Andrew Breitbart Skipping CPAC Due To GOProud Ban

The American Conservative Union’s decision to dis-invite GOProud from the Conservative Political Action Conference is stirring up some controversy on the right:

ST. LOUIS, MO- While speaking to attendees during a lunch at the 2011 Smart Girl Summit, conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart announced that he would be skipping next year’s CPAC in reaction to the American Conservative Union’s decision to bar GOProud from participating in the event.

Pajamas Media’s Roger L. Simon comments:

I cannot speak for PJM as of yet — it’s the weekend and I’m in a ferry queue in Seattle — but I had to speak out personally in immediate support of my friend Andrew Breitbart regarding GOProud. I too will not be attending CPAC next year unless the ban of this organization is lifted. Frankly I am appalled by the decision of CPAC’s new management and I hope they will rescind as soon as possible.

And conservative blogger Jeff Dunetz fears that the ACU’s move to appease social conservatives by barring GOProud from a huge political event in a Presidential election year will only serve to fracture the conservative movement:

The next CPAC convention is a very important one, as it comes just nine months before what has the opportunity to be a turning point American election.  For the future of the country it is crucial that Conservatives become a real force in the Senate, Take over the White House and add to our number in the House.  Fighting the liberal/progressive machine of both parties will not be easy. The only way we can win is to grow the conservative base and to remain united in our purpose.

What the American Conservative Union did with CPAC has nothing to do with true conservative values, because GOProud supports those,  just reread the list above.  Sadly the ACU is trying to divide its ranks at a time when it should be uniting, it is trying to retract the conservative movement at a time it should be expanding.

Not allowing GOProud to sponsor CPAC again in 2012 was a stupid, stupid move. It made achieving our election 2012 goals that much more difficult.

In actuality, GOProud’s involvement in CPAC 2011 was very well received from my own observations, and they ended up hosting the most in-demand social event of the entire weekend. What the ACU thinks its accomplishing by barring them is beyond me.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Dodd says:

    GOProud’s involvement in CPAC 2011 was very well received from my own observations

    I confess I wasn’t paying that much attention, but all I really remember was an ongoing flap over the group’s chief being a complete asshat and shredding a lot of goodwill built up before the event. But that doesn’t seem to be the reason for this decision, does it?

  2. I hate it when things happen that make me say some of the most frightening words in the English language: “I agree with Andrew Brietbart”.

    Man alive, I need a shower.

  3. OzarkHillbilly says:

    For the future of the country it is crucial that Conservatives become a real force in the Senate, Take over the White House and add to our number in the House. Fighting the liberal/progressive machine of both parties will not be easy.

    “We must unite so we can divide my way!”

    Cognitive dissonance…. Have you no shame?

  4. Jay Tea says:

    DAMN that Breitbart! He had to go and announce his boycott before the head of CPAC could be promoted by the left to The Most Important Person On The Right, ruining liberals’ plans to tar the entire conservative movement with his asshattery! Does this man Breitbart’s perfidy know no bounds?

    J.

  5. Jay Tea says:

    Oh, and Sarah Palin’s also skipped the last couple CPAC conferences. If you read between the lines, she strongly hinted that it was because she didn’t like their attempted FedEx shakedown. As good as Breitbart is at seeing the way things are going in advance, she’s as good at smelling scumbags and distancing herself from them.

    I doubt that she’ll attend this one, either.

    J.

  6. crosspatch says:

    Well, for what it is worth, I will not put a bit of stock in anything that comes from CPAC until they undo this idiocy. I am getting tired of the idiocy I see coming from the far right these days and this is simply one more example of them cutting off their nose to spite their face.

    CPAC is going to march itself right off into irrelevance.

  7. A voice from another precinct says:

    I’m sure that I’m oversimplifying this, but doesn’t Breitbart’s comment–allong with those of Simon and Dunitz prove that the movement has been invaded by pseudo conservatives, RINOs and people who really want to destroy the movement by allowing in elements that are anathama to true conservative values? Or are you saying that conservatism is, in fact, only about economics and not paying taxes?

  8. Matt says:

    I’m with Dodd. There were a lot of people supporting GOProud’s inclusion, but some of their members ranked up there with the Paulbots on a chalkboard-scraping scale of annoying.

    I have completely different reasons for not attending the next conference, but this is idiotic.

  9. Jay Tea says:

    @A voice from another precinct: You’re right, you’re oversimplifying things.

    For example, take the debt ceiling and ObamaCare. Some liberals thought it was hypocritical for conservatives to oppose ObamaCare because, according to some sources, it lowered the budget deficit eventually. That was irrelevant; a lot of us opposed ObamaCare not on fiscal matters, but for the violence it does to the Constitution and individual rights.

    As regard to gays, I can’t give a full answer, but my own hunch is this: for years, one of the battle cries of the gays was “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!” Well, a lot of us did just that. We still have a few reservations — don’t prove your gayness right in front of us, don’t push past demands for “tolerance” for “embracing,” and whatnot — but personally, I don’t give a rat’s patoot about someone’s orientation any more (except in certain private circumstances). The acceptance of GOPround at CPAC was a sign of that, and the reversal that got them banned (along with the John Birch Society) shows that CPAC was not happy that those two groups got much more attention for attending than they liked.

    Instead, now they’re getting kicked around for excluding them. And rightfully so. They deserve a serious kicking around anyway. Palin was right — a LOT of people should have turned their backs on CPAC after the attempted FedEx shakedown. Maybe now they’ll finally get their comeuppance.

    J.

  10. Barry says:

    Doug: “What the ACU thinks its accomplishing by barring them is beyond me.”

    Cozying up to the Tea Party and the Christianists.

  11. Steve In Tulsa says:

    It is completely wrong to dis-invite these proud supporters. I am TEA Party and I would never put GOProud at arms length. This is a horrible decision.

  12. David M. Nieporent says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: There’s no “cognitive dissonance.” You’re confusing parties and ideological movements. Breitbart’s claim is about supporting conservatives, not Republicans.

  13. Steve W. says:

    IMO Breitbart = 2011 David Brock Redux