Obama, climate change panned

Featuring appearances by Republican heavyweights such as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and 2010 gubernatorial candidate and former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman, the Western Conservative Political Action Conference rolled through Newport Beach this weekend.

Organized by Republican activist Jim Lacy, the conference has slowly gained momentum over its five-year existence.

“This is the heart and soul of the conservative movement,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a longtime conference supporter. “This is where the philosophy and ideas for action come from.”

Pawlenty, who is rumored to be considering a presidential run in 2012, spoke at the conference on Friday night to a sold-out dinner crowd of about 200 people, organizers said.

Attendance was way up from last year’s event, which attracted only about 85 people.

Newport Beach City Council members Leslie Daigle and Keith Curry also put in appearances at the event.

About 50 people, ranging from teenage boys in suits to gray-haired couples, showed up for a panel discussion on Saturday morning titled “Obama Express: Anti-American Policy Blitzkrieg.”

Rohrabacher was greeted with applause when he declared President Barack Obama a Marxist during the panel discussion.

“Obama is the first Marxist president — make no mistakes about it,” Rohrabacher said.

The congressman went on to discuss climate change.

“Global warming is one of the greatest political hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people,” Rohrabacher said as the audience cheered.

Rohrabacher was joined on the panel by Republican activist Floyd Brown, who created the anti-Obama website exposeobama.com.

Brown’s latest effort, www.impeachobamacampaign.com, is campaign to impeach the president.

“Can Obama be impeached?” Brown asked the assembled crowd. “To borrow a phrase from the president, ‘Yes we can.’”