Standing up to bullies & finding common ground
What I learned at the Principles First Summit
My posts will be infrequent in March because I have to finish The Great Good Place II and get it into production. My topic—third places—is having a moment (google the term and you’ll see what I mean) and I’m feeling the pressure!
The reappearance of the white-nationalist Proud Boys in Washington DC deserves mention, but I want to focus first on the Principles First Summit and give you a sense of the atmosphere and conversation there, because it sets the stage for what we urgently need to do this year.
Venturing into a conservative political conference was new territory for me. Daniel in the lion’s den? Fox in a chicken coop? Nonetheless, I’m writing about political polarization and third places, and after Trump took office I knew I had to get out of the deep-Blue Berkshires and talk to people with other perspectives.
The summit was not a glitzy affair, like the Trump-dominated CPAC a few miles away at a convention center with its floodlit stage and men waving chainsaws. It looked much like an academic conference, though I’m glad to say that there were no PowerPoints and no one read a paper.
The thousand-plus attendees gathered at the JW Marriott hotel, a few blocks from the White House. The hotel’s conference floors are on basement levels accessed from narrow escalators descending at the sides of an inverted atrium. You could look down and see conference coffee setup and milling attendees from the lobby, and it was not an easy place to evacuate. I didn’t think of this when I arrived, but by Sunday afternoon I was surveying the hotel with security in mind.
The hotel security staff was on point, and the organizers had hired private security. There were agents standing on either side of the stage throughout, an interesting contrast: one tall, heavily bearded, and Middle Eastern looking, the other slight by contrast and blond, almost motionless as they surveyed the audience throughout the program.
The security issues did not dampen spirits, and all three days were quite jolly. The panel discussions were often somber, but people seemed relieved to be together. There were groans and grimaces, but smiles and laughter predominated.
I was expecting more DC suits, more of the “are you truly one of us?” that I felt when I was a delegate at the Democratic State Convention. If you read the 15 Principles, you’ll see little for a liberal Democrat to disagree with. Yes, it’s a small-government group, and tend toward the deficit-hawk perspective, but talk about the deficit is couched in terms of responsibility to future generations. (The environment should fit there, but conservatives still shy away from mentioning climate.)
Fifteen is far too long a list, as several speakers pointed out. I keep thinking of the Declaration of Independence: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” a neat triad that covers a lot of ground.
We were not diverse in race (something that really needs attention) but politically we ranged from young men in navy blazers and big black-framed glasses - Young Republicans in the flesh - to hippyish Democratic women who were there because everyone else in their liberal circles had decided to stop watching the news and wait for 2026 election. When someone praised Kamala Harris and her campaign, applause and cheering swept the room. The same thing happened whenever Ukraine was mentioned.
Fight the good fight of faith. —1 Timothy 6:12 KJV
Most of us see hope in the Democrats (if we can just inject them with the unity and focus of Principles First crowd), but there were third party promoters, too, and a variety of campaigning groups including one called Leaving MAGA. The founder confirmed something I’ve long thought, that MAGA offers a sense of community—just as cults and gangs do. Providing a sense of community is the core purpose of that group, and essential to our political organizing.
There was courtesy and generosity in the air, as if almost anyone would be welcomed into the fold. This was different from what people I talked to had experienced with the Democrats, where there are constant purity tests.
Pete Buttigieg was nearly apoplectic about the diversity spectacles at the recent Democratic National Committee meeting—where outgoing chair Jaime Harrison delivered a soliloquy about the party’s rules for nonbinary inclusion, and candidates for party roles spent the bulk of their time campaigning to identity-focused caucuses of DNC members.” “Democrats talk a big game about “inclusion,” but as Buttigieg notes, they don’t produce a message that feels inclusive to most voters. Read the rest.
This was echoed on the summit’s Discord channel: “That's why I like this better than Democratic Party things. I feel like there, I am judged on the basis of how ‘good of a democrat’ I am.” Fomer congressman Adam Kinzinger urged us to stop with the identity politics but to keep on working to protect vulnerable people, no matter their identity.
After a Friday evening reception, we had two solid days of speakers who varied greatly but kept the focus clear: the takeover of the US government by people without a sense of duty to anyone but themselves, surrounded by pussilanimous politicians. The level of alarm varied, but everyone I talked to seemed to be there because we face a crisis. They want action. They want to know what to do.
One conversation that sticks in my mind was about the need to deal with the most urgent matters first. I want to bring climate into every conversation, but first things first. I won’t be fighting over plastic straws, for example. Paper straws were quite a sticking point for a couple of men I talked to, and I even managed to restrain myself from suggesting that straws are unnecessary.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. --from "The Second Coming" by W B Yeats
First things first.
That’s what more than a thousand people at Principles First knew, and heard, and heard together. Physical solidarity, sitting shoulder to shoulder, matters. And of course we did some extra bonding during the two hours we spent waiting for the security people to sweep for pipe bombs.
I’ll paste below links to general coverage of the summit as well as coverage of the bomb threat and the harassment of the January 6th police officers who defended the Capitol and whose speaking up makes the Proud Boys so angry. And starting at about 35:00 in this podcast, you can hear The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell talk about the Proud Boys’ visit and the bomb threat.
It’s worth looking at the video posted by Enrique Tarrio’s team. He came to the hotel with an entourage, and you’ll see the strongman tough-guy leader strut that seems to intoxicate his pasty-faced wannabe followers. This is what we’re facing, and I’ll be writing soon about what we need to do to prepare for violence. (Sarah Longwell quipped that she didn’t think she needed to stay away from windows yet.)
The best ideas I heard were that the Democrats should be writing and proposing legislation and publicizing it. They can’t pass anything right now but they should be acting like an Opposition, with a leader and press secretary and an opposition bench. They should be acting like a party determined to win and lead again. And if Republicans are too scared to hold town halls in their districts, Democrats should hold them, all over the country.
I particularly recommend these panel videos:
Law Enforcement and National Security Battlefield (scary but essential)
Mark Cuban on Politics, Principles & Leadership (& healthcare too)
The Next Level: A Live Podcast (a lot about principles)
Geoff Duncan: What Real Conservatism Looks Like (listen to the very end!)
Adam Kinzinger: Don’t Be Afraid (he says he would run as a Democrat if asked)
Press coverage
The Washington Post: An anti-Trump conservative says it’s time to think ‘outside the box'
CNN: Political conference in DC interrupted by death threats against speakers critical of Trump
TIME: Anti-Trump Summit’s Message to Attendees: The Backlash Is Coming
AP News: Conservatives who still oppose Trump gather at ‘Principles First Summit’ in search of a path forward
C-SPAN Washington Journal: Heath Mayo takes viewer calls on Principles First
Full video of both days here.
"The Letter"
Messenger of Sympathy and Love
Servant of Parted Friends
Consoler of the Lonely
Bond of the Scattered Family
Enlarger of the Common Life
Carrier of News and Knowledge
Instrument of Trade and Industry
Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance
Of Peace and of Goodwill Among Men and Nations