2009 Speakers
January 2009 - Martha Montelongo
Martha Montelongo kept our audience rapt for one hour as she provided 90-100 conservatives an outlook that we do not often hear. A strong believer in the liberties of free markets and limited government, Martha shared how a conservative Mexican-American views America. She is a devotee to the Constitution, and sees the United States as a beacon of light "endowed by our Creator."
February 2009 - Dr. Brian T. Kennedy
Dr. Brian Kennedy held an audience of 105 people rapt for 90 minutes as he presented his ideas, and accepted 45 minutes of Q & A. He first reminded the audience that we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. At the same time, he also quoted Winston Churchill, "Our freedom could be lost."
Aryeh Green, in charge of Media Relations in Israel, started his presentation by talking about his pride in his native country of the United States and his adopted country of Israel. He indicated that he had such pride in America for the freedom it has given to Jews. In a Middle Eastern twist on an old joke, he said, "a liberal is a conservative who hasn't yet lived in the Middle East."
Dr. Terry Moe, an expert on education and public policy, started his presentation by looking out at the audience, and stating "I didn't know that there were this many conservatives in Silicon Valley." As far as education is concerned, he pointed out the dilemma that the Democrat Party has when it comes to public education, torn between poor urban schools provided to one of its core constituencies and public school reform, which is anathema to its most powerful constituency - teachers' unions.
Melanie Morgan - was greeted with a standing ovation from the standing room only crowd of more than 250 people. As the emcee for the San Jose Tea Party, Melanie's early comments reiterated that citizens of all political persuasions agree that we have had "enough big government."
Mark Krikorian was spectacular. He was articulate and enthusiastic about the topic of immigration. 160 people packed the American Legion Hall to hear one of the most scholarly presentations about immigration. His thesis is that immigrants have not changed that much since a century ago; the American policies have changed. Mass immigration was an important phase for the United States, but it no longer is.
July 2009 - Tea Party Protests
The San Jose Tea Party held on Sunday, July 5th was a wonderful success story. Over 1,000 conservative protestors enthusiastically waved signs for three hours on the busiest intersection in Santa Clara County. It was great to see more than 1,000 people supporting limited government, fiscal responsibility and the free markets.
Our guest speaker in August was Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who is a candidate for the United States Senate to unseat Barbara Boxer. In attracting a standing room only crowd of over 250 people, Chuck DeVore was articulate, knowledgeable and humorous. He talked about a variety of ideas, including the use of an asymmetrical campaign strategy to win the Senate seat in November, 2010.
September 2009 - Dr. Francis J. Harvey
As Secretary of the Army from 2004-2007, Dr. Fran Harvey was responsible for the Army's annual budget and supplemental. When Dr. Harvey was Secretary of the Army he came up with a very good vision, plan, and outcome of where the Army needed to be in the 21st century.
October 2009 - E. Floyd Kvamme
More than 200 people packed the room at the American Legion Hall for the sixth consecutive month as Floyd Kvamme discussed energy and the politics of energy. Floyd started out by indicating that he had a great respect for those involved in government policy. Despite some of our major disagreements, we have a good system.
November 2009 - Jesse Lee Peterson
Jesse Lee Peterson was welcomed warmly to The Conservative Forum meeting on November 3rd. An overflow crowd of more than 240 people cheered and laughed at Jesse's remarks. He mixed humor, facts and his opinions into a warm and meaningful message.
We welcomed 250 conservatives to our Christmas Holiday Party. To put the attendance in perspective, we had 45 attendees at our same meeting last year. Everyone really enjoyed our conservative comedian, Eric Golub. He had us rolling in the aisles with humorous jabs at liberals and Democrats, and Obama, Pelosi and Reid, in particular.