Last Thursday through Saturday, more than 11,000 conservative and libertarian activists from across the country gathered at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Prince Georges County, Maryland, for the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference. It’s easy to suspect suspect that the participants at CPAC outnumbered all the other conservatives in the state of Maryland.
Sponsored by the American Conservative Union, CPAC has been part of the center-right landscape for more than four decades. One of its board members, Grover Norquist, told me in an interview that he was pleased by this year’s turnout, which was bigger than in 2013, especially because more than half of those attending were in the 18-25 age group. He characterized the youthful nature of CPAC as “extremely, extremely healthy.”
Norquist’s observations about the age distribution among attendees is borne out by the results of the annual CPAC straw poll, which this year was sponsored by The Washington Times.
Although the number of convention-goers who participated in the straw poll has declined in recent years (this year’s survey participants numbered 2,459, compared to 2,930 last year, 3,408 in 2012, and a peak of 3,742 in 2011), the poll likely had a representative sample, since it collected ballots from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and only CPAC registrants were allowed to vote.
Of those who answered the survey questions, 46 percent were aged 18-25, 18 percent were 26-40, 15 percent were 41-55, 11 percent were 56-65, and only 9 percent were over 65 years of age. Put another way, 65 percent of CPAC participants were 40 years old or younger.
So it should come as no surprise that the other results of the straw poll show a distinct swing toward libertarian views.
Most media reports on the straw poll were limited to the news that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was the favorite potential 2016 GOP presidential nominee by a healthy margin, winning 31 percent of the vote against 11 percent for Tea Party darling Ted Cruz of Texas, 9 percent for neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 8 percent for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and 7 percent for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with 21 other candidates bringing up the rear.
What those reports missed were a few key issues-oriented questions that definitely show a libertarian core among CPAC participants, a libertarian instinct acknowledged to me by Norquist, who quoted Ronald Reagan’s famous line that “the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” (Our interview, which will be available on The Score later this week, took place before the straw poll results were released.)
For instance, one question asked about marijuana. Forty-one percent said “marijuana should be legalized for recreational and medical use and taxed.” Twenty-one percent said “marijuana should be legalized only for medical purposes when prescribed by a doctor.” Only 31 percent said “marijuana should remain illegal.” (This corresponds to broader public opinion polls that indicate support for marijuana legalization at more than 50 percent. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in January showed support for legalization at 55 percent.)
On a broader question about political philosophy, 78 percent of those surveyed said “My most important goal is to promote individual freedom by reducing the size and scope of government and its intrusion into the lives of its citizens.” Twelve percent said their “most important goal is to promote traditional values by protecting traditional marriage and protecting the life of the unborn,” while only seven percent said their “most important goal is to secure and guarantee American safety at home and abroad regardless of the cost or the size of government.”
Neither is the CPAC crowd made up of knee-jerk Republican loyalists. While a not-unexpected 98 percent disapprove of President Barack Obama’s job performance, only 48 percent approve of congressional Republicans’ job performance, down from 54 percent in 2013.
Probably related to Rand Paul’s popularity, 52 percent of CPACers say “nearly 70 years after the end of World War II, it’s time for our European, Asian and other allies to provide for their own defense.” A minority of 37 percent say that “as the world’s only superpower, the U.S. needs to continue to bear the responsibility of protecting our allies in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world.”
Similarly, 78 percent oppose the National Security Agency’s use of data collection against American citizens, while only 19 percent favor the NSA’s domestic spying activities.
Finally, in terms of fixing the budget deficit, CPAC attendees show themselves to be spending hawks who oppose increasing taxes. Asked how they would reduce the deficit, 78 percent said “spending cuts only,” 18 percent said a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, and a tiny one percent said “tax increases only.”
Had I designed the straw poll, I might have added a few more questions on controversial issues. Nonetheless, these few questions offer useful insights into the minds of the up-and-coming generation of conservative activists. How they shape the movement and public policy over the next several years will be based largely on a strong libertarian component in their thinking.
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