Asserts the conservative Republican, who was a panel participant at the Conservative Political Action Conference: "As
it celebrates its 40th anniversary, what's new about CPAC this year is
its rich diversity, not who's not attending. A young black woman, Chelsy
Smith of Cincinnati, told me she that she had noticed a lot more black
conservatives attending CPAC, and that 'It makes you feel like it's okay
to be a Republican.' Unlike the Republican National Committee
and other right-leaning organizations talking about diversity, CPAC
understood what Mitt Romney's presidential loss meant and put words into
action. It's not about changing the conservative message."
She continues her commentary: "CPAC
realized, as smart conservatives do, that we need different messengers
selling the face of conservatism. Mitt Romney won almost 70% of the
white vote but lost the election because he failed to win the minority
vote. Obama won 93% of the black vote, 71% of the Hispanic vote and 55%
of women's votes. This year's CPAC highlights diversity among conservatives. According to the Hill,
20% of the 40-plus featured speakers are black. There are twice as many
Hispanics and blacks speaking as there were in 2012 and a third more
women."
Booker Rising response: Crystal's points may be valid, but that is happening in conjunction with white supremacist foolishness going down at this year's CPAC. You'd have thought that CPAC would've learned from last year's foolishness, but apparently not.
Crystal Wright: "CPAC 2013 Has Shown That Diversity Is Taking Root In The GOP"
