Dennis Pedrie

I spent this past weekend in Washington DC at CPAC 2009. That’s the Conservative Political Action Convention. I flew down on Wednesday from Detroit and met Ali Akbar, Matt Margolis and Rick Sturgeon there. We stayed in a hotel that was way too far away, walked through the DC ghetto for a mile and a half to the Metro station every morning and evening, and had sore feet the whole time. Despite all that, it was a ton of fun, very informative and great to meet a bunch of people.

Some of the highlights for me were meeting people I’ve known for a while but haven’t met in person. Brad Marston, Princella Smith and Matt to name a few. Seeing Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Ann Coulter and a bunch of other famous conservatives was sweet as well. I got to meet a lot of well known bloggers and activists, and gave my business card to a few people. And let’s not forget seeing Joe the Plumber everywhere.

I liked the focus on digital and online communication. It’s good to see that the right has finally recognized the need to excel in this area, but I am sad that it took this long. The whole weekend, I was in wonder at how far behind we had fallen in just the past four years. The fundraising machine of Bush/Cheney was considered invincible in 2004. I suppose that the success that Howard Dean had in using the internet should have been a harbinger for where we would be when a candidate came on the scene who could use all this new technology fully to his advantage.

I worry, though, that we focus too much on simply doing for the right what the left has already done. Playing copycat never works well, and it will always be rejected by the people. We in the conservative movement certainly need to strengthen our position in the “traditional” (if anything online can be considered as such) offerings, but we also need to find ways to innovate. At this point the focus is mostly on seeming buzzword-compliant. I heard Web 2.0, Twitter, Facebook more than I’d like to admit. These are all worthy goals, but I’m not sure that everyone using them knows what they mean or how they can be fully exploited.

The Pajamas TV Conservative 2.0 conference was disappointing. I liked what Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit said regarding the phrase “Conservative 2.0.” He asked what it meant, and honestly no one was able to really define it to my satisfaction. I guess in general they are looking to bring the party into the new century and make use of technology, but it goes farther then that. Ron Paul proved that despite the government expansion currently in style, young Americans want liberty. If you offer it to them, and back up your words with action, they will support you. Conservatism 2.0 to me means not only utilizing the available technology, but bringing back a larger focus on individual liberty and responsibility.