CPAC Shows Future is Bright for our Republic

By Michael R. Potaski

March 22, 2006

The demographic breakdown of attendees during the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference gives a great deal of hope for the future.

Nearly 5000 conservative activists from across the country and several foreign lands gathered in Washington DC from the 8th to the 11th of February to attend the 33rd annual CPAC. The most notable element was the large number of young people who are attracted to the conservative message. In recent years, the number of under-30 attendees has steadily increased and this year the conference drew an unprecedented participation from that cohort.

Delegates from a large variety of faith-based youth groups, the non-partisan Young America's Foundation, Teen Age Republican Clubs, College Republicans, and Young Republicans injected a high level of vibrancy and vitality into what might otherwise have been a somewhat stodgy assemblage. They were joined by a delegation of Young Britons from the U.K. who represented the youth wing of the British conservative movement as well as individuals from other countries seeking organizational ideas.

The delegates took advantage of opportunities to participate in workshops organized by the conservative Leadership Institute with the Campus Leadership Program training being particularly well attended. Plenary sessions that attracted large numbers of younger participants included a talk by Col. Oliver North, a presentation by the ever-popular Ann Coulter who had them continuously on their feet cheering her on, and conservative student forums titled "The Future is Ours" and "The State of the Campus: Fighting the Left While Educating the Right".

An issue advocacy forum of particular interest to the younger crowd dealt with Social Security reform. The fact that some 60% of U.S. households now fall into the "investor class" resonated especially well with this age group as they recognize they will significantly increase that percentage when they enter the workforce. The advantages of private accounts over a meager government entitlement program was brought home by the total absence of individual ownership, crediting and compounding of earnings, and crediting of employer contributions under the present failing system.

Conservative values are seeping into the consciousness of young people in Massachusetts and enabling them to push back against the liberal monolith.

The youth of Massachusetts were represented at CPAC by members of faith-based organizations from the Springfield area and a large contingent from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus. Conservative ideas are increasingly gaining currency in the Bay State as evidenced by the recent inauguration of the Worcester County Teen Age Republican Club and growing activism of the Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans. The Worcester County Republican Club and Massachusetts Republican Assembly are both gaining members and becoming increasingly salient in GoP circles.

Capturing the latent disquiet over liberal cant so prevalent in the Blackstone Valley school systems and media is an important goal of local conservatives. The Uxbridge Republican Town Committee, in particular, has been very effective in providing scholarships to the annual National Conservative Student Conference and in donating subscriptions to conservative periodicals and various reference books to the High School.

Attention is also being directed to the Teen Age Republican, College Republican, and Young Republican organizations. A chapter of the Assembly Education Fund is being established to funnel more resources to the conservative youth movement in Massachusetts to ensure that the ember flares brightly in the future.

Michael Potaski of Uxbridge is Vice President of the Massachusetts Republican Assembly and a regular participant at CPAC.