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 |  Subject: Conservative event should be dandy: Ex-Trump adviser Papadopoulos to be featured  Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:34 pm | |
| BILLERICA — A conservative conference featuring national figures like George Papadopoulos is coming to town.
Grand Opportunity USA, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, is hosting the conference at a private residence in Billerica on Aug. 8. It will be the first event of its kind for the organization, according to its founder and CEO John Paul.
The organization is about a year and a half old and aims to unite the spectrum of conservatism — libertarians, constitutionalists, general conservatives — behind one movement.
According to Paul, lies, attacks from the left and media portrayal have contributed to a misrepresentation of conservatism. Grand Opportunity USA is now trying to "smash the false narrative of what it means to be conservative," Paul, a Boston resident, said.
The conference will aim to reach a younger, more diverse group of voters — something conservatives have not done effectively, Paul said.
"Young people, Millenials are supporting Democrats versus Republicans by around 2 to 1 and every minority ethnic group, every minority religion in America, is supporting the left by margins anywhere from 2 to 1, to 12 to 1," Paul said.
The conference will start with a morning U.S. Constitution Rally in Lexington and will continue in Billerica with grassroots workshops, talks on issues facing conservatives like voter registration and free speech rights, a BBQ and networking. Keynote speakers Papadopoulos and his wife Simona Mangiante will conclude the event. (Papadopoulos is President Donald Trump's former campaign adviser on foreign policy who pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the FBI, triggering the Russia investigation. He was sentenced to 14 days in prison in September 2018.)
Billerica and Lexington's role in the American Revolution — Billerica is known as the Yankee Doodle Town because of resident Thomas Ditson's tarring and feathering at the hands of the British — and Billerica's 2016 support for President Donald Trump are why the organization chose the towns for the conference.
Revolutionary history is also why the organization has its sights set on New England at all.
According to Paul, conservative values like "free market, free minds, constitutional liberties, limited government" are the same values that informed the creation of the United States.
"This is really the birthplace of liberty not only for America but the whole world," Paul said. "For this area to be so far-left and to be so anti-liberty and anti-free market, and so anti-conservative values when freedom and liberty were built on conservative values is really a shame and we want to try to address that, which is why we're having the conference here in New England."
The Billerica-portion of the conference is ticketed. Its exact location will not be revealed until the day before the event and will only be revealed to ticket-holders. The reason for this is to protect the privacy of the homeowner who is hosting the conference and to avoid attracting protesters, Paul said.
"We will not allow any kind of agitation or people who want to be disruptive at our event," Paul said.
The organization is coordinating with the police and the town ahead of the conference.
Paul reiterated that Grand Opportunity USA's efforts are for anyone under the conservative umbrella, not just Republicans.
"Anybody basically that is against leftist, socialist, big government ideaology, we consider on our side," he said.
Though intended to unite conservatives, the event is open to people of any political affiliation, Paul said. Candidates of any political affiliation who are running for office will be able to deliver stump speeches during a portion of the event if they sign up in advance.
"We hope that Democrats and Independents will come as well to learn about our mission, this is not a closed event, we hope that people of all political stripes come as well," Paul said.
Further information about the conference and tickets can be found on Grand Opportunity USA's website, grand opportunityusa.org
http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_32724541/conservative-event-should-be-dandy |
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