Gazing at his audience in Washington last Thursday night, Vice President Cheney welcomed the "many young folks who will be the conservative leaders of tomorrow."

Among those attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference were about 2,000 college students, including many from this region.

The conference displayed the impressive gains that the conservative movement has made on college campuses. That's healthy for the national political dialogue.

Progressive groups such as College Democrats of America have long been a political force, with annual conferences and grassroots organizing. While conservatism has been growing among college students for a decade or more, many of those students still report feeling isolated and excluded on their campuses.

That is a common theme for conservatives, even as they seize more and more of the levers of power in the land: "They" are against us; "they" persecute us and despise our values. This sense of heroic victimhood inside a hostile culture has long been one of the animating forces of the conservative movement. It's useful, so it endures, despite the movement's recent electoral triumphs...

Karl Rove, the President's top political adviser, made that clear when he urged the students at CPAC to volunteer for the reelection push of Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.).

If you don't have a tight race in your state, "make your reservations right now for a Motel 6... in Pennsylvania," Rove said, " and help this good man get reelected. He is going to be a target."

Apparently, those "trial run" polls that give state Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. a slight lead over Santorum have gotten Rove's attention.

The students gave Santorum's speech three standing ovations. So don't be surprised if you see them soon at a GOP rally near you.

Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News, Feb 22, 2005

Return to Home