NYT: The Conservative Force Behind Speeches Roiling College Campuses

[Virginiá]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/us/college-conservative-speeches.html

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[Green Line]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

[mvd10]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

They're wasting their time. Anyone who came of age during the Bush years, tea party revolt, and finally Trump will never be Conservative in the numbers of previous generations . They've lost a generation and they better get used to it.

Go to any YAF meeting on a college campus....it's one part white frat guys looking to trigger libs and another part Christian extremists trying to outlaw abortion.

Lol you've clearly never been to a YAF meeting. It's mostly the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and wanna-be edgy libertarians who are too afraid to even smoke a joint.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Movement Conservativism is dead. Get used to it

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

Movement Conservativism is dead. Get used to it

Movement Conservatism was a cancer on the party. I voted for Trump to kill it and replace it with a new animal. Tell that to the blue blazer kids, not me. I wanted to freaking punch the Students for Rubio president during the GOP debate, he was that arrogant and annoying.

Note to Torie: I would never actually do that, don't delete. I'm a lover not a fighter.

Movement Conservativism is dead. Get used to it

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

[Suburbia]

Movement conservatism is not dead. It's in a rebuilding phase. Leftists can't last forever with the debt they accumulated over the past 14 years. You need some balance on the campuses.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

They're wasting their time. Anyone who came of age during the Bush years, tea party revolt, and finally Trump will never be Conservative in the numbers of previous generations . They've lost a generation and they better get used to it.

Go to any YAF meeting on a college campus....it's one part white frat guys looking to trigger libs and another part Christian extremists trying to outlaw abortion.

Lol you've clearly never been to a YAF meeting. It's mostly the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and wanna-be edgy libertarians who are too afraid to even smoke a joint.

Well, there's a lot of overlap with the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and the white frat guys looking to trigger libs. Just saying.

I don't mean to come off as a dick, but there seems to be a disconnect here. Do any of you guys know any young conservatives or talk politics with regular folks outside of Atlas? The frat kids who like to piss of "teh Libtards" are hardcore for Trump. The blue-blazer people are less involved in fraternities, and those who are hypocritically lament the "intellectual death" of the GOP while ironically yearning for Reagan. Idiots.

[Technocracy Timmy]

They're wasting their time. Anyone who came of age during the Bush years, tea party revolt, and finally Trump will never be Conservative in the numbers of previous generations . They've lost a generation and they better get used to it.

Go to any YAF meeting on a college campus....it's one part white frat guys looking to trigger libs and another part Christian extremists trying to outlaw abortion.

Yeah this is attempt to bring movement conservatism to young people, or better yet bring them into the GOP fold using SJWs as a boogeyman is stupid.

Most of this nonsense appeals primarily to white guys, and even among white guys they aren't particularly large in number.

[Unapologetic Chinaperson]

So basically like how George Soros funds liberal events, except that this is real.

[dead0man]

That's right, liberal events get funded by magic!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

I'm glad Trump won...he'll destroy the GOP in the long run

I remember you tools saying that in 2013 and look who is President now.

[EnglishPete]

That's right, liberal events get funded by magic!

[Technocracy Timmy]

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

I'm glad Trump won...he'll destroy the GOP in the long run

I remember you tools saying that in 2013 and look who is President now.

Being unable to legislate when your Party controls the presidency, house, and senate is a pretty clear sign that your Party is on the decline. Carter and the Democrats of the late 70's are the best analogue to Trump and the GOP at the moment.

[MasterJedi]

So paid protesters?

[EnglishPete]

As I pointed out on another thread a lot of the trouble around many of the confronations, violence and cancellations around conservative speakers on campus is caused by a loophole in the law. Mass picketing in industrial strikes is banned by the Taft Hartley Act and equivalent legislation in the UK and other countries. These rules are strictly enforced and as a result the kind of large scale threatening and violent mobs that were seen on picket lines, as recently as the 1980s in the UK, are now a thing of the past. Would be violent picketers know that law enforcement will make it utterly hopeless for them to even attempt this course of action so they don't even bother trying.

There is however a serious loophole in the legislation in that non strike related 'political' pickets, such as the antifa mobs seen in places like Berkeley. Now I can understand why Democratic politicians don't want to close this loophole. They want the threat of violence to remain there so it can be used as an excuse to apply a "heckler's veto" to political speech they don't like. For Republican politicians to fail to close this loophole however is short sighted .

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

I'm glad Trump won...he'll destroy the GOP in the long run

I remember you tools saying that in 2013 and look who is President now.

Being unable to legislate when your Party controls the presidency, house, and senate is a pretty clear sign that your Party is on the decline. Carter and the Democrats of the late 70's are the best analogue to Trump and the GOP at the moment.

If we aren't able to govern, how do you explain the weekly meltdowns about the healthcare bill? Sure they flubbed it up in the first 100 days, but I'm seeing a lot of panic that shouldn't be there is the man was incompetent or if the party was in as much chaos as people are saying. The GOP has been in continuous civil war since 2010 and we've retaken the House, Senate, most of the gubernatorial races, and the Presidency in short order.

[Technocracy Timmy]

Another thing worth noting-you yearned for movement conservatism during the primaries as Trump rose to power. Are the crows starting to peck at you up there on your cross?

I'm glad Trump won...he'll destroy the GOP in the long run

I remember you tools saying that in 2013 and look who is President now.

Being unable to legislate when your Party controls the presidency, house, and senate is a pretty clear sign that your Party is on the decline. Carter and the Democrats of the late 70's are the best analogue to Trump and the GOP at the moment.

If we aren't able to govern, how do you explain the weekly meltdowns about the healthcare bill? Sure they flubbed it up in the first 100 days, but I'm seeing a lot of panic that shouldn't be there is the man was incompetent or if the party was in as much chaos as people are saying. The GOP has been in continuous civil war since 2010 and we've retaken the House, Senate, most of the gubernatorial races, and the Presidency in short order.

You mean the same healthcare bill that's going to be altered considerably in the senate to the point where even the Freedom Caucus will grow wary of supporting the newly updated bill? The same bill that's considerably more unpopular than the PPACA ever was?

When you compare what Obama and the Democrats (who were relying heavily on their coalition working with the blue dog within their Party from anti-Bush backlash) managed to get done by now it's quite amazing. Your Party is clearly on the decline. Trump has needlessly spent his political capital on petty fights and is embroiled in scandals. Governing with a President who lost the popular vote and currently has a sub-40 approval rating (and declining) with a GOP congress that can't keep many of its freedom caucus members in line without putting forward legislation that alienates many voters is destined for failure.

We're already seeing this play out, and from here on it's only getting worse.

[Vosem]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

Yeah, this is terrific.

Anyway, considering that even post-Trump primaries still seem to be mostly falling on establishment conservatism vs. Tea Party lines (such as Pope vs. Norman) -- and both groups are effectively different branches of movement conservatism -- it seems very, very difficult to suggest that the movement is dead, or is even in a rebuilding phase at all. It has control of Congress and most states, and seems to have a fair amount of influence within the Trump Administration as well.

Sanchez is correct that Trump won as a non-"movement conservative", though he misses that Trump won 40% in a split field that was entirely dominated by them and that there have been very few Trumpists of any stripe elected to Congress (the only 2016 freshman you could call a Trumpist while keeping a straight face is probably Clay Higgins). You could probably say that there are no Trumpist Senators at all. And so on, and so on.

So basically like how George Soros funds liberal events, except that this is real.

George Soros funding liberal events isn't real? Huh? Complaining about it is rather hypocritical for a lot of conservatives but let's not pretend it doesn't happen.

What is wrong with this exactly? Even if these speeches were planned just to draw reactions, it is up to the young leftists to rise above it and behave better. For Christ's sake, my second cousin is now refusing to speak to his mother because she made a joke in a mock Chinese accent. They're the ones who are the problem.

They're wasting their time. Anyone who came of age during the Bush years, tea party revolt, and finally Trump will never be Conservative in the numbers of previous generations . They've lost a generation and they better get used to it.

Go to any YAF meeting on a college campus....it's one part white frat guys looking to trigger libs and another part Christian extremists trying to outlaw abortion.

Lol you've clearly never been to a YAF meeting. It's mostly the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and wanna-be edgy libertarians who are too afraid to even smoke a joint.

Well, there's a lot of overlap with the blue blazer crowd of young anti-Trump "truh conservatuvs" and the white frat guys looking to trigger libs. Just saying.

I don't mean to come off as a dick, but there seems to be a disconnect here. Do any of you guys know any young conservatives or talk politics with regular folks outside of Atlas? The frat kids who like to piss of "teh Libtards" are hardcore for Trump. The blue-blazer people are less involved in fraternities, and those who are hypocritically lament the "intellectual death" of the GOP while ironically yearning for Reagan. Idiots.

Very far from everybody goes to college, and very far from everybody yells their political affiliations at college. I'd note that at least stereotypically I don't think "frat kids" is a high-turnout group and I think "the blue-blazer people" are a small enough group as to be basically irrelevant. But I would note that Trumpism seems to be very, very weak on college campuses (eg, Trump came in fourth on OSU's campus, behind Kasich at over 2/3, Cruz, and Carson even though he'd dropped out) and "movement conservative" candidates rather stronger; more broadly, exit polls showed that Trump tended to be much stronger in the Republican primary with older than younger voters, though with significant regional variation (with some New England states reversed outright, but a greater-than-25-point gap in results in the Mountain West).

[Devout Centrist]

Good luck, conservatism is essentially on life support amongst young people. Most right wing 15-24 year olds are either populists or libertarians, not movement conservatives. And they are a minority of the age group itself.

This really is a fruitless effort at changing minds. Perhaps effective to rally support from older age groups who are disgusted with how 'intolerant' millennials seem to be.

[MasterJedi]

Good luck, conservatism is essentially on life support amongst young people. Most right wing 15-24 year olds are either populists or libertarians, not movement conservatives. And they are a minority of the age group itself.

This really is a fruitless effort at changing minds. Perhaps effective to rally support from older age groups who are disgusted with how 'intolerant' millennials seem to be.

Many of us ditched the party, long process with the tea party and crap coming from that, most didn't return.

[Virginiá]

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Regarding ^ - Generally I don't have a problem if conservatives want to pay various conservatives' speaking fees to go speak at universities that they hope to influence, but if they are paying people like Milo and/or Coulter and other people like that to go speak there, I would have to question the financiers' motives as well. People like Coulter are garbage trolls who seek to profit off of outrage. There is really no educational value in listening to those kinds of people.

[Badger]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

Look at the money and donors behind this. This speech is anything but "free".

I think this is the one reason conservatives get so jacked up over George Soros. He's the one Bonafide rich guy out there other than Hollywood actors, and frankly none of them I can think of give me or the same kind of money Soros does, who backs liberal and left-wing causes. Literally 100 + right-wing billionaires - - because it's kind of part and parcel to be far right-wing when you're a billionaire - - who give vastly greater sums than Soros. He's the one guy we were publicans can look at it and tell ourselves that big money is a bipartisan issue.

When in reality I think it's just my party despising Soros for being a traitor to his class. Much like FDR was criticized buy Blue Bloods back in the thirties

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Great.  I love free speech.  This warms my heart.

Look at the money and donors behind this. This speech is anything but "free".

I think this is the one reason conservatives get so jacked up over George Soros. He's the one Bonafide rich guy out there other than Hollywood actors, and frankly none of them I can think of give me or the same kind of money Soros does, who backs liberal and left-wing causes. Literally 100 + right-wing billionaires - - because it's kind of part and parcel to be far right-wing when you're a billionaire - - who give vastly greater sums than Soros. He's the one guy we were publicans can look at it and tell ourselves that big money is a bipartisan issue.

When in reality I think it's just my party despising Soros for being a traitor to his class. Much like FDR was criticized buy Blue Bloods back in the thirties

Having worked for the Koch brother's private army (pays well for a high school gig), this is exactly why people hate Soros. He's literally the only person who supports the Democratic Party financially through motivating the grassroots, where as the others are a shadowy, unknown clique of various industry lobbyists and corporate figures who go directly to the party's political leadership.

[Virginiá]

What about Steyer? He has given massive amounts of money to liberal PACs and party organizations. Soros seems to spread a lot of money around to groups involved in things other than elections, while Steyer dumps more than 75 million every 2 years into various election-related efforts.

Once Soros passes away, my guess is Steyer will take his place in this regard.