Last night I attended a roundtable discussion hosted by the America’s Future Foundation. The topic was “Conservatives and Libertarians: Can This Marriage Be Saved?” featuring a panel of two conservatives and two libertarians. The “pro-marriage” side was led by James Antle of The American Conservative and Jeremy Lott of the Cato Institute. Amy Mitchell of The American Spectator and Nick Gillespie of Reason argued in favor of a split.

There was some decent discussion, and much blather.

Though I disagreed with several of his points, Gillespie clearly was the most comfortable on stage in delivering his argument. He certainly surpassed the Pabst Blue Ribbon swilling, Death Cab for Cutie loving, hipster circa 2001 image I had going in.

Most disappointing was the stark absence of conservatives in support of the liberation of Iraq. Once again, it was Gillespie who offered the most measured insight. He didn’t support the liberation going in, but was not in denial about the success of elections. However, the onslaught of hissing and cackles whenever Amy Mitchell made some point defending traditional conservative values or the war made me feel like I was back in Eugene, Oregon suffering the trust-fund progressive masses.

The panel seemed stumped when asked to define conservatism. On this point and a few others, some on the panel and a few in the audience made negative remarks about National Review. Surprisingly, it was Gillespie who offered his opinion that NR best defines what it means to be conservative.

AFF is a great place for young conservatives and libertarians to dip their toe into the DC scene. Jerry Brito runs the fantastic Brainwash site, where I was given my first shot at freelance writing in Washington. They also have a fine print quarterly, Doublethink, edited by the Weekly Standard’s David Skinner.

I just hope on future roundtable discussions they will broaden the realm of opinion concerning what it means to be a conservative. Though as I learned in Eugene, when spoiled brats are hissing at you, you’re probably doing something right.