LOS ANGELES, November 3, 2011―The 2011 NFRA Convention was held several days ago in Des Moines, Iowa. It was a pleasure to attend such a successful and important gathering.
(Full disclosure: I spoke at the convention and was compensated for doing so. I am publicly neutral in the 2012 GOP presidential contest.)
For starters, this is not the National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Convention that took place one week earlier. Frozen pizza is delicious, concluding the reporting of that convention.
The "other" NFRA is the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.
The NFRA calls itself the "Republican wing of the Republican Party." When the GOP decides to cave in to the left, the NFRA is there to remind everyone the benefit of standing on conservative principles.
The head of the NFRA is Rod Martin, and his organization has chapters throughout the United States from Rhode Island to Hawaii. In Rhode Island, the Republican Assembly often has larger gatherings at meetings than the GOP itself.
The convention was a successful showcase of rising stars in the GOP.
Ryan Rhodes of the Iowa Tea Party was there, as was the group Tea Party of America, who put on the Sarah Palin event in Indianola one month earlier. "Dr. Bill" is the former president of the Arkansas Republican Assembly (ARRA), but he is also last year's "blogger of the year" in conservative circles.
Sharron Angle spoke at the opening night dinner. For those who remember, Ms Angle rocketed out of nowhere and nearly took down a sitting majority leader. The reason she has so many fans is because, as she says, she really is "just a granny."
The speaker at the closing night dinner was former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell ran for Ohio Governor, as well as for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. He is a very respected figure in conservative circles, and comes from a family that is as conservative as it gets. As he said, his father was so conservative that "he was against pre-marital sex because he thought it might lead to slow dancing." At the convention Mr. Blackwell was elected to be Executive Vice President of the NFRA.
For those wishing to paint the most conservative element of the GOP as a "white, male, Christian party," as former Vermont Governor Howard Dean did, save your liberal breath. I am Jewish, Mr. Blackwell is black, and Mrs. Angle is 100% female. Those looking for nothing but white, male, Christians should move to Howard Dean's Vermont.
A pair of presidential contenders, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, addressed the crowd. Other candidates appeared by video feed. One of the interesting dynamics was the disparity between the straw poll results and the official voting among the NFRA members.
As expected, Ron Paul bought up tons of straw poll tickets and doled them out to a bunch of college kids to vote for him.
In a surprising turn of events, the Ron Paul supporters for the most part were well behaved and polite. They did not run around like crazed lunatics as they have at many other conventions. They personally expressed to me that they wanted to be taken seriously, and understood that the way to get respect is to give it. They were educated, well dressed, and sincere. Yet there was one moment of discord at the convention that shows a major flaw with the Ron Paul movement. I was the focus of this discord.
During my lunchtime speech, a Ron Paul supporter asked why Dr. Paul was getting so little attention. I explained that one problem many Republicans (myself included) have with Dr. Paul and his supporters are their unwillingness to firmly commit to backing the eventual nominee. Every other candidate has accepted the unofficial party loyalty pledge. Dr. Paul did not in 2008, and he still has not. I stated "We are not the Conservative Party, the Libertarian Party, or the Constitution Party. We are the Republican Party. We are a family, and whoever wins the primary, everyone else had better fall in line." Most NFRA attendees loudly applauded the sentiment, but several Ron Paul supporters booed.
This was reflected in a pair of bought and paid for straw polls, one for those living in Iowa and one for those residing elsewhere. Among Iowans, Ron Paul won 82% of the vote and Mitt Romney won 1%. Even Ron Paul supporters conceded that Dr. Paul is not going to defeat Governor Romney by 81 percentage points. Among non-Iowans, Dr. Paul edged out Herman Cain 26 to 25%.
Yet once the straw polls are over with, the Paul supporters did what they almost always do. They packed up and left. The actual business of the NFRA Convention, that being the hard work, was left to the NFRA members. As expected, Dr. Paul did not come close to winning their endorsement.
Dr. Paul was not the least favorite candidate of the NFRA. That "honor" went to Mitt Romney. Simply put, the NFRA is a very conservative organization consisting of people who are suspicious of Governor Romney's conservative credentials.
One candidate who has never had his conservatism questioned is former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. He was clearly among friends at this convention. The final three candidates to receive significant votes from the NFRA delegates were Senator Santorum, Governor Rick Perry, and Herman Cain. Governor Perry was a distant third and his supporters finally threw in the towel. Despite a valiant effort by Mr. Cain, Senator Santorum won the official NFRA endorsement for President. Mr. Cain won the vice presidential endorsement.
Despite lagging in the polls, the endorsement of Senator Santorum is not a surprise. The NFRA is more than just about cutting taxes and killing terrorists, although both of those items are important. Begun under Phyllis Schlafly, the NFRA is a socially conservative organization. Senator Santorum is a social conservative through and through.
The fact that Herman Cain even came in second is a tribute to how impressive he has been as he rises in the national and state polls. People simply like him. While he says he is a social conservative, he is more known for his economic platform.
The biggest surprise was the fairly early exit of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. She is every bit as socially conservative as Rick Santorum, but he showed up at the event and personally spoke to the group. She did not. Senator Santorum has less money than the other candidates but he is everywhere talking to people. Among social conservatives his following is deep and loyal. This comes at the expense of Ms. Bachmann.
One of the reasons why social conservatism on display at the NFRA Convention was important is because social conservatives are demonized in the mainstream media. They are seen as zealots, bible-thumpers, and intolerant bigots. The social conservatives I met simply believe in Christian values such as "love thy neighbor."
Several key moments came when awards were being given out.
One elderly lady confined to a wheelchair was honored for her commitment to conservatism. Fighting back tears she said that all she asked God for when she was younger was "to marry a good, Christian man." She said that she was beyond blessed and that her husband of 53 years "read the bible every single day to her" during their marriage. The dinner attendees fought back tears.
Morton Blackwell of the Leadership Institute was honored as the Ronald Reagan Conservative of the Year.
Yet the most poignant moment came when the Kansas Chapter of the Republican Assembly received a legislative award on behalf of "heartbeat legislation." The NFRA takes an unwavering stand against abortion. Yet while a passionate pro-life message was delivered, it covered more than just babies entering the world.
Kansas was where abortion Dr. George Tiller was murdered. At the convention, the Kansas RA strongly and unequivocally condemned the killing of Dr. Tiller for the murder that it was. Those in attendance asked about the matter declared that bombing an abortion clinic or killing an abortion doctor is murder and pure evil. No self-respecting Christian would support such a barbaric act, and not one person in attendance made excuses. NFRA attendees value all human life, and did not want to be lumped in with fringe extremists who made the passionate but peaceful NFRA crowd leery of being stereotyped.
After the hard work of convention business came afterparties in the hospitality suites. Networking and socializing brought Saturday night to a close, while Sunday morning contained a prayer breakfast and some final business meetings.
The National Federation of Republican Assemblies left Des Moines in good spirits but with a serious eye toward the 2012 elections. This group is not going to splinter off and support a quixotic third party movement. They are working within the Republican Party. Some are Tea Party members and some are not, but they are all conservatives. When the GOP strays too far to the center, the NFRA is there to keep the Republican Party on the "right" path in the tradition of Ronald Reagan.
Brooklyn born, Long Island raised, and now living in Los Angeles, Eric Golub is a politically conservative columnist, blogger, author, public speaker, satirist and comedian.
Eric is the author of the book trilogy "Ideological Bigotry, "Ideological Violence," and "Ideological Idiocy." Eric is 100% alcohol, tobacco, drug, and liberalism free. After years of dating liberals, he has finally seen the light and now only dates Republican Jewish women. His family is pleased over this. Republican, Jewish women, you may contact Eric above.
Follow Eric on Twitter @TYGRRRREXPRESS
Eric Golub is an independent writer for the Communities. Read more from Eric at his TYGRRRR EXPRESS blog.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
