Can a New Chairman Unify CPAC?

Multiple sources close to the ACU have told FF that Treasurer Al Cardenas is expected to be elected as the group's new chairman.

As outgoing American Conservative Union chairman David Keene steps down from his post Wednesday afternoon to go to the National Rifle Association, the next chairman – whom sources tell FrumForum is expected to be ACU Treasurer Al Cardenas – faces the formidable task of dealing with the diversity of groups to be included in next year’s CPAC, boosting fundraising and unifying a board that is at odds over the future direction of the organization.

Multiple sources close to the ACU expect Cardenas to be chosen tomorrow afternoon as the next chairman. Keene, who has had an active hand in the appointment of all thirty board members, has been said to have indicated a preference for Cardenas, who has served as the Board's treasurer. “I believe Al Cardenas will be elected ACU Chairman,” ACU Foundation chairman Cleta Mitchell told FrumForum Tuesday.

Cardenas has a long history in Republican circles: he was a former two-term state chair for the Florida Republican Party and a member of President Ronald Reagan’s transition team in 1980. His support for Charlie Crist in the Florida senatorial primary led some to cast him as a moderate.  But he is also said to be close to Marco Rubio, with Cardenas having said that he was a mentor to the now-Senator from Florida when Rubio worked at his law firm.

The next ACU chairman’s most public task will be to ensure that 2012’s CPAC is executed with less controversy than this year’s. Perhaps the most controversial move of CPAC 2011 has been the inclusion of GOProud, a gay conservative group. The decision to accept GOProud as a co-sponsor for a second year led social conservatives Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to decline attendance. Fringe groups like WorldNetDaily have piled on, paying for a full-page ad in the Washington Times to condemn GOProud’s inclusion at CPAC.

Regardless of one’s take on the matter, few would disagree that a more unified CPAC would be preferential for the ACU, and the organization’s next chairman will be tasked with finding someone to resolve the split between those who think the organization should be a broad union of diverse voices, and those who wish to define conservatism more narrowly.

Despite the controversy, this year’s CPAC will boast the largest attendance ever. As Keene writes in The Hill, CPAC had 10,000 attendees last year - and this year’s registration has been 15% higher.

Consequently, those at the center of the controversy want the next chairman to continue calling for a bigger tent at CPAC. “A new chef in the kitchen doesn't mean we have to change a recipe that works.  We are about to embark on the biggest, most successful CPAC ever.  I think the new Chairman should continue the great work that has been done by David Keene and his team," Christopher Barron, the Chairman of GOProud, told FrumForum.

But Cleta Mitchell, the chairman of the ACU Foundation, has been vocal about opposing GOProud’s inclusion, telling the New York Times that the debate over the inclusion of a gay group would resume before next year’s CPAC. Contacted by FrumForum, she said that she doesn’t “consider [GOProud] a conservative group.”

As such, dealing with disagreements within the organization will be almost as central to the next chairman’s tenure as dealing with disagreements with outside groups. After all, David Keene had been the chairman and unifying force on the board for 27 years – no new chairman has been picked for a generation. With him no longer chairing the organization, will the next chairman be able to keep squabbling private and to a minimum? Or will the controversy that has dogged the ACU over the past few months be exacerbated by Keene’s departure?

Finally, the ACU has an inherent disadvantage in fundraising, simply because it is a union that represents a wider range of conservative groups than say, a single issue group like the National Rifle Association.

While by no means in financial distress, the ACU Foundation’s most recent public figures showed that it ran at a loss in both 2008 and 2009; and showed total liabilities of around $325,000 in 2009. The 501(c)4 had revenues of $1.1 million and $1.5 million in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

To sum up, the next ACU Chairman will need to unify disparate opinions on how big the tent of conservatism should be, settle squabbles within the American Conservative Union, and run a robust fundraising shop that is accountable and transparent.

A tough task, but by no means insurmountable - with the right leader.

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