National Review Institute’s Conservative Summit
February 12, 2007
The Pax Americana Institute was fortunate enough to send two members to the National Review Institute’s Conservative Summit in Washington D.C. at the end of January. On behalf of the Institute, I would like to once again thank National Review Online for facilitating this great experience. While there, we were able to take a few pictures of the event, which I’m happy to share with you. The Summit was covered by CSPAN, and they have been replaying several of the discussions and panels periodically, which I highly recommend taking the time to watch. Here are some of the highlights from our time there.
Friday
We left from Madison on Friday January 28th. The flight to D.C. was an eventful one, as we shared the plane with a number of representatives from Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s staff, who were traveling to be a part of the peace demonstrations scheduled for the same weekend. This was the first time I was asked about staying at a Youth Hostel in about twenty years, so my boyish good looks have apparently not forsaken me.
That evening we attended the Summit’s reception, and had the pleasure of hearing Rich Lowery speak. This was followed by David Frum, who had the pleasure of introducing John Bolton, who gave a brief address. I am able to report that all three gentleman are excellent speakers, particularly Ambassador Bolton, who I had not heard speak outside of his role at the United Nations.
We were also fortunate enough to meet several students from George Washington University. I am pleased to say that we have a ready supply of Intern candidates should we open a branch of the Institute in Washington. These students set a fine tone for the Summit as a whole: they were positive, upbeat, and optimistic about the future, which is a very positive sign. Given recent events, I did not know what to expect as far as a tone for the event, and I was pleasantly surprised.
After the reception, we attended a late night panel session of the “State of Conservatism.” The panel was excellent, consisting of Mona Charen, Laura Ingraham, Kathryn Lopez, Michelle Malkin and Kate O’Beirne.
Saturday
Saturday morning began early with a breakfast, which was followed by an address by Newt Gingrich. Gingrich was introduced by Rich Lowry, and gave an excellent speech. Of particular interest to us were his concerns about citizenship, which is the Institute’s focus this year with Project Citizen.
The rest of the afternoon was made up of a series of discussions, including one on “Small Government,” which had Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin as one of the panelists. I spoke with a number the other attendees about Ryan, and they universally felt he was a strong speaker.
The lunch speaker for Saturday was Jeb Bush, and we found ourselves seated in the middle of a sea of Conservative celebrities, including Mary Matalin. Her husband James Carville was nowhere to be seen, which made for less fireworks, but perhaps that is just as well.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent with further panel discussions, but it also included a number of spirited debates. Anyone who says that there is no room for debate or discussion within the Conservative moment has not been to an event like the Summit! Of particular interest was a highly charged debate of the War in Iraq involving Bill Krystol.
The evening’s dinner speaker was Governor Mitt Romney, who was introduced by Mark Steyn. If you even have the chance to hear Mark speak, I highly recommend it: he makes some poignant arguments, but is also very funny.
Sunday
Sunday was to be our “getaway” day, and unfortunately this meant we were unable to stay for the entire agenda. There were another series of debates and panel discussions, which included remarks by Governor Mike Huckabee.
The last debate we were able to stay for was on America’s dependence on foreign oil. Former CIA Director James Woolsey made an impassioned argument that electric cars and other alternative fuel sources should be adopted as a matter of national security.
With that debate still ringing in our ears, the Institute delegation was forced to return the Ronald Reagan airport and make our way back to Wisconsin. Unfortunately that meant we were unable to hear the remarks by Tony Snow, who closed the Summit down.
As a whole, the experience was a remarkable one, because not only did it give us a chance to meet and talk with a number of influential members of the Conservative movement, but also because it had such a positive and upbeat tone. For me, that was really the most gratifying thing to see.