Professor Glenn Beck — the conservative Fox News talk show host who gave the closing keynote speech at CPAC Saturday afternoon — brought his famous classroom blackboard out on stage with him during his address, preaching against the ‘disease’ of progressivism and saying Republicans have to realize “it’s not enough to not suck as much as the other side.”
“We all know what the problems are. Tax and spend. One party will tax and spend. The other party won’t tax, but will spend,” Beck told the audience, criticizing what he calls big government Republicans.
He also mocked Republican leaders who say ‘we need a big tent’ to bring in more moderates to the party. “What, is this a circus?” he said.
“America is not a clown show. America is not a circus. America is an idea. America is an idea that sets people free,” Beck said.
With chalk, he wrote the word “progressives” on his blackboard, saying that is “the disease in America.”
WATCH THE KEYNOTE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq67TeB6cFQ“It is a cancer,” Beck said of socialist philosophies entering policy. “It must be cut out of the system because it cannot co-exist. And you cannot cure cancer by saying, ‘I’m just going to give you a little bit of cancer. You must eradicate it,” he said.
He said Republicans are in denial of their support for big government, just like an alcoholic denies a drinking problem. He said he wants to hear Republicans admit “their problem” and “say ‘I’m a Republican, and I have a problem. I’m addicted to spending and big government.’”
The convention, which began Thursday, ended tonight with Beck’s speech and the annual straw poll results. Rep. Ron Paul brought in 31 percent of the 2,395 total votes in the poll, followed by Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. Fifty-four percent of those who participated in the poll were between the ages of 18 and 25 years old.
The convention floor was packed for Beck’s speech, and some convention-goers were stopped from going in. A group of college students who couldn’t get a seat even asked a Daily Caller reporter for help in sneaking into the media section so they could watch Beck’s address. Convention spokesman Brent Littlefield said organizers expect the final count of the convention attendees to be over 10,000.