The Conservative Leadership Conference has been underway since Thursday.  While Sonoran Alliance isn’t “live blogging” from the site, other good conservative bloggers are.  The Arizona connection is that the Honorary Chairman of the CLC is Congressman John Shadegg.  The engine behind CLC is the indefatigable, conservative-extraodinare Chuck Muth.  It’s been his goal to build a “CPAC for the West.”

Edward Morrissey’s “Captain Quarter’s” blog (one of the big –time national blogs in the conservative movement) is live blogging on the speeches and presentations at CLC.  His coverage of the previous couple days has been exhaustive and worth the read.

Here is his take on Congressman Shadegg’s speech this afternoon.  And he’ll have coverage of J.D. Hayworth’s speech later this afternoon.

 

John Shadegg addresses the CLC after an introduction by Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV), who sat on yesterday’s 2008 prognostication panel with me. Heller calls Shadegg a “true exception” to the stereotype of politicians who lose their way once they get to Washington. I met with Rep. Shadegg earlier this morning, and I found him very approachable, humble, and gracious, so that description seems particularly apt…
[Shadegg] also complimented the CLC organizers for sticking to their guns and holding the conference this far outside of DC…
When they reached DC in 1994, people warned that the Beltway would change them, and not the other way around. Shadegg says they were proven right; they became the party of Jack Abramoff and earmarks. The culture of corruption eroded their credibility and their efficacy. Freshman Republicans were told to spend 98% of their time raising money, and to load up on earmarks for their home districts.
“There is no amount of money in the world that will elect a party without principles.” By 2006, the Republicans became the Washington they intended to defeat in 1994.
We still have to clean our own house first. Republicans need to exemplify a standard of conduct that will allow them to regain the trust of the electorate. That means abandoning incumbents who act unethically. It means real reform, real transparency, and a thorough house-cleaning that will set an example the Democrats simply won’t meet.
Shadegg hits Democrats especially hard on earmark reform. They have championed a process that will only make earmarks transparent after they spend the money. Without transparency, earmarks and their corrosive effects cannot be stopped. They will still have the ability to manipulate the voters and Congress through the exploitation of taxpayers funds.
Shadegg is a very effective speaker, and he has everyone’s attention. I haven’t heard him speak in person before, and I’m very impressed. Sean Hackbarth called the speech “further confirmation that the Republicans chose the wrong leadership,” and although I think John Boehner has done a good job, it’s hard not to draw that conclusion.