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Conservatives focused their sights on the upcoming midterm elections at this weekend\u2019s Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Held in New Orleans, the three day gathering featured many prominent speakers from the ranks of the GOP who rallied against the policies of the Obama Administration while preaching the need for unity. Newt Gingrich appeared at the conference to assail the President as \u201cthe most radical in American history,\u201d and the driving force behind a \u201csecular socialist machine.\u201d The question of the Tea Party and its role within the GOP was also addressed by various speakers. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum encouraged such conservative activists to run for office in Republican primaries. Haley Barbour, the chair of the Republican Governors Association, warned against the splintering of the Tea Party and the conservative vote into a potential third party, adding that such a thing would be disastrous for Republicans the November elections. And, of course, no major conservative event these days would be complete without Sarah Palin. On Saturday, the Former Alaska Governor rallied delegates in the main hall with cheeky pot shots at the President, met with fervent applause. Palin, in the words of former Republican Congressman J.C. Watts, positioned herself as \u2018king maker,\u201d and \u201cprobably not the king\u201d in reference to any possible presidential run. <\/p>\n
GUEST: Alexander Zaitchik, Freelance Journalist and Contributing Writer to Alternet, Author of the forthcoming book, \u201cCommon Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance<\/em><\/p>\n