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Dana Milbank: At CPAC, Glenn Beck scolds the Republican Party
By Dana Milbank
Sunday, February 21, 2010
After three days of liberal bashing, 10,000 right-wing activists attending the Conservative Political Action Conference used their final night in town to give a sharp rebuke to . . . the Republicans?
First came the results of CPAC's presidential straw poll, in which the runaway winner was Ron Paul, the antiwar libertarian gadfly who is only nominally a Republican. At 31 percent, he polled far better than more conventional candidates such as Mitt Romney (22 percent), Sarah Palin (7 percent) and Tim Pawlenty (6 percent). A majority of voters said they wished the Republicans had a better field of potential candidates.
Then it was time for the keynote speaker, the wildly popular Fox News host Glenn Beck. "I voted Republican almost every time," he said, and "I don't even know what they stand for anymore. And they've got to realize that they have a problem: 'Hello, my name is the Republican Party, and I've got a problem. I'm addicted to spending and big government.'"
The audience in the Marriott Wardman Park gave a huge cheer.
"But as of yet I haven't heard anyone say that," Beck added. "All they're talking about is: 'We need a big tent. We need a big tent. Can we get a bigger tent? How can we get a big tent?' "
"What is this, a circus?" Beck asked.
A screwdriver to the eye
For most of the three-day conference, the conservatives took aim at their favorite targets, President Obama, congressional Democrats, the media and Hollywood. By Saturday evening, the hot air and the overflow crowd had warmed the ballroom to an uncomfortable temperature. Coats came off and speakers perspired. Someone brought Beck a white towel midway through his address.
But there was something different about the message of the final session, as the activists sent an unmistakable message to the Republicans that they can't be taken for granted.
The straw poll was one sign. Approval for Obama was, naturally, all of 2 percent -- and those people probably like him because he's been helpful to Republican electoral chances. But 37 percent said they disapprove of congressional Republicans. And Michael Steele, the Republican national chairman, was viewed favorably by only 42 percent.
In overall popularity, Beck and Rush Limbaugh, at 70 percent apiece, were second only to Senate conservative Jim "Waterloo" DeMint (73 percent) and well ahead of Republican leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.
The Ron Paul victory got a mixed reaction of cheers followed by boos in the hall. But there was no such division when Beck, likened to Babe Ruth in the introduction, entered the room to pounding music and a strobe effect from flashes. He had a roving microphone and called for his blackboard to teach his listeners about the evils of progressivism.
"It is still morning in America," Beck said. "It just happens to be kind of a head-pounding, hung-over, vomiting for four hours" morning. "The question is what made us sit there in the john vomiting for four hours?"
He scribbled "progressivism" on the board and said it afflicts Republicans as well as Democrats. "I'm so sick of hearing people say, 'Oh, Republicans are going to solve it all.' Really? It's just progressive-light.
"It's like somebody sticking a screwdriver in your eye," he continued, "and somebody else pulls it out and puts a pin in your eye. I don't want stuff in my eye."
'A socialist utopia'
In an apparent reference to John McCain, Beck condemned a "guy in the Republican Party who says his favorite president is Theodore Roosevelt." He then read disapprovingly the Roosevelt quote that "we grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used . . . so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community."
"Is this what the Republican Party stands for?" Beck demanded. He was answered with boos and cries of "no!" "It's big government, it's a socialist utopia and we need to address it as if it is a cancer."
Obama, no doubt, will be delighted to learn that he has been joined in the conservatives' ire by the Hero of San Juan Hill.
Beck went on. "It's not enough just to not suck as much as the other side."
The CPAC activists gave this line a standing ovation.
The barrage continued. "One party will tax and spend; one party won't tax but will spend: It's both of them," he said. And as for George W. Bush's presidency, "anybody who thought that George Bush was spending and it made any kind of sense was a madman."
"I'm a recovering alcoholic, and I screwed up my life six ways to Sunday," Beck said. "I believe in redemption, but the first step to getting redemption is you've got to admit that you've got a problem. I have not heard people in the Republican Party yet admit that they have a problem."
The CPAC activists went off to party, but Republican leaders were the ones likely to have headaches on Sunday morning.
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FOOTBALL IS NOT BASEBALL
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I do not know ONE conservative/republican who would disagree with what Beck had to say.
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Quote:
I do not know ONE conservative/republican who would disagree with what Beck had to say.
willi...But if we listen to you, it's all Obama's fault and the Dems fault.
Listening to you...it's like the GOP didn't have anything to do with the mess they created over the last 9 years.
Maybe Beck's come to Jesus moment is contagious?
FOOTBALL IS NOT BASEBALL
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2nd String
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2nd String
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Beck has been critical of Republicans for quite some time now. If this is news to you, you really haven't listened to him before. Most left leaning people I know choose to believe the "Glenn Beck's a nutcase" storyline and don't actually listen to what he has to say. Beck bases his positions on right vs. wrong, Constitutional vs. Unconstitutional, and history. I can honestly say, he has a hard time conveying his message at times. I watched yesterday and knew what he was getting at simply because I've listened to him for 7-8 years now. Others who are less familiar with him might have been lost while he was trying to connect timelines and statistics from history to contrast with what's happening now.
Couple points he made yesterday:
To Republicans:
1. It's not good enough just to suck less.
2. You must cut spending and taxes. You can't just cut taxes.
3. Atone for your sins of the Bush years - see above.
To politicians in general:
1. Look to history for your model of how to fix things - Contrast Coolidge's (he was probably the best President no one ever talks about) response to depression vs. FDR's and see who was successful in getting America back on track in a short amount of time.
2. Be truthful with the American public - mean what you say and say what you mean. The American people, in general, aren't too stupid to understand. Tell them the worst is still yet to come.
3. Progressivism is what's killing this country.
4. If we face the truth and take it on head on, get our house in order, we will go through a lot of pain, but we will come out better on the other side.
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Dawg Talker
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Quote:
I'm addicted to spending and big government.
Just like the Democrats. However, the Democrats don't have a problem rendering unto Washington what they view as Washington's as opposed to the Republican's position of what's mine is mine. To me the biggest hypocrisy the GOP has to face is that it is no longer a choice between big and little government. With their focus on lowering taxes without restraint on spending, people have come to expect that we can have our cake and eat it too.
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Quote:
2. You must cut spending and taxes. You can't just cut taxes.
Heat...when the GOP gets off this idea that our country needs to cut their taxes so corporations can continue to fund the exporting of American jobs to slave labor countries, then I might begin to believe the GOP is sincere about fixing the mess they helped to create over the last 9 years.
Clinton did not balance America's budget by cutting taxes...BTW..allow the temporary Bush tax cuts to reset to their original level is not raising taxes...the tax cut Bush signed had a beginning date and an ending date...2010.
FOOTBALL IS NOT BASEBALL
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Mac:
I come from the likes of the old Taft Wing of the Republican party. Guys like Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater were true small government fiscal conservatives that the Republican Party was founded upon.
Both parties stink period.....BOTH parties have lost their way.....BOTH stink...Americans need to wake up and elect a 3rd party President...they did it in the 1800's with the Whig Party a few times...why not today.
Stick a Libertarian in their like Ron Paul, or someone and see what happens...it can't get any worse then it is now...we have nothing to lose trying.....because we are sunk if we continue on this current path
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Just clicking
they've all gone nuts.. Talking about fiscal responsibility and implementing it, seems to be two different things in Washington.. and all any of them do is blame the other.. it's just incredible.....
And I'm not pointing any fingers here. they ALL (meaning both sides) are out of thier minds..... and don't tell me about degrees here. it's not a matter of degrees,, it's a matter of sitting down, figuring out what's best for the COUNTRY, stop the freaking bickering and divisive bull,,, Get to work.,
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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Legend
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Quote:
Quote:
I do not know ONE conservative/republican who would disagree with what Beck had to say.
willi...But if we listen to you, it's all Obama's fault and the Dems fault.
Listening to you...it's like the GOP didn't have anything to do with the mess they created over the last 9 years.
Maybe Beck's come to Jesus moment is contagious?
Mac - you should've quit posting after the first post.
I think everyone agrees with what beck said.
But then YOU come back and do nothing but blame Bush.
And how on earth do you do math???? If I have to pay more in taxes, or you do, or whoever - how is that NOT a tax increase?
Anyway - your first post was a good read, and I agree with it (the article). From there on all you do is blame Bush and republicans.
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Dawg Talker
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Quote:
From there on all you do is blame Bush and republicans.
Well Mac is right... Bush and republicans are to blame.. though he fails to mention that Obama and the democrats aren't any better.. and not saying the other choice would have fared any better either...  Yes we do need to stop voting for dems and reps, just because they are "viable." The problem with having a third party succeeding is that most voters think that they have to vote for someone who has a chance at winning. A lot of it has to do with the false belief that their vote only counts if their choice wins..
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](http://i.imgur.com/FUKyw.png) "Don't be burdened by regrets or make your failures an obsession or become embittered or possessed by ruined hopes"
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Quote:
Quote:
I do not know ONE conservative/republican who would disagree with what Beck had to say.
willi...But if we listen to you, it's all Obama's fault and the Dems fault.
Listening to you...it's like the GOP didn't have anything to do with the mess they created over the last 9 years.
Maybe Beck's come to Jesus moment is contagious?
Still doing that democratic fuzzy math I see, mac. The GOP wasn't in power in 2009, Obama and the dems were, and they made the mess worse.
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Legend
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The Democrats have held the House and Senate since January 2007 with Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and Reid as Senate Majority Leader. They haven't exactly been on the outside looking in as far as legislation goes for the past 3 years.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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Legend
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
I do not know ONE conservative/republican who would disagree with what Beck had to say.
willi...But if we listen to you, it's all Obama's fault and the Dems fault.
Listening to you...it's like the GOP didn't have anything to do with the mess they created over the last 9 years.
Maybe Beck's come to Jesus moment is contagious?
Still doing that democratic fuzzy math I see, mac. The GOP wasn't in power in 2009, Obama and the dems were, and they made the mess worse.
Well, they did raise the minimum wage - that's helped us all, right?
They did manage to do some credit card reform bill - then gave the card companies 9 months to jack the rates up - that's helped us all........and....what else did they do? Oh, that's right.
But, they are still trying to cram this health "reform" bill down our throats, even though the public doesn't want it. (at least not the way they are going about it).
Yup, they represent the masses, don't they?
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The Democrats have held the House and Senate since January 2007 with Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and Reid as Senate Majority Leader. They haven't exactly been on the outside looking in as far as legislation goes for the past 3 years.
I know, but mac will just blame Bush for everything that happened during those 2 years. I figure lets start when Obama took over with the dems controls the house and senate. He seems to ignore those inconvenient facts that the dems are in charge and the deficit has only gotten worse.
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2nd String
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What really gets me is how the left and the major media (usually the same) have taken to calling the Republican party the "Party of No". I find that very amusing. Frankly, everytime they say it they use the phrase as if they mean it to be derogatory. The conservative in me smiles everytime I hear it. Think about it. If the Republican party wasn't the "Party of No" what would we have: - Cap & Tax - Government run healthcare - Card check - etc. So, just so those of you out there that think saying the "Party of No" is an insult to Republicans right now, it makes me happy each time you say it. It makes me think that the Republicans may have finally gotten the message. 
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I wish the republicans actually were the Party of No, we'd be in much better shape than we currently are if SOMEONE would have said NO the past 10 years or so.
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
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Glenn Beck should be scolding the people that voted for GW, not a party
yet he leads them still, the south keeps rolling along
President - Fort Collins Browns Backers
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Legend
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Quote:
yet he leads them still, the south keeps rolling along
What do you mean by this?
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
- John Muir
#GMSTRONG
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Legend
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Quote:
willi...But if we listen to you, it's all Obama's fault and the Dems fault.
Listening to you...it's like the GOP didn't have anything to do with the mess they created over the last 9 years.
mac until you come to grips with the fact that our economy was headed into the tank during the last year and half of the Clinton administration, that there was only so much the republicans could do to stop it, that 9/11 wasn't Bush's fault and it had a HUGE impact on our economy, then there is no point in having any conversation with you about this or anything else, ever.
Bush and the republicans were awful, when the dems took over congress things only got worse. I realize that the understanding of WHY things happened like they did over the last 10 years is fairly irrelevant to you, it's simple enough for you to say it was all Bush's fault, it was all the republicans fault... which is why there is no point in carrying on.
For the record, I completely agree with Beck.
The best line is this:
"It's not enough just to not suck as much as the other side."
Because that could be both parties campaign line in recent memory and has been the standard set.. it doesn't matter how bad we are, if the other side is worse, then we win... both sides are awful... pick your poison.
yebat' Putin
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