Conservative Leaders Fire Up Their Base at Heritage Foundation Summit

OXON HILL, Md.—Many conservative leaders spoke about the threats of woke ideology and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), one or both, at the 50th-anniversary leadership summit of the Heritage Foundation, which started Thursday. Audience members said they were encouraged, hopeful, and cautiously looking forward to seeing action taken in the future.

“Welcome to the fight that will determine the next 15 years in the history of the conservative movement in the United States of America,” said Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation.

“We’ve learned the hard way that it’s not enough for conservatives to hold power. We have to wield it, not for ourselves, but for the country and its future, for the everyday American,” he added.

On Friday, Heritage will announce its new “Mandate for Leadership,” a policy book representing the work of over 350 conservative leaders. Roberts described it as a “new plan for the next great conservative presidency” and “comprehensive agenda” that addresses two challenges: “dismantling the woke weaponized administrative state at home” and “defeating the Chinese Communist Party.”

He praised that conservative leaders, despite being called “hopelessly fractured” by Washington insiders, formed “urgent consensus” in creating the policy book.

In addition to the CCP threat, various federal and state elected officials covered topics of education, gender identity, and the fiscal responsibility of Congress.

Sen. Tim Scott Well Received

“America really seems to be at a crossroads. And to see them coming together at this point, to make that stand for conservatism in the country really matters,” Jason McGuire, president of New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation, a Christian educational organization, told The Epoch Times, referring to the conservative leaders.

McGuire said he enjoyed the speech of Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who announced his run for president in 2024. “I think he really gets it that the core of where we need to be is this: faith and freedom are tied together,” McGuire added. “He certainly understands that as a people, if we go back to being a people of faith, then I think we’ll see a whole different country than we have today.”

Scott told the audience he was happy growing up in a poor family because the household was “filled with love and with faith—there was always the joy of the Lord being your strength.”

“If we’re going to have a day where we have a new American sunrise, it starts with restoring confidence in who we are as Americans,” he said to a room packed with attendees at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, adding that the Founding Fathers should be celebrated and that America is the land of opportunity, not the land of oppression.

He ended his speech with: “The next American sunrise means the strength of our leader is more important than the strength of [China’s] leader. Today we are losing the battle because the weakness of the president of the United States is always more important than the strength of President Xi and China. Get ready for another American sunrise.”

McGuire said the senator’s “new American sunrise” message was a “message of hope.”

“I really look forward to hearing what Gov. DeSantis has to share tomorrow. I think we’ll hear some great themes because of a lot of optimism about where we’re going to be heading as a country.”

Darren, a 34-year-old financial services professional from Dallas, Texas, found Scott a “compelling person in front of the room.” “I loved his speaking style. I thought he was very inspiring in the way that he spoke,” he told The Epoch Times. “I thought that he did a good job of reminding people that it’s okay to be proud to be an American.”

The self-identified conservative preferred not to disclose his last name.

‘Find More Common Ground’

Darren said he identified a theme at the event about changing the relationship with China and “a call around the cultural separation that many feel in the United States.”

“And I think that drumbeat is sometimes something that I agree with, and sometimes it isn’t. I would like to see politics in the United States less of a versus conversation—we don’t need to say ‘kumbaya’ to each other all the time—and just a more congenial and friendly conversation, if possible,” he added.

His brother Nelson, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, shared the same view. Nelson said he dislikes “adversarial conversations” and doesn’t think they are helpful. “We’re really just all on the same team here. We’re all part of the same country. I think that’s an ugly way to start a conversation. It certainly doesn’t bring new friends into the den,” he told The Epoch Times.

In Darren’s view, politicians sometimes find it useful to focus on the differences between people’s ideas because “it is a way to fire up a base and get elected.” “At the end of the day, I want us as a country to be able to find more common ground that I think we’re finding now,” he said.

Darren said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) was “definitely the wonk in the room” and “in a positive way.” “I loved his bluntness; I felt like Rick’s conversation with us was very frank about his way of approaching Washington. I liked him a lot.”

‘I Feel More Upbeat’

Susan Jellison, a retired nurse from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, said she had a “marvelous time” at the event. Her top two issues—pro-life and education—were addressed by speakers. “America is going way too far off to the left,” she told The Epoch Times, adding that Republican leaders would need to take actions and walk the talk.

Susan’s husband, David, a retired commercial real estate developer, shared that observation.

“Well, I think we came in