Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist told an enthusiastic CPAC crowd that his hardline stance on taxes is not an end in itself, but part of a larger effort to limit the scope of government and a key marketing strategy for the Republican Party.
"We branded the Republican Party as the party of not raising taxes -- branding is important," Norquist said, drawing an analogy to Coca-Cola. People know what they're going to get when they buy a bottle of Coke, Norquist said, but if they find a rat's head in the bottom of the bottle, the company loses a customer for life. So it goes with taxes.
"Republican elected officials who vote for tax increases are rat heads in a Coke bottle," Norquist said. "They damage the Republican brand."
Norquist went on to praise the budget plan outlined by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Combined with his continued commitment to no tolerance on tax increases, Norquist's support for the Ryan budget -- which formed the core of Mitt Romney's economic platform during the 2012 campaign -- made clear that he sees little advantage to changing course on economic policy despite the GOP's November defeat.
Below, a liveblog of the latest updates from CPAC:
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