Fox News “Democrats” Schoen and Caddell to speak at high-priced conservative retreat

Written by Eric Hananoki

Published

Post-retreat Update: Caddell spoke as scheduled, but a note on FrontPageMag.com stated that Schoen “got stuck in an airport and couldn't make” his scheduled panel. A transcript of Caddell's remarks is now online here.

This year's Restoration Weekend, the conservative retreat founded by activist David Horowitz, will feature the usual slate of Republican politicians and pundits -- and Fox News “Democrats” Doug Schoen and Pat Caddell.

Caddell and Schoen regularly appear on Fox News and elsewhere -- as “Democrats” -- to accuse the Democratic Party and President Obama of leaning too far to the left. During the 2009-2010 cycle, Schoen supported Republican congressional campaigns.

In early 2010, the unsuccessful Andrew Romanoff Senate campaign (D-CO) fired Caddell as an unpaid adviser after they were made aware of a video of Caddell attacking environmentalists (out to “deconstruct capitalism”) and union members (“thugs”). The remarks were made at the 2009 Restoration Weekend.

According to her website, anti-Muslim activist Pam Geller will be the recipient of one of the Annie Taylor Awards for Courage. It's unclear whether Geller is being awarded the prize for her courage in habitually attacking Muslims or posting such screeds as Obama's a Muslim whose birth certificate is a “forgery”; Obama's an anti-Semite; Obama had coke-fueled sex with a man; “it is well known that Obama allegedly was involved with a crack whore in his youth”; and that there are “nude pornographic photos of Obama's mom ... allegedly taken by Frank Marshall Davis in his apartment."

The four-day event costs $1,700 per individual, and sponsorships run from $5,000 to $20,000. The retreat is organized by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which helps “fight against the Left's takeover of American education and Barack Obama's takeover of the American future” and funds conservative websites like "NewsReal Blog, an exciting, innovative team blog challenging the Left throughout the media;" and "DiscoverTheNetworks, the largest database defining the chief groups and individuals of the Left and their organizational interlocks."

Also scheduled to speak at Restoration Weekend are Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Rep. Steve King (R-IA), and numerous conservative commentators such as Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, and Fred Barnes.