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It’s leadership time

Long before Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement, Pennsylvania held its first Tea Party in Harrisburg in 1989, with a few people who believed in the idea that conservatives should have a voice. In 21 years, the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference has now become the premiere annual gathering of Keystone State conservatives.

This idea of a state level conservative conference came from two college students who attended the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. Their idea was taken to conservative leaders in Pennsylvania, who gathered together a loose coalition of groups to stage the first Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in 1989, where a little known congressman from Georgia was the keynote speaker—Newt Gingrich.

This year, many candidates from southeast Pennsylvania and beyond will be on the scene.

The Pennsylvania Leadership Conference has grown by leaps and bounds, with past keynote speakers including such conservative elite as Michael Reagan, Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, Joe Scarborough,  Ann Coulter, David Horowitz,, Walter Williams, Rick Santorum, Armstrong Williams, Lynn Cheney, Robert Novak, William Bennett, M. Stanton Evans and Gingrich.

This year promises to be no exception, as the stellar list includes Fox News analyst Dick Morris; Kellyanne Conway of The Polling Company; John Gizzi of Human Events; and Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, along with state-level luminaries like state House Majority Whip, Mike Turzai, Senate hopeful Pat Toomey and gubernatorial candidates Tom Corbett and Sam Rohrer.

The 21st annual Pennsylvania Leadership Conference will be held April 16th and April 17th at the Four Points Sheraton near Harrisburg. Check out the conference Web site here.

“The Pennsylvania Leadership Conference is an excellent opportunity for networking,” said Lowman S. Henry, Lincoln Institute president and organizer of the event.  “Especially for those who have gotten involved in the political process over the past year for the first time as Tea Party activists, or 9/12 Patriots, the conference is an important next step because it will connect them to existing organizations fighting for the same goals.

Sign up Monday and you’ll get the “early bird” rate.

It’s an event not to be missed.

March 22, 2010 at 9:21 am

--Beth Hegedus

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