I had the joy of being let out of work early that week so I could go enjoy the wonderful first day of CPAC 2012. Thankfully as a student our tickets to CPAC only cost $35 opposed to the $100 plus that others pay. This will sadly be my only time going to CPAC for this wonderful price, since this time next year I'll be graduated from college. I guess that's bitter sweet eh?! I'm thinking of being a volunteer in the upcoming years though since I discovered that you get to go for free with a few benefits (such as a wish list of who you want to meet!).
So for those of you who don't know what in the world CPAC is, I'll tell you...
CPAC stands for "the Conservative Political Action Conference". It's a political conference that happens annually where conservative activists and elected officials from all around the United States come and meet at one spot in one weekend. It's the largest annual gathering of conservatives all year! Some say that it's a conservative pep rally, others will try to use it as an immature way of dealing with their issues (Occupiers), and I say that it is a well put together "pep rally" if you say where the MOST intelligent people get together to discuss things like mature adults would :)
They literally have it set up so there are things going on every second of each day. You can go see documentaries, panels with Q & A, workshops, tons of book signings, meet & greets and then of course you can go to the Marriott Ballroom to catch a glimpse of and listen to the main speakers. This event enables you to learn a ton, see a lot, get pumped about the election and just being a conservative in general. It also allows you to be close to those that you never thought you'd actually see in person! They brought in a lot of great speakers to CPAC 2012, all of which did a fantastic job of covering a vast amount of issues. And to be able to see and experience all of this for $35? AMAZING!
When I went on Thursday I unfortunately missed seeing Kirk Cameron (Television, and film actor and filmmaker OR Mike Seaver on "Growing Pains" for those of you who have watched that before). However I did get to see Lt. Col. Oliver North, USMC (Ret.), whom you may have seen as a host on the Fox News Channel's "War Stories". He is also a best selling author. He was so great to listen to as always, and his main purpose was to present an award called the "American Heroes Award" given to a man named Sgt. Courtney Rauch for his outstanding service to our nation. Lt. Col. Oliver North was one of my favorite speakers at CPAC. Overall it was so touching. As a matter of fact, I'll go ahead and add a video of him at CPAC so you all can enjoy it too.
"A hero is someone who puts them self at risk for the benefit of others" - Lt. Col. Oliver North at CPAC 2012
I'll go ahead and add in Kirk Cameron's speech too, because I'm sure that those of you that I know read my blog would appreciate it.
Later on that day I got to see Herman Cain's speech, which was just awesome. That man is enthusiastic, funny and just really entertaining to see. I just think he appears SO sweet :P I finished out the evening by listening to Ran Paul (R-KY) who of course is the United States Senator. The next morning on CPAC Friday I got to joyfully start my day out by listening to the honorable Mike Huckabee! It was so fun being able to see him in person, as it was really for everyone I got to see.
I battled my way through the immense amount of people in the Marriott Ballroom for a spot in the back just perfect enough to be able to see each speaker on the stage. In between each "major speaker" there were other speakers that didn't bring in as many people as say a GOP candidate or Kirk Cameron would, which makes sense. So I used that time to inch my way forward :) I started out by standing in the back, then moved my way into an actual seat which was on one of the far ends. Then I decided that seat wasn't good enough, and after every major speaker I kept moving over until FINALLY I was sitting directly next to the VIP section that was mainly filled with Congressman and other political figures and their friends or family. I made my way to pretty much the front, and I wasn't moving! This sounds all glorious and great but it actually meant that from 9am-5pm I didn't leave the Marriott Ballroom for ANYTHING. I was very dedicated to making my way to the front by the stage so I could see all of the great speakers up close. I would love to call myself a Patriot for my dedication, but I don't think (and I'm sure O'Reilly would agree) that I haven't exactly live up to those standards yet :P
Considering that I always ramble on in my blog posts, I'll spare you all and add some pictures instead. Visuals sometimes do better justice anyway :)
Laura Ingraham, Host "The Laura Ingraham Show" & Fox News contributor
(From Left to right) S.E. Cupp (Author), Michelle Duggar (TLCs "19 Kids & Counting"), Star Parker (Founder and President, Center for Urban Renewal and Education), Kate Obenshain (Vice President, Young America's Foundation) & Marji Ross (President, Regner)
Have you ever watched "The View"? Well these ladys did what was called "The "Right" View". It was hillarious! See for yourself in this video!
I didn't get any pictures with anyone because of the fact that I wanted to stay in my seat to hear all of these speakers. It probably would have been cooler :P But that's okay, because I got to sit super close to all of these guys instead! After Newt spoke I high-tailed it out of there so I didn't miss my flight to Columbus where little did I know, I was getting proposed to :) Over all, CPAC and that weekend couldn't have gone any better!
