Grover Norquist, conservative activist, guest speaker in Virginia Beach

The event, hosted by Gary Byler Esq, Republican Chairman of Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District will be held at Virginia Beach’s Crown Plaza, Friday, October 23, 2009 at 6:00 PM. The no-cost event is open to the public. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres served.

Follow up:

Grover Norquist is one of the most influential and brilliant minds of a new generation of conservative activists. Profiled everywhere from The New Yorker to Fortune to the Washington Post, he is president of Americans for Tax Reform, a coalition of taxpayer groups, individuals and businesses opposed to higher taxes at both the federal, state, and local levels. He also sits on the board of directors for organizations such as the National Rifle Association, the American Conservative Union, The Nixon Center, serves as a Contributing Editor to the American Spectator Magazine, serves as president of the American Society of Competitiveness, and is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A popular speaker on the political circuit, Norquist is the author of Rock the House and the forthcoming Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives (William Morrow).

“Grover Norquist is the person who I regard as the most innovative, creative, courageous and entrepreneurial leader of the anti-tax efforts and of conservative grassroots activism in America . . . He has truly made a difference and truly changed American history.” —Newt Gingrich

“Grover Norquist is unexcelled in political straight talk, and this book should be required reading for faint-hearted Republicans who cannot comprehend what the nature of their appeal to the public must be. For Americans who want their government to leave them alone, this is a clarion call in the political wilderness.” —Robert Novak

In talks based on Leave Us Alone, Norquist describes a new Conservative movement that will shape the next century. The modern Republican Party is a coalition of groups created during the political life of Ronald Reagan, based on principle rather than region and history – one that will, Norquist argues – grow in power and size during the next generation. The new political movement that now controls much of the Republican Party is a movement of Americans who simply wish to be left alone by the government. They are not asking the government for others’ money, time, or attention. Among them are members of the NRA, homeschoolers, property owners and Christian evangelicals. Norquist not only spells out what the “Leave Us Alone Coalition” represents, but he also delves into the reasons why the conservative movement will grow and come to dominate politics for decades to come.

“The old dichotomies of left vs. right or liberal vs. conservative have increasingly little relevance for the politics of America. But Norquist’s formulation: the leave-us-aloners vs. the takers, is vital, relevant, and incisive. Viewed through this prism, politics makes sense.” —Dick Morris

In the past, Norquist served as a commissioner on the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, a commissioner on the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service, economist and chief speech-writer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce (1983-1984), campaign staff on the 1988, 1992, 1996 Republican Platform Committees, executive director of the National Taxpayers’ Union, and executive director of the College Republicans.

Norquist holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, both from Harvard University. A native of Massachusetts, he lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Samah.