CPAC 2013’s theme is America’s Future: The Next Generation of Conservatives. New Challenges, Timeless Principles.

I have wanted to attend CPAC for a decade now but was finally able to go this year. The values and patriotism of the attendees was a much-needed albeit temporary relief from the lack of responsibility and entitlement values that characterize so many people I run into around town. These people don’t want to talk about how much they can get from government, they want to talk about their families, communities and ideas for their jobs. This is what we’re talking about when we talk about “traditional American values”. These are the values we have held for centuries and still do today! They are less sexy than a “free lunch” and other handouts, however, so they’re not the values that are touted by politicians trying to win elections. But Conservatives are back and they’re ready to fight. We have had a rockstar lineup so far: Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Allen West, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump, Pat Toomey. I am giddy with anticipation right now waiting to hear Mitt Romney. These are the leaders who are going to save our country and we need to get behind them with our support.

The palpable energy in this conference inspires me. Conservatism is truly a grassroots movement of identifying what we already know. We don’t need any new ideas, committees or bills. We just need to follow the Constitution and what our Founding Fathers clearly put forth. No coffee is needed here with the amount of adrenaline in this room. The well-informed, involved citizens are exactly what we need to carry out this Democratic Experiment. But the liberal media makes fun of conservatives as radical and crazy tea-partiers. The Tea Party is saving America with their boring ideas like following the Constitution.

I talked yesterday morning with a motivated high school senior from Fort Worth, proudly attending University of Texas next year to be close to the capitol of Texas and issues he cares about. He wants to be a politician but knows he needs to get educated and excel in industry to be worthy of serving the people. He is one example of the young demographic that is well-represented in this conference. Bus loads of students came in from Michigan and Ohio. There are conservative student groups teaching and recruiting in the Exhibit Hall. This is a movement that resonates with the entire country, including that bastion of liberalism: American universities.

One of the great panels I got to see was on Benghazi. As much of an ATROCITY Benghazi was, the scandalous media coverup was WORSE. Great discussion on Obama’s consultation with political advisors instead of the Joint Chiefs, no doubt concluding that the American position of not Muslim countries is better supported by fewer Americans dying instead of the possibility of more casualties by sending in troops. Everyone: we STILL don’t have answers on what happened at Benghazi! We responded to 9/11 within a month. How much longer do we have to wait for a response to the Benghazi attack?

The theme of the conference is protection of FREEDOM and LIBERTY. Get Big Government out of the way of the markets and individuals. The more government we have, the more liberty we sacrifice. Good thing our Founding Fathers put in place a system in which we are driving. Time to boot these criminals out of office. Vote for the Constituion and traditional American values.