The right crisis

For those of you who were out last Friday night with plans that didn’t involve watching C-SPAN’s coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference, let me fill you in. You missed numerous panels on public policy and 24 speakers who addressed political issues as they applied to the cornerstone beliefs of conservatism. \n“That capitalism is the only economic system of our time that is compatible with political liberty” and the idea that the “Constitution is designed to guarantee the free exercise of the inherent rights of the individual,” were just some of the beliefs exemplified by the choice of speakers at the conference, the most notable being: Vice President Dick Cheney, John Bolton, `08 presidential hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, Mitt Romney and the radical rights very own life sized Barbie, political commentator Ann Coulter. \nWait a second; Ann Coulter could actually hold her vile tongue for one day to speak in alignment with the American Conservative Unions statement of principles? Oh that’s right, she used her time to endorse Mitt Romney and unleash a hate-filled rant in which she indirectly referred to John Edwards with a vulgar slur that stinks strongly of homophobia. Being the “godless” liberal that I am, one might expect I’d use this opportunity to incorporate her quote or throw a little bit of hate speech and some more old fashion jest her way. Quite contrarily, I will refrain, having been raised in the well meaning, wholesome, middle American conservative values system that Coulter should have been trying to uphold rather than jeopardizing through association with her wild ploys to sell books.\nIt comes as no surprise that Coulter would say anything to generate publicity; she is of course “known for comments that can be both provocative and outrageous.” As ACU chairman David A. Keene acknowledged in a statement in which he also made it clear that, “ACU and CPAC do not condone or endorse the use of hate speech.” You see, Coulter’s little joke generated more outrage from the conservative Americans whom Coulter seems to think she’s speaking on behalf of. On Saturday three of the Republican frontrunners for ’08 denounced the commentator, fearing they would be linked with the anti-gay expletive. According to the Times she responded in an e-mail message that “it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards ...” \nWhat troubles me is not only that Edwards has already exceeded his goal of raising more than $100,000 in “Coulter Cash” campaign funds to combat the “politics of bigotry,” I worry about how this will effect the already tarnished image of true conservatism. Who will release a press statement on behalf of the everyday conservative values voter to explain to concerned Democrats everywhere that they are not actually aligned with hateful radicals like Coulter? The big name candidates will have enough trouble, even with their resources and public relations staff, to shake the Republican homophobic stigma only furthered by Coulter’s comments. Who will handle public opinion when it turns on the everyday well-meaning conservative?