Beltway "Conservatism" For Sale to the Highest Bidder

Remember David Keene? He's the chairman of the American Conservative Union, the organization that sponsors CPAC. He recently trashed Gov. Palin in a Newsmax article.

Guess what? He is selling conservatism to the highest bidder.

You have to read this Politico article to believe it:

The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

For the $2 million plus, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and/or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)”

The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx , which was provided to POLITICO.

The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money.

Read the whole thing. It's astonishing.

These are the sort of people Sarah Palin fought in Alaska. Now the Reformer must take her message to the whole nation. Conservatism is not for sale.

To have this man denounce you is an honor. Way to go, Sarah Palin. Once again, you're making the right enemies.