I come to you now from a fine, sunny, Virginia spring Sunday morning, still in my CPAC lodgings, from whence I will leave shortly for my multi-part journey back to the Susitna Valley, Alaska. These days my wife and I have distinctly hermit-like tendencies; sometimes a week or more will go by without us seeing another human being other than one another. It takes something pretty special to drag me out of my little patch of the woods, and so it was with a few reservations that I made arrangements to travel to CPAC 2024. I don't do well with crowds and have a distinct dislike for cities.
But in hindsight? I'm very glad I made this trip.
There was only one disappointing aspect of this trip of thousands of miles, and that was when I arrived at the hotel where I had reserved a room to find myself refused. "We overbooked," they said and handed me a slip with a handwritten phone number on it. "Call these people. Good-bye." To say I was unhappy with that is a massive understatement, but I called the number, and instead of a five-star hotel within walking distance, I ended up in a cheap-sleep some ways away in Arlington, which required an Uber ride back and forth each day. Other than that, though, things went well enough.
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CPAC 2024: Will Byron Donalds Be Trump's VP Pick?
High points:
I got to meet some very interesting people. I spent some time outside in the smoking area, enjoying a cigar and talking with some guys who represented the informal "Maple Leaf MAGA" movement, and they had the caps (and accents, eh) to prove it. These fine Canadians realized as they told me, that Canada's economy depends in large part on the U.S., and they are convinced that the election of Donald Trump would benefit not only America's economy but also Canada's. I was also interviewed briefly by Newsmax's John Tabacco of "Wise Guys with John Tabacco," who was interested in getting to chat with an Alaskan.
I also got to meet someone I was hoping to bump into, someone who is not only a fellow contributor to the Townhall Media Group but also the author of a fun series of post-break-up America novels as well as a more recent work that scared the stuffing out of me, because I can all too easily see it happening. If you haven't read the works of Kurt Schlichter yet, I highly recommend them.
Several of the CPAC speakers stood out. Mark Levin was absolutely on fire during his segment, and he had the crowd on their feet several times. Tulsi Gabbard spoke about her political evolution, and she sure seems to have been red-pilled in the last few years.
And, of course, on the last day, there was Donald Trump.
Whatever one thinks of President Trump's personality or political stances, it's impossible to deny that the man knows how to fire up a crowd. He told jokes, and he repeatedly went off-script, walking away from the mike a couple of times. He does a great impression of the befuddled, shuffling Joe Biden, and midway through the speech he wandered off into a stream-of-consciousness story which started in Mexico and wandered over to Iraq, describing a harrowing night landing in Air Force One, then he went on to meet some generals and an unknown soldier named "Raisin" Cane. The story eventually wandered back to Mexico and how he negotiated Mexico's help in closing the border, but whereas if Joe Biden had wandered off like that, people would have wondered just what the hell was going on; somehow, though, Trump made it work, producing laughter and cheers from the crowd.
See Related: CPAC 2024: Trump Speaks to a Standing Room Only Crowd, Mocks Biden, Fake News Media
Donald Trump was the high point of the event for most of the attendees; after he left the stage, the venue emptied. I hung around to see Argentinian President Javier Milei, who was uncharacteristically subdued and wonky, but he definitely has a good command of the value of free-market economics. I felt for him, though; following Trump was a tough row to hoe.
Other things fell outside the CAPC event itself. I've already written about my informal survey of Uber drivers, and last night, after that piece went to virtual press, I had another driver from Ethiopia who came here on a work visa and is now a citizen, but who is also struggling with the immigration system to legally bring in his wife and son, who are still in Ethiopia. He expressed great frustration with the number of people coming in illegally, and told me (unprompted) that he intends to vote this year, his first election as a citizen, for Donald Trump, because of the hash Democrats have made of the immigration system.
And, of course, there was the deeply moving experience of seeing the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetary.
Best of all, I got to meet a bunch of my RedState colleagues, one of the most talented groups of people in modern alternative media, in addition to just being a wonderful group of people. I'm proud and humbled to be a part of this gifted and skillful assemblage.
In an hour or so I head to the airport, to fly to Denver where my dear wife is visiting with her parents, and then back to the Great Land. I'm sure our chickadees and redpolls have missed us, and I'll sleep easier when I'm back home in the deep silence of our winter nights. But as for CPAC 2024, I wouldn't have missed it, and I'm so glad I made the trip.
