"A little matter will move a party, but it must be something great that moves a nation." --Thomas Paine (1791)
2013-03-21-alexander-1GOP 2014? 2016?

A record number of conservatives, from grassroots Patriots to national GOP leaders, gathered for the 2013 CPAC confab last week, sponsored by our friends at the American Conservative Union.

CPAC attendees represent the GOP base, though many would not call themselves Republican. This is mostly because the GOP has squandered the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan, and too many of its current congressional leaders are part of the problem rather than the solution.

Among the more notable speakers at CPAC was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the grassroots voice of the Tea Party movement. Paul aptly summed up the GOP's problem and solution in his rousing remarks: "The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered. I don't think we need to name any names, do we? Our party is encumbered by an inconsistent approach to freedom. The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. If we're going to have a Republican party that can win, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP. We must have a message that is broad, our vision must be broad, and that vision must be based on freedom."

Indeed.

Sen. Paul, who offered a few words about our mission last week -- "The Patriot Post provides a clear and substantial voice for America's Constitutional Conservatives" -- is more than just Ron Paul, part deux, as some of his establishment Republican colleagues lament. Rand has much broader appeal than his father, and yet his appeal is every bit as strong as that exhibited by Ron's constituents. Rand Paul represents a fusion between Libertarian and conservative Republican principles, a fusion that, at its core, is already reflected in the Republican Party Platform. (You can read all political platforms on our Historic Documents page.)

The problem is, most old-guard Republicans pay as little attention to the GOP platform as they do their oaths "to support and defend" our Constitution. Instead, they subscribe to the Left's so-called "living constitution." As a result, the only political "fusion" they generate in confusion.

Shortly after CPAC concluded, the Grand Old Party released an election 2012 "after action report" with GOP initials -- the Growth and Opportunity Project. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus ordered up this 97-page report, and not a minute too soon. Priebus, who proudly carries and reads his copy of our Essential Liberty Pocket Guide, and who arranged for its distribution to all 14,000 attendees at the last GOP convention, said, correctly, "I don't think our platform is the issue."

While Priebus chairs a party with some members who are virtually indistinguishable from their Socialist Democratic Party opponents, he is not among them. Priebus is cut from the cloth of Patriot warriors, not armchair diplomats, and his vision for the future of the Republican Party reflects that spirit.