CPAC – what you (and I) missed

Sadly, I couldn’t attend CPAC this year because of various other commitments. Luckily for us, the ACU goes to great lengths to ensure that speaker videos are hosted online. You can peruse the conference’s great video archive at your leisure, but here are a few standouts to get you started:

- Tim Pawlenty – the Minnesota governor gave a funny, optimistic speech about conservative principles and small government.

- Newt Gingrich – Newt, as always, gave a superb talk. He spoke about how to achieve principled bipartisanship. He wasn’t known for being a bipartisan while he was Speaker, but in his post-elected life he’s advocated that time and again, even appearing with Hillary a few years back. Newt called this the most important CPAC in 30 years.

- Glenn Beck – Beck’s speech was highly anticipated and was controversial. He spoke about the GOP’s “addiction” to big government, and Republicans’ need to own up to it.

Beck’s speech quickly started a backlash online. Bill Bennett blogs at NRO’s The Corner that Beck is short-changing a party that has recognized its problems and has already begun to move on. He notes that the GOP have managed to put the majority Democrats on their heels this fall/winter, and that that there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.