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It was a Sarah Palin crowd. At a conference of conservative activists last week, there were stacks of Sarah Palin books and Sarah Palin posters. A special screening of a film about Palin was planned. And after skipping the gathering for four years, Palin herself had agreed at last to give the keynote address. Having traveled from Buffalo, Jason Benner was there to see the one who made his heart soar. “Wayne LaPierre,” he said with gusto, referring to the head of the National Rifle Association. He named the rest of his top five speakers — Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney,...

The Internet was abuzz this weekend when Andrew Breitbart was captured on video taking on a group of occupiers who were protesting CPAC at the Wardman Marriott in Washington, D.C. Video posted by the Huffington Post showed Breitbart facing off with a group of about a hundred Occupy demonstrators who were shouting leftist epithets. Andrew responded by shouting, “Stop raping people! Murderers!” At first glance, when only watching the Huffington Post footage, it may seem like Andrew lost his cool, and that he was provoking these otherwise peaceful demonstrators. What the Huffington Post did not report is why Andrew marched...

Mitt Romney may have won the straw poll at the end of the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference in D.C. over the weekend, but CPAC's real star was Sarah Palin, says Josh Lederman at The Hill. Among the many speakers, the former Alaska governor "received far-and-away the most spirited and enthusiastic reception" from the 10,000 conservative activists in attendance. And the former vice presidential candidate, who opted out of the 2012 presidential race in October, "appeared to relish her role as conservative attack dog, blasting Obama and Democrats," and bringing the crowd repeatedly to its feet. Is Palin, even from...

It would have been just any mundane clash of civilizations with points thrown and missed until a Mad Hatter in the form of the gregarious Tea Partier appears in the thick of the stand off between Occupiers and Conservatives and says - hey stop shouting at each other - you got at least 60% in common - so lets have some beers (many beers) and discuss this. And so began the Beer Summit an initiative between possibly the minuteman wing of the Tea Party - attendees at the CPAC and some of the Occupiers who came to protest CPAC. At...

I had such an amazing time at CPAC. I met amazing people, heard great conservative speakers, and spent a great deal of time with our blog team which was a lot of fun in and of itself! I wanted to take some time to list my favorite speakers that I heard at the conference. I decided to leave out all of the GOP candidates as I didn't get to see two of them so I don't want to give a biased answer or make anyone think I'm endorsing someone. If you wanted to go to CPAC or you missed any...

She has the ability to speak about issues that profoundly bother the audience in common ways and words that listeners instantly recognize and wish they had thought to say just that way. Watch in the video below of her full CPAC speech for how this church-going mother of five mocks Obama's Winning the Future program with an almost off-color aside. And prompts shared laughter, not shock. [....] Instead, instinctively Palin doesn't speak at or to audiences. She speaks for them. She tells them what they've already accomplished through the tea party, for instance, and what they can accomplish this year...

When campaigns gather information from strategists, one of the most annoying things I notice is the importance placed on poll-tested buzz words. In a Republican primary, where every candidate seeks to gain the vote of its base, the biggest buzz word is 'conservative.' During the 2010 elections, newly active conservatives (the tea party) worked to unseat Democrats who played the big buzz word but then voted for the wholesale take over of the health industry. They also worked to primary (negate incumbency) life-time anointed Republicans who hadn't really been scrutinized in the past. The actions of the tea party showed...

Andrew opens his speech: "I am looking for you Occupy freaks with your glitter bombs, bring it on! Bring on the glitter. Everything has changed. Everything has changed in the last few years. Conservatives use to take it and we are not taking it anymore. Just today as I was planning one of my stupid silly funny tricks, I didnt have to because I got word when I was doing a radio show today, that 200 of us went out to the Occupy people to stand toe to toe with them to say "we don't, ..we are here and are...

Mitt Romney’s twin wins over the weekend in the Maine caucuses and the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual straw poll leave the GOP presidential-nomination race right where it’s been all along — in trouble and waiting for a Prince Charming. In Maine, Romney won with 39.2 percent of the vote, less than four points ahead of Ron Paul. The principal “not-Romneys” — Paul and Rick Santorum — took 53 percent of the roughly 5,600 nonbinding votes cast, about 2 percent of the state’s Republican electorate. Romney’s numbers were similar in the CPAC poll, in which he grabbed 38 percent of...

by John Hill Stand With Arizona Kris Kobach, architect of Arizona's landmark S.B. 1070 and Kansas Secretary of State, brought needed common sense to the CPAC Conference discussion on immigration. Following remarks by Alex Nowrasteh, a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in which he denounced E-Verify and claimed - to boos from the audience - that "free market conservatives" should allow employers to hire illegal aliens (see synopsis here), it was Kobach's turn to restore sanity. First Mr. Kobach laid out the concept of "attrition through enforcement" with a simple analogy. He then laid out how Arizona and...

Sarah Palin strode out on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington carrying a red leather briefcase — and off to work she went, firing off a year’s worth of sarcastic one-liners at “Professor Obama.” “He promised to transform America, and that’s one promise he’s kept; he transformed a shining city on a hill into a sinking ship.” “This government isn’t too big to fail; it’s too big to succeed.” “Hope and change? Yeah, you gotta hope things change.” “After a year or two [in ‘Obama’s Washington,’ lawmakers] decide it’s not really a cesspool. More like a hot...

Despite a hard-charging speech over the weekend that suggested dissatisfaction with the Republican presidential primary frontrunner, Sarah Palin said Sunday that Mitt Romney "is a great candidate." But the 2008 vice presidential candidate and Tea Party darling isn't yet convinced Romney is "instinctively" a constitutional conservative. "I am not convinced and I don't think that the majority of GOP and independent voters are convinced," Palin told "Fox News Sunday." "And that is why you don't see Romney get over the hump. He's still in the 30-percentile mark when it comes to approval and primary wins and caucus wins. He still...

...The first white supremacist is Peter Brimelow the owner of the website VDare, which is labeled by the SPLC as an anti-immigration hate website. VDare has featured the works of noted white supremacists, Jared Taylor, Sam Francis, Virginia Abernethy, Kevin MacDonald as well as conservative pundits, Michelle Malkin and Pat Buchanan. Brimelow has been a featured guest on the white supremacist talk show “The Political Cesspool” and is a prominent anti-immigration activist despite the fact he was born in England. Brimelow will speak on a panel called “The Failure of Multiculturalism: How the pursuit of diversity is weakening the American...

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union today, Rick Santorum told host Candy Crawley that his loss yesterday to Mitt Romney in CPAC's annual straw poll was because he didn't pay for votes. From Politico: "Well, you know, those straw polls at CPAC... for years Ron Paul has won those because he trucks in a lot of people, pays for their tickets, and they come in and vote and they leave. We didn't do that, we don't do that. i don't try to rig straw polls." Pressed further on whether or not he felt Romney had rigged the poll, Santorum...

And on a day when Palin reportedly generated more enthusiasm than every presidential candidate combined who spoke at CPAC and owned the room and conference, one could not wonder how many who were listening to the speech were coming to the realization that Palin should be the GOP nominee for president much in the same way the majority in attendance at Kemper Arena in Kansas City in 1976 at the Republican National Convention, in their hearts, knew that Ronald Reagan -- and not Gerald Ford -- was the rightful standard-bearer of bold conservatism. 

Look in comments for full videos on Sarah's speech. This is for those that missed it and shouldn't. Admins,...leave this thread so all the freepers see it! : )

No one can say they don’t know what Newt Gingrich will do after his inauguration. He’s got big plans… He pledged to have a full list of his proposed executive orders and presidential findings published online by October, so that every voter will know exactly what they’re getting. He wants every Republican candidate to campaign with him on a pledge to hit the next Congress in a monster jam session that repeals the job-killing centralized corruption of ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, and Sarbanes-Oxley by the time he’s sworn in… … and that’s just an appetizer. Within two hours of plopping his Dilbert...

Palin Calls On Romney To Work Harder For The Conservative Vote Peter Hamby Washington (CNN) - Sarah Palin issued a warning to Mitt Romney Saturday, calling on the former Massachusetts governor to do a better job explaining his record to conservatives or risk dampening voter turnout in November if he wins the Republican presidential nomination. In an interview with CNN and The New York Times before her speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Palin said she was confused by Romney’s declaration here on Friday that he was a “severely conservative Republican.” “I wasn’t quite sure what the...

While in Washington DC for CPAC 2012, Brandon, Kelsey and I decided to take a walking tour of our nation’s capital in the frigid February weather. As we strolled down K Street, we (somewhat intentionally) stumbled upon Occupy DC’s encampment at McPherson Park. While Kelsey and I at first kept a safe distance by taking pictures of the movement’s signs from across the street, Brandon marched boldly into the center of the camp. After several minutes, Brandon was nowhere to be found, so Kelsey and I decided to search for our fellow CR. Considering the environment, we had no idea...

Washington (CNN) -- GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the close-watched Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll on Saturday. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, took 38% of the vote in the poll. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum received 31%, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was at 15% and Texas Rep. Ron Paul stood at 12%. When asked about their preference for vice president, 34% of the attendees at the conservative conference chose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Palin Hints at Romney Flaws BY PETER NICHOLAS WASHINGTON—Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin didn't endorse any of the Republicans presidential candidates in a speech to conservative activists Saturday, but she hinted that Mitt Romney might be a flawed candidate in a general-election matchup with President Barack Obama. Ms. Palin, the 2008 vice-presidential nominee, told a raucous crowd that the Republican candidate needed to be someone whose conservatism is heartfelt and "instinctive." "It's too late in the game to teach it or spin it at this point," said Ms. Palin, who didn't mention the Republican hopefuls by name. "It's either there...

It's another CPAC year, and it appears that not much is new. Mitt Romney will still say anything to convince the GOP and conservative voters that his past doesn't exist, and the CPAC attendees still bounce back and forth between the same two names they've done since 2007... Mitt or Ron Paul. After CPAC 2010-2010 Straw Polls, handing the victory to Ron Paul, Romney regained his crown and chalked up yet another CPAC win with 38% of the 3,408 attendees. Santorum came in second with 31%, Gingrich third at 15%, and Ron Paul trailing last with 12%. The participation...

Washington, DC -- It wasn't speeches by Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich that generated the most enthusiasm at CPAC 2012. That honor would go to former Alaska governor and Republican vice president nominee Sarah Palin, who stole the conservative summit with a rousing speech on Saturday. Palin mania was palpable throughout the Marriott Wardman Park hotel. Earlier in the day hundreds of attendees swarmed Palin for photographs and an opportunity to get a glimpse at one of the most famous conservative women in the United States. Elsewhere thousands of CPACers waited in line to try...

Occupy hecklers tried to disrupt Sarah Palin's CPAC speech, in which she regularly turned President Obama's rhetoric against him, but the crowd shouted them down and Palin turned the moment into a example of how grassroots conservatives can beat Obama. "We aren't red Americans, we aren't blue Americans, we're red, white, and blue and President Obama we are through with you," Palin said in an appropriation of Obama's 2008 campaign lines. She called for "Change that we can believe in, change we need," she said, continuing that meme, explaining that "we can't wait -- our country hangs in the balance."...

Romney wins CPAC with 38%.

Please DO NOT MISS that speech. PHENOMENAL!!! http://www.therightscoop.com/full-speech-daniel-hannan-at-cpac-2012/

Attorney General hailed by conservative crowd Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli was awarded the Defender of the Constitution award Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C. Presenting the award, David Keene, President of the National Rifle Associate said Cuccinelli is a champion of conservative values and his view that he is “healthily suspicious of government in all circumstances” embodies the movement to cheers from the large conservative crowd. “The first duty I am obliged to pursue is the defense of the U.S. and Virginia Constitution,” Cuccinelli said. He said many politicians just said the oath so...

Here are Gov. Scott Walker's prepared remarks before the Conservative Political Action Conference: Reince and I grew up not too far from each other in southern Wisconsin. In fact, Reince lived a few miles east of the small town I grew up in and Paul Ryan lived a few miles to the west. Without a doubt, each of the three of us was inspired to pursue public service at about the same time. And the prime inspiration for that call was a man named Ronald Reagan. He was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things. He had the courage of...

Clink on the link/banner. The video feed has been very good. And...Happy Birthday, Sarah Palin!!! Anyone know what time she is supposed to speak today?

Washington - Gov. Scott Walker got a hero's reception Friday night at a banquet for conservative activists from around the country, where he declared that his defeat in a recall election this summer would be a lasting blow against political risk-taking. "Lord help us if we fail," he said. "I'm not planning on it, but if we were to fail, I think this sets aside any courageous act in American politics for at least a decade if not a generation." A featured speaker at the 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference, Walker asked his dinner audience of roughly 1,000 to...

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...

Via Mediaite, the key bit comes at 5:15 but don’t skip. Watch the whole thing, as this is easily the most entertaining speech you’ll see at CPAC. Naturally he’s coy about what he’s got, but it sounds like it has to do with O as a student radical. I wonder if big media, having heard this, will scramble to try to uncover the footage and put it out ASAP so that it’s old news by the time of the general election. Can’t wait to hear their explanations for why they couldn’t be bothered to do that last cycle. Note well...

Newt Gingrich was on fire at CPAC this afternoon, proving once again that the former House Speaker is political Teflon. Apparently recovered after his epic meltdown in Nevada, Gingrich revved up the crowd at CPAC with an impassioned version of his stump speech that hit all the conservative high notes (Obamacare, taxes, war on religion, et. al.) In short, Gingrich managed to give the audience the "red meat" that his main rival Mitt Romney failed to deliver earlier this afternoon. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/newt-gingrich-killed-cpac-2012-2#ixzz1m2phbmAO

Bill Smith, Editor: For those who are not one of the 10,000 people attending CPAC 2012 in Washington, D.C., below is a witty summary of the top four Republican candidate speeches by conservative warrior and great lady (yes, I'm biased - see photo). She does it in 20 Words or less - LOL! By Michelle Malkin: Newt Gingrich: I am not the Establishment. Mitt Romney: I am not a liberal. Rick Santorum: I am not Mitt/Newt. Ron Paul: I am not at CPAC.

Former Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich was the last one of the three GOP presidential candidates to address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, February 10, 2012. The former Speaker of the House spent most of his 30 minute-speech attacking the “Washington establishment.” Incidentally, not many Congressional Republicans have been supportive of Gingrich’s candidacy, instead endorsing his main rival former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The Speaker made it clear on Friday that there’s nothing surprising about Washington’s resistance to a possible Gingrich presidency. “For the Republican establishment managing the decay is preferable to changing the trajectory, because...

Newt Gingrich gave a spellbinding speech at CPAC today. He laid out specific plans for dismantling 40% of the Obama damage on Day 1 of a Gingrich presidency. Newt really has a plan and has the skills and experience to get this done. But now it is obvious that Newt has a Conservative Dream Team including Herman Cain, Fred Thompson, Rick Perry, Ollie North, Mike Reagan and others, to help move the nomination and the message forward. Newt Gingrich is the superior candidate with the superior message and action plan. Now the Dream Team has to go out and sell...

Just walked in from CPAC and all I can say is, "Wow!" A hotel filled with 12,000+ Conservative Activists and supporters was very impressive and I mostly went down to cover the supposed protest by Occupy DC and their thug union pals as part of Big Government.com's coverage. As far as the protesters, I can sum it all up in two words, "Epic Fail!" First of all Conservatives had spread the word about them claiming they would assault certain Conservative Figure and disrupt the convention with criminal acts. Seem the damage was done when Human Events reported that union thugs...

Andrew Breitbart took the podium at CPAC Friday afternoon, introduced to the stage with Rage Against The Machine’s Guerilla Radio, and revealed to the audience he had “videos” of Barack Obama from his college days. “I have videos, this election we’re going to vet him,” Breitbart disclosed to raucous applause. “We are going to vet him from his college days to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008.”“The videos are going to come out, the narrative is going to come out, that Barack Obama met a bunch of...

Conservatives are fired up, convinced that this will be a big year, but they worry that Mitt Romney will make their task harder. The foot soldiers of the American political right have been meeting in Washington this week, and stickers and signs touting the former Massachusetts governor - who's still the favorite for the GOP presidential nomination - are scarce here.

Mitt Romney sent a clear, unambiguous message to hundreds of conservative activists gathered for the 2012 Conservative Political Action Committee, the largest annual gathering of conservative activists. He’s a conservative. The man mocked as a “Massachusetts moderate” (or worse) by his Republican presidential rivals used his family values, business background and experience as Massachusetts governor to defend his conservative bona fides. Romney used the word conservative more than 20 times in a span of 25 minutes.

C-SPAN's coverage of the 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) continues Friday with speeches by the leading presidential candidates and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. The three top GOP candidates for the Republican nomination -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- are taking a break from the campaign trial to address attendees. Rep. Ron Paul was invited to speak but will instead continue campaigning.

Newt Gingrich's Full Speech at CPAC 2012 Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks at the conservative conference. 02/10/2012

Occupy protesters, conservatives clash at CPAC conferenceBy Josh Lederman - 02/10/12 01:33 PM ET A brief altercation broke out between Occupy Wall Street protesters and conservative activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. A group of Occupy protesters who infiltrated the hotel by registering and paying for the conference blocked a television screen where an overflow crowd was watching Mitt Romney address the convention, their mouths taped over to symbolize being silenced. There was a brief clash between the protesters and conference-goers, who booed and yelled while shoving them out of the way. Security was summoned to the...

If Rep. Allen West’s speech doesn’t get you out of your seat in applause, the ending sure will. I think my reply to this speech on twitter was “HOLY CRAP! That was absolutely incredible!!!!!!” Must Watch:

Live on C-SPAN now, archived video later

Conservative columnist and Conservative Political Action Conference fan favorite Ann Coulter took to the stage at CPAC Friday afternoon to offer some comments about her frustrations with President Obama, her support for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and the general unattractiveness of liberal women. In response to an audience question regarding how a person could be both a women and a conservative, Coulter explained that is what true women actually are. “I think all real females are right-wingers,” Coulter said, ” and I can tell you that based on experience — and my bodyguard will back me up on this —...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) made a concerted effort to woo a conservative crowd today by talking about his opposition to gay marriage even before plans to slash the deficit. He also peppered his speech before a full house at CPAC with the word “conservative,” frequently in the form of “we conservatives.” “I did some of the very things conservatism is designed for… and I’m not ashamed to say I was successful in doing it,” Romney said for his first standing ovation, and his longest round of applause.

Protesters at Friday’s “Occupy CPAC” event, organized by AFL-CIO and the Occupy DC movement, told The Daily Caller that they were paid “sixty bucks a head” to protest outside the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. One protester told TheDC that all the “Occupy” activists were being paid to protest, and that his union, Sheet Metal Workers Local 100, approached him about the money-making opportunity. “I have nothing nice to say about Local 100. … They just told me ‘you wanna make sixty bucks? So c’mon,’” the protester said. Other “Occupy CPAC” protesters were unwilling to speak on camera...

amazing

Rick Santorum’s is a familiar face at CPAC. He’s been here in years when he was little more than a sidenote in the programming, and he’s been here in years, like this one, when his is the face attendees crowd to see. But, year in and year out, what he has stood for has not changed. That consistency was especially evident in his speech today, in which he expounded on his — and, indeed, Americans’ — long-held conviction that men are endowed with rights by their Creator — not given those rights by the government. “We know there’s a lot...