Weigel

“Loser People and Loser Organizations”

Jackie Kucinich saves the best quote for last in her write-up of CPAC’s Tea Party-heavy lineup for 2011. Grover Norquist closes the curtain on the groups that have showily boycotted the conference over annoyance at the gay Republican group GOProud, the business transactions of ACU’s David Keene, or the participation of Muslim Republican Suhail Khan.

Loser people and loser organizations that haven’t done any work all year try to get headlines so they can whine about CPAC. They can get a little press. That happens all the time.

This is what you’d expect Norquist to say. His version of the conservative movement is the “leave us alone coalition.” Gays and non-Christians, of course, are in the fold of people who should be left alone by the state. Norquist is friends with Khan, on the advisory board* of GOPround, and – oh yes – constantly under attack from conservatives who think he’s too pro-Islam and too easily bought.

How big is the boycott? The groups that have said they are out because of the controversies or because of other gripes with CPAC:

American Principles Project
American Values
Center for Military Readiness
Concerned Women for America
The Family Research Council
The Heritage Foundation
Liberty Counsel
National Organization for Marriage

Republicans who have skipped the conference and either cited the “controversies” or refused to confirm whether those controversies warned them off.

Sen. Jim DeMint
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Republican Study Committee

*I original just wrote “board,” not “advisory board.”