CPAC: AFTER ACTION REPORT LTC ALLEN WEST

Fri, 6 March 2009

LTC(R) Allen B West

Last week I attended the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) annual meeting in Washington DC. It was my second opportunity to attend this great event. This year the attendance hit an all time high of nearly 9000, and again seeing so many young people generates an astounding energy.

Being a former active duty Army officer of some 22 years service we are taught a very important lesson, self-assessment. After the completion of any operation, especially in combat, you conduct an after action review (AAR) in order to objectively develop lessons learned for improvement.

With that being said, I would like to offer my assessment from CPAC.

A week after the completion of CPAC who are we speaking of as conservative leaders? So far I have seen two persons making several appearances and dominating the news; 13 year old Jonathan Krohn and Rush Limbaugh.

I will admit, the young man from my hometown of Atlanta is a conservative phenomenon and certainly a future voice. As well, there is no doubt that Rush Limbaugh is an ideological giant of conservatism in America at this time. However, neither of these fine Gents shall be seeking political office and developing legislation to fight against the liberal socialist agenda.

What was needed coming out of CPAC is a definitive conservative political leader who will, much as Speaker Gingrich, begin to pull together our philosophy and be the voice in opposition to Pelosi, Reid, and yes, President Obama. We must have a Leonidas who will stand in the gap for our Republic as its foundational fabric is under attack.

In the same light, everyone attending CPAC, sponsored by the American Conservative Union, should have departed with an action plan; we call it a CONPLAN (concept plan) in the military. This simple document would serve as a means to bring conservatives on a common azimuth to understand our principles and how they relate to prominent current issues; the economy, fight against radical Islamic ideology, energy independence, illegal immigration, and our Constitutional rights.

The left came together based upon Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”, a book we should all read, and we must therefore also unify our thoughts.

Conservatives must focus, never forget the maxim of “divide and conquer”, which is being used against us to dilute and divert our efforts, and attention. There is so much dangerous legislation being enacted, as well as executive orders, which are taking us down the path of tyrannical socialism. See the matador, and not chase the pretty red cape, and with a leader, concept plan, and focused followers we can achieve that end..

There is a reason why the left is attacking Rush.

We must stop using the tactic of frontal assault and employ other means of political maneuver; infiltration, penetration, or even turning movements. We have to learn to attack the liberal left not on their terms but by exploiting weaknesses and focusing efforts against that opening. No one wins on defense, I say attack them, and CPAC gave us a fantastic opportunity to develop that attack plan and disseminate it.

Very well, enough of pointing out my assessments, what are the solutions?

We must look to the mid-term elections of 2010 and that is the immediate objective. We cannot afford to lose any more seats, but that is playing defense. We need to go on the offense and target 40-45 seats in the House Congressional races. Congress is where the dogfight is, and defeating Speaker Pelosi is vital.

This is where our new Chairman Michael Steele, the State GOP Chairmen, and NRCC are vital. Send up their recommendations for review and approval, conduct an objective assessment board, conduct candidate interviews, and select those who will present the best image and deliver the conservative message.

And I did say, conservative message, no more talk about moderate, middle of the road Republicans. Only thing in the middle of the road is road kill, which is what happened in 2006 and 2008.

Lastly, out of that 40-45 candidates, we then need to train a “Dirty Dozen” who will be the best of the best and will lead the fight. We should take someone like Congressman Mike Pence who will, such as Lee Marvin, be responsible to groom this group and present them all over the Country as the future conservative legislators of the Republican Party.

Next years CPAC should feature this vanguard 12 men and women who will our conservative standard bearers and we must promote them in the media.

If in 4 years the left wing liberals could take an empty suit charlatan from giving a speech to the White House…we as conservatives can do better, much better.

First, we shall focus on Victory in 2010’s mid-term elections and begin to recommit to our principles and values, restore our Republic, and reclaim American pride!

Steadfast and Loyal

LTC(R) AB West