The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

CPAC 2010: Bloggerazzi Photopalooza!

Posted on | February 24, 2010 | 25 Comments

“It’s all a blur,” Andrew Breitbart said to me in a phone conversation Monday, as we discussed events at CPAC 2010 — the biggest ever and, most attendees agreed, the best. The “blur” effect that Breitbart described is much like the experience of campaign coverage — you go, go, go day after day, with maybe four hours sleep night after night. Between the sleep deprivation and meeting so many people, you lose track of exactly who is who and what happened when.

When CPAC is over, you go through your pockets and find business cards for people you obviously must have met but whose names don’t match up with a face in your fatigue-scorched memory. And when you return to CPAC next year, you’ll be walking through the hotel and pass someone who looks vaguely familiar. You’ll say, “Hey, I know you.” And the other person will say, “Yeah, I think so, but I can’t remember where we met.”

That conversation will continue until either:

  • A. Your memories click and you recall which event you met at the previous year, or
  • B. You give up, admitting that you both were probably too drunk at the time to remember.

This is why it’s important to keep a camera in your pocket at all times during CPAC. My little pink Kodak digital — the famous “Barbie Cam” — captures those faces I might otherwise forget and those incredible scenes that no one would believe were it not for the photographic record. So brace yourself and get ready to be amazed.

Cameras roll as Hannah Giles confronts Max Blumenthal. They’re now “BFFs,” as the kids say.

Doug Giles and his lovely wife, Mary Margaret. It’s hereditary. IYKWIMAITYD.

Doug Giles asks CPAC security chief Floyd Resnick, “Hey, can you do something about this weirdo with the pink camera?”

At Thursday night’s blogger bash, Michelle Malkin has just had her photo taken by a certain Sicilian blogger. Notice his trademark fedora resting on a stack of Grover Norquist’s book, Leave Us Alone, in the background.

Michelle reacts gleefully after being introduced to a tall person standing to my left. You see Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey in the background with Dr. Melissa Clouthier. Ed is smiling at the schweeet deal they got from Salem Communications. He says that Michelle’s title at Hot Air is now “Boss Emeritus.”

Ed Morrissey interviews Les Phillip — click here to watch the video.

Newt Gingrich gets mobbed Saturday morning in the lobby of the Marriott. It is nowadays fashionable for critics to bash Gingrich — clearly, he goofed on the Scozzafava endorsement — but wherever Republicans gather, Newt is still a rock star.

Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller and I form a guilt-by-association trifecta. Smile and say, “Charles Johnson!”

Megan Erhardt of CRC Public Relations asked if she could have one of the canoli that Pete Da Tech Guy brought with him to Bloggers Lounge. “Only if I can get your picture with the fedora,” I said. Megan also wanted Dan Riehl‘s phone number, for reasons unknown.

John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council and Dick Armey of FreedomWorks.

The two 5ths: Congressional candidates Les Phillip (AL5) and David Ratowitz (IL5) chill out at the Saturday night Reaganpalooza. (More Reaganpalooza photos.)

Christopher Malagisi, whose Young Conservatives Coalition sponsored the 6th annula Reaganpalooza, explains to Les Phillip that there is no way of avoiding the weirdo with the pink camera.

Tom Qualtere of the Heritage Foundation and one of his many lovely young female admirers.

Madness takes its toll, as lady bloggers feast on French blogger Erik Svane of No Pasaran in the Marriott lobby bar. Left to right: Dahlhalla of Piece of Work in Progress, Juliette Ochieng of Baldilocks, Cynthia Yockey of A Conservative Lesbian and Joy of Little Miss Attilla.

Juliette Ochieng at work in Bloggers Lounge, where the big question was, “Why didn’t Ace of Spades show up with the pudding?”

Legendary conservative journalist M. Stanton Evans is trying to help me get a lucrative endorsement contract with Anheuser-Busch.

Les Phillip and one of his campaign staffers confer with Rep. Steve King as Andrew Breitbart looks on.

Lady leaders at the Tea Party reception.

Georgia legends Phil Kent and Herman Cain embrace their homeboy. Bonus trivia: What do these three men have in common? All of them were born in the backseat of a Greyhound bus, rollin’ down Highway 41.

NY23 hero Doug Hoffman gets advice from the legendary Phil Kent.

Dana Loesch interviews Doug Hoffman for PJTV.

Dana Loesch and Alabama 5th District congressional candidate Les Phillip, a meeting of Tea Party superstars.

Andrew Breitbart poses for the CPAC bloggerazzi.

Jason Mattera and Smitty compare notes on their experiences as loyal minions in my fiendish scheme for galactic conquest.

Cynthia Yockey and Fausta Wertz in the Bloggers Lounge, where they pledged lifelong fealty as minions in the galactic conquest scheme. We didn’t get around to the blood-oath ritual during CPAC, but that can wait . . .

Rachel Coolidge with Sergio Gor of Americans for Limited Government. In case you don’t recognize Rachel, it was she who posed with Hannah Giles in the notorious bikini photo. Sergio has already taken the blood oath as a loyal minion.

Rachel was overjoyed to pose for a photo with Sergio and me.

Alyssa Farah cheerfully offered to show me her birth certificate. (Ninety-eight percent of you don’t get that joke, but 2% are wiping Diet Coke off their computer screens right now.)

Talk-radio mogul Franklin Raff is an old friend of Alyssa’s father, Joseph Farah, and therefore was able to attest for the authenticity of Alyssa’s birth certificate. (Sorry about that Diet Coke.)

Dr. Melissa Clouthier reports another scoop in Bloggers Lounge, shortly before she was deported for failing to produce a valid birth certificate.

With the help of a fresh martini, Little Miss Attila admires Sean Hackbarth, whose exile from Wisconsin had nothing to do with TrogloPundit‘s questions about Alyssa Farah’s birth certificate.

Close examination (click the picture to see full size) shows why I insisted on posing for a photo with this lady at the Smart Girl Politics reception.

OK, I have no idea who this woman is, but when I walked out to the smoking area next to the hotel, she screamed, “The Other McCain!” like she was a teenage Beatles fan in 1964 and I was Ringo Starr. A photo was taken to commemorate the occasion, and I then immediately returned to the serious work of covering CPAC. Multiple witnesses can attest to these facts.

Another one of those “I have no idea who they are” photos, but one of them voiced admiration for the fedora, and a photograph seemed necessary.

Les Phillip discusses Alabama politics with Jenny Erikson.

Jenny Erikson of Smart Girl Politics discusses pudding jokes with Dahlhalla.

Juliette Ochieng agrees that there are two things of which you can never have enough: Dahlhalla and pudding.


Smile and say, “Pudding!”

REMINDER: Don’t forget to order your T-shirts now!

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! Ask yourself, why did Sarah Palin skip CPAC two years in a row? Five words: Meg Stapleton, “key strategic adviser.”

Category: Andrew Breitbart, Atlas Shrugs, Celebrities, CPAC, Cynthia Yockey, Da Tech Guy, Ed Morrissey, Fear and Loathing at CPAC 2010, Jihad Watch, Little Miss Attila, Michelle Malkin, Rule 5

Comments

25 Responses to “CPAC 2010: Bloggerazzi Photopalooza!”

  1. Jamie Holts
    February 24th, 2010 @ 10:05 pm

    Do you do blogroll exchanging? If you want to exchange links let me know.

    Email me back if you’re interested.

  2. Jamie Holts
    February 24th, 2010 @ 5:05 pm

    Do you do blogroll exchanging? If you want to exchange links let me know.

    Email me back if you’re interested.

  3. Joe
    February 24th, 2010 @ 10:16 pm

    Tabatha Hale is a real cutie. Jimmy…not so much, but I am sure his heart is in the right place.

    I love the trifecta shot of Spencer, Geller and you. You almost have a Sicilian look about you in that photo (not wearing your typical tweed sports jacket, but an actual suit). Have Da Tech Guy work on your Sicilian look.

  4. Joe
    February 24th, 2010 @ 5:16 pm

    Tabatha Hale is a real cutie. Jimmy…not so much, but I am sure his heart is in the right place.

    I love the trifecta shot of Spencer, Geller and you. You almost have a Sicilian look about you in that photo (not wearing your typical tweed sports jacket, but an actual suit). Have Da Tech Guy work on your Sicilian look.

  5. Joe
    February 24th, 2010 @ 5:19 pm

    Another example of a non CPAC loser:

    This is best in life?

    He also says the Tea Party will go away when the economy improves. I suspect his days are probably more numbered than the Tea Party movement.

  6. Joe
    February 24th, 2010 @ 10:19 pm

    Another example of a non CPAC loser:

    This is best in life?

    He also says the Tea Party will go away when the economy improves. I suspect his days are probably more numbered than the Tea Party movement.

  7. uberVU - social comments
    February 24th, 2010 @ 5:43 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by smitty_one_each: TOM: CPAC 2010: Bloggerazzi Photopalooza! http://bit.ly/bOUsjE…

  8. datechguy
    February 24th, 2010 @ 11:55 pm

    Cripes Stacy what would you have done if you didn’t have my hats?

  9. datechguy
    February 24th, 2010 @ 6:55 pm

    Cripes Stacy what would you have done if you didn’t have my hats?

  10. Stix
    February 25th, 2010 @ 12:36 am

    What No pics of me??

    Just kidding. Great pics.

    Got to love the hat datechguy. Their famous not in GQ

  11. Stix
    February 24th, 2010 @ 7:36 pm

    What No pics of me??

    Just kidding. Great pics.

    Got to love the hat datechguy. Their famous not in GQ

  12. The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Just in Case There Are Still Any Heterosexuals Reading Hot Air . . . .
    February 24th, 2010 @ 8:55 pm

    […] See more photos of (mostly) hetero conservative celebrities at the CPAC 2010 Bloggerazzi Photopalooza. […]

  13. Darcy
    February 25th, 2010 @ 2:02 am

    Huh? Jimmie is adorable!

    So nice to see all the faces behind the personalities on the ‘net.

  14. Darcy
    February 24th, 2010 @ 9:02 pm

    Huh? Jimmie is adorable!

    So nice to see all the faces behind the personalities on the ‘net.

  15. Lonely Conservative
    February 25th, 2010 @ 3:26 am

    I spy….

    Me!

    And I think Jamie Holts is a spammer.

    And Jimmie’s plenty cute.

  16. Lonely Conservative
    February 24th, 2010 @ 10:26 pm

    I spy….

    Me!

    And I think Jamie Holts is a spammer.

    And Jimmie’s plenty cute.

  17. Forrest
    February 25th, 2010 @ 4:27 am

    Gee, maybe someone should send this to Keith Olbermann, as he always seems to be concerned about “color coordination” as I suppose he should be, being part of the Monochrome MSNBC lineup. I like to personally remain color blind and rely on the evidently antiquated notion (if your a “progressive”) of being judged on the content of your character rather than the color of your skin. But I suppose that if your Kieth Olbermann (or any other so called “progressives”) none of the people in the above pictures actually count as “people of color” because they are all rabid neoconservative, race traitor, Uncle Tom, teabaggers. We can definitely safely say where the specter of racism resides these days.

  18. Forrest
    February 24th, 2010 @ 11:27 pm

    Gee, maybe someone should send this to Keith Olbermann, as he always seems to be concerned about “color coordination” as I suppose he should be, being part of the Monochrome MSNBC lineup. I like to personally remain color blind and rely on the evidently antiquated notion (if your a “progressive”) of being judged on the content of your character rather than the color of your skin. But I suppose that if your Kieth Olbermann (or any other so called “progressives”) none of the people in the above pictures actually count as “people of color” because they are all rabid neoconservative, race traitor, Uncle Tom, teabaggers. We can definitely safely say where the specter of racism resides these days.

  19. Right-Wing Links (February 24, 2010)
    February 24th, 2010 @ 11:59 pm

    […] A guilt-by-association trifecta […]

  20. Stephanie
    February 25th, 2010 @ 6:21 am

    I do wonder if they would have stopped to even ask for my papers, or shipped me off to La Migra instantly…..? hahaha. I know they wouldn’t. But its funny to contemplate.

  21. Stephanie
    February 25th, 2010 @ 1:21 am

    I do wonder if they would have stopped to even ask for my papers, or shipped me off to La Migra instantly…..? hahaha. I know they wouldn’t. But its funny to contemplate.

  22. Bloggerazzi Photopalooza! « The Reluctant Optimist
    February 25th, 2010 @ 8:07 am

    […] know what is so interesting, and telling, about these photos of the CPAC 2010: Bloggerazzi Photopalooza. Well, aside from the fact that the guys all have faces made for radio and the gals are all […]

  23. Alyssa’s Story – Memorial Hospital for Children | World online health review
    February 26th, 2010 @ 7:51 pm

    […] CPAC 2010: Bloggerazzi Photopalooza! : The Other McCain […]

  24. VIDEO: Yet More Evidence That Frank Schaeffer Is Off His Meds Again : The Other McCain
    February 28th, 2010 @ 10:55 am

    […] Lisa De Pasquale on Twitter:I can’t believe I’m not in any of @rsmccain’s photos http://kxm.209.mwp.accessdomain.com/2010/02/24/cpac-2010-bloggerazzi-photopalooza/To which I replied:@CPACnews I can’t believe I’m not in any of @rsmccain’s photos […]

  25. Dan Collins endorces the entire “Have Fedora will Travel” meme « DaTechguy's Blog
    March 8th, 2010 @ 5:05 pm

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