative gathering while accepting another. Palin is declining an invitation to address the Conservative Political Action Conference next month because, a source said, she does not want to be affiliated with the longtime organizer of the traditional movement confab. At issue is the role of David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union which organizes CPAC. In September, POLITICO reported that Keene asked FedEx for between $2 million and $3 million to get the group's support in a bitter legislative battle with rival UPS. A...

The founder of the website "Free Republic", Jim Robinson, has joined a growing boycott of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) due to a homosexual activist group sponsoring the event. GOProud, a group that advocates same-sex "marriage," a repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and "expanding access to domestic partner benefits" for homosexuals, is listed as a sponsor of the event at CPAC's website. Mr. Robinson has joined a number of conservative activists including Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver, and Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of...

A spokesman for the American Family Association says a Republican homosexual activist group doesn't belong at a popular conservative political conference in February. The homosexual activist group GOProud, an offshoot of the Log Cabin Republicans, boasts on its website that it will be a co-sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on February 18-20. Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of GOProud, says taking part in CPAC "is one of the most important things [GOProud] will do all year," and affords the homosexual activist group "an incredible opportunity to deliver [its] message." GOProud advocates same-sex "marriage," a repeal of...

Amidst all the exciting news coming out of NY-23 yesterday, there was an article in the Washington Examiner by Mark Tapscott. At the very end of Tapscott’s article, David Keene is interviewed about the Upstate New York campaign: This race will have more impact on the Republican politics than any other this year. I believe Hoffman will win on Tuesday, but regardless of the outcome, he and the conservative base of the Republican party have already won by proving that conservatives can no longer be ignored by an establishment that has all too often ignored those it is supposed to...

Lots of people want credit for Dede Scozzafava dropping out today. I feel like I have had a view from the inside. Lots of people are trying to give me credit for rallying the base since last July for Hoffman, but from my vantage point, there are four that are being overshadowed by Pataki, Pawlenty, and Palin, but who genuinely and truly deserve a hell of a lot more credit than most. Please though, remember these four: 1. Susan B. Anthony List. First in and last out, they have been under the radar for months. Before the tea party activists....

WASHINGTON, DC -- The American Conservative Union's political action committee, ACU PAC, today formally endorsed New York Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the upcoming Special Election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. ACU PAC Chairman David Keene said in announcing the endorsement that the New York State Conservative Party has given the people of the 23rd District the choice Republican leaders would deny them. "Doug Hoffman is an intelligent, sincere leader who can and will win this election and at the same time send a message to NY State GOP leaders that they won't be able to ignore," Keene...

This video is a bombshell. I have to tip my hat to John Ziegler, who called out conservative has-been American Conservative Union (CPAC) president, David Keene, on his abandonment of conservative principles. It is a beautiful thing -- honest journalism. This is the same David Keene who caved to Grover Norquist's pressure instead of having Geert Wilders speak at CPAC last year -- despite freedom of speech being the bedrock of conservative principles. Keene is tight with Islamist Grover Norquist, which is why Islamic supremacism is never discussed at CPAC anymore. Yes, the head of the conservative movement is a...

Just got this e-mail from Ziegler: "You will want to read about my bizarre adventures on Saturday at Western CPAC in Newport Beach. You can view the complete story with video here. Please spread this link to those who you think might be interested as there are many who will be trying to spike this story. Also, please don't respond to this e-mail unless it is urgent as my e-mail box needs to be cleaned out and I am way behind in doing that. Thanks so much for your support." REMEMBER: JOHN ZIEGLER WILL BE SPEAKING AT UC MERCED THIS...

The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s support in a bitter legislative dispute, then the group’s chairman flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay. For the $2 million plus, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and/or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)” The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as...

Washington conservatives who dissent from the party line are often accused of selling out our principles in hope of snagging an invitation to a Georgetown cocktail party. It costs much, much more than that to buy Washington's pillars of conservative orthodoxy. Thanks to the brave people at FedEx, the whole world now knows exactly how much more... When you hear a member of Congress described as more or less conservative than another, it's the ACU's voting index that is being cited. ACU sponsors the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, the biggest event on conservatism's annual calendar... The leaders of...

Dennis Whitfield of the American Conservative Union has sent out a press release on today’s embarrassing Mike Allen story that alleges a pay-for-play proposal between the conservative group and FedEx. "" “An article containing a false headline has been published by Capitol Hill newspaper Politico today regarding an issue with expansion of the National Labor Relations Board. This article concerns two letters; one issued by ACU and another issued by a separate organization. Mr. David Keene’s name was on a letter prepared by another organization. This was a personal decision on his part and he was not representing ACU at...

Per this Politico article, the American Conservative Union offered to supply Fed Ex with support - for money. Fed Ex declined the offer.

The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a $2 million check in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay. In return for the $2 million, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)” The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” —...

<p>Sarah Palin needs to stop whining about unfair media coverage and get over the fact that some people don’t like her, Dave Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells Newsmax.</p> <p>Palin doesn’t seem to get that politics is a tough game, says Keene, one of the country’s most astute political observers.</p>

David Keene, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union trashed Sarah Palin publicly today on NewsMax. However, a quick search of Mr. Keene's recent political contribution history reveals the following: David Keene, Managing Associate of the Carmen Group Lobbying Firm, and Head of ACU, Alexandria, VA. Political contributions in 2008 election cycle: KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 5/1/07 $1,000 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $800 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $200 Specter, Arlen (R) What I want to know is, how does a guy like this...