This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0001509403 Reproduction Date:
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU).[1] More than 100 other organizations contribute in various ways.
In 2011, ACU took CPAC on the road with its first Regional CPAC in Orlando, Florida. Since then ACU has hosted regional CPACs in Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, and San Diego.
The conference was founded in 1973 by the American Conservative Union and Young Americans for Freedom as a small gathering of dedicated conservatives.[2][3] Over the years it has grown to thousands of attendees annually. Roughly half of those in attendance in the past few years have been college-aged.[4][5][6]
Speakers have included
Every year there are several awards given to notable conservatives. Although the exact lineup of awards varies, five awards are usually presented:
Overall, Mitt Romney holds the record of winning more CPAC straw polls than any other individual, with four. Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp and Rand Paul follow with three consecutive wins each, followed by Ron Paul with two wins. Of these five, the Pauls are the only two to win more than one straw poll, yet never appear on a Republican presidential ticket in any election.
The annual CPAC straw poll vote traditionally serves as a barometer for the feelings of the conservative movement. During the conference, attendees are encouraged to fill out a survey that asks questions on a variety of issues. The questions regarding the most popular possible presidential candidates are the most widely reported. One component of CPAC is evaluating conservative candidates for president, and the straw poll serves generally to quantify conservative opinion.
In 2014, Kentucky senator Rand Paul won the straw poll with 31% of the vote, nearly triple the amount won by the runner-up, Texas senator Ted Cruz, with only 11%, followed by former neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 9%.[47] In 2015, the results were nearly the exact same, with Paul finishing first with 26%. The exception was Wisconsin governor Scott Walker rising to second with 21%, pushing Cruz down to third with 12% and Carson to fourth with 11%.[48]
[46] Santorum replied on CNN by saying that he does not "try to rig straw polls" and "talk to the Romney campaign and [see] how many tickets they bought. We've heard all sorts of things."[45][44] said the campaign had bused in students from along the East Coast to vote in the straw poll.The New York Times reported that an unnamed source said that Romney campaign bought CPAC registrations to ensure their victory at the straw poll and Politico However, [43] came in third with 15% and Paul was fourth with 12%.Newt Gingrich [43], who placed second with 31%.Rick Santorum The presence of Paul supporters was significantly less at CPAC 2012. Mitt Romney won the 2012 straw poll with 38%, beating out [42] Ron Paul declined an invitation at CPAC 2012 in favor of campaigning in [40] For the 2012 conference, the ACU board voted to not invite GOProud or the John Birch Society to the 2012 conference.
A so-called "conservative civil war" marked the 2011 conference because of another controversy over the participation of GOProud.[35] Numerous prominent organizations, including the American Principles Project, which said GOProud stood in "diametrical opposition" to core principles of the conservative movement.[36][37] Senator Jim DeMint also announced he was boycotting the conference.[38] Those boycotting the conference also pointed to alleged financial mismanagement by the ACU and the invitation issued to Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels, who had called for a "truce" on social issues, to be the keynote speaker.[39] Mike Huckabee declined to attend the 2010 and 2011 conferences, citing his concern that, because of the inclusion of GOProud and Ron Paul's victory in the 2010 and 2011 straw polls, CPAC is turning libertarian.[23] Some conservative figures were moving to turn the more recently created Values Voter Summit into a "full-fledged rival to CPAC" by expanding its social issues focus to include economic and security issues.[35]
In 2010, the conference was opened by GOProud.[33] In response, some groups, such as Focus on the Family, made threats to leave the conference, but none actually did so.[34] Rep. Ron Paul won the straw poll for the first time.
In 2009, Romney won the straw poll for the third consecutive year, while Bobby Jindal finished second.[28] Conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh gave the keynote address in which he urged conservatives to "take back the nation" after the election of Barack Obama.[29]
In 2008, President presidential race and ended his campaign during his speech at the conference.[27]
In 2007, the top three candidates in the straw poll were Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and Sam Brownback.[26]
In 2006, Senator John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Condoleezza Rice finished second, third, and fourth, respectively.[25]
CPAC has featured "groups at odds with conservative orthodoxy in years past—including the American Civil Liberties Union," and, more recently, the gay Republican group GOProud, which has attracted major controversy.[23] In 2015 Jamila Bey became the first atheist activist to address CPAC's annual meeting.[24]
[22][21][20] In his 1985 speech, he referred to CPAC as his "opportunity to dance with the one that brung ya", referring to CPAC having been a contributing factor to his political success.[19], Ronald Reagan spoke at CPAC a total of 12 times.presidency and other conservative public figures. Before, during, and after his [18],Donald Trump [17],Michele Bachmann [16],Allen West [11],Ann Coulter [15],Rush Limbaugh [14],Glenn Beck [10],Tony Snow [10],Mitt Romney [13],Ron Paul, Sarah Palin [10],Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove [12],Pat Buchanan [11],Dick Cheney [10]
Republican Party (United States), Barack Obama, United States presidential election, 2012, John McCain, Democratic Party (United States)
Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Republican Party (United States), Gerald Ford, Berlin Wall
Libertarian Party (United States), Republican Party (United States), Pittsburgh, Rand Paul, Barack Obama
Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Mitt Romney, Dick Cheney, Republican Party (United States)
Barack Obama, The New York Times, Michael Bloomberg, Republican Party (United States), United States presidential election, 2012
September 11 attacks, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, France, David Horowitz
Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Libertarianism, Dmoz, University of North Texas
C-span, Tulane University, Judaism, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney, National Rifle Association, Richard Nixon, C-span, Conservative Political Action Conference
Npr, Conservative Political Action Conference, Washington Post, Voice of Russia, National Public Radio