I don’t want to conflate these two and their speeches at CPAC, but since they are arguably the highest-profile speakers from yesterday (and perhaps the whole conference), I figured I’d take them both on here.
First, Ann Coulter. I couldn’t get into the room with her yesterday (too packed) so I had to watch the feed next door. The speech was typical Ann, part political polemicist and part stand-up comedienne. The room I was in was laughing the whole time, practically. She’s very good, and the Q&A part showed she’s just as good on her feet. There weren’t any deep policy pronouncements or statements of the movement, just good quality red meat for CPAC attendees to snack on at lunch time. To me, there’s nothing wrong with that, and I applaud Ann for pushing the envelope in a country where we are supposed to be able to say what we want. Allah’s got the video.
Rush was a different story. I waited three hours in the room where he was to speak just so I could have a seat. It was well worth the wait. As is being reported, he brought down the house for his “First Address to the Nation,” and for good reason: he articulated what I think many of us in that room want our politicians to say. I won’t say much more on it, other than that the thunderous applause you’ll see on the videos (also from Allahpundit) isn’t for Rush Limbaugh; it’s for the core ideas that he so fervently expresses.
It’s disappointing to see folks like Eric Cantor assuming the liberal talking points on Rush. If anyone talks about inclusion, it’s Rush Limbaugh. He spoke last night about wanting everyone in America to succeed with excellence and that he doesn’t care about what you look like or who you are. That’s a much more effective and respectable sort of inclusion than giving political lip service to this or that moderate cause.
More background on the Rush speech from Erick Erickson.
