No Casual Friday at Conservatives' Conference
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Woodley Park
JUST TWO WEEKS after the sidewalks of Woodley Park were flooded with anime conventioneers dressed up as their favorite Japanese animation characters complete with fake weaponry, wigs and makeup, the neighborhood and the Omni Shoreham Hotel have a decidedly different feeling. Starting Thursday, hundreds of conservatives of many stripes converged on the Omni for the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the most important gatherings in an off-election year for campaigns to start generating buzz within the core of the conservative base.
You might remember CPAC from the movie "Shattered Glass," when New Republic scribe Stephen Glass was questioned on the eye-popping details of his account of the after-hours CPAC fun. From the script:
Young Republicans at a CPAC Conference. Pretty standard stuff. Hotel ballrooms, boring speeches. Chicken dinners. Which is why everybody spends their time in the suites upstairs committing felonies. ... Every delegate under the age of was on the fifth floor getting loaded. Drugs, binge drinking, hookers ... It gets pretty ugly.Of course, that was just one of Glass' many inventions. (But as one Republican Capitol Hill staffer explained to this writer a few years ago, "that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.")
Certainly, none of that happened in the lobby this morning, where this writer parked himself to take in the scene, complete with young conservatives, bedecked with GOP pins, dressed in freshly pressed suits. (Don't they know that lapel pins can damage the fabric?) We even spotted a twentysomething guy holding Sam Brownback literature dressed in — gasp! — blue jeans. He definitely felt out of place. Upon departure from the Omni Shoreham, we followed a group of conventioneers who were also carrying Brownback materials. Their destination? McDonald's.
If you hunt around on Technorati, you can find plenty of blogger dispatches from CPAC. So far, here's our favorite quote that paints the CPAC scene quite well. From Theo North:
Flip, the Mitt Romney mascot (a guy in a dolphin costume), was very popular. He even tempted a couple of Romney’s volunteers to start arguing with him. Note to self: don’t argue with costumed characters in public when surrounded by people with cameras.The fun ends Saturday!
» "Convention Center Needs an Anime Invasion" [Free Ride/Express]
» "CPAC 2007" [CPAC]
» "Conservatives Gather in D.C." [WaPo Video]
» "CPAC, Part One" [Theo North]
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Addison Road
I work in Woodley Park and unfortunately for me (being both a Democrat and someone who hates long lines at Chipotle) the young GOPers filled Chipotle for several hours. The girls, with their spray on tans and bad dye jobs and ill fitting skirts, as well as the guys with their standard blue blazer and khaki ensembles made me sort of ill. Not a minority in sight that wasn't throwing the beans in the burritos. Looking at these kids, I couldn't help but wonder how any of them could care about politics when its clear they haven't had to work a day in their lives and probably don't pay taxes on their trust funds just yet. In any case, I'd say a good 50% of them will become Democrats either when they 1. go to college and get an education, 2. their parents go to jail for some corporate scandal and they have to actually work for a living or 3. they come out of the closet. Either way, I'm glad they are gone and can get my burrito in peace.
By Carrie , Posted March 2, 2007 4:57 PMwill the express be following up with ann coulter's homophobic remarks at this wonderful conservative confab?
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/02/coulter-edwards/
By IMGoph , Posted March 3, 2007 8:41 AM