February 13, 2012 | MariaNews.com 

Laura Ingraham: The Need for a Return to Conservatism

(By Julianne) – Having gone to previous CPAC’s, I was surprised by the different tone of this year’s CPAC. Every year, some group seems to “invade” and take over CPAC. In 2010, that group was made up of Ron Paul supporters. This year, one could say it was a relatively mild group of Santorum college student supporters. Noticeably absent were any gatherings of Romney supporters or Gingrich supporters.

My perception of this year’s CPAC is that young conservatives care about the direction of our country, and they have a genuine yearning for a return to conservative principles. Having endured the liberal policies of President Obama in the past few years, as well as his dismissal of Catholic social teachings in creating such policies, young conservatives want candidates with genuine conservative principles now more than ever.

We are at an odd time in our nation’s history. If a conservative is not elected in 2012, it will mean that Obamacare remains implemented and it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to repeal. However, the irony is that our strongest conservative candidate seems to be one who did everything we are trying to avoid by implementing Romneycare. A candidate’s past record is truly the only proof one has of how he or she will act in office, and given that Mitt Romney has a past record of implementing socialized medicine, this is one troubling aspect of his record.

Laura Ingraham, a talk show radio host and Fox News commentator, spoke on the need for the GOP to return to conservative values. Her sentiments mirrored those same sentiments of many in the audience.

She first addressed the massive size of government, in talking about the “Declaration of Dependence.” Her snarky take on the Declaration of Dependence showed the ways government now provides groceries, cell phones, contraception, birth control pills, and even car payments to the entitlement generation.

Ms. Ingraham’s words pointed to a contentious point that our generation is now facing, which is an “entitlement attitude.” Because of President Obama’s support of massive government spending, younger generations are now feeling entitled to these supposed “necessities.”

My own thoughts are that Ms. Ingraham’s speech related to the speech given by Rick Santorum. Rick Santorum also talked about “natural rights,” and how big government has distorted our view of “natural rights.” Both conservative speakers captured the mood of CPAC-goers this year, which is a feeling that the GOP must take back its roots in conservative ideals such as decreased government, a reduction in government spending, and strong pro-life values.

As I was reporting on Laura Ingraham’s speech, I noticed people around me nodding at almost everything she said. She clarified the recent health mandate proposed by President Obama, calling it a “religious freedom and conscience” issue. She showed that Catholic employers have no rights of religious freedom or conscience under the new health mandate, which forces insurance companies to cover contraception services, birth control services, and abortion services. Ms. Ingraham’s legal education at University of Virginia showed when she also commentated on how Supreme Court justices interpret the Constitution.

Her strongest point in criticizing the legislation was when she stated, “That might be the way “Ruth Ginsberg, Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan read the Constitution, but I clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, and that’s not the way I read the Constitution.” This comment received wide applause.

The other strongest point of Ms. Ingraham’s speech was when she voiced the desire of a majority of people in the room to bring back conservative values. She said, “When Republican presidents from now on stray from first conservative principles, we will hold them accountable.” To add some humor, Ms. Ingraham quoted The Who and said, “We won’t be fooled again.”

A blogger, Chris Smith of TheOtherMcCain.com next to me commented immediately after the speech. He said, “I just enjoyed hearing Laura Ingraham’s remarks. She did a fantastic job bringing a little humor, relaxation, and awareness to the election race. What a great treasure, Laura Ingraham.”

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Julianne Nowicki graduated from the University of Michigan in 2010, she is currently a second year student at Ave Maria School of Law and Associate Editor of the Ave Maria School of Law Review.   

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