US Politics: Is This the Beginning --- or the Beginning of the End --- for Glenn Beck? (Haddigan)

EA's US Politics correspondent Lee Haddigan writes:

This coming weekend the US capital will be invaded by a conservative army. With the main entertainment to be provided by anti-establishment ‘barbarians’ Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, supported by a Tea Party growing increasingly frustrated with Washington elites, it may be an opportune moment for members of the Obama Administration to take a break before November's mid-term elections and get out of town.

More importantly, this weekend is meant --- at least for supporters of the gathering --- to mark the beginning for a grassroots conservatism committed to changing US politics in the future. Not just for the next two or ten years but, under Glenn Beck’s "Plan" to be unveiled on Saturday, for a century.

The festivities begin sedately enough on Friday with the 2010 Defending the American Dream Summit. Hosted by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, this conference of leading conservative activists and policymakers will concentrate on giving last-minute instructions to local organizers. It ends with a special "Tribute to Ronald Reagan" dinner.

The same night, Glenn Beck will be hosting a "Divine Destiny" evening at the Kennedy Center. Attendance is free, on a first-come, first-(re)served ticket basis, but the audience, according to Beck's website, will be mainly pastors, ministers, and clergy. Beck regards these religious leaders of the present asthe vanguard of the movement to re-establish in America a government based on moral values.

Those who see Beck as a deliberately controversial clown may be surprised at what he claims is the intent of the evening. He invites those who “are sick and tired of hearing about how divided America has become” to join him for a night “that will help heal your soul”. Beck will be joined by nationally-known religious figures of all faiths, aided by uplifting music, to provide an event that “will leave you with a renewed determination to look past the partisan differences and petty problems that fill our airwaves and instead focus our shared values, principles and strong belief that faith can play an essential role in reuniting the country”.

But "Divine Destiny"’ is just the warm-up for the main event. On Saturday, Beck and Sarah Palin will be the main speakers at the "Restoring Honor Rally" in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Held on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech, the Rally is the culmination of nine months' planning by Beck to present his "Plan" for the future of America.

On 21 November 2009, Beck announced in front of 25,000 people in Florida that he was writing a book that would show Americans how to change the current political climate. He argued that the country could not rely on a leader or a party to end the “bipartisan corruption in Washington”. He maintained that instead, “I have come to realize that the only one who can truly save our country…is us.” Each individual, parent and child, must educate themselves as a family in the values that would lead them to fight on the “battlefield of ideas” to restore the America of maximum freedom envisaged by the Founding Fathers.

To underscore the religious foundations of this weekend's rally, Beck used his radio programme of 18 July to appeal to listeners to spend 40 days and 40 nights before the event praying for the country. (Jesus and his trials in the desert were not mentioned specifically, but the allusion was clear enough.) Beck asked his audience to consider in detail the importance to them personally of their "faith, hope and charity", and he ended this segment of his show with a plea for everyone to change their lives for the better over those next 40 days, to show more faith, hope and charity, and to join him at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial: “Make a vow to yourself. It will not end with me, not on my watch.”

Surprisingly, the event is a non-political rally where no signs of any sort (except flags) will be allowed. It has been organized to pay tribute to the armed forces, and all proceeds will go to the Special Operations Warriors Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps veterans. The rally will celebrate America’s heritage and traditional values, and it will ask participants to adopt the personal virtues of great leaders of the past to build a new United States. Beck will tie those aims into the promotion of the ideas in Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure, due for publication later in the year.

The volunteer marshals for the Rally will be supplied by the Tea Party Patriots. So, it was a natural logistical progression for that group to organize a general Tea Party protest meeting for the Sunday at Upper Senate Park.  The rally will be dedicated to the Tea Party Patriots' slogan to "Repeal, Reduce, Restore": “repeal legislation forced on us by a corrupt Congress, reduce the size and scope of government, and restore the founding principles of the Constitution.” Taking place only two weeks before the more-widely publicised 9-12 meetings, this event will provide an interesting indication of Tea Party strength and enthusiasm.

Those with a good memory may recall that Beck has staged mega-events in the past to support the troops. Between March and May of 2003, just before and after the invasion of Iraq, he organized a series of "Rallies for America". And here we come to the troubling enigma that is Glenn Beck. Does he truly believe in the integrity of the message he preaches? Or, as his many critics claim, does he just spout a nonsense that appeals to "paranoid" Americans as part of his building the brand "Glenn Beck" for personal financial gain?

Although this weekend will be an  indicator of conservative strength heading into the mid-term election, it is of much more interest as a sign of what future impact Glenn Beck will have on the movement. "The Plan" he will present in front of the Lincoln Memorial has taken time and thought, and it is obviously a vital part of his attempt to portray himself as the intellectual guru of conservatism. Many may not like his interpretation of America’s past or his well-intentioned ideas for the future, but there is little doubt that Beck asks questions of his audience that require an understanding of tradition and community in the United States.

Unfortunately for Beck, with his troubled personal history, and the example of similar populists of the past (Coughlin, McCarthy, Hargis, etc.), this could prove to be the zenith of his career and influence. Beck clearly views himself as a Martin Luther King-like figure who will lead conservatives back to their civil rights in a Promised Land from which "progressivism" expelled them from at the turn of the last century.

Beck's problem is that. after Washington, he does not have a Birmingham or Selma to maintain his march for a virtuous America. So, even if you hate The Glenn Beck Show, have a little sympathy for him. I suspect that after this weekend, as an addict to more and more adulation, he will begin the slide into oblivion that awaits all populist leaders who search without end for the next thrill.