Tension Amidst Republicans and Libertarians at CPAC
Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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Amidst a smooth weekend filled with speakers such as Mitt Romney, Scott Brown, and Newt Gingrich, tensions brewed with the introduction of GOProud at one of CPAC’s events. CPAC stands for “Conservative Political Action Conference” and is sponsored by over 75 various conservative organizations.
Controversy grew as some conservatives were displeased at CPAC’s allowing GOProud to sponsor the conference. GOProud is the name of the openly gay group of Republicans that appeared at CPAC and held a spot at one of the speakers’ panels.
On Friday, February 19th, CPAC held a panel entitled, “2 Minute Activist: Saving Freedom Across America.” At the panel featuring various speakers, Alexander McCobin and Ryan Sorba vocalized two completely opposite views on GOProud’s presence at CPAC.
Students for Liberty Co-Founder and President Alexander McCobin began the panel, saying, “In the name of freedom, I would like to thank the American Conservative Union for welcoming GOProud as a co-sponsor of this event, not for any political reason but for the message it sends.”
Peyton Miller, a sophomore at Harvard University and President of the College Republicans, noted the differences between this year’s CPAC and last year’s conference. “It was much, much more libertarian this year than it was last year. I didn’t go to as many events. I could tell there was a lot more excitement about Ron Paul this year. A lot of the speakers were directly libertarian. There is definitely a big difference between this year and last year.”
After McCobin’s intial words at the panel, Ryan Sorba voiced his opinion and criticized CPAC for allowing GOProud to help sponsor the conference. Sorba is a leader of California Young Americans for Freedom.
Sorba responded to McCobin, saying, “I’d like change the subject and condemn CPAC for bringing GOPride to this event. Civil rights are grounded in natural rights. Natural rights are grounded in human nature. Human nature is a rational substance in relationship to the intelligible end of the reproductive act of reproduction. Do you understand that?”
Peyton Miller, as a member of the audience, noted that even before Sorba began speaking, the crowd booed. Miller said, “It seemed like they were booing the guy. I don’t know what people thought of. People were booing the guy before he even started speaking.”
The packed crowd was made up of a majority of libertarians awaiting Ron Paul’s speech following the panel. As Sorba voiced his opinion, the crowd booed during and after Sorba’s remarks. The booing continued to grow louder, until Sorba left the stage.
The interesting event brought one of CPAC’s main tensions to light, and that is, the tension between libertarians and conservatives over social issues. Social issues like gay marriage and abortion were hotly debated throughout CPAC, with the increased presence of libertarians at CPAC.
The conflict of opinions between Sorba and McCobin merely reflected the tension between the two political groups, a tension that was rarely addressed by other CPAC speakers with the exception of Glenn Beck, who was the keynote speaker at the event.
“There is a major difference between libertarians and conservatives. A major difference.” Miller says.
At CPAC, general beliefs like “limited government” and “lowering the deficit” took precedence over social issues it seemed. Also, there seemed to be general agreement amongst conservatives and libertarians in support of ideals like frugal government spending and limited government.
While these ideals were widely agreed upon at CPAC, Glenn Beck was the other speaker to brew controversy at CPAC. He criticized Republicans’ spending habits in office and said, “I’m so sick of hearing people say, ‘Oh, Republicans are going to solve it all.’ Really? It’s just progressive-light.”
Overall, CPAC took on a different tone than years before with a powerful keynote speaker criticizing the Republican Party, in addition to the GOProud controversy. As long as social issues remain important to many conservatives, it seems there will always be division between libertarians and other conservatives.
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