At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held February 26th through the 28th, thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to inspire one another and reignite the conservative movement.
In order to spark ideas among young conservatives working at the grassroots level, CPAC hosted a panel entitled “Two-Minute Activist: Conservative Victories across the Nation,” featuring 20 conservative activists who had achieved unique victories in their communities through their own efforts.
The paths these activists have chosen to spread their ideals vary greatly. Chris Malagisi, President of the Young Conservatives Coalition (YCC), spoke about his desire to prepare young conservatives for their roles in politics and answer key questions like, “What does it mean to be a Conservative in the year 2009?” The YCC, he explained, is “dedicated to leading the next generation of the conservative movement by organizing and mobilizing young Conservatives across the country.”
Ryan Sawtelle, the President of College Republicans at Pepperdine, discussed his role in organizing the Fallen Heroes Fund. Sawtelle managed to raise thousands of dollars for a memorial to 9/11 victims by hosting the first of what would become an annual motorcycle rally.
Pat Casten shared his experience combating liberal bias on his campus at Lake Forest College. Casten found out that a conservative speaker had not come to his campus in over five years, and decided to confront the institution about this. He applied for “diversity funding,” being a conservative on a campus where only 20 percent defined themselves as such. He won, and was able to start bringing conservative speakers to campus.
By far the biggest success among CPAC audiences was Jonathan Krohn, the 13-year-old author of Define Conservatism. He brought the audience of thousands to its feet with his passionate plea for a rededication to conservative principles. “Conservatism is not about the party,” explained Krohn. “Because the party is merely a shell, it’s the inside that counts.”
Krohn defines conservatism according to “four categories of principle.” They are “respect for the constitution, respect for life, less government, and personal responsibility.”
“I want people to see that the principles themselves are the key to conservatism, because in many ways if you do not have a principled base, you do not have policy, and if you do not have policy, in many ways you do not have an ideology.”
To close Krohn said, “I want the American people to understand that conservatism is not an ideology of feelings…it is an ideology of protecting the people and the people’s rights.”
Daniel Allen is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
