This is a time of both promise and conflict for conservatives. As the country recoils from the leftist initiatives of the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress, we find more and more people prepared to hear and respond to our message of smaller government, lower taxes, respect for family, marriage, and life, and a strong national defense.
And yet, at the same time, a movement has begun within our ranks to marginalize part of the message—to try to leave social conservatives out of the coming conservative revival. This is a mistake. Social issues are a fundamental part of the fabric of conservatism, and our issues are vital to the health of the country as a whole. When the organizers of CPAC joined the effort to marginalize social issues, the American Principles Project responded by boycotting the conference.
However, APP is committed to a full, healthy, vibrant conservatism that embraces all three legs of the conservative “stool” so often referenced by Ronald Reagan—social, economic, and defense. We ardently hope to see the rebirth of a united conservative movement that fully embraces all of these issues.
And so, we ask for your help.
We challenge you, no matter how you participate in CPAC—be it as an attendee, a participant, or a speaker—to join in the effort to ensure that social issues remain an important part of the movement. We challenge you to speak out in defense of traditional marriage, the right to life, and religious liberty. And we ask you to persuade others to see the importance of this issue and join the movement by signing up at GetConservative.com (where you will also be able to read APP’s blog rating the major CPAC speeches).
After all, if we cannot defend these vital principles within our own party, how can we hope to preserve them within our country?
Thank you,
Andy Blom
Executive Director, American Principles Project
Frank Cannon
President, American Principles Project
And yet, at the same time, a movement has begun within our ranks to marginalize part of the message—to try to leave social conservatives out of the coming conservative revival. This is a mistake. Social issues are a fundamental part of the fabric of conservatism, and our issues are vital to the health of the country as a whole. When the organizers of CPAC joined the effort to marginalize social issues, the American Principles Project responded by boycotting the conference.
However, APP is committed to a full, healthy, vibrant conservatism that embraces all three legs of the conservative “stool” so often referenced by Ronald Reagan—social, economic, and defense. We ardently hope to see the rebirth of a united conservative movement that fully embraces all of these issues.
And so, we ask for your help.
We challenge you, no matter how you participate in CPAC—be it as an attendee, a participant, or a speaker—to join in the effort to ensure that social issues remain an important part of the movement. We challenge you to speak out in defense of traditional marriage, the right to life, and religious liberty. And we ask you to persuade others to see the importance of this issue and join the movement by signing up at GetConservative.com (where you will also be able to read APP’s blog rating the major CPAC speeches).
After all, if we cannot defend these vital principles within our own party, how can we hope to preserve them within our country?
Thank you,
Andy Blom
Executive Director, American Principles Project
Frank Cannon
President, American Principles Project
