St. Charles will host numerous prominent conservatives on Saturday, as part of CPAC St. Louis. CPAC is an event for members of the GOP to rally and speak to their base -- and, of course, to posture for presidential and other political aspirations.
2012 Presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Rick Perry will be speaking, as will Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.
Speaking with St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh, Brownback said a GOP candidate that speaks to true conservatives is more likely to win in 2016.
"Well, I think Barack Obama showed the route," Brownback said. "And he did that by moving left in the general election. So with his playbook, by what he did and that was successful, I’d say that’s more the playbook for us."
Other conservatives speaking at CPAC include Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, as well as Missouri’s Congressional Representatives Ann Wagner, Jason Smith, and Blaine Luetkemeyer.
There will be dozens of speakers on Saturday, and many of them have (inadvertent) ties to the failed Missouri income tax cut bill, which could be a point of discussion during the conference.
Just last month, Perry urged Missouri Republicans to enact the controversial tax cuts. In addition, he'll be joined by several Missouri lawmakers who will also be speaking.
During the tax cut debate, Kansas was often invoked as the reason Missouri should lower its rate.
“Missouri has to make its own decision as to what course it wants to take," Kansas Governor Brownback said. "But I know I’m tired of seeing Kansans move to Texas."
St. Louis on the Air provides discussion about issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh.