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Sen. John McCain Spurns CPAC Invite
Sen. John McCain is the only Republican presidential candidate to spurn an offer to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation’s premier gathering of conservatives. And McCain further miffed sponsors of the event, which begins Thursday at a Washington, D.C., hotel, by attempting to schedule a private reception for conference attendees without seeking approval of CPAC organizers. "It was a classic McCain move, dissing us by going behind our backs,” declared William Lauderback, executive president of the American Conservative Union, a principal sponsor of the CPAC.
In addition to the other GOP presidential candidates – including Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney – Vice President Dick Cheney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are also scheduled to address the conference.
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Conservative activists speculated that McCain rejected an offer to speak at the conference because he "did not want to be seen on television ‘pandering’ to Republican ‘right-wingers’ but wanted to court those same activists at a reception at the same hotel,” the Washington Times reported. The CPAC has been considered a key event for conservative candidates ever since the first gathering was held in 1974, with Ronald Reagan in attendance. Organizers expect more than 5,000 people to attend this year, including many college students from across the country. Craig Shirley, a Republican activist and Reagan historian, told the Times that skipping the CPAC is a mistake for a Republican candidate. "Any GOP politician who doesn’t understand this and the importance of this conference doesn’t understand conservatism.”
© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2008 Presidential Race Inside Cover Stories
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