Posted by
Matt Keller on Tuesday, March 06, 2007 4:02:00 AM
Traveling
to Washington D.C. is like paying respects to your
Grandpa’s gravestone. He along with the men behind those marbled steps and
pillars of the monuments and buildings of government are long gone from this
world. Yet, their voices carry on the wind along with history. They whisper to
you while you are there, and tell you stories of deeds before your reckoning.
The whispers are filled with valor, pride and sacrifice. They are of glory and
heartache.
It is in
these whispers of D.C. that going to CPAC is a Wake. For thirty years the
Conservative Political Action Conference has celebrated the naturally
conservative history of our great nation and of our fore fathers. And what a
celebration it is! CPAC is not just a gathering of conservatives, it is a living
monument. We do not mourn the men and women who built this land of freedom; we
gather and remember their spirit, their idealism and their romanticism. We
continue the journey started with “We the People” and carry it onward; second
star to the right and straight on till morning with every passing generation.
Yet why do
thousands descend upon the shining beacon of the free world every year? Why do
the thousands, who represent and spread the grassroots effort in their local
communities, many of which do so for little or no money come here? Faith. It
can be argued by few or by many that it is faith in this country, faith in the
power of the people and faith in the powers endowed by the Creator that has
caused our enduring perseverance against the forces of immorality, destruction
and evil. It is in this faith that CPAC grows each year.
Since the
birth of this nation, within the ink of a defiant quill, America has had
a destiny. Our destiny is that of freedom, and with each realization of that
destiny has come a grander understanding of it. With the expanse of our nation
from sea to shining sea came the defeat of fascism. From the defeat of fascism
came the defeat of communism. Today however we face a true two front campaign
toward destiny and freedom. We face extremist ideology from without and within
our own borders. One wishes death to freedom by means of religion while the
other endangers freedom with extremist secularism and government control.
It is at
CPAC that we channel our faith in freedom in defense of our country in light of
these dangers. Many in recent months (and at CPAC) have uttered the words of
Ronald Reagan and some have called this cliché. Yet, cliché at its basest
definition is the result of the reoccurrence of truth. It was Ronald Reagan
that stood fast toward destiny and so we look to his legacy for guidance.
Reagan’s legacy however is not our only pillar. It was at the end of CPAC that
we heard a renewed battle cry of freedom in the words “NEWT! NEWT! NEWT!”
It is
through Newt Gingrich that many look for a new pillar of strength. It is
through Newt Gingrich that many look for a rebirth of grassroots. They look to
him because grassroots is the epitome of ideas and issues. Grassroots is not
the core of negative campaigning to which it has been falsely accredited.
Newt’s Nine Nineties in Nine program, will be a new revolution to movement
conservatism, much like the Contract with America was a revolution to
Republicanism. While the Media look to other candidates for sound bytes it is
the grassroots movement that looks to Newt Gingrich for real American
solutions. It is through a campaign of solutions and not problems that can
revitalize those outside the grassroots to gain interest in the grassroots. It
is the attitude of yes/if and not no/because that will drive the American
spirit once more. The American people hunger for change. They long for it like
sailors out to sea singing about dry land and Shenandoah. It is because Newt
Gingrich’s hopes and dreams are our hopes and dreams that we love him so. He is
us; he does not appear to us from behind a curtain but travels through the
crowd, through our embrace. It is through this embrace we wish to elevate him
to President of the United
States. It is through this cause, this pure
form of grassroots we hope you join us.
-Matthew Brian Keller