Re: Politically ancient conservatives convene

As members of the IU College Republicans, we are no strangers to accusations that we are old and dated, but the perpetual repetition of these attacks does not mitigate their inaccuracies.

Andrew Guenther’s lambasting of the Conservative Political Action Conference in this week’s column is just the latest in a stream of false assertions about conservatives, which frankly act as diversions from the true and important debates that we need to have.

A contingent of IU College Republicans attended CPAC this past weekend and had a great time meeting future presidential candidates and learning about possible solutions to our nation’s largest problems. Among the activities were the various panels throughout the weekend, one of which concerned diversity.

One of Guenther’s beefs with this panel is simply false. There were not five white men participating in the discussion. There were two black men and two white men plus a white moderator. Of course, the only reason we bring up this fact is to reveal the truth ­— we conservatives do not measure our level of diversity or lack of racism by counting the number of minorities we have on a panel as others may do.

We measure these things with our ideas for a nation that uplifts all people, regardless of racial classification.

Second, there were always numerous panels going on simultaneously at CPAC. Thus, their average attendance typically hovered around two dozen people. The diversity panel was easily one of the most highly attended discussions of the weekend. It just happened to be in the hotel’s largest room.

As for Guenther’s claim that CPAC represented an aging conservative base, we respond with the fact that more than half the conference’s attendees were Millennials, with 46 percent of them being younger than 25.

In the end, conservatives and the Republican Party yearn to embrace diversity by expanding economic opportunity and the chance to carry out the American Dream for all — not by endlessly seeking to divide us based on our differences as those on the left tend to do.

CPAC was filled to the brim with speakers and discussions excitingly revealing different strategies on how to reach out to every corner of our society. The conservative speakers who happened to be minorities are not “tokens” of race. They are representatives of the ideals of liberty and self-empowerment, which built this country.

Maybe if Guenther had actually been there instead of judging tweets by their cover, he would have understood the great things yet to come in the conservative movement. Then again, maybe not, since it seems to us that Guenther is more concerned with ad hominem attacks than discussing the actual issues.

Guenther would be well served to realize that by writing off Republicans as intolerant, he is contributing to the very problem he seeks to solve.

Now can we please talk about what’s really important? Maybe we can start with the left’s policies that are destroying our nation.

­IUGOP@indiana.edu