On Saturday at the CPAC conference, Donald Trump taunted Bush Republicans, globalists, and neocons from the main platform.
During the same weekend that CPAC was going off the rails, a heartbreaking Republican display was taking place barely a dozen miles away. It was called the “Principles First Conference.”
This was attended by a group of globalist neocons attempting to recover their retired significance. The lineup of speakers consisted primarily of members of The Bulwark and The Dispatch, a few authors from The Washington Post and The Atlantic, John Bolton and John Kasich.
Bill Kristol: Defeat Trump’s Fellow Republicans
Bill Kristol of The Bulwark formerly managed The Weekly Standard. He now earns his job chasing rich neocon donors by angering actual conservatives, while proclaiming to be some type of aristocratic Republican.
He said something both revealing and idiotic during his turn at the podium. “It turns out that once you let the toothpaste out of the bottle, so to speak, certain individuals enjoy demagoguery and intolerance. It is difficult to get it back.” Kristol stated.
“You cannot simply lecture them.”
Trump is all in for the insurrection.
His Republican competitors won't denounce the insurrection.
The Republican Party is half insurrectionist and half anti-anti-insurrectionist.
I am alarmed. pic.twitter.com/sPUWRdILqt
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 7, 2023
“We must defeat Trump’s fellow Republicans. If it means spending some time with the Democrats, then so be it.”
He said the Democratic presidential ticket should include Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Virginia Representative Abigail Spanberger. Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, has an iron fist for rule.
She adores abortion, lockdowns, taxation, trans-mania, and government mandates — any government mandate, so long as she gets to impose it. She presents the woke, coercive neo-Marxism that is trying to destroy the nation from within.
Let me be clear: Abortion is and will remain safe and legal in Michigan.
We’ll keep fighting like hell to protect people's fundamental rights and ensure doctors can prescribe safe and effective medication. pic.twitter.com/V3f8CtZX7l
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) March 7, 2023
Attendees of Republican Conferences Have Little in Common
Those who assembled at the Principles First Conference had little in common with CPAC participants who witnessed Trump’s coronation ceremony across the river.
In lieu of MAGA caps and Trump shirts, attendees donned blue blazers embellished with Ukrainian and American flag pins. There was at least one Lincoln Project hat seen in the crowd.
Caroline Wren, a prominent Trump fundraiser who helped organize the January 6 rally, was in attendance. Her attendance appeared to be an attempt to annoy Principles First organizers, who saw she registered and were eagerly awaiting her arrival.
Wren told Politico that she was only present to listen and she looked shocked that her presence prompted suspicion.
During the Principles First Conference, the losses of MAGA Republicans were one of the strands of happiness that arose.
In fact, anti-Trump strategist Sarah Longwell said the only way to restore sanity to the Republican Party would be for it to suffer “chronic electoral failures.”
Others, though, were not prepared for the idea of letting Republicans hit rock bottom before rebuilding the party.
Former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan, who was removed from office by Donald Trump, offered a vague plan for internal change. He stated the Republican Party must prioritize policy, sympathy, and tonality.
