Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a surprise guest Thursday at an annual gathering of political conservatives in Washington, D.C., gave his audience much to cheer about.
"I think 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year for the conservative cause, and I think Barack Obama is going to be a one-term president," Cheney told the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Dozens of conservative luminaries are rallying their troops at the meeting, setting their agenda and dishing out plenty of criticism, which is not only aimed at Democrats. Young conservatives at the conference made it clear that "conservative" was not synonymous with "Republican."
Hundreds of young people who have come to be energized at CPAC are unhappy with the current state of the Republican Party.
"The Republican Party has abandoned conservative values, so I don't think they are one and the same," said Andrew Patterson of Monroeville, Pa.
John Landis of Houston agreed.
"It needs to come back to the conservative planks, which make up the platform, and until it does that, I will not be associated with the party itself — instead, just the principles," Landis said.
Benjamin Kafferlin, a student in Ashland, Ohio, said conservatism is immutable, "whereas Republicanism can shift and move away and get caught up in the general flux in the general politics."
These are among the young people fueling the conservative movement at Tea Party gatherings, on college campuses and on campaigns. They are feeling powerful because their support could be critical to the Republican Party's success.
"They must come to us and show they're worthy of their loyalty," former House Majority Leader Dick Armey told a cheering audience. "We don't go to them."
A decade ago, Armey was a major figure in the Republican Party; now, he sounds like he's outside it.
It's not that conservatives and Republicans are splitting up. It's more like they're having an ugly spat. Conservatives say Republicans had it all: the White House, the Senate, the House. Did they chop down the government? Just the opposite: Government grew, debt ballooned.
Armey says conservatives should still support Republican candidates this fall, but if the GOP wins back majorities in Congress, the lawmakers will be watched closely.
"We will be aware of your penchant for drinking backsliders' wine," Armey said. "And when you think you're going to slip back to being those same people that broke our heart those few months ago, those few years ago, we will help you find your way to someplace else."
Messages like Armey's were reiterated by other speakers. Leading lights of the conservative cause climbed the stage to rally their faithful: Cheney, new Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.
"I'd rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who believe in the principles of freedom, than have 60 who don't believe in anything," DeMint said to applause.
Over and over, speakers flexed their political muscle, promising, as DeMint did, to force some discipline on the Republican Party.
"When Republican senators don't do the things that they say they believe, voters should have a choice of a new Republican," DeMint said. "A real Republican."
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