BLOMENBURY, Roddenclanshire--It is perhaps the most important weekend of the year in Conservative politics, a sort of star-studded event for the party leaders who seek to shape the future of the CNS.
It's the Conservative Action League's (CAL) annual conference, or often shortened to simply the CAL Conference.
This year's gathering is being held at the Ocean State Convention Center in Blomenbury, Roddenclanshire.
But instead of celebrating an election victory this year, Conservatives gathered Thursday at the start of the three-day event, to reflect on a major defeat in the 2012 elections. The official theme of this year's event is: rebuilding.
The conference opened this morning with National Conservative Party Chairman Paul Ott openly addressing the elephant in the room: the whooping the party took in the last election.
"I'm not going to stand up here and pretend everything is perfect and speak in rosey terms. The fact is, we got trampled in the last election. We got kicked and we took a beating last November," Ott said.
"But we're still alive. We're not dead. We're still in the game. We have a lot of work to do to get back a Conservative majority in Mavocke and in our governorships and statehouses, but we have the strength and fortitude and determination to do it."
At least two dozen Conservative governors, senators, assemblymen, and former candidates will be speaking at varying times over the weekend.
Among the first speakers Thursday afternoon was Ansleigha Senator Jon Ralston, who led the Conservative Senate Campaign Committee during the 2010-2012 term.
Ralston is blamed by many party elites for the drubbing the CNS took in the 2012 Senate elections.
"I know we under-performed in the last election, and I'm here today to take accountability for that, and to seek a new direction for the next election and the elections beyond," Ralston said.
While Ralston never officially apologized or showed regret for the lackluster campaigning conducted under his leadership, he did take responsibility for the party's Senate losses--something his counterpart at the Conservative Governors Association (CGA), former Damoign Governor Sid Hoffa, did not do.
In a rarely-seen display of "tough love," the former Damoign governor said he empathized with those that felt defeated, but had some strong words for those that wanted someone to blame.
"Was this last election disappointing? Yes. Of course it was," said Hoffa.
"But this conference isn't about pointing the finger at one person or a group of people and blaming them for why we lost. We lost for a number of reasons. There wasn't just one reason, there were a variety of factors. There was a perfect storm, of sorts."
Among them, Hoffa argued, were well-funded NAT candidates, an anti-Conservative mood that "infiltrated" the nation, and top-tier candidates that were unwilling to run when approached by Hoffa and other leaders.
Hoffa also suggest that new states that were participating in federal elections for the first time, and newly-drawn electorate boundaries and the new Senate seats and governorships that came along with them, contributed to the strong NAT majority in the Senate and governorships.
There's plenty of blame to go around, Hoffa insisted.
"But this conference is not about pinning the blame on someone. [It's] about identifying why we lost, in an objective, informed and respectful manner, and then identifying, 'how can we avoid these mistakes or these pitfalls or these oversights next time around?' This election is about looking to the future, and not dwelling in the past.
"Because we, the greater Conservative Party, are a team. And if you want to sit on the bench and mope and pout that we got our clocks cleaned last time, then go ahead. If that's your attitude, then you might as well walk out now, because this weekend isn't about moping and pouting. This weekend is about winning the future."
Hoffa received a standing ovation for his lengthy admonition, but many in the CNS still hold him responsible for the party's loss of governors seats, something that will be more of an issue at the upcoming Liberty Conference, to be held in June, which is sponsored by the more far-right Grassadellian Conservative Union.
While many are still lamenting the 2012 defeat, many of the attendees are optimistic about the future.
That was clear as Ansleigha Governor Dale Lindstrom and George Garesby, newly-elected governor of Harvannah, spoke Thursday evening to the general session.
"We are two governors that won in Nationalist states. People keep talking about the Conservative party being dead. It's not dead in Ansleigha or Harvannah," Garesby said to cheers.
Lindstrom said the promise of the Conservative party is in the future generations.
"Young people today are trending more liberal and therefore identify more with the NAT. But young people still believe in Conservative principles of government. I don't believe the youth vote has left the CNS because young people can't identify with our policies. I believe the youth vote has gone to the NAT by default, because the Conservative party has not done a good job of reaching out to youth, talking about issues that are important to them, or shaping our messaging in a way that they can identify with," Lindstrom said.
"We need to give them an option. And we need to show that we are a party of loving, compassionate people that want to embrace diversity and people of other faiths, ethnicities and life backgrounds. We need to re-invent our public image and become the party of 'yes we can' instead of the party of 'no you can't,' which is how young people see us today, said Lindstrom.
And ending party struggles would help bring unity, Veroche Senator Niles Gilcrest told the audience.
"I watched it happen in my very own state. Someone didn't like some of my positions and my votes. And rather than taking it up with me in person and telling me they didn't like what I was doing, they began to tear me down in the media. A full onslaught of demonizing my character and my Conservative credentials," Gilcrest recalled.
"Don't get me wrong, democracy is great and people should have the opportunity to freely contest elections and oppose an incumbent if they disagree with them. But we can disagree without tearing each other down and causing all-out-war in our party. We can have a primary election that is conducted with civility and mutual respect in the midst of differing opinions. And that civility has been lacking lately in intra-party battles across the country. And like Sid Hoffa said, we need to come together as a family. As the Conservative family, and start treating each other with respect, even when we don't agree," Gilcrest said.
"Otherwise, we're only helping the Nationalists win."
The first day of the conference is unlikely to move the more far-right wing of the CNS party, however, as social and libertarian conservatives have largely boycotted the CAL Conference, believing it to be a gimmick of the party establishment.
"The CAL Conference is not about preserving conservative values or standing up for conservatism in this country anymore. It's become more of a circus for the "embrace diversity, embrace progress" faction of the CNS party, and Grassadellians don't want another liberal, progressive, wishy-washy political party. We already have the NAT for that," Assemblyman Tanner Zannie, who represents the seat of Black Forest in Onakiah, told the National Press Federation (NPF).
But those attending the conference were not bothered by right-wing skepticism.
"This isn't about moderate or conservative. It's about coming together and standing for the core principles the Conservative party was founded on," Alisha Johnson, a 48-year-old stay-at-home mom from Lacksburg, Trinton told the NPF. "We do best as a party, as a movement, when we are unified. In order to take back the Assembly and the Senate and the governors seats, we're going to have to be united."
It's the Conservative Action League's (CAL) annual conference, or often shortened to simply the CAL Conference.
This year's gathering is being held at the Ocean State Convention Center in Blomenbury, Roddenclanshire.
But instead of celebrating an election victory this year, Conservatives gathered Thursday at the start of the three-day event, to reflect on a major defeat in the 2012 elections. The official theme of this year's event is: rebuilding.
The conference opened this morning with National Conservative Party Chairman Paul Ott openly addressing the elephant in the room: the whooping the party took in the last election.
"I'm not going to stand up here and pretend everything is perfect and speak in rosey terms. The fact is, we got trampled in the last election. We got kicked and we took a beating last November," Ott said.
"But we're still alive. We're not dead. We're still in the game. We have a lot of work to do to get back a Conservative majority in Mavocke and in our governorships and statehouses, but we have the strength and fortitude and determination to do it."
At least two dozen Conservative governors, senators, assemblymen, and former candidates will be speaking at varying times over the weekend.
Among the first speakers Thursday afternoon was Ansleigha Senator Jon Ralston, who led the Conservative Senate Campaign Committee during the 2010-2012 term.
Ralston is blamed by many party elites for the drubbing the CNS took in the 2012 Senate elections.
"I know we under-performed in the last election, and I'm here today to take accountability for that, and to seek a new direction for the next election and the elections beyond," Ralston said.
While Ralston never officially apologized or showed regret for the lackluster campaigning conducted under his leadership, he did take responsibility for the party's Senate losses--something his counterpart at the Conservative Governors Association (CGA), former Damoign Governor Sid Hoffa, did not do.
In a rarely-seen display of "tough love," the former Damoign governor said he empathized with those that felt defeated, but had some strong words for those that wanted someone to blame.
"Was this last election disappointing? Yes. Of course it was," said Hoffa.
"But this conference isn't about pointing the finger at one person or a group of people and blaming them for why we lost. We lost for a number of reasons. There wasn't just one reason, there were a variety of factors. There was a perfect storm, of sorts."
Among them, Hoffa argued, were well-funded NAT candidates, an anti-Conservative mood that "infiltrated" the nation, and top-tier candidates that were unwilling to run when approached by Hoffa and other leaders.
Hoffa also suggest that new states that were participating in federal elections for the first time, and newly-drawn electorate boundaries and the new Senate seats and governorships that came along with them, contributed to the strong NAT majority in the Senate and governorships.
There's plenty of blame to go around, Hoffa insisted.
"But this conference is not about pinning the blame on someone. [It's] about identifying why we lost, in an objective, informed and respectful manner, and then identifying, 'how can we avoid these mistakes or these pitfalls or these oversights next time around?' This election is about looking to the future, and not dwelling in the past.
"Because we, the greater Conservative Party, are a team. And if you want to sit on the bench and mope and pout that we got our clocks cleaned last time, then go ahead. If that's your attitude, then you might as well walk out now, because this weekend isn't about moping and pouting. This weekend is about winning the future."
Hoffa received a standing ovation for his lengthy admonition, but many in the CNS still hold him responsible for the party's loss of governors seats, something that will be more of an issue at the upcoming Liberty Conference, to be held in June, which is sponsored by the more far-right Grassadellian Conservative Union.
While many are still lamenting the 2012 defeat, many of the attendees are optimistic about the future.
That was clear as Ansleigha Governor Dale Lindstrom and George Garesby, newly-elected governor of Harvannah, spoke Thursday evening to the general session.
"We are two governors that won in Nationalist states. People keep talking about the Conservative party being dead. It's not dead in Ansleigha or Harvannah," Garesby said to cheers.
Lindstrom said the promise of the Conservative party is in the future generations.
"Young people today are trending more liberal and therefore identify more with the NAT. But young people still believe in Conservative principles of government. I don't believe the youth vote has left the CNS because young people can't identify with our policies. I believe the youth vote has gone to the NAT by default, because the Conservative party has not done a good job of reaching out to youth, talking about issues that are important to them, or shaping our messaging in a way that they can identify with," Lindstrom said.
"We need to give them an option. And we need to show that we are a party of loving, compassionate people that want to embrace diversity and people of other faiths, ethnicities and life backgrounds. We need to re-invent our public image and become the party of 'yes we can' instead of the party of 'no you can't,' which is how young people see us today, said Lindstrom.
And ending party struggles would help bring unity, Veroche Senator Niles Gilcrest told the audience.
"I watched it happen in my very own state. Someone didn't like some of my positions and my votes. And rather than taking it up with me in person and telling me they didn't like what I was doing, they began to tear me down in the media. A full onslaught of demonizing my character and my Conservative credentials," Gilcrest recalled.
"Don't get me wrong, democracy is great and people should have the opportunity to freely contest elections and oppose an incumbent if they disagree with them. But we can disagree without tearing each other down and causing all-out-war in our party. We can have a primary election that is conducted with civility and mutual respect in the midst of differing opinions. And that civility has been lacking lately in intra-party battles across the country. And like Sid Hoffa said, we need to come together as a family. As the Conservative family, and start treating each other with respect, even when we don't agree," Gilcrest said.
"Otherwise, we're only helping the Nationalists win."
The first day of the conference is unlikely to move the more far-right wing of the CNS party, however, as social and libertarian conservatives have largely boycotted the CAL Conference, believing it to be a gimmick of the party establishment.
"The CAL Conference is not about preserving conservative values or standing up for conservatism in this country anymore. It's become more of a circus for the "embrace diversity, embrace progress" faction of the CNS party, and Grassadellians don't want another liberal, progressive, wishy-washy political party. We already have the NAT for that," Assemblyman Tanner Zannie, who represents the seat of Black Forest in Onakiah, told the National Press Federation (NPF).
But those attending the conference were not bothered by right-wing skepticism.
"This isn't about moderate or conservative. It's about coming together and standing for the core principles the Conservative party was founded on," Alisha Johnson, a 48-year-old stay-at-home mom from Lacksburg, Trinton told the NPF. "We do best as a party, as a movement, when we are unified. In order to take back the Assembly and the Senate and the governors seats, we're going to have to be united."
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