The Conservative Political Action Conference wound down its gathering yesterday with speeches from Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich and key-note speaker Glenn Beck, who faulted Republicans for not paying attention to conservative principles, comparing them to alcoholics, "I have not yet heard people in the Republican Party admit they have a problem. I have not seen a come-to-Jesus meeting.... 'Hello, my name is the Republican Party and I've got a problem. I'm addicted to spending and big government.' ... They need that moment."
Fear not, Beck also railed against progressivism, calling it a "cancer" and saying, "Progressivism was designed to press past the Constitution." But he also said, regarding the GOP, that it's not enough to "not suck as much as the other side." Coulter thinks the other side—specifically the Obama administration— sucks hard, "Now the entire country is like the terrorists in Guantanamo during the Bush administration. We're just waiting for a change of administration to be released from this hell." Of course, nothing really topped Stephen Baldwin's proclamation days earlier, “I am not happy about the way things are. I pray for President Obama every single day. But tell you what. Homey made this bed, now he has got to lay in it."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich rallied the crowd saying, "I believe we are now in a struggle over whether or not we are going to save America. I believe the radical left is a secular, socialist machine so dedicated to values destructive of America that if it is allowed to remain in power...that machine is antithetical to the survival of America as a prosperous healthy country."
As for who the participants like, a 2012 presidential straw poll revealed that libertarian Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) won with 31%, followed by former governors Mitt Romeny (22%), Sarah Palin (7%) and Tim Pawlentey (6%); those polls cited "reducing the size of government" as their number one concern.
