I just returned from Michigan, where I had the honor of speaking at Americans for Prosperity’s “Defending the Dream” state summit. Among the other speakers were Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal, Justice Robert Young of the Michigan Supreme Court, and Governor Sarah Palin.
I spoke on a panel entitled, “Alinsky: Turning Liberal Tactics into Conservative Victories.” Joining me was James Muffett of Citizens for Traditional Values, a group that I hope we can work with in the future. I was pleasantly surprised that the crowd (well over a thousand at the summit and a packed room of hundreds for this particular breakout session) had apparently heard of Youth for Western Civilization as the people interrupted me with applause when I mentioned the name. This is a good sign as we seek to expand into Michigan next year. The moderator was Alan Cobb of Americans for Prosperity.
The crowd enthusiastically participated in the discussion and there were lots of questions, which is always a lot more fun than simply lecturing at a crowd. There is a real enthusiasm among the conservative grassroots – something I have never seen before in all my years of activism. The true importance of the Tea Parties is not the issues they rally around – it is the fact that conservatives are actually engaging in street activism, however mild. This has our rulers in the political class terrified. They should be.
I’ve included the audio here of my opening remarks and hope to add more tonight. (Needless to say, first thing in the revised YWC budget is a better audio recorder so we can have better quality for these kinds of things in the future.)
