Conservative Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, a fresher face on the national scene, will be very much in the spotlight at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, opening today at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on upper Connecticut, N.W. in Washington, D.C. And a last minute addition appears to be Donald Trump! CPAC promoters are stating that registration hit 10,000 people yesterday, a staggering number. Other major speakers on the agenda through this weekend, include Newt Gingrich, Senator and Congressman Rand and Ron Paul; Congressmen Paul Ryan and Allen West (West is a black Republican just elected to a Florida district in the recent anti-Obama landslide), Senators Lee, McConnell, and Thune; Governors Daniels, Barbour (both formerly Reagan White House officials) and Perry; and my buddy Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and a former Federal Reserve official, among many others.
Much of the conference will be available on the CSPAN channels. Speeches will also be available in real time at the CPAC website, www.conservative.org/cpac. David Keene, who resigned as chairman of the American Conservative Union yesterday, remains the chairman of this CPAC conference and will be evident on the podiums. I myself was re-elected to another three year term on the American Conservative Union board yesterday. At the end of my term, I will have served 35 years on the ACU board. So much for term limits. And I’m sure that my re-election had little to do with the huge and expensive party I threw for ACU board members and their guests after the vote. Here are a few pictures from my party last night at the D.C. Palm restaurant, with thanks to fellow Californian Brandon Powers, who was on-hand to join in the fun:
New ACU Chairman Al Cardenas and wife Diana at reception for Board members at The Palm restaurant in Washington, D.C. Wednesday evening, 2/9/11. Among those in background is ACU Board member, Californian Lew Uhler, President of the National Tax Limitation Committee, and his son Kirk.
ACU Board member, Hon. Don Devine, left. Don was Director of the Office of Personnel Management during the Reagan Administration and was greatly disliked by Federal employee unions. A good thing. Next to him is guest Hon. Dan Oliver, who served as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission under Reagan. I have seen Dan three times this week, including visits at the Reagan Library for the official Reagan Centennial celebration, and at the Pacific Research Institute’s event in Newport Beach for the Reagan birthday observance.
ACU Board member, New York State Senator Serph Maltese, and guest Ron Pearson, President of the Council for America and a long-time board member of Young America’s Foundation.
ACU Board member Alan Gottlieb, President of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, on left, his friend Morgan Barnes on far right, and in between are internet fundraising guru’s and leaders of Grasstops USA, guests Chris and Christine Carmouche, who have been a huge help with Western CPAC.