Ever since various Religious Right groups boycotted CPAC over the inclusion of the gay conservative group GOProud, there have been a lot of questions about what direction the conference would take in the years to come.
New new American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas has already been suggesting that he is going to do what he can to bring the offended Religious Right groups back into the fold by limiting GOProud's involvement.
And now comes word that Cardenas has now hired the executive director of Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition to undertake the task of uniting the conservative movement on behalf of ACU:
The American Conservative Union will announce the appointment of Gregg Keller to serve as its executive director, filling out the group’s new leadership team with a widely respected Midwestern political hand. Keller is a veteran of some of the toughest elections of the last decade: He was campaign manager for Missouri Sen. Jim Talent in 2006 and national coalitions director for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2008. Most recently, he has been executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the up-and-coming conservative group founded by Ralph Reed. ACU Chairman Al Cardenas, who took over the organization last month, hailed Keller’s selection in a statement: “With Gregg’s help, ACU will continue to unite social, fiscal and national security conservatives for the tremendous opportunities we have in 2012 and beyond.”
KELLER’S COMMENT: “I am excited to join the American Conservative Union at this crucial time for our conservative movement … I am especially looking forward to working with Chairman Cardenas and the ACU Board to help unite our movement and advance conservative positions, principles and policies.”
I think it is safe to assume that GOProud's days sticking a finger in the eye of the Religious Right at CPAC are coming to an end.
