Salman: Republicans make right decision

by focusing on millennial voters

http://www.dailyorange.com/2015/03/salman-republicans-make-right-decision-by-focusing-onmillennial-voters/
Published on March 4, 2015 at 12:05 am
By Vanessa Salman
This past weekend, Conservative leaders and activists came together at the Gaylord National Convention
Center & Resort in National Harbor, Maryland for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
From prominent media talking heads, to potential presidential hopefuls, CPAC was the No. 1 spot for all
things politically conservative.
This year, the American Conservative Union, which hosts the event, made a few changes to the
conference. The most important one, however, was that it made its target audience clear: young voters. By
making this crucial alteration to such a major event, the ACU is paving the path for the party itself to
follow. If the GOP takes this advice, then the 2016 presidential election will be a walk in the park.
While the issues and policies discussed throughout the four-day conference affect each and every person
in attendance, they have more of an affect on young voters. In a majority of speeches given at CPAC, it
was said that reform is necessary to alleviate the financial and social burdens on the future generations.
The cohort politicians were referring to is current millennials.
Four notable speakers who appealed to the younger crowd were Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Gov. Chris
Christie (R-N.Y.), Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (Wash.) and Donald Trump.
Paul had one of the strongest fan bases at the conference, which explains his third consecutive victory in
the straw poll. Despite the heavy content of his speech, mainly focusing on foreign policy and the Islamic
State, the crowd cheered President Paul like there was no tomorrow. Christie and McMorris Rogers
both spoke about their humble beginnings. Christie reminisced about growing up in a middle class family
with hard-working parents, and McMorris Rogers spoke about her journey from working as a
McDonalds drive-thru cashier to becoming a member of Congress. Lastly, Donald Trump was a major hit
with college Republicans, but that was not because of his speech. If anything, his speech detracted from
the overall wow factor that came with Donald Trumps attendance.
Despite some Republican political actors taking necessary steps to appeal to young voters, the party at
large needs to do the same. It will take more than former Gov. Jeb Bush taking selfies at happy hour to do
that. That doesnt mean that its not a starting point, however. Politicians need to overcome the cold,
robotic, bland stereotype that GOP members are associated with. By Republicans humanizing themselves,
they will attract younger voters regardless of political affiliation. The Democratic Party has one thing

going for them, and that is its strategic utilization of social media. If the GOP wants to become the party
of cool, they can start taking notes from President Barack Obamas campaign in 2012.
The Republican Party has already started to make strides to achieve this goal. It wasnt just the conference
that charmed young Republicans, but the various events occurring outside of CPAC itself were targeted to
that key demographic. From the College Republican National Committee hosting happy hours and
brunches with potential presidential candidates, to the Young Conservative Coalitions annual
Reaganpalooza, college-aged Republicans were bound to find something to do after convention hours.
The conventions planners took necessary measures to appeal to youth this year, however, they still have
more work ahead of them. Young voters are a crucial demographic that the party needs to reclaim. Come
election season, it will be important to captivate Generation Y if leaders want to obtain or remain in
power.
Vanessa is a sophomore policy studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at
vksalman@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @VanessaSalman.

(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

What determines the perfect candidate for

2016?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_PERFECT_CANDIDATE?
SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAUL
3:46 p.m. CST March 2, 2015
By: Nancy Benac

WASHINGTON Let's say, for a moment, that America has given you the job of picking the perfect
candidate for president. Good luck, Mr. or Ms. Voter, deciding what they've got to have and what they
can do without.

There are all sorts of things to start the list: leadership, vision, charisma, communication skills and foreign
policy cred. And more: fundraising prowess, authenticity, empathy, a keen understanding of the
presidency and maybe a little familiarity with running for the office.
And even more: good looks are always a plus, even if people don't want to admit it. For many, being an
"outsider" is a must at a time when "Washington" is on the outs with a lot of people.
Where do you even start? For Republicans, you can't do much better than last week's Conservative
Political Action Conference. There were as many as two dozen GOP hopefuls eyeing the party's
nomination in 2016, and many of them were offering themselves at CPAC as the perfect prom date for
conservatives in search of a winning candidate.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, and Wisconsin

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker share a laugh Sept. 29 as Walker campaigns at Empire Bucket in Hudson. Walker, Christie
and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are among at least 10 current and former governors considering a bid. (Photo: File/AP)

Can anyone claim the total package? Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which
runs CPAC, sees a strong lineup of potential candidates and says that now, "they're going to preen and
strut and we're going to see a president emerge."
But you know how schoolgirls may dream up the perfect boyfriend by imagining a mashup of the jock,
the hottie and the smart kid, with a whiff of bad boy for excitement? What if Republicans could do the
same to assemble their dream candidate to go up against the Democratic nominee, who most expect will
be Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Here's a look at a few qualities they might want to pick from, and some of the candidates with something
to offer.

LEADERSHIP
Pick a governor. Wisconsin's Scott Walker, New Jersey's Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
are among at least 10 current and former governors considering a bid. Says Walker, "Governors are the
ones who get things done." One other option: Carly Fiorina, a former tech executive, has the initials
"CEO" on her resume.
COMMUNICATION
Grab a senator. Boy, do they know how to talk. There are at least five current and former senators
considering running, and Florida's Marco Rubio, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Texan Ted Cruz are all known
for giving a good speech. Rubio has the added benefit of a compelling back story to share on the stump:
he's the son of Cuban immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking a better life.
THE OUTSIDER
Walker is a Harley-riding preacher's son who's been governor since 2011 and cultivated the image of the
outside-Washington upstart. He's best known for a taking on public unions, and surviving a 2012 recall
election after that brouhaha.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush speaks to the Chicago
Former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush speaks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Feb. 18 in Chicago.
Most voters dont really care about campaign finance, but raking in cash is an essential skill for any
successful candidate, and Bush is in a position to do just that. (Photo: M. Spencer Green/AP)
UNDERSTANDING THE PRESIDENCY
Hands down, this is Bush he's the son and brother of former presidents. No one else can claim the
same intimacy with the office, says Schlapp, who calls Bush a "historical anomaly." But, then again, that
whole Bush dynasty thing is a downside to those with bad memories of presidents 41 and 43.
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCE
A handful of White House potentials have been here, done that. How much did they learn last time out?
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was the last candidate standing in opposition to Mitt Romney
for the GOP nomination in 2012, a role played by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee against John
McCain in 2008.
FOREIGN POLICY
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a member of the Armed Services Committee who has traveled
extensively to Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and more, and serves in the U.S. Air Force Reserves at the rank of
captain, has a fluency with foreign affairs that stands out. Rubio, who serves on the Foreign Relations and
Intelligence committees, is well-versed on Latin America.
Foreign policy is typically a weak area for governors, which may be why Christie, Walker and Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal have all trooped to London in recent weeks. In a recent speech on foreign policy, Bush
stressed that he had lived in Venezuela for a time, led 15 trade missions as Florida governor and traveled

extensively since then. "I forced myself to go visit Asia four times a year to learn about the dynamic
nature of the region," he said.
FUNDRAISING
Bush. Most voters don't really care about campaign finance, but raking in cash is an essential skill for any
successful candidate. Veteran GOP fundraiser Fred Malek predicts Bush will raise twice as much money
as any other GOP candidate, but he says other leading candidates, including Christie and Walker, can raise
enough to compete.
AUTHENTICITY
Paul has a reputation for candor that endears him to many, but sometimes gets him into trouble. Christie
has the authenticity factor in spades, for better or worse. His tell-it-like-it-is bravado is a plus to some and
a huge turnoff to others. "The knock on him is that he is who he is," Schlapp said. "Some people love that,
and maybe some people don't."
GOOD LOOKS
There's no People Magazine list of the hottest candidates. But you can bet most of these candidates like
what they see in the mirror.

The Latest Anti-Choice Strategy: Less

Planned Parenthood Bashing, More
Insurance Bans
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/04/latest-anti-choice-strategy-less-planned-parenthoodbashing-insurance-bans/
March 4, 2015
by Emily Crockett, Federal Policy Reporter, RH Reality Check

To win over the middle, anti-choice leaders argued at CPAC, it's more helpful to message around
"incremental" abortion restrictions like 20-week bans or insurance coverage restrictions.
To win over the middle, anti-choice leaders argued at CPAC, it's more helpful to message around
"incremental" abortion restrictions like 20-week bans or insurance coverage restrictions. (Shutterstock)
Click here to read more of RH Reality Checks coverage of the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference.
Abortion issues were mostly treated as an afterthought on the main stage of this years Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC). But in breakout panels, anti-choice groups had in-depth discussions
with supporters about strategies to continue rolling back access to reproductive health care.
Representatives from the anti-choice groups Americans United for Life (AUL), Susan B. Anthony (SBA)
List, and National Right to Life spoke to CPAC attendees Friday and Saturday at panels called Baby
Steps: The Pro-Life Success Story and Supply-Side Strategy: Exposing and Confronting the Abortion
Industry as Big Business.
AUL President Charmaine Yoest started one panel with stories about rogue abortion provider Kermit
Gosnell, providing misleading anecdotal evidence that abortion, an exceptionally safe procedure, harms
women.
Why, as Im talking about the abortion industry, am I so emphasizing women? Yoest said. Its not
something that the pro-life movement is necessarily known for.
The answer, she said, involves legal strategy.

Since Supreme Court precedent from Roe v. Wade stipulates that the state has a compelling interest to
protect womens health, Yoest said, it stands to reason that the anti-choice movement has to pursue a
mother and child strategy.
That includes passing laws that ostensibly protect womens health, but actually do nothing of the kind.
AUL has a list of seven key bills to restrict abortion access under the guise of helping women.
The strategy also includes putting shoddy evidence before courts and legislative bodies claiming that safe,
legal abortion harms women more than it helps them, thereby creating a record that future courts or
lawmakers can draw on regardless of scientific merit.
Every time you introduce a bill in the legislature, every time that youre engaging in a public debate over
how were addressing abortion, the legislation youre standing on gives you a chanceto further the
conversation about how it affects women, Yoest said.
As we look at our legislative strategy, we need to tie that into our legal strategy.
Also included in this idea is the so-called supply-side strategy of educating the public about the dangers
of the big business of abortion. Yoest said that Planned Parenthood receives about $1.26 million of
federal tax dollars every dayneglecting to mention that none of that federal money can go toward
performing abortions.
But at another panel, Yoest acknowledged that since most Americans have a positive view of Planned
Parenthood, anti-choice activists need to be training ourselves to speak outside the echo chamber.
Weve got to be careful about our rhetoric, said National Right to Lifes Darla St. Martin. At this point
in time, this time, this place, this is not a good thing to ask your candidates to do publicly. To say, well,
Im opposed to Planned Parenthood. Because, you and us and everybody, we havent yet convinced the
public. And thats our job. We dont want to put the people who we are trying to elect on the line to do the
job that we should be doing.
A better strategy, panelists argued, is to focus the rhetoric on so-called taxpayer-funded abortions. If more
moderate voters can be persuaded by negatively tying the issue to Obamacare, so much the better.
AUL, as RH Reality Check has reported, has led an intense legislative push at the state level to restrict
insurance coverage of abortion care, even though the Affordable Care Act doesnt allow federal money to
be directly spent on the procedure.
Panelists said they focused specifically and narrowly on their top two legislative priorities, restrictions on
insurance abortion coverage and 20-week abortion bans, which are unconstitutional and contradict Roe v.
Wade.
That goes for the federal level as well as the statea national 20-week ban bill was pulled after a GOP
intra-party fight over rape exemptions, but it was replaced by an insurance coverage ban that passed the
House.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List, called the federal 20-week bill a litmus test for Senate
candidates, and called the fight for that bill the most important moment in the pro-life movement since
1973.
St. Martin said she didnt consider the 20-week ban the end-all, be-all, but it builds momentum for
more anti-choice laws and candidates.
One yard can make all the difference, Yoest said, using a football analogy. Were marching down the
field.

Webb: Where CPAC and

Bibi Cross Paths
http://thehill.com/opinion/david-webb/234524-david-webb-where-cpac-and-bibi-cross-paths
By David Webb
03/03/15 07:30 PM EST

Greg Nash

It is easy to think this years Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahus speech to Congress are not connected, but in fact they are inexorably intertwined.
Our world now faces its greatest existential threat and where leadership vacuums exist, that threat
metastasizes.
Structure and substance collided or more accurately coalesced as the annual gathering of the
conservative tribes occurred, from the disaffected, libertarians, gays, neocons, to your typical social
conservative and everywhere in between. (It is of note that the left does not have a conference like CPAC
where multiple aspects of the party get together to debate and activate.)

Top issues were the economy and jobs with 52 percent of the straw polls respondents, and 29 percent
voted for foreign policy and national security. If you cannot afford to live and have a secure environment
in which to live, how can any American follow their dreams?
Anecdotally, many of the attendees I spoke with and interviewed on SiriusXM Patriot radio go beyond the
single-issue voting perception often attributed to conservatives. They did not sacrifice their individual
primary issue but recognize that many issues are interrelated and are not simply a linear ranking.
So, was there someone in the Gaylords Potomac ballroom who will be the Republican nominee and
potentially next president of the United States? Rand Paul has won three times in the straw poll at CPAC,
but history does not support his chances and there just arent enough libertarians to vote him president.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in second with a strong showing and very little plan to bus in the
multitudes but his future, as a candidate or otherwise, is uncertain at this time.
When it comes to the prime minister of Israels speech to Congress Tuesday, the political wrangling
between Republicans and Democrats over attending or not attending, led by Democrats who boycotted, is
part of what made the event such a controversy.
Obama the petulant president not only said he would not attend the speech but would not even watch it. It
wouldve been best to simply say nothing rather than send that signal. One would think this is below
anyone who sits in the Oval Office. Vice President Biden was conveniently abroad. Some 50 members of
Congress all Democrats did not attend. These actions of petulant politicians send a message of
divisiveness to the world and to our enemies.
Netanyahu had already laid out the red line for the world in his speech at the United Nations in 2012 with
a simple picture.
The Obama administration has erased that red line politically and crossed into dangerous waters, sailing
toward a bad deal with Iran an Iran that aims to be the nuclear hegemon in the Middle East and a direct
and existential threat to the world.
A key component of this current deal being negotiated by the Obama administration via Secretary of State
John Kerry in Geneva is that there will be a sunset clause but no guarantee that Iran will sunset its march
to a nuclear weapon.
Obama has never made the commitment its not who he is. Obama thinks and acts like a college
professor where the consequences of an intellectual exercise are merely a scholarly grade, not a degraded
global situation.
Could Netanyahu, a man who was a soldier, a commander in Israeli special forces, who became an
elected official and developed into a world leader for both his nation and the world against radical Islamofascist tyranny, be the canary in the nuclear mine to awaken the world, stop a bad deal, help force a better
deal with Iran and help save all of us from a nuclear Iran?
Communist nations sought and still seek domination but are not willing to except annihilation during the
Cold War and today. Radical Islam sees annihilation as an acceptable part of the picture. There is a
fundamental question for those seeking the Republican nomination for president next year: What is your
cultural and foreign policy footing when it comes to dealing with Islamic-based radicalism? Failure
means death of nations.

The Lessons of CPAC

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/03/the-lessons-of-cpac/
March 3, 2015
By: Jazz Shaw
During this CPAC I had a couple of wonderful opportunities to sit down and spend some enjoyable, nonwork hours time with our good friend and award winning journalist Andrew Malcolm of Investors
Business Daily. (Trust me, hes every bit as engaging and entertaining over a good steak as he is during
political interviews.) But now that were both back to the office, Andrew has compiled a list of the main
takeaways from the annual conservative conference. Ill include the summary and a few other choice bits,
balanced against my own observations.
Themes: Moderate is out. Conservative is in. Washington is bad. Flyover country is good. Hillary will
have to work harder than she thinks to separate herself from whats-his-name on the golf course. Plus
shes got some overweight baggage of her own to check, starting with Benghazi, fomenting the illconsidered Libyan war and disastrous fallout and, as always with the Clintons, taking in tons of money
from anyone. Theyre not dead broke, by the way.
It was wise for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to skip this years sessions. They drew almost as
much criticism as Democrats for not yet going to the mat over halting Obamas illegal illegal alien ploys.
Despite the anti-Washington, anti-Congress fervor, Senators Cruz and Paul plow ahead with their
efforts. The lazy D.C. media will go to Capitol Hill for stories much more often than Madison or Austin,
skewing impressions of the horse race.
All true, and very much so on the topic of Boehner and McConnell. Given the mood around the place
when discussions of DHS funding and executive amnesty arose on the floor and at the bar, the reception
that Jeb Bush received would probably have been viewed as warm and congenial compared to what the
House and Senate leadership would have gotten if they took the stage. As for Hillary, I believe Andrew
penned this column before the news about her lack of an email address broke. The mood at CPAC about
Hillary was pretty much the opposite of the worry weve heard privately from party leaders as recently as
three months ago. The attendees I spoke to were in large part more optimistic than ever about the GOPs
chances of beating her. With these recent revelations I would only expect that trend to continue in a
positive direction.
Andrew has some kind words for Ted Cruz, but has a few concerns as well.

Cruz and Pauls fans are intense, vocal and dedicated. Cruz is a compelling speaker, strolling the stage
without notes, excoriating RINOs and calling for a clear conservative revolution.
But the fifth or sixth time you hear him speak, his laugh and applause lines sound too practiced,
rehearsed. Maybe he didnt bus in as many supporters as Paul or Bush, but the CPAC Cruz crowd was
nowhere near as enthusiastic as last year.
Im not so sure about that. I think that Cruz was pretty much as on point as he normally is, but hes no
longer the surprising outsider he was a year to two back. This was CPAC after all, and I doubt there was
anyone there who wasnt already very familiar with Cruz. He put on a great performance and was well
received.. it just wasnt anything really new.
Andrew thinks Rand Paul is heading for troubled waters as the nations eyes focus more and more on
trouble abroad. Probably a fair point, but Rand can never be counted out. In a more general sense, Andrew
seems to feel that governors will have the upper hand over Senators, which is a fair and frequently heard
comment, but some of the governors are doing their share of stumbling as well, starting with Jeb Bush.
Malcolm offers one dark horse to watch for.
Watch Fiorina. Her story (one-time secretary to high-powered CEO) is compelling. Her rhetoric is fresh
and pointed. Women are not a special interest group. We are now the majority! On Hillary: She tweets
about equal rights for women but takes millions from foreign governments that deny women the most
basic rights.
As I wrote while I was down there, Carly Fiorina may turn out to be one of the big stories of the
conference. Lots of analysts were counting her out early and saying that she was running for Vice
President, but she was extremely impressive in her various appearances at the Gaylord this weekend. Her
message is spot on, her delivery was sharp and she brings a few things to the table which her male
counterparts cant match in a battle with Clinton. Shes an exciting candidate.
Andrew also notes that Ben Carson is a nice guy and Donald Trump is a joke. Ill just leave those two
observations here to stand on their own. You can read the rest of his observations at the link.

Scott Walker may have won the Conservative Political Action Conference after all.
David Catanese of U.S. News & World Report writes that according to a measurement of media impact
by GOP consulting firm The Gage Group and social analytics company General Sentiment, the
Wisconsin governor had the events biggest media value share. He got a 25 percent share, followed by
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs 23 percent.
The data were compiled from combing Twitter, Facebook, news websites, blogs, comment sections and
forum postings for candidate names and associated hashtags and keywords, and assigning a value to all of
the mentions on a scale determined by sentiment.
Heres how it works, according to Catanese:
Each media mention is assigned a dollar value, and the more positive the coverage, the higher dollar
value it receives. The idea, says GOP targeter Alex Gage, is to measure a brands reach and place a hard
number on the overall level of exposure a candidate gets over a given time frame. In shorthand, he refers
to it as a candidates kindling effect.
CPAC took a straw poll, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., won. Walker was second, and Bush was fifth.
But Catanese wrote that any buzz around Paul was trumped by Walker and even Bush.

Op-ed: Robertson CPAC Speech has Merit

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/opinion/2015/03/03/robertson-duck-dyansty-speechconservatives-goldberg-opinion/24341743/
March 3, 2015
Jonah Goldberg

Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family franchise, gave a stem-winder of a speech at the
Conservative Political Action Conference last Friday.
It was an odd spectacle, as he fished around in his kit bag while telling the audience to make sure you
carry around "your Bible and your woman." He then produced his Good Book, wrapped in duct tape (but,
fortunately, not his woman similarly attired).
The most remarkable part of his talk was his long discourse on sexually transmitted diseases which, prior
to his address, had not been high on the CPAC agenda. Citing the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Robertson lamented that 110 million Americans have an STD. "It's the revenge of the hippies!
Sex, drugs and rock and roll have come back to haunt us, in a bad way." Among his advice, find a diseasefree spouse and don't stray.
Lots of people rolled their eyes at this. But I'm not exactly sure why. Surely no one thinks it's a good thing
that a third of Americans have a sexually transmitted disease.
Hippies still to blame?
Sure, blaming the hippies for today's ills is a bit of clich, but it's not like he doesn't have a point. I was
reminded of one of my favorite essays: "The Great Relearning" by Tom Wolfe. He recounts the story of
how doctors working at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in 1968 had encountered maladies "no living
doctor had ever encountered before, diseases that had disappeared so long ago they had never even picked
up Latin names." These afflictions not all of them STDs had such street names as the mange, the
grunge, the itch, the twitch, the thrush and the rot.
What happened? Well, the hippy communards of the Summer of Love didn't want to play by The Man's
rules anymore. Like Rousseau's noble savages, they wanted to let their freak-flags fly. "Among the codes
and restraints that people in the communes swept aside quite purposely were those that said you
shouldn't use other people's toothbrushes or sleep on other people's mattresses without changing the
sheets or, as was more likely, without using any sheets at all, or that you and five other people shouldn't
drink from the same bottle of Shasta or take tokes from the same cigarette," wrote Wolfe. "And now, in
1968, they were relearning ... the laws of hygiene ... by getting the mange, the grunge, the itch, the twitch,
the thrush, the scroff, the rot."

Some facts of life

One can surely make too much of such things, but there's a clear and important lesson nonetheless. We
don't always know why certain rules and customs have survived so many generations, but that doesn't
mean they serve no purpose. This is the morale of G.K. Chesterton's parable of the fence. The modern
reformer sees a fence in a field and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." The more
intelligent reformer will say in response, "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it
away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may
allow you to destroy it."
There's a natural human tendency to take our good fortune for granted and mistake vast human progress
as the natural order of things. The reality, alas, is that reality always intrudes. And when it does,
relearnings great and small are required. This tendency predates the hippies by millennia, so how
much blame can be placed specifically at their sandaled feet for STD rates is an open question. But
consider other diseases? The media coverage of the California measles outbreak has died down, but the
problem endures (and not just in California) because people take vaccinations for granted.
It's a lesson with parallels everywhere, from international terrorism, to big city crime. The facts of life can
be cruel tutors for those in need of relearning old lessons. There's no law that says you must follow
Robertson's advice, but the one thing you can say in favor of the old and tried over the new and untried:
We know it works.

Can reactionary GOP win in 2016?

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/opinion/2015/03/03/robertson-duck-dyansty-speechconservatives-goldberg-opinion/24341743/
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Its a daunting challenge to spin the word no into a hopeful and forward-looking political battle cry.
There are, of course, circumstances when negative arguments can work. In obviously terrible times,
voters are often content to take a chance on a barely sketched-out alternative. In midterm elections, which
are like midsemester report cards, voters often protest against what they dont like. No was a successful
pitch in three straight midterms going back to 2006. The GOPs 1946 slogan, Had Enough? Vote
Republican, was a model of simple and clever effectiveness.
But the evidence of the moment is that had enough will not be enough for the GOP in 2016. Of course
we cannot know from Hillary Rodham Clintons leads of around nine or 10 points over her major
Republican competitors that she will ultimately prevail. Still, her advantage owes at least in part to unease
about where Republicans would take the country if they won both the presidency and Congress. For now,
voters dont want to go there.
Events of the past week underscore why. The absurdity of going to the wire on funding the Department of
Homeland Security tells us that many in the party, particularly right-wingers in the House, do not care
about how their inability to govern in an orderly fashion looks to citizens outside the conservative bubble.
For the more radical members of Speaker John Boehners caucus, this is all about high principle. Since
most of them come from very conservative districts, they will only strengthen their own political
situations by continuing to link Department of Homeland Security funding to overturning President
Obamas executive actions on immigration. They have nothing to lose.
But collectively, their party has a lot to lose. To win the presidency and to improve their chances of
holding the Senate in 2016, Republicans will have to do far better with Latino voters than Mitt Romney
did in 2012. This fight will only make that harder. And middle-of-the-road voters dont like this sort of
brinksmanship, as well they shouldnt.
The way Republicans are behaving could thus turn one of the partys assets, the likelihood that they will
hold their House majority for some time, into a liability. This argument is advanced forcefully by political
scientist Thomas Schaller in his new book, The Stronghold.
Schaller describes the potential of a vicious cycle: As the party has become more conservative, it has
become more Congress-centered, anchored to and defined by its congressional wing, and its House
caucus in particular. But a majority of its House members are either extremely conservative or fearful of

primaries from the right. This makes the House highly sensitive to right-wing donors, right-wing media
and right-wing voters and far less responsive to those middle-ground citizens who usually decide
presidential elections. The danger, says Schaller, is that the GOPs congressional stronghold could
become a chokehold.
The doings at the Conservative Political Action Conference that closed on Saturday only reinforced the
point. Republican presidential candidates worry about those very conservative primary voters too, and
CPAC was an excellent opportunity for the hopefuls to show how well they can dance to the oppositionist
tune, a chorus of nos to Obama, Clinton, liberalism and big government.
Jeb Bush, who is actually very conservative, has put up some resistance to the spirit of negativity. We
shouldnt be the reactionary party to how bad things are, he told a Club for Growth gathering in Florida
on Thursday.
When he appeared at CPAC on Friday, he did declare that we have to start being for things again, but
only after praising Republicans in Congress for standing up to Obama. He sidestepped when Fox News
Sean Hannity asked about the House Republicans approach to DHS funding though he did speak of his
partys need to win more Latino votes.
Bush would clearly like to take a cue from his brother who, before the 2000 election, occasionally
distanced himself from an unpopular right-wing Congress. But Jeb is orchestrating his independence with
great caution and some ambivalence. The GOP is well to the right of where it was 15 years ago and also
much more insulated. Its worth remembering that Fox didnt become the largest cable news network until
2002.
In my experience, the people who see Jeb Bush as the most electable nominee tend to be Democrats, not
Republicans. This may prove his general election strategy is working, but it also shows his party may not
let him get there because its quite happy being reactionary.

#CPAC2015: College Students Talk of AntiConservative Campus Atmosphere

Its not easy to be a conservative college student these days.
http://www.mrc.org/articles/cpac2015-college-students-talk-anti-conservative-campus-atmosphere
March 3, 2015
By Kristine Marsh & Katie Yoder
Everyone knows that college campuses are hubs for liberal groupthink and propaganda. But the media
never cover the presence of conservative voices on campuses. So MRC Culture asked conservative
students at CPAC, Have you ever been treated differently because youre a conservative on campus?
The answers we got were not surprising and reveal stories that the media is too biased to report.
Students from colleges around the U.S. talked about being shut down by professors and fellow students;
even being afraid to tell their professors that they were going to CPAC for fear of repercussion.
This kind of cultural fascism is nothing short of common on college campuses today.
As MRC President Brent Bozell said at CPAC, It is not hyperbole to say that on many college campuses,
conservatives live in fear.

We Asked CPAC Attendees: In One Word,

How Do Liberals Portray Women? Liberal
media is anything but empowering to women.
http://www.mrc.org/articles/we-asked-cpac-attendees-one-word-how-do-liberals-portray-women
Published: 3/3/2015
By Kristine Marsh & Katie Yoder
Victims. Weak. Unintelligent. Hopeless. Thats how the left and its media allies portray women,
according to young conservatives at CPAC.
The War on Women has been debunked many times over, but still the media enjoy taking any
opportunity they can to make conservatives look sexist, out-of-touch, and anti-women. So MRC Culture
wanted to know what conservatives believe the lefts message to women is. We asked, in one word,
describe how liberals portray women. Here are the answers we got:
The liberal media boast a history of shameful attacks on conservative women, from MSNBCs Martin
Bashir suggesting someone should defecate in Sarah Palin's mouth to entertainment news criticizing
Stacey Dash for being appalled by Patricia Arquettes Academy Awards speech. After a panel last
summer on communicating to women, Rep. Ann Wagner argued that conservative women fight three
times as hard in order to have our voices heard in the media.
Kristine Marsh is Staff Writer for MRC Culture at the Media Research Center. Follow Kristine Marsh
on Twitter.
We Asked CPAC Attendees: In One Word, How Do Liberals Portray Women?
Liberal media is anything but empowering to women.
Media Research Center
Hopeful NYT: 'A Pleasant Surprise' for Govt. That Kennedy Might Flip

Victims. Weak. Unintelligent. Hopeless. Thats how the left and its media allies portray women,
according to young conservatives at CPAC.
The War on Women has been debunked many times over, but still the media enjoy taking any
opportunity they can to make conservatives look sexist, out-of-touch, and anti-women. So MRC Culture
wanted to know what conservatives believe the lefts message to women is. We asked, in one word,
describe how liberals portray women. Here are the answers we got:
The liberal media boast a history of shameful attacks on conservative women, from MSNBCs Martin
Bashir suggesting someone should defecate in Sarah Palin's mouth to entertainment news criticizing
Stacey Dash for being appalled by Patricia Arquettes Academy Awards speech. After a panel last
summer on communicating to women, Rep. Ann Wagner argued that conservative women fight three
times as hard in order to have our voices heard in the media.

The Federal Government has a Spending

Problem, Not a Revenue Problem
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-federal-government-has-a-spending-problem-not-arevenue-problem/article/2560923
March 2, 2015
By: Jason Russell

Conservatives and liberals often look at the federal budget deficit and see two different things: a spending
problem or a revenue problem. The chart above makes multiple points affirming that federal spending is
driving the deficit, not lackluster revenues.
Compared to historical averages from 1965 to 2014, spending is rising much faster than revenues.
Spending is projected to rise almost 6 percentage points higher than its historical average, whereas
revenue is projected to rise only 2 percentage points above average revenue.

Furthermore, revenue is not projected to rise enough to meet the historical average from 1965 to 2039, let
alone the much higher spending projected in 2039.
From 1965 to 2014, federal spending averaged 20.1 percent of GDP. Revenues never once reached that
level, averaging 17.4 percent of GDP over the same time period.
Tax rates weren't constant over that time period. Whether taxes were relatively high, as in the 1960s, or
low, as in the early 2000s, revenue levels were fairly constant with some swings for economic booms and
busts. From 1965 to 2014, there was only a 5.4 percent of GDP difference between maximum and
minimum revenue levels. Spending was more volatile, with a 9.3 percent of GDP difference.
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Chelsea Clinton: Men must 'lead the way' to gender equality
If he is elected to the Senate in 2016, he could run for president in 2020 without giving up his seat.
Now, with the economy projected to slowly recover, revenue is projected to slowly grow. However,
spending is projected to grow even faster. This is contrary to the precedent seen in the 1990s, when
spending fell as the economy grew.
This is partially due to mandatory spending taking up a greater portion of the federal budget. In 1990,
mandatory spending was 25 percent higher than discretionary spending. In 2014, mandatory spending was
more than double discretionary spending, and the ratio is only expected to rise.
"With increasing debt, we are less free," said House Budget Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., at the
Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. Price went on to note that President Obama's
budget would add another $8.5 trillion in debt over the next 10 years. "The president doesn't believe that
we have a spending problem, doesn't believe we have a debt problem," Price would later tell the
Washington Examiner.
Getting the budget to balance is not simply a question of getting more revenue. The tax system should be
designed to improve the economy, through simplification and rate cuts. Fiscal policy alone does not
determine economic growth, but it can be a powerful tool. Other policy changes, especially regulation,
deserve a dynamic scoring analysis that measures a change's effect on the economy and tax revenue.

CPAC Panel Offers Conservative

Alternative To Obamacare
http://www.westernjournalism.com/cpac-panel-offers-conservative-alternative-obamacare/
#XXgBQ67iBvSgdZOd.97
Monday, March 2, 2015 10:45
B. CHRISTOPHER AGEE

In an administration rife with scandal and controversy, perhaps no act over the past six years has attracted
as much criticism as the so-called Affordable Care Act. Barack Obamas attempt to turn over control of
the nations health care system to the federal government has been panned by countless Americans who
cite unsustainable costs and broken promises delivered prior to its implementation.
A panel of policy experts and elected officials joined onstage at CPAC last week to discuss the ways
conservatives can not only repeal the unpopular law, but replace it with a free market program.
One of the most important freedoms we have is to decide what is best for our families, declared
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, and includes making our own choices about health care.

Under the current administration, however, he said that freedom has been assaulted by the disastrous,
destructive law known as Obamacare.
Calling the legislation unpopular, unworkable, and unaffordable, Barrasso said a conservative approach
to health care reform would look much different.
We can do it without a 2,000-page law, he said, we can do it without a government takeover, and we
can do it without all of these incredible negative side effects of the current law.
He went on to point out a few of the disingenuous ways the Obama administration has attempted to hide
the true effects of the law, including offering subsidies to ineligible enrollees in an effort to cover up the
actual increase in coverage costs.
We are committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare while protecting those hurt by Obamas broken
promises, he concluded.
Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn weighed in on the issue as well, describing Obamacare as a huge tax
and asserting that there is no documented case of a government-operated health care system developed as
a better model than one embracing a free market approach.
She cited H&R Block, which not only called the law a tax issue no one can understand, but predicted
more than three million Americans will receive reduced tax refunds this year as a result of its
implementation.
It becomes an issue of what are we going to do about this, she said, explaining citizens are facing
decreased access, increased cost, [and] enormous tax penalties in their effort to comply with the
behemoth laws regulations.
Lets say we all agree our goal is how do you make health care more affordable for the American
people, she continued, suggested conservatives back an approach that would empower patients and
individuals to control their money, control their access, and control that relationship.
She touted her own proposal, which she has worked on for six years and, if successful, would allow
Americans to purchase the insurance coverage they choose even across state lines.
Offering his expert analysis, Ethics and Public Policy Centers Jim Capretta lambasted the Department of
Health and Human Services for its increased interest in telling doctors how to care for patients,
explaining government mandates and rationing of patient care is obviously the next stage of
Obamacare.
Capretta did give Obama credit for acknowledging the need for reform within the health care system,
though he criticized the manner in which such reform was approached.
In developing a conservative alternative, he said, we must realize that many Americans have perfectly
fine health insurance and they dont want the government to take it away from them.
He offered a number of clear steps leaders can take to reverse the negative results of Obamacare.
Allowing Americans to keep their employer-provided coverage while providing tax credits to those
without it is one tactic he suggested.
He also said the insurance market should work for patients by not penalizing those who develop a
health condition while insured.
Finally, he encouraged a rational, pragmatic approach to reforming Medicaid and Medicare.

Three noteworthy CPAC moments

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/02/three-noteworthy-cpacmoments/
March 2, 2015
By Jonathan Capehart
Now that Ive had time to ponder the jamboree that was the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC), three things ranked in order of wow! stood out.
1. Jeb Bush
It wasnt exactly a Sister Souljah moment, but it was a profile in courage by Jeb Bush when he talked
through a mix of boos and applause to say his piece on immigration reform. Fast forward to 5:30.
The plan includes a path to legal status. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million
people. We should give them a path to legal status where they work, where they dont receive government
benefits, where they dont break the law, where they learn English and where they make a contribution to
our society. Thats what we need to be focused on.
This position will cost him with the GOP primary base. But if the former Florida governor secures the
Republican presidential nomination, his unwavering position on immigration despite opposition within
his own party will help him in the general election.
2. Scott Walker
While on MSNBCs Hardball last Thursday, host Chris Matthews showed a clip of Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walkers speech and asked me to react. Fast forward to 7:00.
And up the way in Washington, we have a president, a president who draws lines in the sand and fails
to act. A president who calls ISIS the JV club, who calls Yemen a success, and who calls Iran a country
we can do business with. And to add insult to injury whose former secretary of state actually gave a reset
button to the Russians. A reset button. We need a leader in America who stands up and realizes that
radical Islamic terrorism is the threat to our way of life and to all the freedom loving people around the
world.
I dont agree with anything Walker said, but I will admit to being impressed by his energy and command
while hurling buckets of red meat to the party faithful. Unfortunately, the presumed presidential candidate
has not shown the same acumen when he performs off-script. Punting on evolution, not distancing
himself from the anti-Obama lunacy of Rudy Giuliani, casting doubt on the faith of the president and
comparing the fight against the Islamic State to his battles with labor unions, as he did in his CPAC
speech, are just four recent examples. These are signs the current golden boy of the Republican Party
remains unready for prime time. Luckily for Walker, he has time to learn and recover.
3. Chris Christie

Those heady days when the New Jersey governor was the golden boy of the Republican Party are long
gone. Christies sit-down with Laura Ingraham was one proof of that. He did well. Walker could take
some pointers. But Christie spoke from a defensive crouch for more than 20 minutes with the
conservative radio host. And the CPAC crowd provided the second bit of love-lost evidence.
(The Washington Post)
(The Washington Post)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) won the CPAC straw poll, surprising no one. Walkers second-place finish (21.4
percent) was good news for him. But Christie came in 10th with 2.8 percent. Coming on top of news that
Bush is making inroads with the New Jersey governors home-state donors, no wonder folks are saying
Christie peaked too soon.
Yeah, yeah, polls mean nothing this far out. But its sure better to be at the front or the middle of the pack
than bringing up the rear.

Whats Being Said About Former Texas

Governor Rick Perrys ELECTRIC
CPAC SPEECH
http://www.americanfreedombybarbara.com/2015/03/whats-being-said-aboutformer-texas.html
Monday, March 2, 2015
Source: RickPAC, Inc.
Every year Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC holds a meeting in Washington D.C. and
conservatives from across the states attend. Below is what the media new and mainstream plus attendees
had to say about Perrys speech.
Image result for rick perry at CPAC
Perrys full CPAC speech
Electric, Energizing Swagger Pulled No Punches An Impressive Showing Bold
Words Reaganesque Greeted With Applause And Cheers Of ApprovalGetting CPAC Crowd
Fired Up Standing Ovation Fiery Animated, Energetic Big Standing Ovation
Glasses On And Fists Flying
American Spectators Emily Zanotti: Perry Was Electric, Energizing The Tired Audience With His
Trademark Texas-Sized Personality This mornings round of Presidential contenders featured the
Texas governor and Sen. Marco Rubio, but where Rubio was steadfast and eminently relatiable, Rick
Perry was electric, energizing the tired audience with his trademark Texas-sized personality and his brand
new hipster glasses. (American Spectator, 2/27/15)
Zanotti: Rick Perry Is Far Better At Mornings Than I Am. Rick Perry Might Be Better At Mornings Than
Almost Anyone. (American Spectator, 2/27/15)
The Washington Posts Jennifer Rubin: Perry Made An Impressive Showing A Shot Across The Bow
Of Other Candidates Perry made an impressive showing, demonstrating that he knows his stuff on
foreign policy and can talk authoritatively about his economic and regulatory accomplishments. It was a
shot across the bow of other candidates: This is not the Perry of 2012. (The Washington Posts Right
Turn Blog, 2/27/15)
Rubin: And To Great Applause, He Vowed That We Even Survived Jimmy Carter. We Can Survive The
Obama Years, Too. (The Washington Posts Right Turn Blog, 2/27/15)

Rubin: In The Q And A [Perry] Did Extremely Well In the Q and A he did extremely well,
delineating his success in lowering pollutants with incentive-based regulations and reiterating that he
secured the border when Obama would not. (The Washington Posts Right Turn Blog, 2/27/15)
Politicos Daniel Lippman: Perry Struck An Energetic And Strident Tone Former Texas Gov. Rick
Perry struck an energetic and strident tone against terrorism, illegal immigration and President Barack
Obama as he spoke to conservative and libertarian activists on Friday morning here at the Conservative
Political Action Conference. (Politico, 2/27/15)
The Hills Jonathan Easley: The Big Talking Texan Can Still Work A Crowd His Texas Swagger Was
Well-Received Among Conservatives At The Conference The big talking Texan can still work a
crowd. He walked on stage to AC/DCs Back in Black, and his Texas swagger was well-received among
conservatives at the conference. (The Hill, 2/27/15)
The Blazes Zach Noble: Perry Pulled No PunchesAddressing the 2015 Conservative Political
Action Conference Friday morning, the former governor pulled no punches as he attacked the Obama
administration and touted himself as the kind of leader America needs. (The Blaze, 2/27/15) Noble: He
Took The Stage To AC/DCs Back In Black And Bragged About Texas. Thats Rick Perry For
You. (The Blaze, 2/27/15) The Blaze Headline: Rick Perrys Texas-Sized Speech Fires Up Conservative
Activists (The Blaze, 2/27/15)
The Washington Times David Sherfinski: A Fired-Up Rick Perry A fired-up Rick Perry warned the
crowd Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington that at no time in
the last 25 years has the future been more uncertain and the world more dangerous than it is today. (The
Washington Times, 2/27/15)
Texas Tribunes Abby Livingston: Perry Held The Crowd With Withering Criticisms Of President
Obamas Foreign Policy. (Texas Tribune, 2/27/15)
The New York Times Maggie Haberman: Many Lines In His Speech Were Greeted With Applause And
Cheers Of Approval Still, Mr. Perry has a conservative record as a former Texas governor, and many
lines in his speech were greeted with applause and cheers of approval. (The New York Times, 2/27/15)
Fox News Insider Blog: An Animated Address Drew A Big OvationIn an animated address
(watch below), Perry lambasted the president for his refusal to acknowledge that ISIS is a religious
movement. And he drew a big ovation with this line. We had a Civil War, two World Wars, we
survived a depression. We even survived Jimmy Carter. We will survive the Obama years too! said
Perry. (Fox News Insider Blog, 2/27/15)
Townhalls Cortney OBrien: Perry Had Some Bold Words For The Obama Administration And A
Congress That Has Done Little To Secure Not Only Our Foreign Security, But Our Own Borders. At
no time has the world been more dangerous, former Texas Governor Rick Perry said not long after he
took the stage at this years Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Perry, who
is rumored to run for president next year, had some bold words for the Obama administration and a
Congress that has done little to secure not only our foreign security, but our own borders. (Townhall,
2/27/15)
Breitbarts Bob Price: Perry Received A Strong Positive Reaction From The AudienceFormer Texas
Governor Rick Perry received a strong positive reaction from the audience at CPAC when he said
America must secure its border before we can talk about immigration reform. (Breitbart, 2/27/15) Price:
In A Reaganesque Moment, Perry Made His Third And Final Point, Stating, I Have Never Been More
Certain Than I Am Today That Americas Best Days Are In Front Of Her. (Breitbart, 2/27/15)

National Reviews Andrew Johnson: The Room Was Close To Full When Perry Took The Stage, With
Attendees Crowding In The room was close to full when Perry took the stage, with attendees
crowding in to find out how he would recast himself as he reportedly considers another presidential
bid. (National Review, 2/27/15)
Dallas Morning News Todd J. Gillam: Perry Blasted The President For Maltreating Israel Perry
blasted the president for maltreating Israel even as it refuses to quash Irans nuclear ambitions. (Dallas
Morning News, 2/27/15)
CNN: Perry Slugged Obama For His Handling Of Foreign Threats Like ISIS.Perry also slugged
Obama who was the sole focus of his speech and remarks in a subsequent question-and-answer session,
unlike other Republicans who have hit Hillary Clinton or other party members for his handling of
foreign threats like ISIS. (CNN,2/27/15)
The Associated Press: Perry Slammed President Barack Obamas Approach To Dealing With World
Leaders Perry slammed President Barack Obamas approach to dealing with world leaders, arguing
that the world would be safer if the White House took a harder line approach. (The Associated Press,
2/27/15) USA Todays David Jackson: Perry Is Getting CPAC Crowd Fired Up Jackson Tweet: Rick
Perry is getting CPAC crowd fired up over immigration, taxes, health care, and government
regulations. (Twitter.com, 2/27/15)
McClatchy DCs David Lightman: Standing Ovation For [Gov. Perry] At #CPAC2015 (Twitter.com,
2/27/15)
Canadian Press Alexander Panetta: A Fiery Answer Panetta Tweet: Moderator: How do you deal
with illegal immigrants? Rick Perry: A fiery answer on first securing border, then lets have that
conversation (Twitter.com, 2/27/15)
Townhalls John Harkins: Perry Has A Much More Animated, Energetic Speaking Style Harkins:
Rick Perry has a much more animated, energetic speaking style in this run, now that his back isnt
injured any more. #CPAC2015 (Twitter.com, 2/27/15)
Austin American Statesmans Jonathan Tilove: Highly AnimatedTilove Tweet: [Gov. Perry] delivery
is highly animated with lots of gesticulating, arms and hands in constant motion. (Twitter.com, 2/27/15)
USA Todays Catalina Camia: Perry Made His Case To Be The Next Commander In Chief Rick
Perry made his case to be the next commander in chief as he knocked the Obama administrations
incompetence on crises such as the threat from the Islamic State and tensions in the Middle East. (USA
Today, 2/27/15)

USA Today Headline: Rick Perry Blasts Obamas Misguided Foreign Policy At CPAC (USA
Today, 2/27/15)
Mediaites Andrew Kirell: Perry Gave A Rather Energetic Set Of Remarks Garnering Quite A Bit Of
Applause Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave a rather energetic set of remarks Friday morning at the
2015 Conservative Political Action Conference, garnering quite a bit of applause for several of his big
one-liners. (Mediaite, 2/27/15)
New York Daily News Adam Edelman: Perry SHOWED Off Some Newly Found Foreign Policy
Chops Former TEXAS GOV. Rick Perry showed off some newly found foreign policy chops in a
plainspoken speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday, emphasizing pressing national
security issues like ISIS, Irans nuclear program and the nations relationship with Israel. (New York
Daily News, 2/27/15)

National Journals Josh Kraushaar: Perry Going All In On Attacking Obamas Dangerous Foreign
Policy. Kraushaar Tweet: Perry going all in on attacking Obamas dangerous foreign policy. The latest
to continue the anti-Rand approach (Twitter.com, 2/27/15)
Breitbarts Charlie Spiering: Calls For A Tough Foreign Policy Have Dominated Perrys Speech So Far.
(Twitter.com, 2/27/15)
NBC News Headline: Perry Slams Obamas Views On ISIS As Simply Not True, Misguided (NBC
News, 2/27/15)
KTRKs Tom Abrahams: Big Standing Ovation For [Gov. Perry] As He Takes Stage Abrahams
Tweet: Big standing ovation for [Gov. Perry] as he takes stage to AC/DC Back In Black (Twitter.com,
2/27/15)
Talking Points Memo: Glasses On And Fists Flying, Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry On Friday Belted
Out An Address At The Conservative Political Action Conference Glasses on and fists flying, former
Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday belted out an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference
that wandered throughout but landed a few big applause lines. (Talking Points Memo, 2/27/15)

Covering Washington
http://townhall.com/columnists/richgalen/2015/03/02/covering-washington-n1964250
Mar 02, 2015
By: Rich Galen

I love Twitter. With the advent of Twitter I can follow the major (and even some minor) national reporters
and get 127 versions of what all of them have just seen, heard, and thought.
For someone like me, that is a significant time-saver and amajormoney saver.
The recent CPAC convention is a case in point. First of all kudos to Matt Schlapp, chairman of the
American Conservative Union which organized the convention. By all accounts it went off without a
major hitch, and just about all of the major (and even some minor) unannounced, but "seriously
considering" candidates for the GOP nomination made an appearance.
That's part of what I want to discuss.
Given Twitter, cable news, instantaneous updates to stories previously filed on the websites of major (and
even some minor) news organizations' websites there is a serious competition to file first.
If that new posting can include some tidbit that no one else had yet, written with a Matt Drudgeian
breathlessness (BREAKING!) then the First Filer might not just get a mention on other websites but pats
on the back in the bar (PBBs) at the end of the working day.

What that has led to is a situation in which journalists don't just report what they're seeing and hearing;
but declaring it is the beginning, the end, the rebound, or the end of one campaign or another.
This is like watching a pre-season football game in August and having the color man in the booth telling
the play-by-play guy (and the audience) not just whether a play worked or not; but declaring the ultimate
winner of the Superbowl the next February, based on that play.
While CPAC was going on in suburban Maryland, just up the Potomac another game was afoot as House
Republicans fumbled in their first attempt to force House Democrats to support a short-term funding bill
for the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS is not the issue; the issue is looking for ways to defund or otherwise reverse President Barack
Obama's executive order on deporting illegal aliens.
Republicans thought well, I'm not sure what Republicans thought but when they finally threw in the
towel after nearly an hour (on an official 15 minute vote) the vote was 203-224 to extend funding for
three weeks.
Twelve Democrats disregarded the instructions of their leadership and voted for the bill. Unfortunately, 52
Republicans ignored the wishes of the GOP leaders and voted against it.
Having made their point, Democrats later in the evening helped pass a one-week funding bill so every
non-essential employee at DHS who would not have shown up for work on Saturday

Who scored, who didn't, at CPAC

http://staugustine.com/news/politics/2015-02-28/who-scored-who-didnt-cpac#.VP2eeUZVoqE
Posted: February 28, 2015 - 8:55pm
By David Lightman

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP
Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Carolyn Kaster
Carolyn Kaster

MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU

OXON HILL, Md. Scott Walker has momentum with conservatives. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have the
passion. And Jeb Bush still faces widespread skepticism thats not going away.
Those were some of the conclusions as thousands of conservatives ended a four-day conference Saturday
with fresh takes on potential candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, impressions that
will help shape the early stages of the wide-open race.
Thirteen potential candidates each got 20 minutes before the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Walker, the Wisconsin governor, got the loudest applause, with Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, and
Cruz, a senator from Texas, close behind. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was the grass-roots
champion, as his T-shirted army seemed to be everywhere.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stoked considerable curiosity with his detailed prescription for derailing the
Common Core educational standards. And former business executive Carly Fiorina got buzz for her lively
zingers aimed at likely Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
None emerged as the clear rising star. Walker came closest. Hes stoked interest because hes a new face,
a 47-year-old just-re-elected governor from a nominally Democratic state who took on labor unions and
won.
His appearance at the meeting was tarnished a bit, though, when he appeared to liken union protesters in
Wisconsin to terrorists. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, he said, I can do the same across the
world.
Walker nonetheless remained an attractive option to a bloc of activists frustrated that the past two
Republican presidential nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney, werent conservative enough and
seemed too tied to the mainstream political establishment.
Barbara Decker, a San Diego retiree, liked Walker and Cruz, explaining, Im tired of establishment
figures.
That was Bushs burden, and will be for some time. Hes not only the candidate piling up big donor
money and tapping a network of well-known insiders, hes also the son and brother of presidents.
That bothered a lot of people at the conference. Im not a fan of imperial presidencies, said Travis
Murray, a Coast Guard officer from Shorewood, Ill. The Founding Fathers never intended to have a
hierarchy handing down the presidency to future generations.
The Bush name also remains a source of conservative wariness. Theres a lot of Bush fatigue, said
David Keene, former American Conservative Union chairman, and neither his brother or father was seen
by many conservative as conservative enough.
They disliked President George H.W. Bush for agreeing to a tax increase after pledging no new taxes.
They criticized President George W. Bush for presiding over huge federal deficits in his second term.
Jeb Bushs supporters said he did what he needed to do at this conference. He flooded the convention hall
with supporters when he spoke Friday, making sure cheers drowned out booing for his immigration and
education resume.
Those issues will continue to dog Bush. He maintained that the Common Core educational standars,
which he supports, is not a federal overreach into a local function, a view not widely shared here. While
the standards were developed by governors and education officials, the Obama administration has tied
some federal funding to acceptance of the standards.
Bush also reiterated his support for a path to legalization for many immigrants now in this country
illegally. To supporters, thats the kind of stance that will help him if hes the nominee and needs to attract
a wider audience.
He explained himself very well, said Ed Cowling, a Phoenix public relations executive. The crowd
really seemed to quiet down as he spoke.
Not in the halls. No, a thousand times no, said Nedra Babcock, a Tulsa prison reform advocate, of
Bush. Why not? Common Core.
The next test for these potential candidates will be pulling away from the pack.

Some made progress. It was hard to walk down a hall without someone trying to slap a Run Ben Run
sticker somewhere, or offer a Stand with Rand button. Walker got positive comments everywhere,
notably for fighting the unions. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida got some mention for his explanations of his
views, notably how hes learned a lesson from his initial stand on immigration, which was protested by
conservatives.
Others were all but forgotten in the Saturday hall chatter. Few were talking about potentials such as New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry or
Donald Trump.
Most will appear again next Saturday at the Iowa Ag Forum, where theyll address rural issues. Theyre
also quietly competing in the money primary. Bush is expected to be the leader in fundraising.
The true gauge of whos up and down will be more subtle and difficult to measure. Activists headed home
Saturday with new thoughts and feelings about these candidates, ready to share them with like-minded
friends and associates.
Impressions forged here will matter, and thats why Walker emerged with a slight edge. He seems real,
Babcock said.
***
Straw Poll winners
n Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, 26 percent
n Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, 21 percent
n Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 11.5 percent
n Dr. Ben Carson, 11 percent
n Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 8 percent
n Less than 5 percent Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pa. Sen. Rick Santorum,
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Scott Walker finishes second in CPAC

presidential straw poll
http://chippewa.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/scott-walker-finishes-second-in-cpac-presidentialstraw-poll/article_0b21ed69-3f2f-52e5-8c1d-e76f019335ba.html
March 01, 2015
JOE SKIPPER Associated Press

Gov. Scott Walker jokes with board member Frayda Levin at the conclusion of his remarks at the winter
meeting of the free market Club for Growth winter economic conference Saturday in Palm Beach, Fla.
March 01, 2015 5:20 am MATTHEW DeFOUR mdefour@madison.com, 608-252-6144
(1) Comments
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Tracking Scott Walker
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Gov. Scott Walker sustained his presidential momentum at a conservative
gathering just outside Washington last week, finishing second in the events straw poll despite a third
speaking stumble in as many weeks.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the Conservative Political
Action Conference, said Walker finished strong, but the 2016 presidential nomination is wide open.
I view this race as being very unusual in American politics, Schlapp said. Its an open seat and the
Republicans dont have an obvious next person.
In results announced Saturday after the four-day session, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul came in first place in
the poll for the third straight year. Last year, he won with 31 percent support but fell to 26 percent this
year.

Walker received 7 percent support last year, but leaped to 21 percent this year. When combining first and
second choices, Paul received 42 percent and Walker received 40 percent. Walker received the most
second-place votes.
Stephen Flanagan, 60, the Florida state director for Concerned Veterans for America, said he voted for
Walker in the straw poll because he has proven that he can do the job.
He stands for what we (as conservatives) stand for in terms of fiscal conservatism and doing whats right
for his state, Flanagan said. More than that, I think hes withstood probably the biggest assault of any
governor in the history of this country when he ran for a recall election.
David Perez, 24, a staffing recruiter from Wayne, New Jersey, picked Paul, and said he doesnt like what
hes heard of Walkers support for putting boots on the ground in the Middle East.
If youre going to lower taxes, you have to lower spending, Perez said. At the end of the day, I dont
really see how Scott Walker can accomplish that. I kind of feel like its rhetoric. Hes saying, Lets cut
taxes and lower spending, but he wants to increase military spending and that never works.
The poll included 3,007 respondents, 42 percent of whom were students. It included 17 names, all of
whom either have said they are seriously considering running or are accepting invitations to presidential
forums.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz placed third at 12 percent, retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson finished fourth
at 11 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came in fifth at 8 percent, despite the conservative
audience being hostile toward some of his more moderate positions.
The previous eight CPAC straw polls had been won by Paul, his father, Ron, a former Texas
representative, or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Rand Paul and his father have performed well
here because they appeal to young, libertarian-minded conservatives who turn out en masse for the
grassroots event. Romney won three straight from 2007-09 and again in 2012, when he went on to
become the GOP presidential nominee.
Walker is one of six Republican presidential contenders who has a shot at going the distance, according to
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and an ACU board member. The others he
mentioned include Bush and Paul, but also New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who finished 10th, 11th and 12th and polled a combined 4 percent.
Other people dont have the name ID, the capacity to raise money or the narrative as to why they should
run, Norquist said.
Walkers visit to CPAC did not go off without a hitch. After his speech Thursday, he was asked how he
would handle Islamic State terrorists as commander-in-chief, and said, If I can take on 100,000
protesters, I can do the same across the world.
Walker quickly clarified that he wasnt comparing the protesters who occupied the state Capitol in 2011 to
terrorists, but Democrats demanded an apology and even Perry called the remarks inappropriate.
Ned Ryun, founder and president of American Majority, which trains conservative activists, said during a
panel discussion Saturday about the conference that Walkers speech was obviously very well received.
But he also offered mild criticism.
I thought he could have done a little bit better job answering the questions that I asked, said Ryun, who
asked Walker about ISIS, how to impart hope to young people, net neutrality and the minimum wage.

Walker, whose newly formed political action committee opened a national headquarters in Madison a few
days ago, characterized this weeks episode as media driven, similar to his dismissal of previous instances
when his staff had to issue statements clarifying his position on evolution and whether he thinks President
Barack Obama is a Christian.
Im not going to take that bait, the 47-year-old Walker said Saturday about his recent media encounters,
while speaking to the Club for Growths annual winter meeting in Florida. Im going to talk about things
that everyday Americans want to talk about.
Walker also told attendees, according to Politico, that the most significant foreign policy decision in my
lifetime was made by a president who was previously a governor, referring to President Ronald Reagans
decision to fire striking air traffic controllers in 1981.
He previously had referred to the action as one of the most significant in trying to boost his own foreign
policy credentials. The moderator of the event, a Paul supporter, told Walker that donors at a recent New
York event where Walker spoke were unimpressed by his remarks on foreign policy.
Thats interesting because, actually, a number of columns were written that said just the opposite,
Walker said, according to Politico. They said they were surprised by how well prepared we were to talk
about foreign policy.
Walker announced last week that he will be conducting another trade mission to Europe in April. On a
trade mission to London last month, he was criticized for not answering questions about foreign policy or
evolution. He only took two foreign trips during his first four years in office.
Next weekend, Walker heads to Iowa for the second time this year for an agricultural summit that will
feature other presidential contenders. The following weekend, hell rally Republican activists in New
Hampshire before returning to Washington for the annual Gridiron Club Dinner, a white-tie gathering of
journalists and politicians that will also feature President Barack Obama.

____________________________________

Can conservatives come together?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/28/politics/cpac-candidates-analysis/
February 28, 2015
By Stephen Collinson, CNN
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (CNN) - Conservatives are trying to overcome their biggest challenge:
themselves.
As the Conservative Political Action Conference wrapped up its annual gathering here on Saturday,
conservatives were determined to conquer their persistent divides and work together to help Republicans
mount a credible push for the White House next year.
After two presidential elections won by Democrats, recent CPAC meetings have often been more about
airing grievances and wallowing in the legacy of Ronald Reagan than preparing activists for power. But
CPAC leaders worked to keep the focus this year on the future and a new, more diverse generation of
GOP leaders.
"We need to go out and communicate a modern message to voters who weren't alive when Reagan was
president," said American Conservative Union board member John Eddy.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, 43, added: "a conservative candidate who ignores moderates is as
misguided as a moderate candidate who ignores conservatives."
But talking about unifying Republicans is easier than actually doing it.
Just a few miles up the Potomac River from the CPAC gathering, Republicans on Capitol Hill were
feeling their way through another meltdown over the weekend. Speaker John Boehner failed to corral
conservatives behind a bill to keep the Department of Homeland Security running, forcing him to come
up with a last minute alternative Friday night and renewing questions about his ability to maintain control
of the House.

But that didn't seem to matter much at CPAC, which was the usual riot of late night parties, Democratbaiting, tough talk on foreign policy and off color jokes about Bill Clinton.
"The kids are in charge!" declared the American Conservative Union's energetic new leader Matt Schlapp
at a four-day conference packed with "boot camps" and tutorials to train activists in the political ground
game.
There was even talk of emulating President Barack Obama. Conservatives once mocked Obama for being
a community organizer but, chastened by his two electoral wins, there's now a certain admiration for his
brand of precinct-by-precinct politics and record of uniting Democrats.
Charlie Kirk, leader of Turning Point USA, a national conservative student movement, said Democrats,
unlike Republicans, were able to unite behind common principles without "infighting."
"We can learn from the left in that regard," he said.
In the event's straw poll, which provides a snapshot of conservative opinion but is a poor predictor of
presidents, Sen. Rand Paul pulled off his third win in a row in a fresh show of his organizational muscle
and appeal to younger voters. He beat out Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by four points. Texas Sen. Ted
Cruz, neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush rounded out the top five.
It was difficult to make firm conclusions about the poll because it disproportionately attracts students and
young voters who may not reflect the eventual Republican electorate.
But though CPAC organizers were pre-occupied with building the infrastructure of the next election, most
excitement surrounded the candidates, who seemed much more professional than some of their
predecessors in 2012.
The big questions going into CPAC were: Can Bush win over conservative critics? Is Walker ready for
prime time? And can another candidate break into the conversation?
Bush braved the lion's den and boos from conservatives who abhor his positions on Common Core
education standards and immigration reform. His 8% total in the straw poll was not a surprise. But the
consensus after his performance in a Q&A session on Friday indicated he might have helped himself a
little.
"He was impressive. He came across and shared his conservatism really well," said Glenn McCall, a
Republican National Committeeman from South Carolina who had previously been skeptical about
Bush's appeal to grass roots conservatives.
"I think it is going to play well for him," McCall said. "People are going to be excited in South Carolina
after seeing him (at CPAC)."
Bush stood his ground on his differences with the movement, but offered his most explicit statement yet
that he was a true conservative while governing Florida.
But he still has work to do.
Talk show host Laura Ingraham voiced the fears of many CPACers when she complained Bush was so
close to Hillary Clinton on surveillance, immigration and education that "they might was well run on the
same ticket."

Walker lived up to his billing as the hot new conservative hope. "Run Scott Run," the crowd chanted as he
reeled off his resume on hammering unions and slashing taxes.
But he again showed a tendency to set off media brushfires a week after being caught up in a tussle over
whether Obama and is a Christian and loves his country.
When asked how he would handle ISIS, Walker said that if he can take on 100,000 protestors at home, he
could "do the same across the globe" in an answer which seemed to reveal his foreign policy
inexperience.
Rubio, who hurt his ties with conservatives by initially backing comprehensive immigration reform in the
Senate, got a warm reception and so did Cruz. Paul sought to distance himself from isolationist sentiment
among many in his libertarian base by promising a strong defense against the "barbaric cult" of ISIS.
Christie, meanwhile, played into a widespread feeling at CPAC, and foreshadowed an attack line against
Bush, when he said that rich donors should not decide the Democratic nomination.
The party's relatively minor potential contenders, like Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, John Bolton, and
Rick Perry, also gave speeches which seem more likely to usefully shape the party's debate rather than
drive it to the extreme.
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, meanwhile, offered a tutorial in
how to take down Clinton, who was universally condemned as a disastrous secretary of state who will
seek a "third term for Obama."
"The funny thing about Hillary Clinton, the more people that hear from her the less they like her," Priebus
said. "Hillary never comes out in public these days. If there's not a private luxury jet and a quarter of a
million dollar speaking fee, you can forget about it."
But Democrats scoffed at the idea that conservatives were now turning to the kind of techniques
pioneered by Obama.
"Of course they are trying to run their presidential campaigns with our message (#WeWonTwice), but
their policies don't match and voters know that. And with 619 days until the election, anyone who hasn't
figured that out already is going to," said DNC spokeswoman Holly Shulman.

CPAC HAS CHOSEN A WINNER FOR

2016.
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/cpac-has-chosen-a-winner-for-2016/question-4727370/
Posted February 28, 2015
by Yo'Adrienne..AFCL
BUT THE BEST NEWS......is 1.) Jeb Bush was 5th.....
and 2.) it's far from over.
Rand Paul edged Scott Walker out of the top spot...and
Dr. Ben Carson had a great showing at 4th....
After three days packed with Republican stars peddling their latest book, 2016 presidential hopefuls vying
for grassroots approval and business attire including tricorn hats and American flags, the long-awaited
Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll results are in.
2016 GOP presidential hopefuls make their cases at CPAC conference
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won over CPAC's right-wing activists for the third year in a row with more than
a quarter of the votes.
"Since President Ronald Reagan, the Conservative Political Action Conference has been the gold standard
on where conservatives stand," Paul
said after the announcement of his victory. "The constitutional conservatives of our party have spoken in a
loud and clear voice today. I plan on doing my part, and I hope you will join me as I continue to make the
GOP a bigger, better and bolder party."
The conference, held by the American Conservative Union (ACU), chose Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as
the second place winner, with the 2016 GOP hopeful raking in 21.4 percent.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson finished in third (with 11.5 percent) and
fourth (with 11 percent) place, respectively. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came in fifth place at 8
percent.
Other Republican stars, like former Sen. Rick Santorum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and real estate mogul
Donald Trump, rounded out the list of 17 potential candidates.
The poll results are the final culmination of a Maryland weekend loaded with heated speeches and the
occasional grilling by conservative talk show hosts. The invited speakers treat it as a testing ground for
their 2016 messaging: Walker pitched his executive experience as foreign policy competence, Bush
answered for his record on immigration and education reform, and everyone bashed presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Scott Walker didn't compare unions to ISIS

Donald Trump scolds Republicans: "Toughen up"
It's the straw poll that launches a thousand spinoffs: attendees at CPAC spawn a drove of Twitter polls,
official flash polls, even satirical troll polls. And the survey looms so large in the conservative
imagination that veteran strategists have deemed it the "starting gun of the Republican primary
campaign."
But while dispatches with the "Oxon Hill, Md." dateline overran Washington media outlets during the last
few days, the confab's popularity obscures its actual predictive accuracy.
"The track record of CPAC straw polls in predicting the Republican nominee is not a good one,"
American University political science professor Richard Benedetto told CBS News. "History shows us
this starting in the 1980s. "
The polling data underscores this. According to a National Journal report, in 41 years of the poll's
existence, only three presidential nominees have been winners of the survey. The winners in years past are
typically a reflection of grassroots activism, with Paul leading the GOP pack in 2013 and 2014, rather
than overall Republican sentiment.
Jeb Bush, Rand Paul top GOP's 2016 presidential wish list: Poll
Even months away from GOP primaries, the small sample doesn't hold up to national polling data. CBS
News' latest election poll doesn't necessarily reflect this conservative hierarchy. Bush and Paul lead
among self-identified Republicans, with 41 percent and 39 percent respectively.
The ACU, which flashily advertises their headliners using adaptations of Avengers posters (complete with
"Conservatives Assemble" tagline), gains a lot of press coverage from CPAC.
"First, the CPAC straw poll is a reflection of a candidate's ability to organize," Ian Walters, ACU's
communications director, told CBS News. "On top of that, they have to be able to come here to this event
and be able to connect with conservatives -- and the grassroots conservative movement."
The ACU bills itself as the "oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization in the nation,"
according to their website. And their reputation precedes them -- CPAC is indeed an activist stronghold
and a bastion for grassroots campaigning.
But political experts say that it's not really a true representation of the Republican Party's demographics,
nor does it actually reflect the voters who take part in the early primaries of presidential years.
"This is a strange part of the conservative base," CBS News' John Dickerson said of conference attendees.
"It's kind of the smallest core of the conservative core, which is just a portion of the Republican group."
Over 3,000 registrants voted in CPAC's 2015 poll, with a plurality of those being 18-25 year-olds.

Election 2016: Rand Paul Wins CPAC

Straw Poll; Jeb Bush Finishes Fifth
http://www.ibtimes.com/election-2016-rand-paul-wins-cpac-straw-poll-jeb-bush-finishesfifth-1831858
February 28, 2015
By: Marcy Kreiter

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., won the CPAC straw poll for the third time in as many years Saturday. Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Conservative darling Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., picked up his third win in a row Saturday at the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, giving an early boost to his likely bid for the 2016
Republican presidential nomination, Politico reported. Paul garnered nearly 25.7 percent of the vote,
topping Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 21.4 percent, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's 11.5 percent and Dr. Ben
Carson's 11.4 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush finished fifth with just 8 percent of the vote and
former Texas Gov. Rick Perry garnered an abysmal 1.1 percent, coming in 11th, behind New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie's 2.8 percent.

A guest reaches for a flag pin at the Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) booth at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National
Harbor, Maryland, Feb. 28, 2015. Reuters/Mike Theiler

Paul is popular among segments of the GOP, especially libertarians, but a win at CPAC is far from a
guarantee the presidential nomination is in the bag. Candidates can bring supporters to the conference and
then purchase passes for them to boost poll numbers. Last year, Paul took 31 percent of the vote, and in
2013 he took 25 percent.
Bush supporters flocked to his question-and-answer session but an adviser told Politico the likely
presidential hopeful, favored by the Republican establishment but unpopular with more conservative
elements because of his immigration and education policies, would not make a major effort in the straw
poll. The Hill, however, reported Bush bused hundreds of supporters in to show strength.
Bush tried to polish his right-wing credentials in an appearance Friday, criticizing President Obama for
going "way beyond his constitutional powers." His remarks, however, were met with just mild applause
and boos along with the cheers, the Boston Herald reported. He actually drew jeers when he defended his
support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people. We should give them a path to legal status
where they work and they dont receive government benefits, Bush said.
This year's CPAC, under the leadership of American Conservative Union chief Matt Schlapp, was
mellower than previous confabs, lacking on intra-party on-stage fights and low on heckling, Bloomberg
reported. It also lacked some of the media gaffes that plagued earlier get-togethers.
The four-day meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, ended Saturday.

Rand Paul wins CPAC poll; Lindsey

Graham at bottom
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150228/PC1603/150229345/1031/rand-paul-wins-cpac-polllindsey-graham-at-bottom
Feb 28 2015 6:45 pm
By: Schuyler Kropf

National Harbor, Md. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won his third straight CPAC straw poll, while South
Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham finished with the smallest of blips.
The Conservative Political Action Conference came to a close Saturday after four days of saber-rattling
and speeches where most of the Republican White House hopefuls came to energize the faithful.
Pauls victory just barely ahead of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came from a CPAC audience that
skewed young. Many were college-age, including those from South Carolina.
The Citadel and Clemson University each were represented by Republican student delegations. Some 42
percent of those who took part in the computerized voting system identified themselves as students,
officials said.
Graham, R-S.C., chose not to appear at CPAC this week while he is mulling a White House run. Political
watchers said his absence was designed to avoid the more right-leaning conservatives who commonly
make up CPAC audiences. Many consider him too liberal and differ with him on some of the unsettled
issues of the day, including immigration reform. Seventeen potential 2016 GOP candidates were included
in the survey.
While the poll is accepted as a measurement of the activists pulse, coming in first doesnt necessarily
translate to presidential campaign success. Nor is it indicative of scientific polling of where the White
House race stands today.
The top five finishers were: Paul, 25.7 percent; Walker, 21.4 percent; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 11.5 percent;
Dr. Ben Carson, 11.4 percent; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 8.3 percent.
Graham drew only a 0.1 percent level of support, above former New York Gov. George Pataki but below
former ambassador John Bolton.
The 17 names on the ballot were selected based on indicators that they were hiring staff in early voting
states, were raising money, were talking to the media about running, and had accepted invitations to
presidential-themed forums.

If you look at these results, the people who did well will receive a bump, said Matt Schlapp, chairman
of the American Conservative Union.
A sampling of ballots by South Carolina voters showed the results were mixed. One Citadel cadet, who
asked not to be identified, said he voted for Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Paul hes kind of more libertarian which is how I see myself, he said.
Paul spoke at the Citadel more than a year ago, getting loud applause from the Corps of Cadets for his
support of libertarian government and for criticizing Hillary Clintons performance as secretary of state.
Last year, he stopped by the College of Charleston.
Poll participants were asked to pick two top selections so that organizers could show a range of where the
activists preferences are leaning.
Clemson University junior Kyra Palange said she didnt ever consider voting for Graham, even though
hes from South Carolina.
Im more a fan of (Sen.) Tim Scott than Lindsey Graham, she said. Hes Republican; hes not
conservative.
She marked Carson and Cruz on her ballot. Voting was done through a bank of computer terminals
outside the meeting hall.

CPAC: Paul edges Walker in straw poll

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/28/conservative-political-action-conferenceobama-jeb-bush-rand-paul-straw-poll/24176749/
David Jackson, USA TODAY
February 28, 2015

(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Rand Paul won a high-profile straw poll for a third straight year
Saturday, capping an annual conservative conference at which delegates argued about how to turn their
ideas into a presidential victory in 2016.
The Kentucky senator carried 25.7% in the Conservative Political Action Conference poll, while
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker finished second with 21.4% a closer-than-expected tally in this early test
of political strength among conservative Republican activists.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, finished third with 11.5%, followed closely by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson
with 11.4%.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush perhaps the most criticized candidate at this conservative conclave
finished fifth at 8.3%.
Other potential presidential candidates including Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, and Rick Perry had
less than 4% in the straw poll. Paul also won CPAC contests in 2013 and 2014.
The straw poll highlighted the four-day conference at which conservative delegates generally agreed they
need to elect one of their own to the presidency in 2016, but disputed the best way to go about it.
Some CPAC delegates said Republicans should nominate a true believer, someone who can repeal health
care, shrink the size of the federal government and aggressively wage war on the Islamic State militant
group.
Others agreed on the need for a conservative nominee but said the GOP needs to reach out to moderates
who may hold different views on immigration, education and foreign policy and will be needed to win the
presidential vote in 2016.
"I am 60% confident right now," said attendee Brian Long in-between conference sessions. "I'd like to say
I'm 80% confident."
As CPAC members swapped stories and handed out buttons and pamphlets in the hallways, the longtime
tension between "real conservatives" and "establishment Republicans" surfaced repeatedly.
It could be seen in the reactions to one prospective candidate in particular: Jeb Bush.
Although some CPAC members applauded Bush's call for "reform" conservatism, others described the
former Florida governor as a dreaded RINO Republican In Name Only. "He should be a Democrat,"
said Christmas Simon, a public speaker from Yorba Linda, Calif.
Bush's name drew boos during some of Saturday's wrap-up sessions.
Noelani Bonifacio, 26, a legislative aide to a state senator in Hawaii, said conservatives fight each other
too much. Bonifacio said she knows people who backed former Texas congressman Ron Paul during the
2012 Republican primaries, then refused to vote for eventual nominee Mitt Romney in the general
election.
"We have a lot of disagreements which is good but I think we spend too much time attacking each
other," said Bonifacio, who voted for Rubio, a Florida senator, in the straw poll. "We should be attacking
Democrats."
Bonifacio said Bush "is not my first choice," but she would vote for him in the general election if he is the
nominee because "he is better than the alternative."
Not everyone at CPAC agreed. Some cited Bush's support of a pathway to citizenship for migrants who
are in the country illegally. Others criticized his support of education standards known as "Common
Core."
Simon who cast her straw vote for "hard-core conservative" Cruz, the Texas senator said voters
want people who "really stand firm on what they believe in."
There's also the fact that the last two Republican presidents were named Bush.

"The only dynasty that I like is the Duck Dynasty," said radio talk show host Mark Levin during a CPAC
session Saturday, a reference to a television program featuring a family headed by Phil Robertson, a
religious conservative who spoke here Friday.
CPAC members some of whom spent as much time attacking the new Republican Congress as
President Obama gravitated toward prospective candidates who say they want to challenge the GOP
establishment in Washington.
That group includes Paul, Walker, Cruz and Carson.
Long, 68, a regional economist from Kalamazoo, Mich., said Republicans need to attract people who
rarely vote, just as the Democratic turnout machine helped elect Obama twice. "We have to reach out to
conservative voters who stay at home when they see a candidate who does not move them," he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, watched the proceedings at CPAC with pleasure, saying conservatives are
pushing the Republicans too far to the right to win a general election.
Jesse Lehrich, spokesman for a Democratic opposition research organization called American Bridge,
noted "the continued divide between the conservative and establishment wings of the party," exemplified
by the "animosity" toward Bush. He said that "earning the acceptance of Republican voters is
incompatible with being a viable candidate in a national election."
Republicans said the prospect of a "third Obama term" possibly in the form of Hillary Rodham Clinton
will persuade most Americans to support a conservative in 2016.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said the different types of conservatives
social, economic and national security agree more than they disagree. They also share one overarching
goal, he said: the desire to win after two terms of Obama.
"They want to win," Schlapp said. "They are ready to win."
There are months to go before any Republican caucus or primary votes are cast. But by the time CPAC
next gathers in March 2016, the identity of the Republican nominee may be known.
Getting there involves a process, said Roman Buhler, director of a Virginia-based organization called the
Madison Coalition.
"What's happening here," he said, "is the beginning stage of a really important debate to determine what it
takes to bring new leadership to the country.

CPAC Makes its Pick for 2016 in Straw Poll

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cpac-makes-its-pick-for-2016-in-straw-poll/
Last Updated Feb 28, 2015 8:14 PM EST
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS

After three days packed with Republican stars peddling their

latest book, 2016 presidential hopefuls vying for grassroots
approval and business attire including tricorn hats and
American flags, the long-awaited Conservative Political Action
Conference presidential straw poll results are in.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won over CPAC's right-wing
activists for the third year in a row with more than a quarter
of the votes.
"Since President Ronald Reagan, the Conservative Political
Action Conference has been the gold standard on where
conservatives stand," Paul said after the announcement of his
victory. "The constitutional conservatives of our party have
spoken in a loud and clear voice today. I plan on doing my

part, and I hope you will join me as I continue to make the

GOP a bigger, better and bolder party."
The conference, held by the American Conservative Union
(ACU), chose Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as the second
place winner, with the 2016 GOP hopeful raking in 21.4
percent.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben
Carson finished in third (with 11.5 percent) and fourth (with
11 percent) place, respectively. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
came in fifth place at 8 percent.
Other Republican stars, like former Sen. Rick Santorum,
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and real estate mogul Donald
Trump, rounded out the list of 17 potential candidates.
The poll results are the final culmination of a Maryland
weekend loaded with heated speeches and the occasional
conservative talk show host grilling. The invited speakers treat
it as a testing ground for their 2016 messaging: Walker
pitched his executive experience as foreign policy competence,
Bush answered for his record on immigration and education
reform, and everyone bashed presumptive Democratic
presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Scott Walker didn't compare unions to ISIS
Donald Trump scolds Republicans: "Toughen up"
It's the straw poll that launches a thousand spinoffs: attendees
at CPAC spawn a drove of Twitter polls, official flash polls,
even satirical troll polls. And the survey looms so large in the
conservative imagination that veteran strategists have deemed
it the "starting gun of the Republican primary campaign."
But while dispatches with the "Oxon Hill, Md." dateline
overran Washington media outlets during the last few days,
the confab's popularity obscures its actual predictive accuracy.

Jeb Bush takes on tough crowd at CPAC

"The track record of CPAC straw polls in predicting the
Republican nominee is not a good one," American University
political science professor Richard Benedetto told CBS News.
"History shows us this starting in the 1980s. "
The polling data underscores this. According to a National
Journal report, in 41 years of the poll's existence, only three
presidential nominees have been winners of the survey. The
winners in years past are typically a reflection of grassroots
activism, with Paul leading the GOP pack in 2013 and 2014,
rather than overall Republican sentiment.
Jeb Bush, Rand Paul top GOP's 2016 presidential wish
list: Poll
Even months away from GOP primaries, the small sample
doesn't hold up to national polling data. CBS News' latest
election poll doesn't reflect CPAC's conservative hierarchy. In
the nationwide CBS survey, Bush and Paul lead among selfidentified Republicans, with 41 percent and 39 percent
respectively.
Still, the ACU, which flashily advertises their headliners using
adaptations of Avengers posters (complete with
"Conservatives Assemble" tagline), gains a lot of press
coverage from CPAC.
"First, the CPAC straw poll is a reflection of a candidate's
ability to organize," Ian Walters, ACU's communications
director, told CBS News. "On top of that, they have to be able
to come here to this event and be able to connect with
conservatives -- and the grassroots conservative movement."

What conservatives are really saying about Jeb Bush

The ACU bills itself as the "oldest and largest grassroots
conservative organization in the nation," according to their
website. And their reputation precedes them -- CPAC is
indeed an activist stronghold and a bastion for grassroots
campaigning.
But political experts say that it's not really a true
representation of the Republican Party's demographics, nor
does it actually reflect the voters who take part in the early
primaries of presidential years.
"This is a strange part of the conservative base," CBS News'
John Dickerson said of conference attendees. "It's kind of the
smallest core of the conservative core, which is just a portion
of the Republican group."
Over 3,000 registrants voted in CPAC's 2015 poll, with a
plurality of those being 18-25 year-olds.

CPAC straw poll winner: Rand Paul

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/02/28/cpac-straw-poll-winnerrand-paul/
POSTED AT 6:24 PM ON FEBRUARY 28, 2015
BY ED MORRISSEY

To no ones great surprise, Rand Paul won the CPAC 2015 straw poll
for the third year in a row but it got a lot closer this year. Despite
having no observable ground organization, Scott Walker placed
second with 21.4% of the vote, just behind Paul:
Rand Paul won a high-profile straw poll for a third straight year
Saturday, capping an annual conservative conference at which
delegates argued about how to turn their ideas into a presidential
victory in 2016.
The Kentucky senator carried 25.7% in the Conservative Political
Action Conference poll, while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker finished
second with 21.4% a closer-than-expected tally in this early test of
political strength among conservative Republican activists.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., finished third with 11.5%, followed closely by
retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4%.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush perhaps the most criticized candidate
at this conservative conclave finished fifth at 8.3%.
Bush and Paul had the most obviously organized followings at CPAC.
Ben Carsons team exhibited some organization too, enough to get a
fourth-place finish. Cruz, who came in second last year with 11%,

finished third but with about the same level of support as in 2014, but
that did not appear to be organized support.
I took part in the final panel of the afternoon, being a last-minute
substitution for Katie Pavlich on a panel on 2016s presidential race.
The panels time kept getting extended as the straw poll tallying took
longer than expected, but we were having plenty of fun.
For the first time in my memory, there was no final keynote speaker to
end the event. This CPAC was reportedly the most well-attended,
getting over 11,300 registered attendees for the three day conference.
Straw poll voters grew by over 20% over last year, though, which may
be a result of Walkers supporters getting involved for the first time.
Looks like the American Conservative Union had a very successful
event complete with the traditional debate over the meaning of the
straw poll.

CPAC 2015 Straw Poll: Rand

Paul wins again but Scott
Walker is surging


Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National
Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) more >

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/28/cpac-straw-poll-rand-paul-wins-scottwalker-surgin/?page=all
The Washington Times
Saturday, February 28, 2015
By David Sherfinski and Seth McLaughlin

Sen. Rand Paul won this weekends Washington Times/CPAC

presidential preference straw poll for the third time, but the real battle
was going on beneath him, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker easily
distancing himself from the rest of the field, while Sen. Marco Rubio
continued to struggle as the GOP begins to debate its next White House
nominee.
The activist leaders at the Conservative Political Action Conference also
sent a message to Republicans on Capitol Hill, saying that Congress
should use its power of the purse to halt President Obamas deportation
amnesty.
More than 3,000 activists voted in the straw poll, taken Thursday
through Saturday at the conference, which was held in suburban
Maryland, and the mood was combative, with both Mr. Obama and some
Republican leaders coming under fire for everything ranging from
foreign policy to immigration.
Potential presidential candidates repeatedly criticized GOP leadership on
Capitol Hill for the way the immigration fight with Mr. Obama has gone,
and the activists on Saturday booed when former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bushs name was read as fifth place in the straw poll.
Mr. Bush says he opposes Mr. Obamas unilateral grant of amnesty to
illegal immigrants, but also says the country must legalize those illegal
immigrants at some point anyway a stance that meets with resistance
among conservatives, who generally want to see them either deported or
given some status shy of citizenship.
Immigration has also taken a toll on Mr. Rubio, who two years ago came
in second in the presidential straw poll but sank to seventh place this
year, garnering less than 4 percent of the vote.
His decline coincides with his decision to join the so-called Gang of
Eight senators who wrote the 2013 immigration bill that would have
offered most illegal immigrants a path to citizenship the legislation
that paved the way for Mr. Obamas new unilateral deportation amnesty.

The beneficiaries of the weekend were Mr. Paul and Mr. Walker, with
Sen. Ted Cruz and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson placing third and
fourth.
You have to say that Rand Paul did what he had to do when he came
here. He fired up his passionate supporters, who were out in number, as
they always are, and he maintained equilibrium with them and held them
solid, said Charlie Gerow, a board member of the American
Conservative Union, which plays host to CPAC.
Mr. Paul said his win was evidence that the GOP is looking to broaden
its message with a bolder conservative approach.
But history suggests Mr. Paul is unlikely to carry the GOPs flag come
next year. The CPAC straw poll winner a year out from the primaries has
never gone on to be the partys nominee.
Mr. Walker saw the biggest surge in this years poll, rising from sixth
place and 7 percent last year to reach 21.4 percent this year.
Karen Reagan, 38, from Raleigh, North Carolina, praised Mr. Walkers
stand against public sector labor unions in Wisconsin a battle that
earned him a recall election, which he survived. He has since won a
second term, meaning hes won three elections in swing state Wisconsin
in little more than four years.
I think he is the most unifying figure that this party has had in a couple
of decades, she said. This guy set out to do something in Wisconsin,
and he had 100,000 people screaming at him, terrorizing him and his
family.
To stand up in the face of that kind of terror and abuse, I mean there is
just no question where my heart is at, she said.
The 17 names on this years straw poll already represent somewhat of a
winnowing from last year, when more than two dozen names were
listed.
Beyond the presidential contest, the poll suggested a continued shift
among the conservative activists here toward a libertarian attitude on
marijuana. The 65 percent who said the drug should be legal for
medicinal or recreational purposes is a jump of 4 percentage points from
2014s poll.

Asked about the Common Core education standards that have become a
flashpoint, 57.6 percent of conservatives at CPAC said they would not be
able to vote for a candidate who supported the standards. That is likely
to affect Mr. Bush the most: His remarks to the conference this week
included a defense of Common Core, even though many of his rivals
have backed away from their previous support.

At CPAC, Jeb Bush does his best to

reestablish conservative credentials

By Joseph Weber

Published February 28, 2015

FoxNews.com



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/28/at-cpac-bush-does-his-best-toreestablish-conservative-creds-break-through/

Feb. 27, 2015: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Conservative Political Action
Conference in National Harbor, Md.(AP)

Potential 2016 White House candidate Gov. Jeb Bush made the
most of his opportunities this week to assure attendees at the
Conservative Political Action Conference that he rides with them
on such key issues as immigration reform and education
standards.

But that was about the best the former Florida GOP governor
could expect in a gathering where long-standing allegiances and
beliefs are hard to change.

Eschewing the ballroom speech upon which other presidential

hopefuls relied, Bush instead used a 20-minute question-andanswer session to try to reestablish his conservative credentials
and dispel notions about being a squishy moderate and
Republican establishment royalty.

The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people,

he said Friday, defended his gubernatorial record on granting
drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. We should give them a
path to legal status where they work, where they dont receive
government benefits where they make a contribution to our
society.

Eight years out of oce, Bush has had to work hard to remind
potential voters that he was among the country's most
conservative governors.

Still, some conservatives need no convincing. Bush already

enjoys formal and informal support from a growing network of
well-connected conservative leaders with whom he maintains
regular contact.

"It'd be hard to be better than Bush on the life issue," said

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a
national group that advocates for social conservative values and
supports candidates who oppose abortion. "He's said many
times -- said it to me -- that he can be counted on."

Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union,

which hosts CPAC, cannot formally endorse a presidential

candidate but says Bush had "sterling conservative credentials"

as Florida governor and "took prominent conservative positions
in a battleground state."

"Conservatives play a large role in determining who the

Republican nominee is," said Schlapp, who served as political
director in Bush's brother's White House. "People will forgive him
if they connect to him when he makes his pitch. I think that's
what's critical."

Though the crowd at CPAC, the nation's largest annual

conference of conservative activists, largely responded to
Bushes responses with cheers, others booed and walked out.

"No more Bushes. No more Clinton." chanted Georgia Tea Party

activist William Temple, who led the walkout. "What's he doing
here? He's an establishment candidate, not a conservative
candidate.

Reports that Bush supporters were bussed to CPAC from

downtown Washington and allegations they intend to ballot stu
the events straw poll have also shadowed his appearance at the
event.

But winning over some or any of those who attended the event
was always going to be dicult -- considering the popularity of
other potential Republican candidates such as retired
neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul -who won the CPAC straw poll in 2013 and 2014.

Rand Paul is not the old school conservative, said Alexis

Esneault, who especially likes Pauls eorts to reform the criminal
justice system and who attended CPAC with the nonprofit group
Young Americans for Liberty. Hes pulling in people from the left
and hes also got the youth vote. I really like that.

To be sure, many of the hundreds who attended the event were

under 30. They were eager to stake their position in conservative
politics and eagerly welcomed by the movements old guard,
which held such seminars as Reclaiming the American Dream:
Millennials Look Toward Their Future.

Paul already benefits from being the son of Libertarian and retired
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who as a presidential candidate had a large
and devoted youth following.

It would be tough not to vote for Rand, said Dave Franklin, a

stock market analyst who has attended CPAC since 2011. I was
a little skeptical at first. But hes his own man.

Bush, now largely considered to be the presumptive GOP

frontrunner, arrived at CPAC amid aggressive, nationwide
fundraising eorts, while his team and key backers take steps to
remind the party of his history as a conservative in oce.

Al Cardenas, a longtime Bush supporter and former chairman of

the American Conservative Union, said it would take Bush six to
eight months to "totally set the record straight."

Cardenas and other Bush allies say the problem is one of

misperception, as a new era of conservatives are simply less
familiar with his record as Florida governor.

Aides say that while in oce from 1999 to 2007, Bush was
among the first state executives to take on teachers unions,
lowered taxes each year and signed Florida's "stand your
ground" gun law. He was a hero among social conservatives for
his actions to keep Michael Schiavo from removing the feeding
tube from his brain-damaged wife, Terri.

It shouldn't be like this, but Bushs name almost disqualifies

him, said R.J. Robinson, a fundraiser for Run Ben Run: The
National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee. It seems
almost unanimous that nobody wants another Bush-Clinton
race.

Beyond the criticism about being soft on immigration reform,

Bush is also taking heat for his support for the Common Core
education standards.

The federal government has no role in the creation of standards

Bush said Friday, adding the government should not dictate what
is taught in schools. The role of the federal government, if any, is
to create more school choice.

Just four in 10 self-identified conservatives and tea party

supporters rated Bush favorably in an Associated Press-GfK poll

conducted earlier this month. There was evidence, too, of antiBush sentiment in the crowded hotel lobbies Thursday as
thousands of activists gathered for CPAC.

"I have not seen a single Jeb Bush button here," said Neil
McGettigan, 25, of New Jersey. "Honestly, I think the media's
more excited about him than anyone here."

CPAC: Paul edges Walker in

straw poll
David Jackson, USA TODAY 5:40 p.m. CST February 28, 2015w

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/28/conservative-political-actionconference-obama-jeb-bush-rand-paul-straw-poll/24176749/

(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Rand Paul won a high-profile straw poll for a
third straight year Saturday, capping an annual conservative conference at
which delegates argued about how to turn their ideas into a presidential
victory in 2016.
The Kentucky senator carried 25.7% in the Conservative Political Action
Conference poll, while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker finished second with
21.4% a closer-than-expected tally in this early test of political strength
among conservative Republican activists.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, finished third with 11.5%, followed closely by
retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4%.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush perhaps the most criticized candidate
at this conservative conclave finished fifth at 8.3%.
Other potential presidential candidates including Marco Rubio, Chris
Christie, and Rick Perry had less than 4% in the straw poll. Paul also
won CPAC contests in 2013 and 2014.
The straw poll highlighted the four-day conference at which conservative
delegates generally agreed they need to elect one of their own to the
presidency in 2016, but disputed the best way to go about it.
Some CPAC delegates said Republicans should nominate a true believer,
someone who can repeal health care, shrink the size of the federal
government and aggressively wage war on the Islamic State militant group.
Others agreed on the need for a conservative nominee but said the GOP
needs to reach out to moderates who may hold different views on
immigration, education and foreign policy and will be needed to win the
presidential vote in 2016.
"I am 60% confident right now," said attendee Brian Long in-between
conference sessions. "I'd like to say I'm 80% confident."
As CPAC members swapped stories and handed out buttons and
pamphlets in the hallways, the longtime tension between "real
conservatives" and "establishment Republicans" surfaced repeatedly.
It could be seen in the reactions to one prospective candidate in particular:
Jeb Bush.
Although some CPAC members applauded Bush's call for "reform"
conservatism, others described the former Florida governor as a dreaded
RINO Republican In Name Only. "He should be a Democrat," said
Christmas Simon, a public speaker from Yorba Linda, Calif.
Bush's name drew boos during some of Saturday's wrap-up sessions.
Noelani Bonifacio, 26, a legislative aide to a state senator in Hawaii, said
conservatives fight each other too much. Bonifacio said she knows people
who backed former Texas congressman Ron Paul during the 2012

Republican primaries, then refused to vote for eventual nominee Mitt

Romney in the general election.
"We have a lot of disagreements which is good but I think we spend
too much time attacking each other," said Bonifacio, who voted for Rubio, a
Florida senator, in the straw poll. "We should be attacking Democrats."
Bonifacio said Bush "is not my first choice," but she would vote for him in
the general election if he is the nominee because "he is better than the
alternative."
Not everyone at CPAC agreed. Some cited Bush's support of a pathway to
citizenship for migrants who are in the country illegally. Others criticized his
support of education standards known as "Common Core."
Simon who cast her straw vote for "hard-core conservative" Cruz, the
Texas senator said voters want people who "really stand firm on what
they believe in."
There's also the fact that the last two Republican presidents were named
Bush.
"The only dynasty that I like is the Duck Dynasty," said radio talk show host
Mark Levin during a CPAC session Saturday, a reference to a television
program featuring a family headed by Phil Robertson, a religious
conservative who spoke here Friday.
CPAC members some of whom spent as much time attacking the new
Republican Congress as President Obama gravitated toward
prospective candidates who say they want to challenge the GOP
establishment in Washington.
That group includes Paul, Walker, Cruz and Carson.
Long, 68, a regional economist from Kalamazoo, Mich., said Republicans
need to attract people who rarely vote, just as the Democratic turnout
machine helped elect Obama twice. "We have to reach out to conservative
voters who stay at home when they see a candidate who does not move
them," he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, watched the proceedings at CPAC with pleasure,
saying conservatives are pushing the Republicans too far to the right to win
a general election.
Jesse Lehrich, spokesman for a Democratic opposition research
organization called American Bridge, noted "the continued divide between
the conservative and establishment wings of the party," exemplified by the
"animosity" toward Bush. He said that "earning the acceptance of
Republican voters is incompatible with being a viable candidate in a
national election."

Republicans said the prospect of a "third Obama term" possibly in the

form of Hillary Rodham Clinton will persuade most Americans to support
a conservative in 2016.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said the
different types of conservatives social, economic and national security
agree more than they disagree. They also share one overarching goal,
he said: the desire to win after two terms of Obama.
"They want to win," Schlapp said. "They are ready to win."
There are months to go before any Republican caucus or primary votes are
cast. But by the time CPAC next gathers in March 2016, the identity of the
Republican nominee may be known.
Getting there involves a process, said Roman Buhler, director of a Virginiabased organization called the Madison Coalition.
"What's happening here," he said, "is the beginning stage of a really
important debate to determine what it takes to bring new leadership to the
country.

CPAC Straw Poll

Choosing Among 17
Potential GOP Candidates
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/cpac-straw-poll-potential-presidential/2015/02/28/id/
627484/

Saturday, 28 Feb 2015 02:51 PM

By Sandy Fitzgerald

Conservative Political Action Conference are facing a big decision about who to pick to win their
annual straw poll.
With the campaign season for the 2016 presidential election rapidly approaching, this year's
event attracted 17 names of people who are expected to mount campaigns for the GOP
nomination, reports Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee did not attend the event or speak, but his
name is still on the straw poll ballot, leaving him with the possibility of a win without making the
jaunt to the Maryland venue or mounting a campaign for convention-goers' support.
This year's event also underscored the growing division between the conservative and
moderate factions of the party. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had not missed
the event in years, did not go, nor did House Speaker John Boehner.
This year was the first that McConnell skipped for some time, and comes just one year after he
made headlines for holding up a gun during his speech on the CPAC stage, reports The
Washington Times.
Boehner, though, has not spoken at CPAC since 2010, just months before Tea Party-fueled
elections helped Republicans retake the House.
Following a marathon two-day session of speeches, CPAC attendees will have the following to
choose from, in the order their names appear on this year's straw poll ballot:

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; real estate entrepreneur Donald Trump;
former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina; former ambassador John Bolton; New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie; former New York Gov. George Pataki; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum;
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham;
retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson; Huckabee; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
Paul is defending a two-year winning streak, reports The Hill, but several other candidates this
year have organized efforts to take the poll votes and grab this year's headlines.
But how deep other potential rivals most notably Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush cut into his support will show who is on the rise in the 2016 GOP field.
"Every year serious candidates come to CPAC and organize and get people to come here for
the specific purpose of voting for them in the straw poll," said Citizens United President David
Bossie. "Does it at the end of the day really mean anything that you can have the money and an
organization to bus people in? Probably, because that means you have money and an
organization. It's important."
Bush, who is considered a more moderate candidate than most at this week's event, still
brought in hundreds of supporters to help boost his straw poll showing, but Walker's supporters
are also highly vocal this year.
But Paul has been the one who has dominated the libertarian-leaning event for the past two
years, and his speech brought convention-goers to their feet on Friday.
Some watchers, including former Florida GOP Rep. Allen West, say that the poll is just won by
whomever spends the most money bringing in supporters, and doesn't really reflect who will be
on top when it comes time to pick a GOP presidential nominee.
Mitt Romney and former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush have won the CPAC
straw poll, reports The Hill, but there have been other potential candidates including Gary
Bauer, Rudy Giuliani, George Allen, Steve Forbes, and Phil Gramm who either dropped out
early in presidential races or never ended up running.
Bossie is predicting another win for Paul, but still, the CPAC event also allows candidates to
show they are serious contenders.
"You're going to see guys like Scott Walker who didn't have an organization coming here
because he wasn't really planning on coming here in a big way," said Bossie. "This is new for
him. I'm very interested in seeing where Scott Walker is at the end of the day. Where Jeb Bush
falls will be interesting."
And even a good speech does not mean a straw poll win, said GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway,
although it helps.
"Those who win the straw poll traditionally have delivered a strong performance at CPAC but
also fill the room with people who believe in them," said Conway, who runs the straw poll. "You

can convert or persuade some in the audience, but it's also the legwork that's been done up to
that moment in filling a room with your supporters."
There may be some surprises in this year's vote. Cruz finished at a distant second to Paul last
year, but as he showed no organizational effort, his chances at winning aren't good. And Rubio,
whose speech was well-received, also didn't have a team effort showing for his win.
But newcomers like Fiorina and Carson had strong speeches and support, which may work in
their favor in the balloting.
Meanwhile, this year's CPAC event has been more calm than others in recent years, reports
Bloomberg. The event was run by Matt Schlapp, who heads the American Conservative Union
after working with former President George W. Bush's presidential campaign and with Koch
Industries, and as a result, there have been fewer instances of heckling or other mediaheadline-grabbing actions.
Outspoken columnist Ann Coulter, whose speeches have been full of fierce barbs over the years
was not invited this year, reports Bloomberg, and although Schlapp diplomatically said she was
welcome, as she's "a great fit here," still "she wasn't one of the speakers this year."

Walker scores with conservatives;

Bush still has work to do
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

02/28/2015 11:34 AM 02/28/2015 9:39 PM

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article11470271.html

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker waves while speaking during the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, Feb. 26,
2015. Thirteen potential candidates each got 20 minutes before the
Conservative Political Action Conference. Walker got the loudest applause. In
another sign of his potential appeal, Walker came in a strong second in a straw
poll of activists at the conference. CLIFF OWEN AP

OXON HILL, MD.

Scott Walker has momentum with conservatives. Ted Cruz and
Rand Paul have the passion. And Jeb Bush still faces widespread
skepticism thats not going away.
Those were some of the takeaways as thousands of conservatives
ended a four-day conference Saturday with fresh takes on
potential candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential
nomination, impressions that will help shape the early stages of
the wide-open race.
Thirteen potential candidates each got 20 minutes before the
Conservative Political Action Conference. Walker, the Wisconsin
governor, got the loudest applause, with Paul, a U.S. senator from
Kentucky, and Cruz, a senator from Texas, close behind. Retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson was the grassroots champion, as his Tshirted army seemed to be everywhere.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stoked considerable curiosity with
his detailed prescription for derailing the Common Core
educational standards. And former business executive Carly
Fiorina got buzz for her lively zingers aimed at likely Democratic
candidate Hillary Clinton.


None emerged as the clear rising star. Walker came closest. Hes
stoked interest because hes a new face, a 47-year-old just-reelected governor from a nominally Democratic state who took on
labor unions and won.
In one sign of his potential appeal, Walker came in a strong
second in a straw poll of activists at the conference.
Paul won it for the third year in a row, followed closely by
newcomer Walker, then Cruz, Carson and Bush.

Walkers appearance at the meeting was tarnished a smidgeon,

though, when he appeared to liken union protesters in Wisconsin
to terrorists. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, he said, I can
do the same across the world.
Walker nonetheless remained an attractive option to a bloc of
activists frustrated that the last two Republican presidential
nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney, werent conservative
enough and seemed too tied to the mainstream political
establishment.
Barbara Decker, a San Diego retiree, liked Walker and Cruz,
explaining, Im tired of establishment figures.
That was Bushs burden, and will be for some time. Hes not only
the candidate piling up big donor money and tapping a network of
well-known insiders, hes the son and brother of presidents.
That bothered a lot of people at the conference. Im not a fan of
imperial presidencies, said Travis Murray, a Coast Guard officer
from Shorewood, Illinois. The Founding Fathers never intended
to have a hierarchy handing down the presidency to future
generations.
The Bush name also remains a source of conservative wariness.
Theres a lot of Bush fatigue, said David Keene, former
American Conservative Union chairman, and neither his brother
or father was seen by many conservative as conservative enough.

They disliked President George H. W. Bush for agreeing to a tax
increase after pledging no new taxes. They criticized President
George W. Bush for presiding over huge federal deficits in his
second term.
Jeb Bushs supporters said he did what he needed to do at this
conference. He flooded the convention hall with supporters when

he spoke Friday, making sure cheers drowned out booing for his
immigration and education resume.
Those issues will continue to dog Bush. He maintained Common
Core, which he supports, is not a federal overreach into a local
function, a view not widely shared here. While the standards were
developed by governors and education officials, the Obama
administration has tied some federal funding to acceptance of the
standards.
Bush also reiterated his support for a path to legalization for many
immigrants now in this country illegally. To supporters, thats the
kind of stance that will help him hes the nominee and needs to
woo a wider audience.
He explained himself very well, said Ed Cowling, a Phoenix
public relations executive. The crowd really seemed to quiet
down as he spoke.
Not in the halls. No, a thousand times no, said Nedra Babcock, a
Tulsa prison reform advocate, of Bush. Why not? Common
Core.
The next test for these potential candidates will be pulling away
from the pack.
Some made progress down that road. It was hard to walk down a
hall without someone trying to slap a Run Ben Run sticker
somewhere, or offer a Stand with Rand button. Walker got
positive comments everywhere, notably for fighting the unions.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida got some mention for his
explanations of his views, notably how hes learned a lesson from
his initial stand on immigration, which was protested by
conservatives.
Others were all but forgotten in the Saturday hall chatter. Few
were talking about potentials such as New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Texas
Gov. Rick Perry or Donald Trump.
Most will appear again next Saturday at the Iowa Ag Forum,
where theyll address rural issues. Theyre also quietly competing

in the money primary, where Bush is expected to wow the

political world with a big fundraising take.
The true gauge of whos up and down will be more subtle and
difficult to measure. Activists headed home Saturday with new
thoughts and feelings about these candidates, ready to share them
with like-minded friends and associates.
Impressions forged here will matter, and thats why Walker
emerged with a slight edge. He seems real, said Babcock.

CPAC: Paul edges Walker in

straw poll
David Jackson, USA TODAY 6:40 p.m. EST February 28, 2015

http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/story/news/politics/
2015/02/28/conservative-political-action-conference-obama-jebbush-rand-paul-straw-poll/24176749/

!
(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Rand Paul won a high-profile straw poll for a
third straight year Saturday, capping an annual conservative conference at
which delegates argued about how to turn their ideas into a presidential
victory in 2016.

The Kentucky senator carried 25.7% in the Conservative Political Action

Conference poll, while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker finished second with
21.4% a closer-than-expected tally in this early test of political strength
among conservative Republican activists.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, finished third with 11.5%, followed closely by
retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4%.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush perhaps the most criticized candidate
at this conservative conclave finished fifth at 8.3%.
Other potential presidential candidates including Marco Rubio, Chris
Christie, and Rick Perry had less than 4% in the straw poll. Paul also
won CPAC contests in 2013 and 2014.
The straw poll highlighted the four-day conference at which conservative
delegates generally agreed they need to elect one of their own to the
presidency in 2016, but disputed the best way to go about it.
Some CPAC delegates said Republicans should nominate a true believer,
someone who can repeal health care, shrink the size of the federal
government and aggressively wage war on the Islamic State militant group.
Others agreed on the need for a conservative nominee but said the GOP
needs to reach out to moderates who may hold different views on
immigration, education and foreign policy and will be needed to win the
presidential vote in 2016.
"I am 60% confident right now," said attendee Brian Long in-between
conference sessions. "I'd like to say I'm 80% confident."
As CPAC members swapped stories and handed out buttons and
pamphlets in the hallways, the longtime tension between "real
conservatives" and "establishment Republicans" surfaced repeatedly.
It could be seen in the reactions to one prospective candidate in particular:
Jeb Bush.
Although some CPAC members applauded Bush's call for "reform"
conservatism, others described the former Florida governor as a dreaded
RINO Republican In Name Only. "He should be a Democrat," said
Christmas Simon, a public speaker from Yorba Linda, Calif.
Bush's name drew boos during some of Saturday's wrap-up sessions.
Noelani Bonifacio, 26, a legislative aide to a state senator in Hawaii, said
conservatives fight each other too much. Bonifacio said she knows people
who backed former Texas congressman Ron Paul during the 2012
Republican primaries, then refused to vote for eventual nominee Mitt
Romney in the general election.

"We have a lot of disagreements which is good but I think we spend

too much time attacking each other," said Bonifacio, who voted for Rubio, a
Florida senator, in the straw poll. "We should be attacking Democrats."
Bonifacio said Bush "is not my first choice," but she would vote for him in
the general election if he is the nominee because "he is better than the
alternative."
Not everyone at CPAC agreed. Some cited Bush's support of a pathway to
citizenship for migrants who are in the country illegally. Others criticized his
support of education standards known as "Common Core."
Simon who cast her straw vote for "hard-core conservative" Cruz, the
Texas senator said voters want people who "really stand firm on what
they believe in."
There's also the fact that the last two Republican presidents were named
Bush.
"The only dynasty that I like is the Duck Dynasty," said radio talk show host
Mark Levin during a CPAC session Saturday, a reference to a television
program featuring a family headed by Phil Robertson, a religious
conservative who spoke here Friday.
CPAC members some of whom spent as much time attacking the new
Republican Congress as President Obama gravitated toward
prospective candidates who say they want to challenge the GOP
establishment in Washington.
That group includes Paul, Walker, Cruz and Carson.
Long, 68, a regional economist from Kalamazoo, Mich., said Republicans
need to attract people who rarely vote, just as the Democratic turnout
machine helped elect Obama twice. "We have to reach out to conservative
voters who stay at home when they see a candidate who does not move
them," he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, watched the proceedings at CPAC with pleasure,
saying conservatives are pushing the Republicans too far to the right to win
a general election.
Jesse Lehrich, spokesman for a Democratic opposition research
organization called American Bridge, noted "the continued divide between
the conservative and establishment wings of the party," exemplified by the
"animosity" toward Bush. He said that "earning the acceptance of
Republican voters is incompatible with being a viable candidate in a
national election."
Republicans said the prospect of a "third Obama term" possibly in the
form of Hillary Rodham Clinton will persuade most Americans to support
a conservative in 2016.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said the

different types of conservatives social, economic and national security
agree more than they disagree. They also share one overarching goal,
he said: the desire to win after two terms of Obama.
"They want to win," Schlapp said. "They are ready to win."
There are months to go before any Republican caucus or primary votes are
cast. But by the time CPAC next gathers in March 2016, the identity of the
Republican nominee may be known.
Getting there involves a process, said Roman Buhler, director of a Virginiabased organization called the Madison Coalition.
"What's happening here," he said, "is the beginning stage of a really
important debate to determine what it takes to bring new leadership to the
country."

The Brit Who Crashed CPAC

Nigel Farage creates a stir among
American conservativesthe wrong kind.
By ADAM B. LERNER February 28, 2015
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/whowas-that-brit-at-cpac-115597.html#.VP2_RouIdG4
When Dan Schneider, executive director of the
American Conservative Union, heard Nigel Farage
speak at a dinner last fall, he was entranced by the
maverick British politician. I was very impressed
with his thought process and his ability to captivate
an audience, Schneider told Politico. Schneider
confessed that he couldnt recall exactly what Farage,
the firebrand leader of the United Kingdom
Independence Party (UKIP), had spoken about, but
he decided to invite him to speak at the unions

Conservative Political Action Conference anyway

the only foreign politician to do so this year.
Schneider might have done well to look more deeply
into Farages views, which didnt sit too well with the
CPAC audience only the latest illustration that farright politicians in different lands can travel far
afield from each other, even when their parties are
just across the pond.
Farages speech Thursday night focused largely on
critiques of the European Union and the euro
currencyhardly crowd-pleasers at CPACbut he
really ran into trouble when he came out swinging
against military interventions of all kinds, even those
supported by the Republican Party. We have been
joined at the hip with America and we have been
involved in an endless series of overseas
engagements and foreign wars, Farage said. Every
time we do these things were told by our leaders
that its to make the streets of London and New York
safer. I would claim that weve actually enflamed and
stoked the fires of militant Islam.
{ts '2015-03-09 10:40:25'}

Farages tone was a marked contrast from most

CPAC speakers, who have generally lambasted
President Barack Obamas foreign policy and
employed a hawkish tone in blaming him for the rise

of head-chopping Islamic State militants in the

Middle East.
In Britain, Farages party is known chiefly for its
opposition to immigration an issue that resonates
deeply with an American right that is still livid over
Obamas November executive action providing legal
status to millions of undocumented immigrants. But
conservatives looking to Farage for jabs at the
president left the speech disappointed over that
issue as well. When asked beforehand whether or
not he had an opinion on the executive order, Farage
told Politico, No. Not really.
Even more disruptive to the CPAC narrativewhich
is largely about uniting conservatives under the GOP
banneris the story of Farages UKIP, which is a
right-wing faction of a mainstream party that has
broken away to become that partys biggest electoral
threat. In the UK, Farages party is often likened to a
version of the Tea Party in the United States. But
unlike its American counterpart, it has split from the
party it once identified with, something many Tea
Partiers often threaten to do if the Republican Party
leadership doesnt fall into line. Farages party was
formed by discontented members of the
Conservative Party who left after then-Prime
Minister John Major decided that Britain would join
the European Union, and Farage himself is an oftendisruptive member of the European Parliament.

And today the UKIP has become precisely the sort of

political nightmare that breakaway conservatives
sometimes threaten to become for the GOP: It could
soon cost the mainstream Conservative Party its
majority coalition in Parliament.
In his speech, Farage delivered several pointed
reminders of this very different agenda across the
Atlantic, mentioning two Conservative members of
Parliament that his party had persuaded to defect
and making veiled references to creating an outside
force to challenge the mainstream Republican party
though he refrained from advocating defection
outright.
Farage told Politico before the speech that he hadnt
told CPACs organizers what he planned to discuss,
and that he believed he was invited to speak a bit
about how this insurgent party UKIP has taken off.
He said UKIP should serve as a lesson to rightward
activists in the United States keen to challenge the
mainstream. You can pick up an issue that is deeply
unpopular with the mainstream media, who think
youre terrible people for even discussing it, and
make it a mainstream political debate.
This, too, is likely not welcome advice to party
operatives keen to overcome a view of Republicans
as anti-women, unconcerned with the plight of
minorities, and intolerant of homosexuals.
The English conservative populist also said he wasnt
afraid to condemn the last two Republican

presidents foreign policy even if the people who

championed it were hosting him in the United
States. I think that a lot of people in the audience
will be quite surprised by what Ive got to say this
afternoon, Farage said Thursday morning. They
will think, This Farage bloke, hes like us. He
probably thinks that going to war everywhere is a
good idea. I dont. I dont. I think weve made a mess
of it.
Though CPAC has a history of giving speaking slots
to firebrands and fringe candidates like Donald
Trump, Sarah Palin, and Ann Coulter, it rarely hosts
controversial foreign leaders. In recent years, the
only British politician has been Daniel Hannan, a
member of European Parliament from the UKs
Conservative Party, who spoke in 2012 and 2014. His
speeches have for the most part toed the Republican
Party line.
Farage did manage to fire up the CPAC crowd with a
lengthy tirade against the cowardly and politically
correct practice of multiculturalism that he believes
should rile Americans and Europeans equally. On
Wednesday, appearing on Fox News, Farage said the
two countries have allowed different communities
to develop a different culture within what ought to
be a Judeo-Christian culture.
Upon inspection, Farages invitation seemed to stem
simply from his ability to rile a right-leaning populist
crowd, regardless of what issues he uses to rile them.

Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow

introduced Farage as a resilient family man whose
earned his following through straight-talk against
elites in Parliament and the European Union.
Hes a living, breathing, smoking, drinking protest
to political correctness, Marlowe continued.
Hes very much positioned against the
establishment, said Stan Veuger, a scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute who has worked on
international economics related to the European
Union.
But when faced with the question of why CPAC
would invite such a disruptive figure to speak,
Veuger suggested theres another, far less policyoriented reason Farage may have been invited.
He sounds British, Veuger said, and that adds an
air of sophistication. [Farage] is very different than
someone from Alabama.
As CPAC has since learned.
Correction: A previous version of this story
mischaracterized the coalition's parliamentary
majority.

A More Inclusive CPAC :: Interview with

ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp
by Justin Snow
Metro Weekly
Saturday Feb 28, 2015
http://www.edgeboston.com/news/politics/news/172709/
a_more_inclusive_cpac_::_interview_with_acu_chairman_matt_schlapp


(Source:Gage Skidmore/flickr)
When the Conservative Political Action Conference convened this week, Matt Schlapp
had a message for gay conservatives: You are welcome here.
"To be absolutely crystal clear, if you are a conservative who is gay, you should come to
CPAC - you are welcome to come to CPAC," says Schlapp. "Yes, you are going to
encounter people who disagree with you. My goal is for you to be respected and for them
to be respected and for us all to think about not only the things that we have differences
on, but the things we agree on. We ought to be talking about that as well."
Schlapp was elected chairman of the American Conservative Union in June, and, during
an exclusive interview at the ACU's offices in downtown Washington, promised to "break
from the past" and repair the organization's strained relationship with gay conservatives.
"We have taken rather historic steps to make it very clear that CPAC is welcoming of all
kinds of conservatives, including conservatives who are gay," he says. "We have gay
speakers on the main stage and the break out [panels]. We have made an intentional effort

to make it very clear to people that that is part of what CPAC is going to be about. And
that's important to me."
On Monday, the ACU announced that Gregory T. Angelo, the executive director of Log
Cabin Republicans, would appear on a panel addressing Vladimir Putin's "threatening
actions toward Europe, as well as his tragic human rights record." The announcement
came days after Angelo accused the ACU of excluding the LGBT Republican group as
sponsors of the annual conference - an assertion Schlapp denies.
CPAC, which will be held from Feb. 25 to 28 at the Gaylord National Resort &
Convention Center at National Harbor, Md., has become an obligatory pit stop for
Republican presidential candidates. But the conference has a messy history with gay
conservatives, who have had no official presence at CPAC for several years. The now
defunct GOProud participated in CPAC in 2010 and 2011 to the protests of social
conservatives, but was kicked out of the conference in 2012 after GOProud co-founder
Chris Barron labeled conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell a "nasty bigot," blaming her
for the Heritage Foundation's decision to remove itself from the conference over
GOProud's participation. Despite an apology from Barron, GOProud was not invited
back.
Both the ACU and Log Cabin Republicans blamed last week's dispute on confusion and
miscommunication between the two organizations, and Schlapp doubled-down on his
promise to make CPAC more inclusive going forward.
"This is purposeful - I want to do this," Schlapp says of giving an interview to an LGBT
media outlet. "We want to reach out to every legitimate media outlet and tell our story,
tell them what we're about. People are going to agree with us on some things, disagree
with us on other things. We're going to respect each other and have the conversation."
According to Schlapp, for the conservative movement to be successful politically, its
message must reach all kinds of people.
"Specifically on social issues, we've got a huge contingent of libertarians," he says. "A lot
of young people as well who are more libertarian-minded. They're part of our coalition.
They're awful important to us being successful politically. We are not going to succeed
politically if it's about subtraction and division of our numbers. It's got to be about
addition and multiplication."
Schlapp is the first chairman of the ACU to be born after the organization's founding in
1964. Born in Ohio, the 47-year-old grew up in Texas, New Jersey and Kansas. He
attended the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and graduate school at Wichita State
University. While at Notre Dame, he helped found a conservative magazine called
Dialogue with the help of his roommate that he says infuriated the administration - an
experience that appears to have spurred his vocal support for open debate.
"They took that first magazine, which I had to raise $2,000 from people all over the
country [to produce], and they threw it in the dumpsters all over campus," Schlapp

recalls. "I got up early to see if people were reading this magazine I put my whole heart
into, and I saw some guy throwing it in the dumpster. I tell you, my heart just sank. I was
like, 'This is outrageous. This is not just. Why would someone be so scared to hear
someone's thoughts that they would literally throw it away?' I went through that dumpster
and wiped off every magazine. I put them back in those bins. And from that moment on
they did not throw the next copy away because I think they felt completely foolish. Here I
am, a student who is doing nothing but putting his thoughts down on paper."
After opening a small business after college with his mother, Schlapp went to work on
Capitol Hill and befriended a fellow congressional staffer named Ken Mehlman, who
later recruited Schlapp to work on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. That
led to Schlapp becoming an advisor during Bush's first term. After running Bush's 2004
reelection campaign and serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee,
Mehlman came out as gay in 2010.
Schlapp is Catholic. He believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
When asked about an anticipated ruling from the Supreme Court striking down state bans
on same-sex marriage, he draws parallels to the issue of abortion and expresses hope that
a political consensus can be reached that does not divide the country.
"We had people that founded America - came to America - because they had strongly
held religious views that are enshrined in our First Amendment. I don't want to do
anything to ever change that religious zone for those people who have those strongly held
beliefs," he says. "By the same token, we have to figure out, in light of what the court is
going to do and where the American people are on this issue, how we handle those folks
who have strongly held religious beliefs with people that believe strongly in gay marriage
and believe that's a civil right. I think America is big enough and strong enough to figure
out a way to accommodate both."
While Schlapp may personally oppose same-sex marriage, he admits his inclusive tone
has alienated some. Indeed, the same day as his election as ACU's chairman in June,
Cleta Mitchell resigned from the boards of both the ACU and ACU Foundation.
And although some may not like his new approach, Schlapp is okay with the criticism he
may receive. "I am surprised by how many conservative leaders I have talked to have
said, 'You're striking exactly the right tone.' So, I think there are a lot of people who
realize this is the right way to go forward.
"I come from a family of four kids and I have five kids," he continues. "I've not gone
through a dinner table conversation where everyone agreed. There's always disagreement
- I've just been brought up in a way where I understand that to be healthy. You put your
differences on the table and you talk about them. And we're going to do that.
"Some of those differences are on gay issues, some are on regulatory policy, tax policy,
foreign affairs, everything under the sun. That discussion, I believe, will lead us to be
more cohesive, because instead of hiding from our disagreements and sanitizing them, we
put them out there.

Who scored, who didn't at CPAC

conference
By David Lightman
POSTED: 02/28/2015 12:01:00 AM CST

http://www.twincities.com/nation/ci_27618129/who-scored-who-didntat-cpac-conference
OXON HILL, Md. -- Scott Walker has momentum with conservatives.
Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have the passion. And Jeb Bush still faces
widespread skepticism that's not going away.
Those were some of the conclusions as thousands of conservatives
ended a four-day conference Saturday with fresh takes on potential
candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination,
impressions that will help shape the early stages of the wide-open
race.
Thirteen potential candidates each got 20 minutes before the
Conservative Political Action Conference. Walker, the Wisconsin
governor, got the loudest applause, with Paul, a U.S. senator from
Kentucky, and Cruz, a senator from Texas, close behind. Retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson was the grass-roots champion, as his Tshirted army seemed to be everywhere.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stoked considerable curiosity with his
detailed prescription for derailing the Common Core educational
standards. And former business executive Carly Fiorina got buzz for
her lively zingers aimed at likely Democratic candidate Hillary
Rodham Clinton.
None emerged as the clear rising star. Walker came closest. He's
stoked interest because he's a new face, a 47-year-old just-re-elected

governor from a nominally Democratic state who took on labor unions

and won.
In one sign of his potential appeal, Walker came in a strong second in
a straw poll of activists at the conference.
Paul won it for the third year in a row, followed closely by Walker,
then Cruz, Carson and Bush.
Walker's appearance at the meeting was tarnished a bit, though, when
he appeared to liken union protesters in Wisconsin to terrorists. "If I
can take on 100,000 protesters," he said, "I can do the same across the
world."
Walker nonetheless remained an attractive option to a bloc of activists
frustrated with the past two Republican presidential nominees, John
McCain and Mitt Romney, who weren't considered to be conservative
enough and seemed too tied to the mainstream political
establishment.
Barbara Decker, a San Diego retiree, liked Walker and Cruz,
explaining, "I'm tired of establishment figures."
That was Bush's burden, and will be for some time. He's not only the
candidate piling up big donor money and tapping a network of wellknown insiders, he's also the son and brother of presidents.
That bothered a lot of people at the conference. "I'm not a fan of
imperial presidencies," said Travis Murray, a Coast Guard officer from
Shorewood, Ill.
"The Founding Fathers never intended to have a hierarchy handing
down the presidency to future generations."
The Bush name also remains a source of conservative wariness.
"There's a lot of Bush fatigue," said David Keene, former American
Conservative Union chairman, "and neither his brother or father was
seen by many conservative as conservative enough."
They disliked President George H.W. Bush for agreeing to a tax
increase after pledging "no new taxes." They criticized President
George W. Bush for presiding over huge federal deficits in his second
term.
Jeb Bush's supporters said he did what he needed to do at this
conference.

He flooded the convention hall with supporters when he spoke Friday,

making sure cheers drowned out booing for his immigration and
education resume.
Those issues will continue to dog Bush.
He maintained that the Common Core educational standards, which
he supports, is not a federal overreach into a local function, a view not
widely shared here.
While the standards were developed by governors and education
officials, the Obama administration has tied some federal funding to
acceptance of the standards.
Bush also reiterated his support for a path to legalization for many
immigrants now in this country illegally.
To supporters, that's the kind of stance that will help him if he's the
nominee and needs to attract a wider audience.
"He explained himself very well," said Ed Cowling, a Phoenix public
relations executive. "The crowd really seemed to quiet down as he
spoke."
Not in the halls. "No, a thousand times no," said Nedra Babcock, a
Tulsa prison reform advocate, of Bush. Why not? "Common Core."
The next test for these potential candidates will be pulling away from
the pack.
Some made progress. It was hard to walk down a hall without
someone trying to slap a "Run Ben Run" sticker somewhere, or offer a
"Stand with Rand" button.
Walker received positive comments everywhere, notably for fighting
and defeating the unions.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida got some mention for his explanations of
his views, notably how he's learned a lesson from his initial stand on
immigration, which was protested by conservatives.
Others were all but forgotten in the Saturday hall chatter.
Few were talking about potentials such as New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Texas Gov.
Rick Perry or Donald Trump.
Most will appear again next Saturday at the Iowa Ag Forum, where
they'll address rural issues.
They're also quietly competing in the "money primary." Bush is
expected to be the leader in fundraising.

The true gauge of who's up and down will be more subtle and difficult
to measure. Activists headed home Saturday with new thoughts and
feelings about these candidates, ready to share them with like-minded
friends and associates.
Impressions forged here will matter, and that's why Walker emerged
with a slight edge. "He seems real," Babcock said.

Ted Cruz Blasts "Unelected Judges"

Ruling in Favor of Marriage Equality
by Justin Snow
Saturday Feb 28, 2015
http://www.edgeprovidence.com/news/politics/172711/ted_cruz_blasts_
%22unelected_judges%22_ruling_in_favor_of_marriage_equality


Ted Cruz(Source:Gage Skidmore)
Sen. Ted Cruz reaffirmed his opposition to marriage equality Thursday, while arguing that
the only way Republicans can win is if they broaden their coalition.
Speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Texas Republican and
likely 2016 presidential candidate argued that the path for victory is dependent on
reassembling the Reagan coalition.
"We bring together fiscal conservatives and social conservatives and national security
conservatives. We stand strong for economic growth, but we also stand for life and
marriage. We defend the constitutional rights, but we also stand and lead the fight against
ISIS and a nuclear Iran," Cruz said. "We need all three legs of the proverbial Republican
stool. Not one leg, not two. But the way we get to 51 percent is we bring together

conservatives and libertarians and evangelicals and women and young people and
Hispanics and Reagan Democrats."
Cruz was one of the few speakers on the first day of CPAC to invoke same-sex marriage,
an issue that Republicans - particularly those with their eyes on higher office - have been
increasingly silent about. During a Q&A session after his speech, Cruz was asked his
thoughts on gay marriage by Fox News and radio host Sean Hannity.
"Marriage is a question for the states and it is wrong for the federal government or
unelected judges to tear down the marriage laws of the states," Cruz said.
Cruz has been one of the most vocal opponents of same-sex marriage in the likely field of
2016 contenders. Earlier this month, Cruz reintroduced in Congress the State Marriage
Defense Act, which would require the federal government to defer to the marriage laws
of the state where a couple resides to determine if the couple is eligible for federal
benefits, in effect invalidating for federal purposes the marriages of same-sex families
living in the remaining 13 states that do not recognize same-sex marriage. Cruz's office
has said the senator will introduce a constitutional amendment later this year to "make
explicit that marriage is a policy question for the democratically-elected legislatures in
each of the 50 states." Cruz vowed to introduce such an amendment last October, when
he lashed out at the Supreme Court for "abdicating its duty to uphold the Constitution" by
allowing rulings striking down same-sex marriage bans in five states to stand, thus
legalizing marriage equality in all states covered by the 4th Circuit, 7th Circuit and 10th
Circuit Courts of Appeals.
While Cruz showed no qualms voicing his opposition, others were less inclined to speak
about marriage equality.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie only spoke about his opposition to abortion when asked
how he might appeal to social conservatives. Although Christie has said he personally
opposes same-sex marriage, he ceased fighting a court decision legalizing same-sex
marriage in New Jersey, has said he does not believe being gay is a choice and banned
"ex-gay therapy" for minors in the state.
CPAC, which is being held from Feb. 25 to 28 at the Gaylord National Resort &
Convention Center at National Harbor, Md., has sought to take a more inclusive tone
compared to past years. Gregory T. Angelo, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans,
will speak on a panel Saturday addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin's LGBT
human rights abuses. And during an interview earlier this week, Matt Schlapp, chairman
of the American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC, told Metro Weekly gay
conservatives are welcome at the conference. "To be absolutely crystal clear, if you are a
conservative who is gay, you should come to CPAC - you are welcome to come to
CPAC," Schlapp said. "We have taken rather historic steps to make it very clear that
CPAC is welcoming of all kinds of conservatives, including conservatives who are gay.

FEBRUARY 28 2015 03:13h

Republican presidential
contenders vying for early
headlines

Photo

Leading candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination are

competing this weekend in an unofficial opening contest that will give the
winner nothing - except valuable publicity.
The straw poll of attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) has a mixed history of picking eventual nominees.

This year's meeting, held at a resort in National Harbour, Maryland, on the

banks of the Potomac River just south of the US capital, culminates with
the vote Saturday. The meeting, sponsored by the American Conservative
Union, has intermittently held a presidential straw poll since at least 1976.
CPAC gives candidates an opportunity to build connections with
conservative activists, who make up the base of the Republican Party,
which has been in the opposition since Barack Obama became the first
African-American president in January 2009.
With Obama barred by the constitution from seeking a third term, his leftleaning Democratic Party will be seeking his own nominee. His former
secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, wife of ex-president Bill Clinton
(1993-2001), is expected to run and considered a strong favourite.
For a heavyweight Republican contender like Florida ex-governor Jeb
Bush, brother and son of two recent US presidents, a victory would begin to
conjure an air of inevitability.
For outsiders beyond the party establishment, the straw poll may give one
of them a chance to jump from the fringe into the short list of top
candidates.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul may qualify as both party outsider and
heavyweight, having won the straw poll in 2013 and 2014 as champion of
the party's libertarian wing, a mantle he took over from his father, retired
congressman Ron Paul.
Like his father, Rand Paul is a free-market absolutist whose social liberal,
anti-war positions clash with traditional conservatives and the religious
right. But his views are attractive to younger Republicans, as well as some
independents and even Democrats, especially on issues such as drug
legalization, civil liberties, government surveillance and free speech.
CPAC attendees are both younger and more conservative than the
Republican Party's primary voters. A significant fraction of the straw poll
vote comes from college students who attend from around the country.
New Jersey's tough-talking Governor Chris Christie, Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and senators Marco Rubio
of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are others in the upper tier.

Exploring presidential bids after their past national campaigns are exgovernors Rick Perry of Texas and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and former
Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.
Dr. Ben Carson, a prominent conservative activists, is mounting a possible
presidential campaign with a reported presence at CPAC.

First Day at CPAC 2015

!
By Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh February 27, 2015

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/70118
The biggest conservative conference in the country featured on the first day
many prominent figures and politicians who form the conservative
movement in our country and influence such policies.

Dr. Ben Carson, the first speaker of the day, emphasized the need to reach
minority voters, to return control of education to the local level by abolishing
the federal Common Core standards, and the need to eliminate welfare
dependency. Im not interested in getting rid of the safety net. Im
interested in getting rid of the dependency.
Charlie Kirk, Sen. Sasse (NE) and Mia Love (UT-4) discussed ways in
which the American dream can be reclaimed by millennials who are looking
forward to their future.
Phyllis Schlaffly of the Eagle Forum and Emmett McGroarty of the
American Principles Project looked at the many ways that the rotten
Common Core destroys the American education system, the American
dream, and alters the fundamental make-up and ideals of our nation.
Sen. John Barrasso (WY), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) and Jim Capretta
of Ethics and Public Policy Center offered a concrete conservative
replacement to ObamaCare.

Sen. Joni Ernst (IA) and LTC Oliver North, USMC (Ret.) of the Freedom
Alliance gave speeches in support of our veterans, forgotten and ignored
by this administration.
A debate on Obamas initiative to reduce intellectual property rights
highlighted Adam Mossoff of George Mason University and a panel that
looked at patent trolls who file blanket lawsuits to target small businesses.
Departing from the usual CPAC speeches, Gov. Chris Christie of New
Jersey was interviewed on stage by conservative talk-show host Laura
Ingraham who asked him pointed questions.
In response to Lauras question that he signed New Jersey early onto
Common Core and to Race to the Top grants, Christie avoided a direct
answer by emphasizing that local control, parents, teachers, and others at
the state level should set education standards.
As a pro-life advocate, Christie vetoed Planned Parenthood even though
he is not a social conservative. He has a passion in fighting for the people,
speaking his mind, and often tells people to sit down and shut up. There
is so much ridiculous stuff coming out of the White House, he said. He
wants to reform education and to save the pension system by being fiscally
responsible but the teachers union is fighting him.
He avoided the question on illegal immigration by declaring that we must
create opportunities for unemployed Americans like the people in Detroit,
however, folks want to come here and we have misdirected priorities.
Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, and Chairman of the
American Conservative Union Foundation, made pointed remarks about
Hillary Clintons job performance as Secretary of State. She joked about
her own unmarketable Stanford degree in Medieval History and Philosophy
and how that degree has come in handy recently since the President is
talking about the Crusades. She continued, Yes, Mr. President, ISIS
wants to drive the whole world back to the Middle Ages, but the rest of us
moved on about 800 years ago.
Addressing the Democrat-invented war on women and the faux inequality
cries coming from well-paid liberal academia and from millionaires in
Hollywood, Fiorina explained, and I know that it is only in this country that
a young woman can go from secretary to CEO.

Life has potential, she said, and you have the right and opportunity in this
country to fulfill your potential. But you need a real education to fulfill that
potential, not just a handout and social justice indoctrination.
She advocated ending this administrations destruction of small businesses
that create half of the new jobs in this country; we need more small
businesses, not large crony capitalism. We have to retrain America as
more and more workers lose their jobs.
She criticized the lack of leadership in this country giving as example
Secretary Clintons response to the Benghazi fiasco, who said, What
difference does it make? Fiorina continued, Flying is an activity, not an
accomplishment. Mrs. Clinton, please, name an accomplishment! I have
met Vladimir Putin and I know that his ambitions will not be deterred by a
gimmicky red reset button. Referring to Hillary Clinton, Fiorina concludes,
She does not know what leadership means. Our country is without
equivocation the greatest nation that the world has ever known and it
needs a leader.
We have too many failing high schools in this country, Fiorina said, and the
President is trying to distract us by offering two years of community college
classes free.
Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) rocked the house with his proposal to bring back a
Reagan Coalition, to promote life, marriage, economic growth, to fight ISIS,
and a nuclear Iran. Sean Hannity asked him several questions. America is
in jeopardy and we are gathered here to fight for freedom in our country.
We must reignite America and reassemble the Reagan coalition, he said.
Cruz pointedly remarked that Washington wants ObamaCare but people
want freedom, the people dont want amnesty pushed by Washington, they
want the rule of law. If you like your Internet, you can keep your Internet.
Unfortunately Net Neutrality was approved today and the Internet will be
treated as a utility. Cruz followed with, Hillary Clinton embodies the
corruption in Washington. We need to run a populist campaign, he said,
and bring power back to the American people, away from Washington.
The panel on immigration asked the question if Conservatives can reach a
consensus? I was speechless since the American people do not want
illegal immigration and certainly do not want a consensusthey want the
law enforced and want legal immigrants that are actually assimilating and
contributing to the wellbeing of our exceptional nation.

The discussion centered again on the legal immigration system being

broken, the old tired rhetoric from Washington. When asked what specific
part was broken and why the borders are not enforced, panel members
were unable to give a credible response.
Panel members Alfonso Aguilar with the American Principles Project and
Mario Lopez with the Hispanic Leadership Fund voiced the opinion that
these folks, referring to illegal aliens, come here for work and we
therefore need to bring back a guest worker program similar to the
Braceros in the 1960s that was successful but it was pulled by the Mexican
government.
Some of the audience members disagreed that illegals come here just to
work, they receive full welfare benefits, giving examples of the $4.1 billion
given to ITIN tax filers in earned income tax credit for children who were not
even living in the United States and the 2011-2013 retroactive earned
income tax credit that will be given to illegal aliens who are going to be
amnestied. Representative Jeff Duncan (SC-3) disagreed with the other
two panelists on some issues.
The panel Climate: What Tom Steyer Wont Tell You, focused on the
climate change hoax and the millions of jobs lost due to green energy
legislation, regulations, and subsidies to solar, wind, and biofuel power, and
the billions lost in grants and loans to failed renewables companies.
Representative Bill Flores (TX-17) focused on six points of the climate
change agenda:
1
2
3
4
5
6

It
It
It
It
It
It

kills jobs.
costs trillions of dollars.
is based on junk science.
uses fantasy technology.
manipulates the cost/benefit data.
fails the smell test.

Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute presented charts of

actual temperature data and CO2 data that have been manipulated to fit
the climate change agenda and their outlandish claims. Andrew Langer of
the Institute for Liberty presented more factual information on the true cost
of the faux global warming. Gary Broadband of the Murray Energy
Corporation, a mining company in Ohio that employs 7,500 people,
presented sobering data on the number of coal mines that have been

closed or are in the process of closing due to the EPA excessive and
stringent regulations, leaving thousands of miners without jobs and
contributing to a shortage of electricity and higher utility prices.
When Gov. Scott Walker took the stage, the room went wild. He was
heckled again by a lone person unhappy with his reforms that put
Wisconsin on the path to financial recovery, solvency, tax reductions, and
accountability from unions. Unintimidated, Walker said, those voices cant
drown out the voices of hard-working taxpayers.
The most salient point of the day was Walkers statement that, what made
America exceptional throughout history, were Americans who had cared
more about the future of their children and grandchildren than they cared
about their political careers and re-elections. Today we have Washington,
up the Potomac River, he mused, 68 square miles surrounded by reality.
We should not measure success by how many people are dependent on
government, he said. We celebrate our independence from government,
not dependence on government; that is why we have 4th of July.
We must have a President that understands that radical Islamic terrorism
is a threat to our lives. We must take a fight to them, not wait until they
bring the fight to America. We need a leader who will stand with Israel and
a leader who will show our allies respect.
Gov. Bobby Jindal was received with tremendous enthusiasm and
applause. He focused his speech on the need to fight terrorism. He said,
ISIS fighters must be hunted down and killed. He criticized the
administration severely for failing to recognize the enemy and address the
Islamist problem. He said, We dont need a war on international poverty,
we need a war on the evil radical Islamic terrorism.
Former Gov. Sarah Palin (AK) and Nigel Farage, leader of the United
Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) concluded the lineup of speakers for
day one at CPAC 2015.

Whats in the conscience of todays

conservative?
BY DAVID LIGHTMANMCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU

02/27/2015 5:46 PM 03/02/2015 10:13 AM

http://www.kansas.com/news/nation-world/national/article11381813.html

GALLERY SLIDES

Golden Isles Tea Party activist William Temple from Brunswick, Ga., dressed as
Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, turns with his flag
and leaves in protest as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush arrives on stage with
Sean Hannity of Fox News during the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. CAROLYN KASTER AP

OXON HILL, MD.

Defining conservatism today is tough.
Conservatives do remain guided by one firm principle:
Government is too big. But theres no consensus on how to change
it.
Other issues divide as well. Does being conservative mean
accepting or fighting same-sex marriage? Does modern
conservatism accept the long-standing doctrine that the United
States has a moral responsibility to promote democracy and fight
tyranny and terrorism no matter where they breed? Or does the
true conservative think the U.S. is not the worlds policeman?
Were not a church. Its a mistake to somehow think theres a
book of dogma and you accept those teachings if youre a
conservative, and if you dont, youre not, said Matt Schlapp,
chairman of the American Conservative Union, which is
sponsoring the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference
in a Washington suburb.
The underlying conservative philosophy remains unquestioned.
Conservatives want people to do more, said Carter Wrenn, a
Republican consultant based in Raleigh, N.C. We believe
individual responsibility is the key to prosperity and success.
Also unquestioned is what conservatives largely oppose: high
taxes, strict gun control, abortion, too much government
regulation and the 2010 health care law. Obamacare remains a
favorite target, an expensive new bureaucracy thats seen as an
inefficient, outrageous government overreach into peoples lives.
Coming up fast on the hit list is Common Core, the kindergartenthrough-12th-grade standards adopted in 43 states. The

standards, finalized about five years ago by the nations governors

and education commissioners, had their roots in the standards
and accountability movement of the 1990s. States can adopt the
standards voluntarily, though the Obama administration offered
financial incentives to those that did.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called the standards Obamacore. New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, once
supporters, made sure the crowd knew they were now opposed.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is and remains a Common Core
supporter, and he was blasted for it.
People who think that way arent conservatives, said Joe
Messina, a Santa Clarita, Calif., radio talk-show host.
Bush argued Friday that while the standards are not a federal
takeover, the administrations involvement in encouraging them
is a danger.
Agreeing on alternatives is tougher. On cutting spending, for
instance, ideas are everywhere while consensus is elusive. House
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin,
one of the Republican Partys most influential voices on budget
issues, has been pushing for radical changes to Medicare for
years, but has gotten nowhere.
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon whos considering a
presidential bid, suggested not replacing federal employees who
retire in the next four to five years. His idea has gained no traction
in Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has tried for years and failed
to get balanced budget amendments attached to debt ceiling
increases.

Foreign policy sparks the biggest divide. Potential presidential

candidates dont know where to go. They dont know where that
consensus is, said Schlapp. They dont know which book to pull
off the shelf, to study, to learn what the consensus is. Theres a lot
of diverse opinions on what the consensus should be.
On one side are the libertarians, a sizable bloc led by Paul and his
father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Ron Paul has long been
wary of U.S. intervention in foreign affairs. He noted earlier this
week, It is clear that without foreign intervention Ukraine would
not be in its current seemingly hopeless situation.
Rand Paul has been more willing to get the U.S. involved. While
he wants action against the Islamic State, hes said Congress
should formally declare war. And he rails against aid to nations
tied to terrorist acts.
We do not project strength by borrowing money from China to
send it to Pakistan, he said Friday at CPAC. It angers me to see
mobs burning our flag and chanting death to America in
countries that receive our foreign aid. I say it must end. I say not
one penny more to these haters of America.
The divide may not be as sharp on social issues, but the debate is
more passionate. Conservatives understand that Americans are
more willing to accept same-sex marriage, and their views are
evolving.
I see a gay couple and I say, Be happy, said Kevin Jackson, a St.
Louis radio talk-show host. Just stay away from marriage.
If you want to co-opt a word with a biblical backdrop, youre
trying to debase a word with a biblical meaning to it, he said.
Yet gay-rights advocates see some progress in simply being
accepted here. Most potential presidential candidates lauded

traditional marriage and called same-sex marriage a decision for

states.
Gregory Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans,
a gay-rights organization, will speak Saturday on a panel about
Russia. And Schlapp said the group would get together with the
American Conservative Union later and discuss the future.
Its a start, said Angelo. Now is not the time to make the perfect
the enemy of the good, he said.
Nor is it the time to count on consensus on what comes next. On
much of anything.

What were trying to do at CPAC, said Schlapp, is have a

conversation on what we disagree on.

How Jeb BushIs Tryingto Win

OverConservatives
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-27/how-jeb-bush-is-starting-to-winover-conservatives

Feb 27, 2015

By: Lisa Lerer & Michael C. Bender

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Likely GOP presidential candidate Jeb

Bush faced down skeptics at the American Conservative Union's
CPAC convention on Friday afternoon, touting his record as
Florida governor as that of a "practicing reform-minded
conservative who has actually done it."
A group of Rand Paul backers booed and walked out of the
auditorium as Bush began to speak, but Bush nonetheless got
plenty of applause during his talk with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
"For those of you who made a "boo" sound, I am marking you
down as neutral and I want to be your second choice," Bush said,
describing his gubernatorial term as marked by tax cuts, low
unemployment and a $9.5 billion state budget surplus.
"Florida is a state where conservative principles have helped not
just Republicans, but everybody," Bush boasted.
Other prospective GOP presidential candidates who addressed the
group Friday included Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen.
Rand Paul, businessman Donald Trump, former Texas Gov. Rick
Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
Rubio's address highlighted his origins as the son of Cuban
immigrants. Like other candidates who spoke, Rubio described
Barack Obama as a "failed" president, said he wanted to repeal
Obamacare and described himself as against abortion, gay
marriage and legalizing marijuana.

"The fact that the son of a bartender and maid that worked in a
hotel is sitting on the stage with you today, that is why America is
special," said Rubio.
Perry, whose supporters passed out fake glasses in the style he
wears, criticized Obama's response to ISIS terrorists in the Middle
East and said he was so dismayed by Obama's border security
policies that he used Texas national guard troops to secure the
state's border with Mexico.
Trump told the group nobody would be tougher on ISIS than him.
"I would hit them so hard and fast, they wouldn't know what
happened," said Trump, who promised to use his business
expertise to "make America great again." Trump said there's a 75
to 80 percent chance he'll run for president.
Paul, who has won the past two CPAC straw polls for presidential
contenders, was a favorite of the crowd. Wearing jeans and no suit
jacket, he described the government as the cause of many
problems, rather than the solution, and said liberal policies have
failed the nation's inner cities.
"I believe it's time for a new president," he said, as audience
members chanted "President Paul." "I believe America has much
greatness left."
The crowd cleared out after Paul left and Santorum began
delivering a speech that described himself as a blue-collar
conservative who won several early presidential primaries,
including the Iowa caucuses, in 2012.
"I won because I stood for someone, the little guy, the American
worker," said Santorum. "2016 will be a different election. The
world has changed.

Bush seeks conservative

support at CPAC
David Jackson, Catalina Camia, and Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY 5:20 p.m. EST
February 27, 2015

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/27/cpac-jebbush-rand-paul-rick-perry-marco-rubio/24125539/

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Seeking to soften conservative opposition to

his likely presidential bid, Jeb Bush told an influential group Friday he is a
"practicing reform-minded conservative" on contentious issues like
immigration and education.
"I've actually done it," the former two-term Florida governor said in capping
two days of appearances by presidential aspirants at the Conservative
Political Action Conference.

!
ONPOLITICS

Jeb Bush takes on skeptics, stands firm on immigration at CPAC

!
USA TODAY

The Road to 2016

Not all CPAC delegates seemed convinced by Bush. Some booed or

catcalled his support of a path to legal citizenship for migrants, and a set of
education standards known as Common Core. A few dozen people walked
out on him, but the ballroom remained packed for his question-and-answer
session with conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity.
Bush the son of one president, and the brother of another also
repeated his mantra that he is his "own man" when it comes to domestic
and foreign policies.
Over the last two days, CPAC members expressed support for moreconservative potential candidates like Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Sen.
Ted Cruz of Texas, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

!
USA TODAY

Walker gets front-runner treatment at CPAC

!
ONPOLITICS

Rand Paul gets another warm reception at CPAC

!
ONPOLITICS

Ted Cruz slams Obama, Clinton in fiery CPAC speech

The conference, the nation's largest gathering of conservative activists,
wraps up Saturday with the results of CPAC's straw poll - a contest Paul
has won two years in a row.
In and around presidential speeches, CPAC attendees attended seminars,
exchanged business cards, and argued about issues that will animate next
year's race for the Republican presidential nomination.
"I was a Bush fan, but I'm not a Jeb Bush fan he's too liberal," said Kim
Garver, 52, of Boonsboro, Md. "He's an establishment candidate."

For his part, Bush echoed other Republican speakers on an array of

issues, including calls to repeal President Obama's health care law,
criticism of the president's Middle East policies, and attacks on 2016
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Paul, another CPAC speaker on Friday, drew applause by bashing
government surveillance. "I say that your phone records are yours," said
the libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky. "I say that the phone records
of law-abiding citizens are none of their damn business."

!
ONPOLITICS

Rick Perry blasts Obama's 'misguided' foreign policy at CPAC

!
ONPOLITICS

Marco Rubio: Hillary is 'yesterday'

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican
presidential nomination in 2012, criticized Obama's foreign policy during his
Friday speech. "Our allies doubt us and our adversaries are all too willing to
test us," Perry said.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., won CPAC applause with cutting one-word
descriptions of Obama ("failed") and Clinton ("yesterday").
On Thursday, CPAC attendees heard from Walker, Cruz, and longer-shot
candidates like surgeon-turned-activist Ben Carson, and former HewlettPackard executive Carly Fiorina. One of the most raucous onstage debates
was over marijuana legalization, with Ann Marie Buerkle of the Consumer
Product Safety Commission warning of dire health consequences and
former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson arguing that debating
legalization is like "debating whether the sun is going to come up.''

!
USA TODAY

CPAC highlights, from the speeches to the swag

!
ONPOLITICS

'Duck Dynasty' star receives free speech award at CPAC

In his interview, Bush acknowledged there is disagreement among

Republicans about a path to legal status for undocumented workers
already in the United States, but he held firm.
"There is no plan to deport 11 million people," Bush said, adding that steps
toward citizenship should include provisions ensuring that immigrants learn
English and don't break the law.
On education, Bush defended his support for high standards but said they
should be made part of a comprehensive program that includes vouchers.
"The role of the federal government, if any, is to create more school
choice," he said.

William Temple, a member of the Golden Isles Tea Party in Georgia, applauds a speaker
at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 27, 2015. (Photo: H. Darr
Beiser, USA TODAY)

The walkout of a few dozen people was led by William Temple, a Tea Party
member from Brunswick, Ga. who is a familiar figure at CPAC because he
wears the costume of a patriot soldier from the Revolutionary War.
"We need a Ted Cruz!" Temple said. "We need a Governor Walker! We
need a Ben Carson! We'd take a Duck Dynasty before we'd take another
Bush!"
The idea of another Bush presidency also drew objections
"America is about personal freedom, not a dynasty," said Allen Skillicorn
from East Dundee, Ill., who is vice chair of the Kane County Republican
Party.
But Robbie Aiken, who works in government relations in Alexandria, Va.,
said he was pleased to see Bush "kept rolling" as the governor's critics tried
to interrupt his CPAC presentation. "He seemed very prepared and he got
across all his points," Aiken said. "I'm not saying Jeb is Ronald Reagan but
he's as close as we can get right now. Jeb is the real deal, in my
opinion.

Jeb Bush tells conservative

activists he hopes to be their
'second choice
BY MICHAEL A. MEMOLI AND KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
Tribune Washington Bureau
February 27, 2015
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/02/27/4156311_jeb-bush-tells-conservativeactivists.html?rh=1

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. Jeb Bush defended his credentials as a

"reform-minded conservative" Friday, even as he held firm to positions that
threaten to undermine his standing with party activists, telling skeptics at
the Conservative Political Action Conference he hoped to be their "second
choice."
During a question-and-answer session with Fox News host Sean Hannity
before a packed ballroom at the annual gathering of conservative activists,
the former Florida governor acknowledged that many are suspicious of his
potential candidacy. He emphasized that Republicans need to appeal to a
broader audience of people who could become supporters.
"There are a lot of other conservatives that haven't been asked. They don't
know that they're conservative," he said. "If we share our enthusiasm, love
for our country and believe in our philosophy, we will be able to get Latinos
and young people and other people that we need to win," he said.
The crowd's doubts about Bush were evident early. When Hannity
conducted an informal audience poll of potential 2016 candidates, Bush's
name provoked a chorus of boos.
Hours before his speech, Laura Ingraham, the conservative radio host,
launched a broadside against the son and brother of former presidents,
saying he would be better off running on a ticket with Hillary Clinton than
leading the Republican ticket against her.

Questioning Bush, Hannity asked about the gap between him and many
conservatives, particularly on immigration and education policy.
"I read about it," Bush quipped.
Speaking at a rapid-fire pace, Bush offered quick and practiced answers on
most of the topics that have complicated his relationships with
conservatives.
On immigration, he reiterated his support for some kind of path to legal
status for those who have come to the U.S. illegally, saying there "is no
plan to deport 11 million people."
"We should give them a path to legal status where they work, where they
don't receive government benefits, where they learn English and they make
a contribution to our society," he said.
But Bush also said he opposed President Barack Obama's recent
executive actions that would shield up to 5million from deportation. He
supported a congressional effort to try to block the policy, he said, but not if
doing so risked funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
"I'm not an expert on the ways of Washington. It makes no sense to me that
we're not funding control of our border, which is the whole argument," he
said.
He stood by his support for granting driver's licenses and in-state tuition to
some immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The latter, he noted, was
enacted in Florida just last year "by one of the most conservative state
legislatures, I might add, and a conservative governor ... Not by me."
Bush also defended his support for education standards known as the
Common Core, saying he supported the idea of set standards but
suggesting he was aligned with conservatives on his opposition to
involvement by the federal involvement.
The Obama administration has meddled in the process with its "Race to the
Top" program that ties school money to achievement on standardized tests,
Bush said.
"The federal government has no role in the creation of standards either
directly or indirectly," he said. "The role of the federal government, if there
is any, is to provide incentives for more school choice."
Bush also denied reports that he may be shifting his opposition to samesex marriage as he courts gay donors.
"No, I believe in traditional marriage," he said.
He won cheers by declaring he opposes legalizing marijuana but believes
"states ought to have that right to do it."
The two-day conference, at a hotel just outside Washington, D.C., featured
an opening-day lineup heavy with first-time national candidates eager to

make a strong impression and a Friday agenda that revealed the potential
challenge, and opportunity, of the ideological diversity in the party.
Before Bush spoke, "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson was on stage
delivering a meandering speech that went beyond his allotted time. Earlier,
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, R-Ky., defended his vision of a more limited
foreign policy only to be followed immediately by Rick Santorum's push for
a more aggressively military response to the militants of the Islamic State.
On the schedule in between was Donald Trump advocating, well, Donald
Trump.
But speeches by Bush and Paul best captured the choice between
establishment favorite and a grassroots-backed wild card.
Paul has traditionally thrived with the CPAC audience - he won the 2014
presidential preference straw poll - and again drew the most enthusiastic
reaction here.
His afternoon speech, delayed by votes in the Senate, was grounded in
libertarian principles. He said conservatives' support for limited government
at home should inform their foreign policy, too.
"Conservatives should not succumb to the notion that a government inept
at home will somehow succeed abroad, that a government that can't even
deliver the mail will somehow be able to create nations abroad," the
Kentucky Republican declared.
His view of national defense - "unparalleled, undefeatable and
unencumbered by nation-building" - was an extension of Ronald Reagan's
advocacy of "peace through strength," he said.
At home, Paul said his travels to communities often ignored by the GOP,
including Detroit and Ferguson, Mo., have shown him that "liberal policies
have failed."
"Those of us who have enjoyed the American dream must break down a
wall that separates us from the other America," he said, before promising to
"cut everyone's taxes, from richest to poorest."
CPAC has long attracted Republican White House hopefuls eager to make
a splash before a conservative audience. But this year, the American
Conservative Union, the event's organizer, has done more to present it as a
presidential audition.
Rather than just allow would-be candidates to deliver a red-meat speech,
the group has required candidates to follow their opening remarks with a
question-and-answer session. Conservative media figures including
Ingraham and Hannity have led the questioning.

Last year, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., delivered a stern speech to CPAC
focused almost singularly on foreign policy. In his opening remarks this
time, Rubio again hewed to his message about the importance of American
leadership on the world stage. He silenced the crowd with an emotional,
personal pitch.
"This is deeply personal," he said. "America doesn't owe me anything. But I
have a debt to America that I will never be able to repay."
Then, however, he sat with Hannity, who peppered him with questions
about more politically difficult parts of his record, particularly immigration.
Rubio's support for a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill in
2013 is extremely unpopular with many conservatives.
Rubio said the lesson he has learned in the two years since he helped write
that legislation was that you can't discuss pathways to citizenship until
Americans believe "that future illegal immigration will be controlled."
Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, said the
changes to the format are about giving conservative activists "the best
experience they can get."
"We're trying to bring the stage out among them to make it less imposing,
to make it easier to interact with the speakers and make the speakers
interact with them," he said.
"The prospects for conservatives to be successful in 2016 are incredibly
high," he added. "And conservatives have a chance to make sure that a
conservative nominee is the standard bearer."

Jeb Bush takes on skeptics, stands

firm on immigration at CPAC
USA TODAY NETWORK Catalina Camia and David Jackson, USA TODAY 3:04
p.m. CST February 27, 2015

http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/story/news/nation-now/
2015/02/27/jeb-bush-cpac/24135149/

(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USAT)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Jeb Bush walked into the lion's den Friday,
seeking to quell doubts among conservatives that his views on immigration
and education make him unfit for the presidency.
The former Florida governor told the Conservative Political Action
Conference that he is a "practicing, reform-minded conservative" and
reminded the standing-room-only crowd that he has experience and
achievements in boosting the economy and revamping the way a
government operates.
"I've actually done it," Bush said.
At the beginning of his appearance, Bush was interrupted by shouts and a
small number of people who walked out in protest. Earlier in the day, the
mention of his name sparked booing by an audience that loudly indicated it
preferred Scott Walker, Ted Cruz or Rand Paul as the 2016 Republican
standard-bearer. But as Bush answered questions, he was applauded
several times and drew cheers from the crowd.
Throughout the conference, attendees and speakers criticized Bush's
support for Common Core educational standards and a comprehensive
overhaul of the nation's immigration law, and those issues were at the heart
of his conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News.

!
Customers browse the selection of buttons at the PC Button booth during theConservative
Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 27.(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA
TODAY)

On immigration, Bush criticized President Obama's recent executive

actions and stuck by his idea that strong border security coupled with a
path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the USA as the
right approach. "A great country needs to enforce the borders," he said,
adding that there should be a plan so that immigrants can petition to have
their spouse and minor children living abroad to join them.
Bush acknowledged there is disagreement among Republicans about a
path to legal status for undocumented workers already in the United States,
but he held firm. "There is no plan to deport 11 million people," Bush said,
adding the steps toward citizenship should include provisions ensuring that
immigrants don't break the law and learn English.

On education, Bush defended his support for high standards but said they
should be made part of a comprehensive program that includes vouches.
"The federal government has no role in the creation of standards," he said,
adding it also should not be making decisions about what's taught in
schools. "The role of the federal government, if any, is to create more
school choice.

William Temple, a member of the Golden Isles Tea Party in Georgia. (Photo: H. Darr Beiser,
USA TODAY)

William Temple, a Tea Party supporter from Brunswick, Ga., led the walkout
of Bush's remarks.
"The Tea Party wants nothing to do with this man," said Temple, a familiar
sight at CPAC events because he wears a the costume of a patriot soldier
from the Revolutionary War. "We need a Ted Cruz. We need a Governor
Walker. We need a Ben Carson. We'd take Duck Dynasty before we'd take
another Bush.
Bush is perceived as the favorite of the Republican establishment, which
turns off CPAC attendee Kim Garver.
"I'm not a Jeb Bush fan. He's too liberal," said Garver, a Maryland resident
who works for the Defense Department. "He's an establishment candidate
who's being pushed by Fox News and Karl Rove," the strategist behind
George W. Bush's presidential victories.
Allen Skillicorn, vice chairman of the the Kane County (Illinois) Republican
Party, didn't plan to walk out during Bush's remarks but joined the group
because he opposes a third Bush presidency. "America is about personal
freedom, not a dynasty," he said. "I want his donors to realize we can't win
with him.
But Robbie Aiken, who works in government relations in Alexandria, Va.,
said he was pleased to see Bush "kept rolling" as the governor's critics tried
to interrupt his CPAC presentation. "He seemed very prepared and he got
across all his points," Aiken said. "I"m not saying Jeb is Ronald Reagan but
he's as close as we can get right now. Jeb is the real deal, in my
opinion.

PERRY GETS STANDING OVATION AT

NATIONAL CONVENTION


Former Governor Perry back on national stage, speaks to conservatives at CPAC


By Tom Abrahams
Friday, February 27, 2015
http://abc13.com/politics/perry-back-on-national-stage-/537561/

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD (KTRK) -Former Governor Rick Perry took the stage Friday morning and got
straight to his message.
"Here's the simple truth about our foreign policy," he told the
crowd,which gave him a standing ovation as he entered, "Our allies
doubt us and our adversaries are all too willing to test us."
Perry is reintroducing himself to the national stage in his first big speech
since he left the Governor's Mansion he occupied in Texas for fourteen
years. He knew his audience.
"These are conservative Republican voters by and large," he told
Eyewitness News Anchor Tom Abrahams before his twenty minute
speech. "So we need to remind people what we've done in the state of
Texas, we need to remind people about the great economic climate that's
been created in the state of Texas."
Perry, however, was not the only candidates to focus on foreign policy.
Nearly every one of the more than dozen potential presidential candidate
who spoke at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference
placed national security at the top of their agenda. Former U.N.
Ambassador John Bolton said he wasn't surprised.
"Look," he explained, "I think the president's main responsibility is the
defense of the country. There are a lot of important issues that are going
to be debated in the 2016 cycle. but none as important as defense."
It was also the first thing mentioned by former Florida Governor Jeb
Bush, the perceived front runner some 11 months before the primary
season begins. But his message was focused more on convincing the
partisan crowd he is one of them.

"Obviously there are a lot of conservatives in this room," he told the

largest crowd of the three day convention. "And this is why it's such a
spectacular gathering. There are a lot of other conservatives that haven't
been asked. They don't know that they're conservative."
But Bush, whose father and brother both served as president, may face
an uphill battle among the right wing of the party, some of whom believe
he is too moderate to galvanize Republican voters and win back the
White House in 2016.
The chair of the American Conservative Union Foundation, which hosts
CPAC, says it will take a true conservative to win the general election.
"I think we need to unify this party," she said, "because in the last two
elections we've left too many of our own votes on the table."
Celebrity businessman Donald Trump, who told a crowd at a meet and
greet session his potential candidacy is no joke, said being conservative
will be important. "No, I don't think so," he said when asked if a
moderate could win the nomination.
It is, of course, way too early to know which of the potential candidates
here will gain enough money and momentum to seriously challenge for
the nomination. But CPAC and its influence, has proven an enormous
sounding board for those who throw their hats into what looks to be an
incredibly crowded ring.

Jeb Bush says he's not a 'squishy' moderate

as conservative rival for nomination stakes
claim

Mr Bush attempted a swipe at his rivals for proclaiming

conservative values without the track record to prove it
DAVID USBORNE
Friday 27 February 2015
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jeb-bush-says-hes-not-a-squishy-moderate-asconservative-rival-for-nomination-stakes-claim-10076457.html

With an early, possibly ephemeral front-runner status as the

Republican nomination for president, Jeb Bush, a brother and son
of former presidents, moved yesterday to quiet cries from some on
the right wing of the party that he lacks the conservative
credentials to lead them.
Even before plunging into the lions den that is the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, being held in a
resort complex just outside Washington DC, Mr Bush used an
address at the annual meeting of the anti-tax Club for Growth in
Palm Beach, Florida, to assert that his two terms as governor of
the Sunshine State offers proof that he is not the squishy
moderate some claim him to be. I ran as a conservative. I said
what I was going to do. I had a chance to do it, and trust me, I
did, he said at the meeting on Thursday, ticking off milestones
fitting the conservative, small-government worldview including
cutting government payrolls and reducing taxes every year he was
in office.
Mr Bush attempted a swipe at his rivals for proclaiming
conservative values without the track record to prove it. Its easy
to talk about it, he said. I hope you believe that you want
someone who has the proven leadership skills to make it happen.

Scott Walker presents the largest threat to Bush (Reuters)

But at CPAC, Mr Bush face a more sceptical audience who on

Thursday gave standing a ovation to the man who, for now, seems
to present the largest threat to his ambitions, Scott Walker. As the
serving Governor of Wisconsin, Mr Walker has a far fresher
record to delight conservatives, namely his aggressive curtailing of
union powers in a state that has traditionally been more
Democrat-friendly.
Because of reform, our state is a better than the one that [I] grew
up in, Mr Walker declared in a 13-minute speech. Mr Walker
currently leads polling in Iowa, which will be the first state to
choose between rival contenders just under a year from now. Mr
Bush is due to visit Iowa for the first time in 15 years next
weekend for an agricultural summit. Mr Walker will also attend.

Rolling out his record as Florida governor, an office he left in

2007, will do only so much for Mr Bush, said Matt Schlapp,
chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts
CPAC. The challenge for him is this isnt about yesterday, its
about tomorrow. The key is, what will he do if hes president of
the United States, and does he have a message that will appeal to
conservatives?
Some delegates at CPAC had said they planned to walk out when
Mr Bush took the podium, to highlight their contention that he
belongs to the RINO class Republican In Name Only. Were
tired of CPAC inviting non-conservatives to come to speak,
William Temple, a Tea Party activist, complained.

Suspicion among conservatives stem from Mr Bushs support for

immigration reform that could give undocumented residents a
path to citizenship and for so-called Common Core curriculum
targets for schools that they believe gives the federal government
say over state education policies.
Mr Bush contributed to the problem when he said last year he
would not be dragged to the right during the primary process just
to appease the conservative wing, something which, he argued,
hurt Mitt Romney in 2012. A Republican might need to lose the
primary to win the general [election], he said.
The restless activists who attend CPAC cannot claim to represent
all grassroots conservatives in the Republican Party. Indeed, polls
suggest that conservatives with less subversive instincts are still
open to a Bush candidacy. But among those stirring passions at
CPAC was Laura Ingraham, a conservative radio host, who said
nothing should be bestowed on him merely because of his family
name.
The idea that we should be conducting any type of coronation in
the Republican Party today because 50 rich families decide who
they think would best represent their interests? No way, she said.

91
0
540

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

SESSIONS VS. JEB: BATTLE FOR THE

SOUL OF THE GOP
by MATTHEW BOYLE
27 Feb 2015
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/27/sessions-vs-jeb-battle-for-the-soul-ofthe-gop/

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland In a surprise speech at the

Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Sen. Jeff

Sessions (R-AL) unloaded on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

systematically dismantling Bushs push for amnesty and a massive
increase in guest workers from around the world.
Right now, there are two conferencesone of them in public
where candidates are out there having to speak and defend and
answer questions on their views and on their positions on
important issues facing America, Sessions said to open up his
remarks to the Breitbart News-sponsored meet-and-greet with
CPAC activists. Many people at this conference here and
watching it from abroad are evaluating them, judging them and
asking themselves whether or not their visions, their ideas, their
character will be used to advance the interests of the American
people and this republicand thats the way it ought to be.
However, Sessions cited a Washington Times articlesaying Mitt
Romneys former top fundraising aide Spencer Zwick, praised
Jeb Bushs stance on immigration, saying the party should follow
his lead if the party hopes to win back the White House.
If someone wants to be serious about running for president, they
need to be in a similar place [to Bush], Zwick said on a
conference call with GOP donors organized by Americans for Tax
Reform president Grover Norquista key figure at CPAC since he
is a board member of the American Conservative Union (ACU).
The ACU hosts CPAC every year, but the organization under new
chairman Matt Schlapp has seen a shift away from the
establishment wing of the GOP it had under old chairman Al
Cardenas.
Ill tell you one thing: Its the people of this country that run this
country, Sessions responded, pushing back against the donor
communitys push for other Republican candidates to abandon
their constituents in support of Bushs immigration position.
Contributions and supporters are always important in
presidential elections and other elections too, but votes trumps
money.
The crowd in the room cheered for Sessions.

Bush, on the other hand,was booed by CPAC activistsmany of

whom walked out on his speech as he argued that Congress needs
to grant amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens in America right
now.
The president did use authority he didnt have, the courts are
going to overrule that, Bush said, comments in which he was
essentially calling for Congress to stop fighting President Obamas
executive amnesty. But instead of stopping executive amnesty,
Bush wants Congress to pass a legislative amnesty.
There is no plan to deport 11 million people, Bush said, but
callingas the Senate Gang of Eight called for, something that
turned out to not be trueborder security to stop the flow of
illegal immigration first and foremost.
Sessions offered a different vision on immigration that Bush, one
more in line with the Republican base:
I think [people across America] are very ready to abandon this
statist, amnesty and open borders threat to their jobs, wages and
future for themselves and their children. People are worried about
this. Im going to tell you how were going to win this election.
Its a fundamental question of who are our constituents? Who do
we vote for and represent? A CEOs job is to represent
stockholders. Well, a politicians job is to represent the people. We
are not, as National Review said, an economy with a nation. We
are a nation with an economy. People are not commodities.
Bush, during his interview with Fox News Sean Hannity on stage
at CPAC, accused those who have the viewpoint widespread
increases in immigration would hurt American workerspeople
including Sessionsof having liberal viewpoints.
I believe that we we ought to be focused on is growing the
economic pie and growing it in a way that looks more like the 80s
in America, Bush said during remarks.
But Sessions fired back, by noting that the American people want
and rightly believe their federal government should defend their
economic interest on the world stage effectively with passion and

determination. That is an obligation that we have as

representatives of the people to do so, and with regard to
immigration the American people are good and decent. We have
the most generous immigration system in the world.
Sessions detailed how America right now allows in more legal
immigrants than any other nation, and noted, the American
peoples view is right and good and decent.
Theyve pleaded for this, theyve demanded this, Congress has
promised this but never deliveredtheyve asked for a lawful
system of immigration, one that serves the national interest, one
that we can be proud of, Sessions said.
While Sessions said that Romney would have been a great
president, he lost the election because he failed to get lowerincome American workers to vote for him. The way to get those
people to the polls for a Republican, Sessions points out, is to
make it clear to the voters that the Republican nominee whoever
it is will stick up for them over corporatists, special interests and
foreign workers.

Marco Rubio CPAC 2015 Speech:

Republican Florida Senator
Talks Immigration, Potential
2016 Presidential Run at
Conservative Convention
By Michael Oleaga (m.oleaga@latinpost.com)
Posted: Feb 27, 2015 01:34 PM EST

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/40125/20150227/marco-rubio-cpac-2015-speechrepublican-florida-senator-talks-immigration.htm

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) Friday in National Harbor, Maryland. Conservative activists attended the
annual political conference to discuss their agenda. (Photo : Getty)

Rubio criticized President Barack Obama's immigration executive

actions. He acknowledged the 22 occasions the president said he
holds no legal authority to enact such executive actions on
immigration. He said, "As far as I can tell in the last four years, the
Constitution has not been amended. So I don't know where he
suddenly found the Constitutional power to do this. This is not a
policy debate, it's a Constitutional debate."
In 2013, Rubio co-sponsored a bipartisan comprehensive
immigration reform bill, known as "S.744 - Border Security,
Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act." S.744
passed the Senate with 68 votes in favor and 32 votes in
opposition, but the bill was never picked up for debate in the
House of Representatives. Since his vote in favor of S.744, Rubio
has walked back from his vote.
Like

At CPAC Friday morning, Rubio said immigration is a serious

problem and identified there is no mechanism in place to enforce
current immigration laws. He said the current legal immigration
system is "too generous." While he recognized there are
undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for a
lengthy period of time with no criminal record, Rubio said he has
learned a discussion on immigration cannot take place unless it is
proven the issue can be controlled.
In regards to the 2016 presidential election, Rubio said he has not
made a final decision about running for office, but acknowledged
his intention to run is to give back to the country. Rubio did
announce he does not want to be involved in politics for the rest
of his life.
If he was elected president, Rubio said a healthy economy is
important by initiating tax reform, regulatory reform and repeal
and replace the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as
Obamacare. During his first 100 days in office, Rubio also wants
to focus on fully utilizing the U.S. energy portfolio and balancing

the country's budget. The Republican senator also wants to

address higher education and improve the U.S. foreign policy.
Rubio also reaffirmed his stance on several national issues,
including his opposition to legal marijuana laws, support for
unrestrictive guns laws and "traditional" marriage between a man
and woman. When asked about former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, Rubio referred to her as "yesterday" and Obama as
"failed."
Rubio is not the only potential Republican presidential candidate
attending the four-day CPAC conference, which is being held at
the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National
Harbor, Maryland. Guests at CPAC include former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. Rand
Paul of Kentucky, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and current
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Nigel Farage Delivers Speech

to Almost Empty Room at
U.S. Conference
BY LUKE HURST 2/27/15 AT 11:06 AM
http://www.newsweek.com/nigel-farage-delivers-speech-almost-empty-room-usconference-310090?piano_d=1

"
Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage speaks at the 42nd
annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland February
26, 2015. REUTERS/JOSHUA ROBERTS

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom

Independence Party (Ukip), delivered a speech to a largely
empty room last night at the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C.

Held at the Gaylord Conference Centre, Farage spoke in the

5,000-seater ballroom which was reportedly packed to the
brim for preceding conservative speakers including Scott
Walker and Sarah Palin. The annual conference - hosted by
the American Conservative Union - attracts big names from
the American political right who use the opportunity to get
their message across to activists and media.

Questions have been raised as to why Farage made the 3,500

mile trip across the Atlantic to speak. One American attendee
who describes himself as a conservative activist says that
Farage is not well-known in the U.S. It is fair to say most
people didnt know who he was.
Andres Taborda - who says he follows American and British
politics - explains it is unusual for speakers to get a lengthy
introduction, and Farage was treated to a four-minute one
from Alex Marlow the editor of Breitbart, a right-wing news
website.

According to Taborda, the timing of Farages speech didnt

help, as he was the final speaker of the night and also had to
follow Tea Party heavy-weight Sarah Palins address.
Taborda says there were around 100 people in the room
when the Ukip leader was speaking, leaving 4,900 empty
seats, although others estimated a slightly higher turnout:

Farage used his speech to advise the Republican Party on the

need to appeal to the grassroots voters, the likes of whom he
said voted for the party 30 years ago.
He received noticeably muted applause when addressing the
subject of joint U.S. and British foreign policy. Britain has

been joined at the hip with America and have been involved
in an endless series of overseas engagements and wars and
the time has come to assess whether that has been
successful, he said, drawing groans from the room
according to Taborda.
Farage also used the opportunity to criticise what he calls
the mistaken policy of multiculturalism, referring to
yesterdays arrest of three terrorism suspects in New York
and Florida before criticising Obamas lack of courage on the
issue.
He added: The message we've got to put out is this - we
must stand firm and defend our Judeo-Christian culture. We
must make it clear that we believe in common law and not
Sharia law. And we must stand up and fight for liberty for
freedom and democracy and not to be cowed by political
correctness and not to be cowed by fear of being criticised.
We should be aware that we know have in our countries,
sadly, an enemy within, a fifth column as I've called it in the
past and we have got to get a grip on this situation.
Newsweek contacted Ukip for comment but has not yet had a
response.

AFTER LAST YEARS SHUTOUT,

PRO-LIFERS TAKE CENTER STAGE
AT CPAC 2015

Dan Fleuette

by AUSTIN RUSE
27 Feb 2015

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/27/afterlast-years-shutout-pro-lifers-take-center-stage-at-cpac-2015/
After being largelyshut out last year, pro-life and pro-family advocates are taking a more
prominent role at CPAC, the premier annual gathering of conservatives held outside
Washington, D.C.,from Thursday through the weekend.
At the same event last year,Breitbart reported that not a single panel or specific speaker on prolife issues had been scheduled. Pro-lifers noted panels on the IRS scandal, immigration,
Common Core, privacy, gun control, and criminal justice reform. They saw panels on career
counseling, making friends, pot-smoking, making posts go Upworthy, and even a panel on
Vaccines vs. Leeches. Though there were speakers noted for their pro-life advocacy, they were
speaking on other issues.

A number of pro-life leaders spoke to Breitbart last year and complained about the dearth of
speakers on their issue, including Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life, Troy Newman of
Operation Rescue, Paul Rondeau, then of American Life League, and Ryan Bomberger of the
Radiance Foundation.
This year is different, likely because of the new chairman of the American Conservative Union,
overall sponsor of the event that draws many presidential aspirants. Matt Schlapp and his wife
Mercy have impeccable pro-life credentials since before their time in the Bush White House and
down to today. They are close friends with pro-life activist Reverend Pat Mahoney in the work he
does.
Schlapp told Breitbarts Matt Boyle last week that they are making a deliberate attempt to
embrace social conservatives this year.
Though still largely about economic, regulation, and national security issues, this year, pro-lifers
have two panels. Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life is hosting a panel on how to
confront the abortion industry as a big business. And a number of pro-life advocatesMarjorie
Dannenfelser and Darla St. Martinare speaking at a panel on pro-life success stories.
Two panels will even touch on something of a third rail for libertarian conservatives: gay
marriage. Tony Perkins of Family Research Council is hosting a panel on religious freedom,
something social conservatives see as under assault in the gay marriage debate. And the
American Principles Project is hosting a panel about the future of marriage in America.
The LGBT issue may get an airing out when Breitbart News Chairman Stephen K. Bannon gives
the Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award to Duck Dynasty star Phil
Robertson, who quite famously stood up for traditional marriage and came under sustained
attack from gay marriage supporters. They tried to get him to apologize under threat of losing
his highly popular show. He refused and backed them down.
All the possible presidential candidates who are speaking this week will likelymention the prolife issue. Social conservatives are seen as one of the important pillars of the conservative
three-legged stool.

!
Donald Trump speaks at the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Feb. 27,
2015 in National Harbor, Md. Conservative activists attended the annual political conference to discuss
their agenda. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

What's in the conscience of today's

conservative?
http://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/
s-1621699?fs
Feb 27, 2015
David Lightman, McClatchy
Washington Bureau
OXON HILL, Md. -- Defining conservatism today is tough.
Conservatives do remain guided by one firm principle: Government is
too big. But there's no consensus on how to change it.
Other issues divide as well. Does being conservative mean accepting
or fighting same-sex marriage? Does modern conservatism accept the
long-standing doctrine that the United States has a moral
responsibility to promote democracy and fight tyranny and terrorism

no matter where they breed? Or does the true conservative think the
U.S. is not the world's policeman?
"We're not a church. It's a mistake to somehow think there's a book of
dogma and you accept those teachings if you're a conservative, and if
you don't, you're not," said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union, which is sponsoring the four-day Conservative
Political Action Conference in a Washington suburb.
The underlying conservative philosophy remains unquestioned.
"Conservatives want people to do more," said Carter Wrenn, a
Republican consultant based in Raleigh, N.C. "We believe individual
responsibility is the key to prosperity and success."
Also unquestioned is what conservatives largely oppose: high taxes,
strict gun control, abortion, too much government regulation and the
2010 health care law. Obamacare remains a favorite target, an
expensive new bureaucracy that's seen as an inefficient, outrageous
government overreach into people's lives.
Coming up fast on the hit list is Common Core, the kindergartenthrough-12th-grade standards adopted in 43 states. The standards,
finalized about five years ago by the nation's governors and education
commissioners, had their roots in the standards and accountability
movement of the 1990s. States can adopt the standards voluntarily,
though the Obama administration offered financial incentives to those
that did.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called the standards "Obamacore." New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, once supporters,
made sure the crowd knew they were now opposed. Former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush is and remains a Common Core supporter, and he was
blasted for it.
"People who think that way aren't conservatives," said Joe Messina, a
Santa Clarita, Calif., radio talk-show host.
Bush argued Friday that while the standards are not a federal
takeover, the administration's involvement in encouraging them is a
"danger."
Agreeing on alternatives is tougher. On cutting spending, for instance,
ideas are everywhere while consensus is elusive. House Ways and
Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, one of the
Republican Party's most influential voices on budget issues, has been
pushing for radical changes to Medicare for years, but has gotten
nowhere.

Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is considering a presidential

bid, suggested not replacing federal employees who retire in the next
four to five years. His idea has gained no traction in Congress. Sen.
Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has tried for years and failed to get balanced
budget amendments attached to debt ceiling increases.
Foreign policy sparks the biggest divide. Potential presidential
candidates "don't know where to go. They don't know where that
consensus is," said Schlapp. "They don't know which book to pull off
the shelf, to study, to learn what the consensus is. There's a lot of
diverse opinions on what the consensus should be."
On one side are the libertarians, a sizable bloc led by Paul and his
father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Ron Paul has long been wary of
U.S. intervention in foreign affairs. He noted earlier this week, "It is
clear that without foreign intervention Ukraine would not be in its
current seemingly hopeless situation."
Rand Paul has been more willing to get the U.S. involved. While he
wants action against the Islamic State, he's said Congress should
formally declare war. And he rails against aid to nations tied to
terrorist acts.
"We do not project strength by borrowing money from China to send it
to Pakistan," he said Friday at CPAC. "It angers me to see mobs
burning our flag and chanting 'death to America' in countries that
receive our foreign aid. I say it must end. I say not one penny more to
these haters of America."
The divide may not be as sharp on social issues, but the debate is
more passionate. Conservatives understand that Americans are more
willing to accept same-sex marriage, and their views are evolving.
"I see a gay couple and I say, 'Be happy,'" said Kevin Jackson, a St.
Louis radio talk-show host. Just stay away from marriage.
"If you want to co-opt a word with a biblical backdrop, you're trying to
debase a word with a biblical meaning to it," he said.
Yet gay rights advocates see some progress in simply being accepted
here. Most potential presidential candidates lauded traditional
marriage and called same-sex marriage a decision for states.
Gregory Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay
rights organization, will speak Saturday on a panel about Russia. And
Schlapp said the group would get together with the American
Conservative Union later and discuss the future.
It's a start, said Angelo. "Now is not the time to make the perfect the
enemy of the good," he said.

Nor is it the time to count on consensus on what comes next. On much

of anything.
"What we're trying to do at CPAC," said Schlapp, "is have a
conversation on what we disagree on."

Indiana's Pence among the

few to deflect 2016 GOP
question
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/politics/Indiana-s-Pence-among-the-fewto-deflect-2016-GOP-question-5293250
March 02, 2015 2:15 AM

By THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press

PALM BEACH, Florida Some Republicans meeting conservatives in Washington
and Palm Beach, Florida, in the past few days have spoken openly about possible
presidential campaigns. Not Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
Pence tells about 200 fiscal conservatives at a Club for Growth luncheon on
Saturday: "I'm always very humbled to be asked...my focus today, in this moment,
is Indiana."
The former congressman could still explore running after his legislature adjourns
this spring.
Pence spoke to the influential anti-tax group at its annual winter meeting.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush spoke to the group Thursday. On Friday, Texas Sen.
Ted Cruz took his turn. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were scheduled, too.
The six also spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington
this past week.

Rand Paul wins

CPAC straw poll,
Scott Walker close
second
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/politics/Rand-Paul-wins-CPAC-straw-poll-Scott-Walker-close-second-5299046
March 02, 2015 1:39 AM

By JILL COLVIN, Associated Press

OXON HILL, Md. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has won the Conservative Political
Action Conference's annual presidential preference straw poll.
Pollsters announced Saturday that Paul won 25.7 percent of the votes in the annual
survey, giving Paul his third consecutive win in as many years.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in second, with 21.4 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz
came in third in the contest with 11.5 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon
Ben Carson with 11.4 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 8.3 percent.
All of the other names listed received under 5 percent.
The three-day CPAC conference in suburban Washington draws many libertarianleaning college students whose views and priorities differ significantly from the

Republican Party at large. But it is nonetheless seen as a barometer of certain

conservative activists' early leanings.
Pollsters said just over 3,000 attendees voted. Nearly half identified as between the
ages of 18 and 25.
Respondents said economic issues, like jobs and taxes, were most important to
them in deciding whom to support as the Republican nominee for president in
2016.
What near-miss on a Department of Homeland Security shutdown?
To hear Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers address activists at the annual Conservative
Political Action Conference on Saturday, there were no hints of an intraparty fight
the night before that led to the brink of a partial shutdown of the agency tasked
with border control and anti-terrorism. In her remarks, the Republican Conference
chairwoman made no mention of the standoff that split conservatives from
establishment Republican lawmakers.
"I've lived the American Dream, but, sadly, for too many, the American Dream is
fading," said McMorris Rogers, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House
leadership and the top House lawmaker to appear on CPAC's main stage.
In her remarks, she reminisced about her childhood on a Washington state orchard
and spoke of her disagreements with President Barack Obama. She was silent on
the drama that unfolded nearby a day earlier, perhaps because it's unclear whether
the GOP has an answer to avoid a repeat of what Congress and the nation had
just weathered.
Late Friday, the House Republicans refused to adopt a three-week spending bill for
the Department of Homeland Security. Many conservatives insisted that no cash
would go to the department unless Obama's executive orders on immigration were
voided.
A stopgap, one-week accord won last-minute passage, and Obama signed it into
law. But that sets up a similar showdown in less than a week.
McMorris Rogers was asked after the speech if the process would improve next
week. "I don't think it will be any worse," she said.
She also said it is important for House Republicans to work with Senate
Republicans to avoid a similar crisis.
Even though House Republicans have large numbers on their side, they aren't
enough to ensure the party can line up a majority on contentious issues. The GOP
advantage is 245-188 with two vacancies.

No Rootin'-Tootin' Solution For

GOP's Immigration Woes
BY PAUL WALDMAN
POSTED MARCH 2, 2015
http://prospect.org/waldman/no-rootin-tootin-solution-gops-immigration-woes


(Photo: Ron Sachs/CNP via AP Images)

Former Governor Rick Perry (Republican of Texas) speaks at the

Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord
National at National Harbor, Maryland on Friday, February 27, 2015.


If you want to understand the challenge Republicans face in their two
goals for the next two yearsto keep their control of Congress from
turning into a disaster, and to win back the White Houseall you have
to do is look at the way they've handled the issue of immigration.
They've spent the last few years trying to find their way to a coherent
policy consensus that helps, not hurts, their electoral fate in the near and
far future. It isn't as though no Republicans have any ideas. But every
time it comes up, they just seem to be digging themselves into a deeper
hole.
The explanation has to do with where the party's center of gravity lies.
As Tom Schaller details in his new book The Stronghold: How
Republicans Captured Congress But Surrendered the White House, the
GOP's agenda, image, and character are now largely determined by its
representatives in Congress, and more specifically, its House members.
Whereas the Democrats used to have a stranglehold on the House while
Republicans had an advantage in presidential elections, we now see the
reverse: Republicans hold a structural advantage in congressional
districts (a product of both gerrymandering and where Americans of
different ideologies choose to live), while Democrats start presidential
campaigns with a leg up.
And in the House, the typical Republican is one who hails from a
conservative district, has constituents who are overwhelmingly white,
and only worries about a challenge from the right. He may understand
full well what party leaders mean when they say that the GOP needs to
reach out to Latinos, and that comprehensive immigration reform has to
be a part of that process. But when he goes home, he gets an earful from
constituents who want him to know how ticked off they are about the
foreign tide coming across the border and changing the character of their
America.
So look what happened just in the last few days. On Capitol Hill, House
Republicans demanded that continued funding for the Department of
Homeland Security be tied to a reversal of President Barack Obama's
executive actions on deferred deportations for undocumented

immigrants. Senate Republicans were prepared to fund the Department

of Homeland Security and hold a separate vote protesting the president's
immigration actions, but that wasn't good enough for Republicans in the
House, who want no compromise in their effort to strike back at Obama.
Fifty-two of them revolted against Speak John Boehner's attempt to fund
DHS for three weeks, evidently believing that was too long to wait for
another shutdown showdown; now we'll be doing it again at the end of
this week.

Rick Perry, former governor of the Lone Star State,

repeated one of his favorite rootin'-tootin' lines
Meanwhile, just a few miles away, Republican presidential hopefuls
were telling conservative activists at the Conservative Political Action
Conference of their unadulterated zeal for "securing the border." Rick
Perry, former governor of the Lone Star State, repeated one of his
favorite rootin'-tootin' lines, about how he told Barack Obama, "If you
won't secure the border, Texas will." (Perry has been saying that for a
while, yet he managed to leave office without actually securing the
border.) Senator Marco Rubio, who not only used to be a supporter of
comprehensive immigration reform but just three years ago proposed his
own version of the DREAM Act, has seen the light. He told CPAC the
crowdthat figuring out what to do about the undocumented immigrants
who are already here is all well and good, "But what I've learned is you
can't even have a conversation about that until people believe and know
not just believe but it's proven to themthat future illegal
immigration will be controlled." So he, too, now says that securing the
border first is the most important thing.
Fresh from his successful appearance at CPAC, Scott Walker appeared
on Fox News Sunday yesterday, where he was questioned on the fact that
he used to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants,
but no longer does. "My view has changed. I'm flat-out saying it," he
said, adding, "We need to secure the border."
Walker may be wondering why his change of heart should be a big deal,
because the truth is that most of the 2016 candidates have at one time or

another said positive things about a path to some kind of legal status for
the undocumented. But with one exception, they've now agreed that the
answer to any question about immigration is "Secure the border first."
Which is a way of saying that we shouldn't actually do much of
anything, forever.
You may have noticed that you never hear a Republican describe exactly
what a "secure" border would look like. Zero undocumented
immigration? Fences across all 1,933 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border?
The Border Patrol's budget has doubled over the last decade, even as the
number of illegal crossings plunged after the Great Recession. But no
matter what happens, Republicans can always say that we can't have
comprehensive reform yet, because the border is not secured.
Rubio shouldn't feel alone either, because there's a time-honored
tradition of Republican candidates changing their position on
immigration once they enter the presidential race. Mitt Romney once
supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; by the
time his 2012 campaign came around, he was talking about "selfdeportation," a euphemism for making life so miserable for them that
they'd return to the countries they fled from. Before running for
president in 2008, John McCain wrote a comprehensive reform bill;
during the campaign, he declared his opposition to his own bill.
The only Republican candidate who seems unwilling to jump with both
feet into the quadrennial immigration pander-fest is Jeb Bush. Whether
out of conviction or the calculation that he has gone way too far to flipflop now, Bush still maintains his support for a path to legal status for
undocumented immigrants. But he, too, has moved right: He once
supported a path to complete citizenship, but no longer does.
That doesn't mean his opponents won't go after him on the issue, and
hard. All the candidates know that for Republican primary voters,
immigration is a cultural issue, every bit as much as abortion or gay
marriage. The question is whether the eventual nominee can get through
the primary telling Republican voters he sees America the same way
they do without telling general election votersboth the growing Latino
population and moderate voters as a wholethat his perspective is

dramatically different from theirs. Previous nominees couldn't do it, and

with congressional Republicans waging an endless battle with the
president over the immigration issue, it's going to be hard for the next
nominee to fare much better.

Wisconsin Governor Walker,

American workers and terrorism
2 March 2015
Patrick Martin
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/03/02/pers-m02.html
On three separate occasions in the past four days, Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker, one of the frontrunners for the Republican presidential
nomination, has stressed the close connection between the struggle
against the working class at home and Washingtons militarist policies
internationally.
Linking the suppression of workers protests to the fight against terrorism,
he has presented his success in defying mass demonstrations that broke
out in 2011 in Wisconsin against his attacks on workers social and
democratic rights as proof of his ability to take on and defeat ISIS.
Speaking Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
in suburban Washington DC, Walker cited his experience in pushing
through anti-worker legislation as proof of his fitness for the presidency. If I
could take on 100,000 protesters, I could do the same across the world, he
boasted, effectively comparing throngs of state workers and students to
ISIS terrorists.
The next day, speaking before the Club for Growth, an assembly of
billionaires and their political advisers meeting in Palm Beach, Florida,
Walker returned to the theme. He declared that the most significant foreign
policy decision of my lifetime was President Ronald Reagans smashing of
the 1981 PATCO strike and mass firing of 11,000 air traffic controllers. It
sent a message not only across America, it sent a message around the
world, he said, that the Reagan administration was serious about
confronting its enemies and we werent to be messed with.
Appearing two days later on Fox News Sunday, Walker repeated his claim
that defeating public employee unions in Wisconsin was relevant to fighting
ISIS terrorists, while pretending to disavow a direct comparison. I want to
make it clear right now. Im not comparing those two entities, he said, and
then proceeded to do just that.

What I meant was, it was about leadership, he declared. The leadership

we provided under extremely difficult circumstances, arguably, the most
difficult of any governor in the country. He added that if I were to run, and
if I were to win and be commander-in-chief, I believe that kind of leadership
is whats necessary to take on radical Islamic terrorism.
Walkers initial statement at CPAC was widely described in the media as a
gaffe. The problem, however, was not his implicit equation of working-class
opposition with terrorist organizations that have been targeted for
extermination, but rather his indiscretion in blurting out publicly what the US
corporate-financial oligarchy thinks and discusses internally.
In the event, comparing public employees to ISIS terrorists has not
disqualified Walker in the eyes of the media. If anything, it appears to have
enhanced his stature as a serious presidential candidate.
This is certainly the case among the so-called base of the Republican
Party that attended CPAC. Walker won the loudest ovations of any of the
13 potential candidates who addressed the group. In the CPAC straw poll,
Walker vaulted from sixth place in 2014 to second place, with 21.4 percent
of the vote, only narrowly behind Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
As the WSWS noted Saturday, Walker is not the first US political figure to
equate the struggle against popular opposition at home with the wars
waged by American imperialism overseas. In the American ruling elite,
whether among Republicans or Democrats, there is less and less of a
distinction made between domestic and foreign policy. The financial
aristocracy increasingly sees itself besieged and compelled at home as
well as abroad to resort to force and violence.
Events of the past several years demonstrate that for the American ruling
class, the main enemy is at home: the jailing of protesters on terrorism
charges, such as the NATO Three; the lockdown of Boston after the 2013
Marathon bombing; the militarized response to protests in Ferguson and
other cities over police violence; the constant invocations of home-grown
terrorism as the pretext for the dismantling of democratic rights and the
buildup of a police state.
There has been comparatively little media attention given to Walkers open
linkage of suppressing strikes and protests at home with waging war for
imperialist interests abroad. The television networks and national
newspapers prefer to leave such discussions to in-house assemblies of the
ultra-right and conclaves of the corporate elite.
There was one revealing commentary, however, posted by right-wing
columnist Peggy Noonan, on the web site of the Wall Street Journal.
Noonan, a White House speechwriter in the Reagan administration,

responded to Walkers invocation of the PATCO strike as a historic turning

point that showed the Soviet Union Reagans determination to smash
opposition to his policies.
She noted that the PATCO strike had a direct international dimension, since
Canadian air traffic controllers carried out job actions in sympathy with their
American colleagues and there was widespread support among European
workers. The Reagan administration bullied the Canadian government to
force a return to work.
Noonan then wrote: Sen. Edward Kennedy and Lane Kirkland of the AFL
CIO played helpful and constructive roles in support of Reagans handling
of the PATCO strike.
What Noonan noted in passing was a devastating admission, confirming
what the Workers League, forerunner of the Socialist Equality Party, and
our newspaper, the Bulletin, explained throughout the 1981 strike: the
outright hostility of both the Democratic Party and the AFL-CIO officialdom
to the struggle of the 11,000 strikers, who had enormous support in the
working class.
Kennedy had spearheaded the deregulation of the airline industry in the
late 1970s and it was one of his aides, working in the Carter administration,
who drew up the plans for strikebreaking and mass firings in the event of
an air traffic controllers strike, eventually implemented under Reagan.
Kirkland played the central role in the AFL-CIOs deliberate isolation of the
strike. After a mass rally brought 500,000 workers to Washington on
September 19, 1981, the biggest labor demonstration in US history, led by
thousands of PATCO strikers, the unions shut down all support, blocked
any solidarity strike action by airline or airport workers, and tacitly
supported the jailing of strikers and the outlawing and destruction of
PATCO.
It is critical that workers entering into struggle, such as the US oil refinery
workers now in the second month of a bitter strike, carefully consider the
significance of Walkers statements as well as the record of the Obama
administration in overseeing the buildup of the forces of state repression.
The ruling class will stop at nothing to defeat the resistance of workers to
its assault on living standards and social conditions. It recognizes in the
working class its irreconcilable enemy.
The working class must respond with the same degree of consciousness,
determination and ruthlessness.
The PATCO precedent remains of decisive importance today because the
twin obstacles of the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party remain the
decisive barriers that the American working class must overcome in order

to build a mass independent political movement that will challenge the profit
system and advance a socialist and revolutionary program.

College Republicans attend

CPAC, hear from potential
presidential candidates
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/article_513e65ea-c083-11e4-901f-e7d09327fc6f.html
Posted: Monday, March 2, 2015 12:45 am | Updated: 11:47 pm, Mon Mar 2, 2015.
By Josh Magness



Photo courtesy of Breyer Hillegas

Elizabeth Pickens had always heard about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker from
family who lived in the state, but attending the Conservative Political Action
Conference gave her the chance to hear the potential presidential candidate speak
in person.
About 25 members of the UMD College Republicans, most of them college-aged,
attended the annual four-day convention for conservative activists, held in Gaylord
National Convention Center at National Harbor. The students attended lectures and
heard top Republican politicians address their stances on issues such as
immigration and fiscal policy.
High-profile speakers this year included Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Gov.
Walker (R-Wi.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kn.) and Sarah
Palin. While Pickens, a sophomore history major, said all the speakers did well, she
said seeing Walker in person reaffirmed why she liked him, and that Bushs
demeanor on stage showed he could be a front-runner.
I was wary of Jeb Bush, but he was a good speaker and he had a really good
explanation for why he was in favor of immigration reform, Pickens said. Finally
seeing Scott Walker reinforced what I liked about him and why I wouldnt mind
him running for president.
Sen. Paul won his third consecutive CPAC presidential preference straw poll with
25.7 percent of the votes, edging out Walker, who came in second place with 21.4
percent. Skyler Golt, vice president of UMD College Republicans, said Sen. Pauls
speech was one of the more memorable events of the conference.
Rand Paul really hit on the reason why many people arent conservative, which is
because people only hear from the media about what its like to be conservative,
which tells it wrong, the junior environmental science and policy major said. He
said we are in favor of protecting all rights, not just the first and second, and thats
what it means to be conservative.
Pauls speech was also the most attended and well-received, said UMD College
Republicans President Breyer Hillegas, reflecting his popularity with young
people, who make up the majority of the conference.
The conference showed the Republican Partys growing divide on social issues,
with Bush speaking about his support of immigration reform and Jamila Bey

becoming the first openly atheist speaker at the conference. Duck Dynasty star Phil
Robertson also accepted the Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment
Award for his comments against same-sex marriage.
Golt said a main theme connecting many of the speeches was the idea that fiscal
conservatism brings together conservatives who are divided on social issues.
A lot of speakers talked about uniting the party because we have a diverse group
with a lot of different voices and opinions, which is good because more ideas are
better, he said. We may disagree on social issues, but we can all agree on
lowering taxes and respecting states rights.
Hillegas said the conference, which he says is comprised of around 90 percent
college-aged conservatives, is important because it lets both the current and
upcoming leaders of the Republican Party discuss issues.
If you want to change the future you should invest in young people, and young
people are the future of the party, the junior biology major said. Young people
are also very energized and passionate, so its good to have something like this for
them.
Pickens agreed, saying the conference gives conservatives on both sides of
contentious social issues a place to hold very constructive disagreements.
CPAC is great because it lets young people, who are more open to things like gay
marriage, and old people, who are more likely to be against it, come together to
exchange our ideas, Pickens said. Everyone just wants to understand what the
other side believes in, and why they do.

Their View: Pandering

politicians flip-flop on Common
Core
http://www.centredaily.com/2015/03/02/4628149_their-view-panderingpoliticians.html?rh=1
March 2, 2015
BY CAMPBELL BROWN

At the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, the supposed

evils of the Common Core educational standards were front and center. So,
too, was an unmistakable case of pandering.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared, We need to remove Common Core
from every classroom in America. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blamed
his predecessor for forcing his state to adopt the standards and said that he
is now deeply concerned about the heavy foot of the federal government
coming in.
Both now preach this opposition message with the zealous conviction of
converts because they are converts, having carried until recently a very
different message. And their explanations for their flip-flops border on the
absurd.
In April 2013, I interviewed Jindal at an education conference in Baton
Rouge, La. Back then, Jindal was a passionate proponent of Common

Core, whose development was driven by the nations governors and which
had been adopted by most every state, including Louisiana. Jindal made a
strong case that day for how vital the standards were to improving
education in his state.
His big reversal came when he began openly exploring a presidential run.
Now he calls the standards a top-down, meddlesome approach that is
terrible for public education. His beef, like that of many Republicans
opposed to Common Core, is that the Obama administration ruined a good
idea when it tied federal dollars to the voluntary standards. Jindal has gone
so far as to sue the federal government for offering financial incentives to
states that sign up.
A basic lesson in recent history shows why Jindals conversion appears so
disingenuous. The Obama administration announced in the summer of
2009 that federal dollars would be available to states that embraced
Common Core, yet Jindal remained a champion until late 2013. Did it really
take him more than four years to discover that the federal government was
involved? Maybe that alone should disqualify him from being a serious
presidential candidate.
Christies inartful attempts to disguise his flip-flop have been no better. In
2013, he was also a big Common Core proponent, saying, This is one of
those areas where Ive agreed more with the president than not. Last year,
he blasted other Republicans for opposing the standards, saying they care
more about their primaries than they care about anything else. Yet, lo and
behold, Christie has developed grave concerns, as he told Iowa voters in
January, because the federal government is tying federal funds to the
initiative. He has even asked a commission to reexamine New Jerseys
implementation in light of these new developments from the Obama
administration developments that were announced five years earlier.
All this, of course, is not about education. Or facts.
Jindal and Christie are running from Common Core with an eye on the
presidential primary, where attacking any intrusion into local affairs is an
applause line for conservatives. And they are not the only Republicans
backtracking all over themselves.
How about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker? He was an early supporter of
implementing Common Core in his state but, during a tough re-election
campaign in 2014, he abruptly called for its repeal. Now his position is
mush; he says he supports high standards but wants school districts to
know they can opt out if they want.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has also flip-flopped. In 2013, he
was still willing to admit that high standards across the states were a good

thing but suggested a name change to solve the standards branding

problem. Now he, too, is withdrawing his support and blaming the feds.
Indeed, some states such as Arizona have dealt with the backlash against
Common Core by keeping the standards but changing the name. We are
reduced to sleight of hand. Meanwhile, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has
become a target for standing by Common Core as a voluntary minimum
level of rigor for all states. His message to governors: Go ahead and set
your own standards if you want; just make them at least as rigorous.
Lets be clear about what Common Core is. It spells out what students
should know at the end of each grade. The goal is to ensure that our
students are sound in math and literacy and that our schools have some
basic consistency nationwide. But the standards do not dictate a national
curriculum, and teachers are not told how or what to teach.
The unpopularity of the initiative with segments of the public has been
caused by rough implementation in some states and the tests linked to the
standards. That frustration is legitimate and can be addressed. But
abandonment of the initiative for political reasons is craven.
Those running from Common Core may find that the political risks have
been overstated. A recent NBC/Marist poll of Iowa, New Hampshire and
South Carolina Republicans found that the number of people willing to back
a pro-Common Core candidate was greater than the number who said
support for Common Core was a deal- breaker.
Education never quite gets the attention it deserves in presidential
campaigns, but monster flip-flops surely do. So heres some advice for
people running for office: If you want to campaign against core standards,
perhaps you should try having core standards of your own first.
Campbell Brown is founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice and a former CNN
and NBC News anchor. She wrote this for The Washington Post.

Peter Funt: Donald Trump rides in the

GOP clown car
http://www.hpenews.com/opinion/x1271337716/Peter-Funt-Donald-Trump-rides-in-theGOP-clown-car
Mar. 02, 2015 @ 12:10 AM

By: Peter Funt

Well, the joke's on us. Remember during the recent "Saturday Night Live"
anniversary special when Sarah Palin conducted a faux Q&A with Jerry
Seinfeld? It went like this:

Palin: "How much do you think (producer) Lorne Michaels would pay me if I
were to run in 2016?" (Big laugh.)

Seinfeld: "Run for president, Sarah? I don't think there's a number too big!"

Palin: "Okay, just hypothetically then, what if I were to choose Donald Trump as
my running mate?" (Even bigger laugh.)

Seinfeld: "Sarah, you're teasing us! That's not nice."

Mind you, this was the funniest, most outrageous political joke the writers at
SNL could conjure: that Palin and/or Trump would have the audacity to make
another run for the White House.

Less than two weeks later, Trump in all apparent, bombastic seriousness
tells the Washington Post that he has hired staers in key states to lay plans for
a presidential run. He met with GOP National Committee Chairman Reince
Priebus, and appearred with early front-runner Jeb Bush before the
Conservative Political Action Conference.

Let's be clear: Donald Trump isn't just a political laughingstock a "celebrity

bomb-thrower" as the Post referred to him he's generally hated by his own
party. A Des Moines Register poll showed Trump with a 68 percent unfavorable
rating among Iowa Republicans, with half adding "very" before "unfavorable."

A University of New Hampshire poll has it about the same, with 69 percent
viewing Trump unfavorably.

"The last thing we need is another Bush," Trump bellowed earlier this year. It's
probably the most astute observation the ego-driven wannabe has made,

considering that until recently the sentiment was echoed by none other than Jeb
Bush's mom.

Trump claims allegiance to the so-called Tea Party wing of the GOP, a sector
that stirs passion among some voters during primaries and debates, further
fractionalizing the party. And that makes it virtually impossible for a more
mainstream candidate, like Mitt Romney, to get elected.

With all its troubles, why does GOP leadership persist in allowing someone like
Trump to appear at events with its legitimate contenders? One obvious reason is
that Trump writes a lot of large checks to GOP campaigns, which buys him
access.

Another possibility is that other potential candidates like to be seen as relatively

normal and tame when positioned alongside the likes of Trump or Rudy Giuliani
("I do not believe the President loves America").

Even without Trump, the Republican clown car has plenty of occupants, with
Wisconsin's Scott Walker ("I don't know" if President Obama is Christian),
Louisiana's Bobby Jindal ("We have a president right now who is not qualified to
be our Commander in Chief") and Texas' Rick Perry ("genetic coding" makes
homosexuals similar to alcoholics), all staking out more than their share of
outrageous positions.

Republicans should remember that Trump proved to be the party's worst

nightmare in 2012, blasting Romney, the eventual nominee, and embarrassing
even Tea Party stalwarts by flogging the "birther" issue long after most people
gave up on questioning where the president was born. Trump insists he has no
regrets.

If Republicans hope to regain the White House they should start by curbing the
trash talk and barring the door to publicity-seeking pretenders like Donald
Trump.

"People around the world are laughing at us," Trump told the Post. He didn't
clarify whether that was before or after he said he was interested in running for
president.

________________________________________________________

Jeb Bush Runs Conservative

Gatekeeper Gauntlet
Michael Scherer @michaelscherer March 1, 2015
http://time.com/3727966/jeb-bush-grover-norquist/

#
Mark PetersonRedux for TIME

Jeb Bush speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.

Jeb Bush made headlines Friday when he used wit to parry

the boos of college-age conservatives at a conference
outside Washington, D.C. For those who made an ooo
sound is that what it was? Im marking you down as
neutral and I want to be your second choice, he told the
crowd, in what sounded like a prepared line.
But the moment may not have been the most
consequential conservative test he passed last week. Just a
day earlier, Bush addressed and largely won over a crowd
of strict fiscal conservative donors off camera and
thousands of miles away at a gathering of wealthy donors
at a Club for Growth confab in Palm Beach, Fla.
David McIntosh, the groups president, who interviewed
Bush on stage, said his members, who tend to be wealthy
fighters for strict fiscal conservatism, had been wary
before Bush appeared, wondering who they would meet,
the old Governor or a new Bush, a reference the raw
feelings many conservatives still have against Jebs father
and brother, who both enraged conservatives during their
administrations.
But Bush made a forceful case for himself, McIntosh said.
I got to be governor of this state this purple state, this
wacky, wonderful state for eight years, Bush told the
group, according to an account from the Washington Post.
I ran as a conservative, I said what I was going to do, and
I had a chance to do it. And trust me, I did. By the time it
was over, McIntosh was all praise. Bush impressed
people, he said.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF CPAC

#
Mark PetersonRedux for TIME

Peter Dudziak of John, Minnesota attends CPAC in National Harbor,

Md. on Feb. 27, 2014.
1 of 22

That seal of approval could prove huge dividends as the

establishment frontrunner works to avoid a movement
backlash to his nascent presidential effort. The man who
once said Republicans should lose the primary to win the
general election is nonetheless aiming to establish his
credentials in a way that minimizes the ideological protest
against his candidacy from the right. But the fight is far
from over. Other conservative activists have been far more
skeptical. Grover Norquist, who runs another fiscal
conservative group, Americans for Tax Reform, has been
critical of Jeb Bush for refusing to sign his pledge, during
his gubernatorial campaigns and now, to oppose all
increases in taxes.
My concern is that he has not made a commitment to the
American people that he will not raise taxes when all the
other candidates have done so, Norquist said at the
Conservative Political Action Conference outside
Washington. I think Jeb will take the pledge at the end of
the day because both his father and his brother said I
dont know and then when they realized what the pledge
was and what it actually meant and that it was a pledge to
the American people and not to me or Americans for Tax
Reform, and that they had no intention of raising taxes,
and that everyone else was doing it, they said yes,
absolutely.

Bush has so far refused to budge, and on Saturday his

spokesman dismissed Norquists organization as just
another lobbying group. If Governor Bush decides to
move forward, he will not sign any pledges circulated by
lobbying groups, Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell,
told ABC News. President George H.W. Bush famously
signed Norquists pledge and then broke it by supporting a
tax increase as part of the 1990 budget, a move that hurt
his reelection effort in 1992. President George W. Bush
signed and honored the pledge as president, and his White
House worked closely with Norquist to rally support for
tax cuts in his first term.
One reason for Jeb Bushs reluctance may be his desire to
strike a bargain to reform entitlements if he became
president. In 2012, he said in a congressional hearing that
he would accept a theoretical deal to raise $1 of tax
revenue for every $10 in spending cuts, a position that had
been rejected by that years Republican presidential
contenders, in large part because of Norquists pledge.
Like Norquists group, the Club For Growth also has a
reputation for taking a hard line against any candidate
who either raises taxes or leaves the door open to tax
increases. But so far this cycle, there are no signs that the
Club will target Bush. In 2008, the Club for Growth played
an aggressive role in opposing Mike Huckabees
presidential campaign, attacking him for some tax

increases he pushed as governor of Arkansas. In 2012, the

group released research papers on the candidates, but did
not spend money or offer endorsements in the primary.
This year, the group could be more agressive. There is no
decision on an endorsement, McIntosh said.
But Bush is not seeking an endorsement as much as a lack
of opposition. If the Club simply concludes that Bush can
be seen in the same category as other Club for Growth
favorites, including Ted Cruz, Scott Walker and Rand Paul,
that would be victory enough for his presidential effort.

UT/TT POLL: Guns, pot and

the next president
Mark Wiggins, KVUE 10:47 p.m. CST March 1, 2015
http://www.kvue.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/01/ut-tt-poll-guns-pot-and-the-nextpresident/24148603/

!
UT/TT POLL: Guns, pot and the next president

AUSTIN -- Walking on stage Friday to AC/DC's "Back in Black," Former

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) was one of many GOP presidential contenders
hoping to rock the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
"Let's revive this great nation again!" Perry closed his address, which within
hours became part of a new campaign video posted on YouTube by
RickPAC. But is Texas' longest-serving governor still a rockstar among
Republicans at home?
A new survey conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune
shows Perry's presidential preference among Texas Republicans at eight

percent. The biggest chunk, 20 percent, listed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as
their top choice for 2016. Cruz is in a statistical dead heat with Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) at 19 percent.
"I think it's partly Scott Walker is kind of the hot ticket right now, and let's
see what it looks like as this thing rolls out," said Texas Tribune executive
editor Ross Ramsey. "But if I'm Cruz, I'm looking at this and saying, 'This is
competitive."
Voters are split over several hot-button issues before the Texas Legislature.
On college tuition rates for undocumented students brought to Texas as
children, 43 percent believe they should pay the out-of-state rate and 42
percent believe they should pay the in-state rate.
It's a similar story on the issue of concealed handguns on college
campuses, where 47 percent support and 45 percent oppose the idea. Both
are within the survey's margin of error. Legislation allowing "campus carry"
and open carrying of handguns passed out of a Senate committee in early
February.
It turns out just 32 percent of Texans say they want open carry. Twenty-two
percent support licensed open carry and only 10 percent believe it should
be allowed without a license. A full 45 percent believe handguns should be
carried concealed with a license, which is the current law. Perhaps
surprisingly, 23 percent of Texans responded that handguns should not be
carried in public at all.
But there's one issue on which the vast majority of Texans seem to agree.
An overwhelming 76 percent support some form of legal marijuana. Broken
down, 16 percent support any amount for any purpose, 26 percent support
small amounts for any purpose, and 34 percent support allowing marijuana
to be used solely for medical purposes.
Even if marijuana rolls through the legislature, it's unclear whether it would
get the governor's blessing.
"Whether you want to be the governor who signs this or lets it become law,
that's going to be the calculation Greg Abbott has to make," said Ramsey.
"And I think he's going to look at subgroups really carefully, and see where
his Republicans are, see where his voters are, and examine his own
feelings about it.

Can Rush Limbaugh Make This Man President?

http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/01/can-rush-limbaugh-make-this-man-president/
Posted 2015-03-02
By: W. JAMES ANTLE III

You may have noticed that the media likes to run critical stories about Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker sometimes without doing much checking first.
As the Walker for president talk gains steam, you can expect to see more media
attempts to break him in. Thats to be expected. But for now, that might be less
important than the media he does have in his corner.
Mobile_Inline
Consider how rapid Walkers rise has been. As late as November, he usually polled in
the single digits. Public Policy Polling had Walker at 5 percent last March, compared to
25 percent in its latest poll.
The turnaround in Iowa is even more pronounced. Walked typically polled around 5
percent of the vote last year, with his best performance in a survey of possible GOP
caucus-goers 8 percent. In late January, he broke into the double digits for the first time.
Two February polls had him in first place with more than 20 percent of the vote, which
happens to be his Real Clear Politics polling average in the state.
Ditto New Hampshire, where Walkers best performance last year was just 7 percent.
Hes been pretty consistently in the double digits since then, even though Jeb Bush,
Rand Paul and Chris Christie are all strong in the first-in-the-nation primary too. Gravis
Marketing had Walker as high as 23 percent in February.
In the Conservative Political Action Conferences (CPAC) straw poll, Walker saw his
support triple from 7 percent last year to a little over 21 percent Saturday. The governor

vaulted from fifth place to a close second behind Paul, who had a better organization
and is in synch with the younger conservatives who dominate the conference.
Walker was the biggest beneficiary of the Iowa Freedom Summit, an early cattle call for
Republican 2016 aspirants. There he bucked the perception that he was too boring a
speaker to compete for president in the television and Internet era, where coverage is
ubiquitous and charisma is king.
It cant hurt that Walker has another secret weapon: Rush Limbaugh, the biggest name
in conservative talk radio, has been touting him even before that breakthrough speech.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican Party has a genuine star, Limbaugh said on his
radio program the day after Walker a second term in November. In case you missed the
point, the transcript ran on Limbaughs website under the headline Scott Walker
Superstar.
Rush raved about Walkers Iowa speech, praising its pedal-to-the-metal, wall-to-wall
conservatism.
If you have spent any time listening to this program in the last two years, you know that
I believe Scott Walker is the blueprint for the Republican Party if they are serious about
beating the left Scott Walker has shown how to do it, he said.
Conservative medias track record in swaying the Republican presidential primaries isnt
good. Outlets like National Review certainly boosted Barry Goldwater and Ronald
Reagan in the pre-talk radio era. Other than that, theres not much.
Sometimes the candidates boosted on conservative magazine covers dont do well with
grassroots conservatives (otherwise we would have gotten much closer to a President
Brownback) while some candidates who do connect with the rank and file arent
favorites of the conservative elites (think Pat Buchanan, Mike Huckabee).
Other times, the candidates themselves havent given conservative talkers much to
work with. Laura Ingraham gave a barnburner of a speech introducing Mitt Romney at
CPAC in 2008. Romney followed her out and promptly suspended his campaign,
endorsing John McCain.
While Limbaugh hasnt formally endorsed anybody, he does seem to be rallying early.
National Journal tracked how often Rush has mentioned Walker on his show: 200 times
just over the last week of January and the first week of February alone.
National Journals headline? Scott Walker Is Winning The Rush Limbaugh Primary.
Meanwhile, The Hill described Jeb Bush as having a conservative media problem.
How much this would help in the general election if Walker was the nominee remains to
be seen. But it cant hurt in the Republican primaries and seems to have helped raise
Walkers profile.
Limbaugh has long joked about fighting with half his brain tied behind his back, just to
make it fair. Maybe thats all the fairness Walker needs.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery:

Fiorina Responds To Hillary Copying Speech Lines
Posted 2015-03-02 03:07:49 - by Admin

Note to Hillary Clinton: Carly Fiorina is not going anywhere any time soon.
With a campaign on the horizon, few people were more visible at the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week than Fiorina, the former HP CEO-turnedpolitical candidate. During her multiple appearances at the conference and on cable
news, Fiorina amped up her rhetoric of the former secretary of state, setting herself up
as anti-Hillary Clinton in the process.
However, one thing she does appreciate about Clinton, is who the former secretary of
state has been looking to on occasion as she prepares to right the wrongs of her losing
2008 presidential bid.
That would be Fiorina.
In an interview on Saturday at CPAC, Fiorina told The Daily Caller she is flattered that
Clinton looks to her for campaign tips, after the former first lady began using one of
Fiorinas primary speech lines at a womens conference in Silicon Valley on Tuesday.
During her address, Clinton called on women to unlock their full potential, a message
Fiorina has spread ahead of her probable campaign.
I might say what difference does it make at this point, Fiorina said, mocking Clintons
statement during a hearing on Benghazi in January, 2013. I guess imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery, but eventually if Hillary Clinton runs, shes going to have to
have a clear message about what she stands for and what shes accomplished.
Prior to snagging the Fiorina line as her own, there were also striking resemblances
between books released by the two women, with the political media pointing out that

Clintons 2014 memoir Hard Choices bears an eerie similarity to Fiorinas 2006
memoir Tough Choices.
Her lack of accomplishment at the State Department is a legitimate and real issue,
Fiorina said. I think Benghazi is turning into a bigger and bigger issue every day. The
emails we saw released this week are pretty shocking actually. I think that the donations
that the Clinton Foundation has taken are a real issue as well.
I think theres just this whole pattern which many Democrats have, in fairness, not just
Hillary Clinton, she said. This whole pattern of, sort of, Do as I say, not as I do that
leaves them vulnerable.
In her CPAC speech on Thursday, Fiorina issued a scathing rebuke of Clinton, asking
the former secretary to name an accomplishment while, just as broadly, telling her you
dont know what leadership means.
However, while the former business executive continues to harp on Clinton for missteps
at the State Department and elsewhere, she aimed criticism at the GOP for its own
issues. Specifically, Fiorina offered a harsh critique of the GOPs strategy to counteract
the presidents executive order on immigration, after Congress passed a seven-day
stop-gap bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security until Friday.

Jackson: Christie's pension plan aims high

http://www.northjersey.com/news/jackson-christie-s-pension-plan-aimshigh-1.1280647
MARCH 1, 2015, 9:47 PM

LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015, 1:26 PM

BY HERB JACKSON

RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD

FILE/TYSON TRISH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Governor Christie

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was interrupted by cheers and

applause several times at a conservative pep rally Thursday when
he talked about his successful attack on public employees
bargaining rights and job security, which propelled him into the
spotlight from political obscurity.
A few hours earlier at the same Conservative Political Action
Conference, New Jerseys governor, Chris Christie, was more
nuanced. He and the states largest teachers union fought
furiously in his first term but now are trying together to tackle a
huge shortfall in state pension funds because, as Christie
portrayed it, they learned he plays hardball. The crowds response
was tepid, which might be expected for a politician from a liberal,
northeastern state who was already seen as suspect by many at
the gathering of the partys far-right wing.
But a review of whats happened around the country with public
employee benefits shows that what Christie wants to do far
exceeds what Walker and nearly every other governor has done.
In his budget speech last week, Christie endorsed a plan that he
said could be a national model. It was developed by a special
study commission he appointed, and now his office is trying to
negotiate details with worker unions.
The plan would have New Jersey freeze the traditional defined
benefit pensions workers have and launch whats known as a
cash balance pension, a hybrid between traditional pensions
and 401(k)-type plans that tie benefits to how much the pooled
worker and employer contributions grow when invested.
More than a dozen states have frozen their traditional pensions,
including eight of them since the Great Recession put a strain on
budgets, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures.
But nearly all of them chose only to put new employees in the new
plans, while keeping existing workers in the traditional pension.
Only Rhode Island and Puerto Rico did what Christie is proposing

and froze the current pension system for existing workers, too,
and required everyone to go into a new plan after a cutoff date.
Its unusual to switch employees midcareer, said Keith Brainard,
research director of the National Association of State Retirement
Administrators. A key reason why, he said, is that courts have
overturned efforts to change benefits that employees had
previously been promised.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, another potential presidential
candidate who spoke at CPAC, tried to put new employees hired
after mid-2013 in a cash-balance plan. That law was overturned
by a court that said Louisianas constitution required such a
change to be approved by a super majority of the Legislature
instead of the simple majority that did approve it.
Under Christies proposal, whatever benefit a worker has earned
up to a cutoff date would be guaranteed. After the cutoff date,
further benefits would be paid from the new system.
No decisions have been made about when the switch would
happen, how generous the new benefit program would be, or how
employer and employee contributions would change.
To address potential legal challenges, Christie is also proposing a
two-pronged amendment to the state constitution. One part
would spell out that the changes cannot be overturned on
constitutional grounds. The other would require the state to make
regular cash contributions to the frozen pension plan so that
guaranteed benefits can be paid.
That would make it more difficult for governors to skip or
shortchange payments into the pension system, as Christie and
most of his predecessors have done, creating a shortfall in the
system of $40 billion to $83 billion.
Christie and Walker could end up battling for some of the same
voters in Republican primaries if they both decide to seek the
presidency, and they took different tacks last week to appeal to
self-described conservatives at the conference outside
Washington.

Walker described how his fight with unions led liberal special
interests to make him their top enemy, and finance an
unsuccessful recall.
We showed them we could fight and win for the hardworking
taxpayer, Walker said. We did it without compromising. We
stood up and said what we were going to do, and then we did it.
Christie did not use the word compromise, something he has
described as a virtue in political speeches in the past. The whoops
that Walker got from the crowd showed that touting an ability to
compromise might not have played well with a CPAC audience.
But Christie also showed that just as the next president will
he has to get adversaries and the opposing party to go along with
changes he wants to make, while Walker only had to persuade
fellow Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature to get his changes
through.
And the changes Walker has made to worker benefits increased
how much workers had to contribute, just as laws Christie signed
did. One reason why Walker may not have tried to change the
benefit package was because his states system was reasonably
well financed, unlike New Jerseys.
New Jerseys system is in such bad shape, the head of the teachers
union, Wendell Steinhauer, said hes willing to negotiate a freeze
and create a new system with Christie because hes worried the
checks will run out someday.
But Christies failure to make payments required by the 2011 law
that passed with bipartisan support could also be what dooms his
effort to get even more significant changes to benefits. Other
public employee union leaders have already said he hasnt lived
up to his promises in the past.
But if Christie does win this pension round, it would offer a
chance for him to boast to conservatives that he cowed the unions
not only on retirement benefits but also health care. And he did it
by getting the opposing party to climb on board.

Rand Paul Wins Cpac Straw Poll, Scott

Walker Close Second
http://hamodia.com/2015/03/01/rand-paul-wins-cpac-straw-poll-scott-walker-close-second/

Sunday, March 1, 2015 | '

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gestures while speaking during the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) - Senator Rand Paul won a straw poll of conservative
activists on Saturday, giving his potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016
a boost, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker came in second in a surprising show of strength.

Whether the victory for Paul will have long-lasting benefit is unclear since his libertarian views
may not have broad appeal in the Republican Party.
Paul, a 52-year-old Kentucky Republican, outdistanced most other potential candidates by
taking 25.7 percent of the vote at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a gathering of
activists on Washingtons outskirts of Washington.

Walkers second-place showing at 21.4 percent represented a significant show of support

among conservatives and suggested his potential candidacy will have real staying power as he
seeks to remain among the front-runners for the nomination.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz came in third with 11.5 percent of a total of 3,007 who registered votes
at the CPAC gathering.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, an establishment candidate who is amassing millions of
dollars for a campaign should he decide to run, took fifth place with 8.3 percent of the vote, a
not-unexpected showing given conservative opposition to some of his moderate stances.
Boos rang out in the audience when Bushs tally was announced. The Bush camp made clear
that he did not compete in the straw poll, which is a survey of people attending the conference.
The straw poll concluded the four-day conference at a hotel along the Potomac River, where
conservatives heard from more than a dozen potential contenders for the chance to represent
the Republican Party in the November 2016 election.
Walker, 47, was clearly among the most popular at the event.
The CPAC straw poll, however, does not necessarily identify the next Republican presidential
nominee. Mitt Romney won the straw poll in 2012 and went on to win the nomination. But the
2008 nominee, John McCain did not win the poll.

A principled path to defeat: EJ. Dionne Jr.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/03/
a_principled_path_to_defeat_ej.html
March 01, 2015 at 5:00 PM, updated March 01, 2015 at 5:01 PM

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

WASHINGTON -- It's a daunting challenge to spin the word "no"
into a hopeful and forward-looking political battle cry.
There are, of course, circumstances when negative arguments can
work. In obviously terrible times, voters are often content to take
a chance on a barely sketched-out alternative. In midterm
elections, which are like midsemester report cards, voters often
protest against what they don't like. "No" was a successful pitch in
three straight midterms going back to 2006. The GOP's 1946
slogan, "Had Enough? Vote Republican," was a model of simple
and clever effectiveness.
But the evidence of the moment is that "had enough" will not be
enough for the GOP in 2016. Of course we cannot know from
Hillary Clinton's current leads of around nine or 10 points over
her major Republican competitors that she will ultimately prevail.
Still, her advantage owes at least in part to unease about where
Republicans would take the country if they won both the
presidency and Congress. For now, voters don't want to go there.
Events of the past week underscore why. The absurdity of going to
the wire on funding the Department of Homeland Security tells us
that many in the party, particularly right-wingers in the House, do

not care about how their inability to govern in an orderly fashion

looks to citizens outside the conservative bubble.
For the more radical members of Speaker John Boehner's caucus,
this is all about high principle. Since most of them come from very
conservative districts, they will only strengthen their own political
situations by continuing to link DHS funding to overturning
President Obama's executive actions on immigration. They have
nothing to lose.
But collectively, their party has a lot to lose. To win the presidency
and to improve their chances of holding the Senate in 2016,
Republicans will have to do far better with Latino voters than Mitt
Romney did in 2012. This fight will only make that harder. And
middle-of-the-road voters don't like this sort of brinksmanship, as
well they shouldn't.
The way Republicans are behaving could thus turn one of the
party's assets, the likelihood that they will hold their House
majority for some time, into a liability. This argument is advanced
forcefully by political scientist Thomas Schaller in his new book,
"The Stronghold."
Schaller describes the potential of a vicious cycle: As the party has
become more conservative, it has become more Congresscentered, "anchored to and defined by its congressional wing, and
its House caucus in particular." But a majority of its House
members are either extremely conservative or fearful of primaries
from the right. This makes the House highly sensitive to rightwing donors, right-wing media and right-wing voters -- and far
less responsive to those middle-ground citizens who usually
decide presidential elections. The danger, says Schaller, is that the
GOP's congressional stronghold could become a "chokehold."
The doings at the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) that closed on Saturday only reinforced the point.
Republican presidential candidates worry about those very
conservative primary voters too, and CPAC was an excellent
opportunity for the hopefuls to show how well they can dance to

the oppositionist tune, a chorus of "no's" to Obama, Clinton,

liberalism and "big government."
Jeb Bush, who is actually very conservative, has put up some
resistance to the spirit of negativity. "We shouldn't be the
reactionary party to how bad things are," he told a Club for
Growth gathering in Florida on Thursday.
When he appeared at CPAC on Friday, he did declare that "we
have to start being for things again," but only after praising
Republicans in Congress for standing up to Obama. He
sidestepped when Fox News' Sean Hannity asked about the House
Republicans' approach to DHS funding though he did speak of his
party's need to win more Latino votes.
Bush would clearly like to take a cue from his brother who, before
the 2000 election, occasionally distanced himself from an
unpopular right-wing Congress. But Jeb is orchestrating his
independence with great caution and some ambivalence. The GOP
is well to the right of where it was 15 years ago and also much
more insulated. It's worth remembering that Fox didn't become
the largest cable news network until 2002.
In my experience, the people who see Jeb Bush as the most
electable nominee tend to be Democrats, not Republicans. This
may prove his general election strategy is working, but it also
shows his party may not let him get there because it's quite happy
being reactionary."

Jeb Bush: Marching forth to

defeat the conservative base
By J.E. Dyer on March 1, 2015 at 7:46 pm

http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/03/01/jeb-bush-marching-forth-todefeat-the-conservative-base/

#
(Image via Politico)
Remember five months ago, when nobody was sure Jeb Bush was
going to run for president in 2016?
It seems longer ago than it actually was. The drumbeat started in the
media well before that about a possible Bush candidacy. But Jeb

himself was on the fence, at least as regards his public statements,

until just a few weeks ago.
Mark Halperin, writing in October, pointed out the absence of any
serious Bush organization:
The second group [of observers], meanwhile, insists Jeb Bush will
once again sit out the presidential race, this time scared off by the
lethal-looking twin buzz saws of Common Core and immigration. Even
more lethal, there are enduring murmurs that Jebs irrepressibly
formidable mother, his wife, and his daughter are dead set against a
run. Members of Group Two clock the echoing absence of the
courtship of aggressive bundlers, interest-group activists, and Iowa,
New Hampshire, and South Carolina kingmakers, and concludethat
there is no candidacy brewingjust a guy with a great rsum, a
substantive agenda, and a brand name, stirring the pot.
The organization began to coalesce only after the new year, when
observers still spoke of Jebs moves as hinting at a run.
By late January, all that had changed. One of the signs came with the
blip of Mitt Romneys brief resurgence. There was a lot of talk about
the real potential for another Romney candidacy in January. But as
the month drew to an end, reports began to surface that many of
Romneys big donors and bundlers were defecting to Jeb along with
top players from the 2012 campaign like Dave Kochel, Romneys chief
Iowa advisor.
A few weeks later, Chris Christie, long in the running to be the GOP
establishment favorite, was reported to be losing donors to Jeb Bush
as well.
But Christies support wasnt being siphoned off only by Jeb. Scott
Walker made a big splash at the Iowa Freedom Summit in late
January, and in recent weeks has topped the Iowa polls by an
increasing margin. Donors have noticed.
An aside on Walker, for comparison
Walker has been hard for both the left and the GOP establishment to
pigeonhole. He hasnt made his political name on social conservatism,
like Rick Santorum or Mike Huckabee. But he is an evangelical
Christian and the son of a Baptist minister, and he doesnt go out of
his way to make socially-liberal gestures, with either policy ideas or
personnel choices.

Walker has an impressive record of defeating the organized,

entrenched forces of the left, meanwhile, with his path-breaking
victory for restrictions on public-union bargaining in Wisconsin. Few
voters might be able to give chapter and verse on what the controversy
was all about, back in 2011. But most could recite the basics: Walker
and the GOP legislative majority were beset with weeks of theatrical,
highly unpleasant mob fury from leftist organizers, and yet Walker
didnt cave, and ultimately prevailed. (He has also prevailed in each of
the incessant attempts made since 2011 to unseat or hamstring him
and his supporters. Most voters know little about the recall elections
and nuisance-indictment efforts. But the media are well aware of
them.)
Its not clear where or how things are going to shake out for Scott
Walker, although its clear that he is being taken seriously, by the left
as well as by GOP donors and voters. The left has gone into overdrive
in the last month trying to trip him up and give the public a false
impression of him.
Jeb, bannerman for the establishment
The reason I go through this litany is to contrast it with what were
seeing from Jeb Bush. As he soaks up donors, hes bringing onboard
usual-suspect advisors (see here as well), and in particular, bringing
them on with no regard to how theyll come off to conservative voters,
or what their value will be to thinking strategically about policy and
platform.
Forming his initial PAC team, for example, Jeb tapped high-profile
backers of amnesty for illegals and Common Core. He has also taken
on advocates for gay issues and same-sex marriage, like consultant
Tim Miller of America Rising and David Kochel (mentioned above).
The selection of Tim Miller may carry a separate and more significant
portent, however, relating to the focus and tone of the impending Jeb
Bush campaign. National Journals Emma Roller pointed out that
Millers specialty is opposition research. She called his hiring by the
Bush campaign a big move against Hillary Clinton which may
indeed be how Jeb and his advisors see it.
Frankly, thats a fatally conventional and rearward-looking focus for a
Republican eying 2016. Regardless of who the Democratic frontrunner is by next years primary season, the real issue for the GOP is
its internal divisions.

Theres no lack of policy ideas on the right; in fact, every governor and
every third congressman has his or her package of policy ideas, bulletpointed and posted on a website. What the party lacks is a unifying
view of more basic things: what America is, what were supposed to be,
and where were heading.
More and more voters feel this as either a depressing void, or a reason
why participating in the political process, as it operates today, is futile,
and their hopes lie in something more politically disruptive, such as a
convention of the states. Scott Walkers unusual record in Wisconsin
may or may not be relevant to addressing that shortfall; the jury is still
out. We know already that Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, to differing
extents and from different perspectives, are prepared to at least talk
explicitly about the problem.
But Jeb Bush doesnt mean to even acknowledge it.
Hammering the base
Which is what throws into such strong relief his take-no-prisoners
approach to this early stage of the campaign. Alert readers will recall
his anti-pandering pledge in early December 2014, when he
promised not to run to the right just to win the primaries:
Mr. Bush said at The Wall Street Journals CEO Council in
Washington that Republican candidates must be willing to lose the
primary to win the general, without violating your principles.
Its not an easy task, to be honest with you, he added.
Well, no considering that you do have to win some primaries in
order to get to the general election.
But the Jeb campaign created a stir this past week by busing
supporters to the CPAC venue in Maryland lively interest, as you
might say, from such a dead cat. Setting up buses to ensure Jeb
supporters are in the audience argues something beyond a mere
willingness to have the candidate speak in less-friendly venues. The
product of this effort appeared to be the audience applause for one of
Jebs tiredest lines about there being no plan to deport 11 million
people a line with a prejudicial premise that the average CPAC goer
would not, in fact, clap and cheer for.
Theres a whiff in this, not so much of trying to stack the CPAC straw
poll, as of being unwilling to let the conservatives have their assembly
on their own terms. It looks like using tactics to try to dilute the
conservatives message. People who dont think about it very hard

may well take at face value the apparent favorable reaction from the
audience to Jebs not deporting 11 million people line.
Add to that the recent revelations about the Bush campaigns demand
for exclusivity with political consulting firms a year before the
primaries even start.
Their message, according to dozens of interviews, is blunt: They want
the top talent now, they have no interest in sharing, and they will
remember those who signed on early and, implicitly, those who did
not. The aim is not just to position Mr. Bush as a formidable frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but also to rapidly lock up the
highest-caliber figures in theRepublican Partyand elbow out rivals by
making it all but impossible for them to assemble a high-octane
campaign team.
In the same article, the New York Times quotes donors describing
Team Jebs hard-sell tactics to get them onboard:
Mr. Bush does not take maybe for an answer. When major party
contributors are on the fence, he pressures, and flatters, them with
questions about what it would take to win them over.
How can I earn it? he asks. Give me milestones, he suggests,
according to people told of the conversations.
Those who hold out can sense a distinct chill. When a policy expert
was not ready to commit to Mr. Bush, there was a long, pregnant
silence on the other end of the telephone from Bill Simon, a former
Walmart executive who is assembling Mr. Bushs team.
Donors, in other words, arent being left to come to their own
conclusions over time, any more than the CPAC conservatives are
being left to put out their own message.
Theres nothing illegitimate about playing political hardball. But its
informative that Jeb has gone from maybe to damn the torpedoes
in the space of about three months, and is so aggressively pushing his
advantages as an organizational juggernaut at this stage.
Shallow elitism
With all of that in mind, consider his somewhat impatient and
dismissive attitude about the voters in general not just conservatives
in particular. As noted by Mark Krikorian at National Review, for
example, Jeb is on record as comparing native-born Americans
unfavorably to immigrants:

[Immigrants are]more entrepreneurial, they set up more business,

they buy more homes, theyre more family-oriented, they work in jobs
that in many cases are jobs that have gone unfilled
Jeb is quite explicit that the native-born citizen is not the future of
America:
The one way that we can rebuild the demographic pyramid is to fix a
broken immigration system. . . . If we do this, we will rebuild our
country in a way that will allow us to grow. If we dont do it, we will be
in decline, because the productivity of this country is dependent on
young people that are equipped to be able to work hard.Immigrants
create far more businesses than native-born Americans over the last
20 years. Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families and
theyhave more intact families.
Even if these things were true, what does saying them in this way
mean about Jeb Bushs perspective and thought patterns?
It means he sees people as lab rats, not as moral actors, and he thinks
the remedies we need involve rearranging our demographics, not
changing our environment of education, regulation, or entitlement.
It doesnt seem to occur to him to ask why Americans who used to be
stunningly entrepreneurial, and so family oriented that Europeans
have for decades made fun of us, are markedly less so today. As a
statesman and public policy-maker, that ought to concern him. He
ought to have a moral perspective on it, a perspective that entails
caring about the people who may have lost their drive and their first
love a perspective that asks what is wrong with government and
institutions, when people who used to be such a colossal engine of
hope and ingenuity for the world have lost their edge.
Aside from the manifest reality that America is still stuffed to the gills
with native-born entrepreneurs and strong families, Jebs lack of
interest in moral causes and actual people is a red flag for me.
If he thinks native-born Americans are irredeemable, what does he
expect to do with all of us, after he brings in the immigrants? And
whats he going to do when the same educational and regulatory
impediments that discourage many of our native-born Americans
today discourage the immigrants themselves tomorrow?
Hand those immigrants children over for 12-16 years to the scions of
the Frankfurt School, Jeb, and see how they turn out.

Americas comparative advantage today is real, if limited: were still a

bit more consistent than the rest of the world in terms of government
transparency and the rule of law. The American people are open,
generous, and tolerant, not clannish, nepotistic, or stratified.
Immigrants feel all that as an advantage when they get here.
But the main thing the most productive, family-oriented of nativeborn Americans feel today is our loss of freedom. The day is rapidly
approaching when the two trajectories will intersect, and even
immigrants wont, on average, be coming here to be entrepreneurs.
You cant have that discussion with Jeb Bush, though. He seems to be
a nice enough guy, but for political purposes which is what counts
here he appears to be the ultimate establishment guy: uninterested
in how the boutique policies of special interests have brought about
the dismantling of the middle class, and determined to simply import
a new, lower middle class one that starts with lower expectations
so that nothing has to change for the institutional managers.
Put this all together, and recognize that Jeb Bush is pursuing an
aggressive, hardball campaign to get the nomination next year, in
order to push what he seems to see as a form of pragmatism. He, or at
least those running his campaign, clearly wants this to be the banner
of the Republican Party. The enemy they see is the conservative base
and thats who theyre going after.

Attacks on Common Core

are driven by pandering
http://www.centralctcommunications.com/bristolpress/article_156e9930c075-11e4-8609-6ff07f8629c2.html
Posted: Sunday, March 1, 2015 7:43 pm
By Campbell Brown, Partnership for Educational Justice

At the Conservative Political Action Conference this last week, the supposed evils of the
Common Core educational standards were front and center. So, too, was an
unmistakable case of pandering.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared, We need to remove Common Core from every
classroom in America. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blamed his predecessor for
forcing his state to adopt the standards and said that he is now deeply concerned about
the heavy foot of the federal government coming in.
Both now preach this opposition message with the zealous conviction of converts
because they are converts, having carried until recently a very different message. And
their explanations for their flip-flops border on the absurd.
In April 2013, I interviewed Jindal at an education conference in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. Back then, Jindal was a passionate proponent of Common Core, whose
development was driven by the nations governors and which had been adopted by
most every state, including Louisiana. Jindal made a strong case that day for how vital
the standards were to improving education in his state.
His big reversal came when he began openly exploring a presidential run. Now he calls
the standards a top-down, meddlesome approach that is terrible for public education.
His beef, like that of many Republicans opposed to Common Core, is that the Obama
administration ruined a good idea when it tied federal dollars to the voluntary standards.
Jindal has gone so far as to sue the federal government for offering financial incentives
to states that sign up.
A basic lesson in recent history shows why Jindals conversion appears so
disingenuous. The Obama administration announced in the summer of 2009 that federal
dollars would be available to states that embraced Common Core, yet Jindal remained

a champion until late 2013. Did it really take him more than four years to discover that
the federal government was involved? Maybe that alone should disqualify him from
being a serious presidential candidate.
Christies inartful attempts to disguise his flip-flop have been no better. In 2013, he was
also a big Common Core proponent, saying, This is one of those areas where Ive
agreed more with the president than not. Last year he blasted other Republicans for
opposing the standards, saying they care more about their primaries than they care
about anything else. Yet, lo and behold, Christie has developed grave concerns, as
he told Iowa voters last month, because the federal government is tying federal funds to
the initiative. He has even asked a commission to reexamine New Jerseys
implementation in light of these new developments from the Obama administration -developments that were announced five years earlier.
All this, of course, is not about education. Or facts.
Jindal and Christie are running from Common Core with an eye on the presidential
primary, where attacking any intrusion into local affairs is an applause line for
conservatives. And they are not the only Republicans backtracking all over themselves.
How about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker? He was an early supporter of implementing
Common Core in his state but, during a tough reelection campaign in 2014, he abruptly
called for its repeal. Now his position is mush; he says he supports high standards but
wants school districts to know they can opt out if they want.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has also flip-flopped. In 2013, he was still willing
to admit that high standards across the states were a good thing but suggested a name
change to solve the standards branding problem. Now he, too, is withdrawing his
support and blaming the feds.
Indeed, some states such as Arizona have dealt with the backlash against Common
Core by keeping the standards but changing the name. We are reduced to sleight of
hand. Meanwhile, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has become a target for standing by
Common Core as a voluntary minimum level of rigor for all states. His message to
governors: Go ahead and set your own standards if you want; just make them at least
as rigorous.
Lets be clear about what Common Core is. It spells out what students should know at
the end of each grade. The goal is to ensure that our students are sound in math and
literacy and that our schools have some basic consistency nationwide. But the
standards do not dictate a national curriculum, and teachers are not told how or what to
teach.
The unpopularity of the initiative with segments of the public has been caused by rough
implementation in some states and the tests linked to the standards. That frustration is
legitimate and can be addressed. But abandonment of the initiative for political reasons
is craven.
Those running from Common Core may find that the political risks have been
overstated. A recent NBC/Marist poll of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina
Republicans found that the number of people willing to back a pro-Common Core
candidate was greater than the number who said support for Common Core was a dealbreaker.
Education never quite gets the attention it deserves in presidential campaigns, but
monster flip-flops surely do. So heres some advice for people running for office:

If you want to campaign against core standards, perhaps you should try having core
standards of your own first.

Rand Paul wins CPAC straw

poll, Walker close second
Jill Colvin, Associated Press 6:41 p.m. CST March 1, 2015

http://www.htrnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/01/rand-paulwins-cpac-straw-poll-walker-close-second/24234825/

!
OXON HILL, Md. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has won the Conservative
Political Action Conference's annual presidential preference straw
poll.
Pollsters announced Saturday that Paul won 26 percent of the votes in the
annual survey, giving Paul his third consecutive win in as many years.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in second, with 21 percent. Sen. Ted
Cruz came in third in the contest with 11.5 percent, followed by retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb

Bush with 8.3 percent. All of the other names listed received under 5
percent.
The three-day CPAC conference in suburban Washington draws many
libertarian-leaning college students whose views and priorities differ
significantly from the Republican Party at large. But it is nonetheless seen
as a barometer of certain conservative activists' early leanings.
Pollsters said just over 3,000 attendees voted. Nearly half identified as
between the ages of 18 and 25.
Respondents said economic issues, like jobs and taxes, were most
important to them in deciding whom to support as the Republican nominee
for president in 2016.

What near-miss on a Department of Homeland Security shutdown?

To hear Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers address activists at the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, there were no hints
of an intraparty fight the night before that led to the brink of a partial
shutdown of the agency tasked with border control and anti-terrorism. In
her remarks, the Republican Conference chairwoman made no mention of
the standoff that split conservatives from establishment Republican
lawmakers.
"I've lived the American Dream, but, sadly, for too many, the American
Dream is fading," said McMorris Rogers, the fourth-ranking Republican in
the House leadership and the top House lawmaker to appear on CPAC's
main stage.
In her remarks, she reminisced about her childhood on a Washington state
orchard and spoke of her disagreements with President Barack Obama.
She was silent on the drama that unfolded nearby a day earlier, perhaps
because it's unclear whether the GOP has an answer to avoid a repeat of
what Congresswdcpho and the nation had just weathered.
Late Friday, the House Republicans refused to adopt a three-week
spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Many conservatives
insisted that no cash would go to the department unless Obama's
executive orders on immigration were voided.
A stopgap, one-week accord won last-minute passage, and Obama signed
it into law. But that sets up a similar showdown in less than a week.
McMorris Rogers was asked after the speech if the process would improve
next week. "I don't think it will be any worse," she said.
She also said it is important for House Republicans to work with Senate
Republicans to avoid a similar crisis.

Even though House Republicans have large numbers on their side, they
aren't enough to ensure the party can line up a majority on contentious
issues. The GOP advantage is 245-188 with two vacancies.

E.J. Dionne: The Republican Partys loud

yes to no
POSTED: 03/01/15, 7:19 PM EST |

By: E.J. Dionne

http://www.dailylocal.com/opinion/20150301/ej-dionne-the-republican-partysloud-yes-to-no

Its a daunting challenge to spin the word no into a hopeful and forwardlooking political battle cry.
There are, of course, circumstances when negative arguments can work. In
obviously terrible times, voters are often content to take a chance on a
barely sketched-out alternative. In midterm elections, which are like midsemester report cards, voters often protest against what they dont like.
No was a successful pitch in three straight midterms going back to 2006.
The GOPs 1946 slogan, Had Enough? Vote Republican, was a model of
clever effectiveness.
But the evidence of the moment is that had enough will not be enough for
the GOP in 2016. Of course we cannot know from Hillary Clintons current
leads of around nine or 10 points over her major Republican competitors
that she will ultimately prevail. Still, her advantage owes at least in part to
unease about where Republicans would take the country if they won both
the presidency and Congress.
Events of the past week underscore why. The absurdity of going to the wire
on funding the Department of Homeland Security tells us that many in the
party, particularly right-wingers in the House, do not care about how their

inability to govern in an orderly fashion looks to citizens outside the

conservative bubble.

For the more radical members of Speaker John Boehners caucus, this is all
about high principle. Since most of them come from conservative districts,
they will only strengthen their own political situations by continuing to link
DHS funding to overturning President Obamas executive actions on
immigration. They have nothing to lose.
But collectively, their party has a lot to lose. To win the presidency and to
improve their chances of holding the Senate in 2016, Republicans will have
to do far better with Latino voters than Mitt Romney did in 2012. This fight
will only make that harder. And middle-of-the-road voters dont like this
sort of brinksmanship.
The way Republicans are behaving could thus turn one of the partys assets,
the likelihood that they will hold their House majority for some time, into a
liability. This argument is advanced forcefully by political scientist Thomas
Schaller in his new book, The Stronghold.
Schaller describes the potential of a vicious cycle: As the party has become
more conservative, it has become more Congress-centered, anchored to
and defined by its congressional wing, and its House caucus in particular.
But a majority of its House members are either extremely conservative or
fearful of primaries from the right. This makes the House highly sensitive to
right-wing donors, right-wing media and right-wing voters -- and far less
responsive to those middle-ground citizens who usually decide presidential
elections. The danger, says Schaller, is that the GOPs congressional
stronghold could become a chokehold.
The doings at CPAC only reinforced the point. Republican presidential
candidates worry about those very conservative primary voters too, and
CPAC was an excellent opportunity for the hopefuls to show how well they

can dance to the oppositionist tune, a chorus of nos to Obama, Clinton,

liberalism and big government.
Jeb Bush has put up some resistance to the spirit of negativity. When he
appeared at CPAC on Friday, he did declare that we have to start being for
things again, but only after praising Republicans in Congress for standing
up to Obama. He sidestepped when Fox News Sean Hannity asked about
the House Republicans approach to DHS funding though he did speak of
his partys need to win more Latino votes.
Jeb is orchestrating his independence with great caution and some
ambivalence. The GOP is well to the right of where it was 15 years ago and
also much more insulated. Its worth remembering that Fox didnt become
the largest cable news network until 2002.
In my experience, the people who see Jeb Bush as the most electable
nominee tend to be Democrats, not Republicans.

Gov. Walker grabs attention on

state, national level
By Mark Leland
Published: March 1, 2015, 6:14 pm Updated: March 1, 2015, 9:19 pm
http://fox11online.com/2015/03/01/gov-walker-grabs-attention-on-state-national-level/

MADISON Governor Scott Walker is experiencing politics on the fast track.

In the past week alone he was a speaker at the Conservative Political Action
Conference outside Washington, D.C., talked in front of conservative donors at
the Club for Growth meeting in Florida, attended the National Governors
Association and then sat down for a one-on-one interview with FOX News
Sunday.
Walker addressed several key issues making headlines at the state and national
level.
Walker did not actively push for the Right-To-Work legislation in Wisconsin, but
hes supporting it and plans to sign in into law this week.
The protests in Madison surrounding the Right-To-Work legislation is making
national headlines, but nothing like the protests in 2011 when he pushed
legislation stripping collective bargaining for public employees. Walker came
under fire by his critics this past week for compared facing 100,000 protesters
then, with how he might be able to handle confronting international terrorists if
elected president.
I think its absolutely stunning that by Scott Walkers standards that he would
compare the hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin, or working families, to radical
and violent terrorists, said Melissa Baldauff with the Democratic Party of
Wisconsin.
Walker clarified his original response, about dealing with massive protests, to
FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace.
The leadership we provided under extremely difficult circumstances, arguably,
the most difficult of any governor in the country, and maybe in in recent times.
To me, I apply that to saying if I were to run and if I were to win and be

commander-in-chief, I believe that kind of leadership is whats necessary to take

on radical Islamic terrorism, said Walker.
Walker also made it clear he wouldnt rule out putting troops on the ground to
fight ISIS.
I believe we should not take any option off the table, explained Walker.
Also on the presidential front, Walker addressed a change in his position on
amnesty for those in the country illegally.
And my view has changed. Im flat out saying it. Im candidates can say that.
Sometimes they dont. Im saying my said Walker.
Wallace countered: So youve changed from 2013?
Absolutely, confirmed Walker, explaining he has spoken to governors in those
border states. And the concerns I have is that we need to secure the border.
We ultimately need to put in place a system that works, a legal immigration
system that works. And part of doing this is put the onus on employers, getting
them E-Verify and tools to do that. But I dont think you do it through amnesty.
Walker will remain in the national headlines this week as the state Assembly is
expected to vote on the Right-To-Work legislation on Thursday. Walker has
indicated hell sign it into law by weeks end.

My reflections on CPAC
http://www.examiner.com/article/my-reflections-on-cpac
March 1, 2015
By: James Simpson


CPAC/Washington Times Poll
The Washington Times

I attended the last two days of CPAC. Missed the first two because of
pressing deadlines on other work. However, I did get to see some key
speakers and caught the overall flavor of the event. A few observations
follow.

Phil Robertson
Duck Dynastys politically incorrect Godfather, Phil Robertson was my
favorite. I will state right off that anyone who dismisses Phil for his
dress and style, in my mind displays the shallow hypocrisy of todays
culture. His fashion is his choice, his words are what count. His speech
was priceless. Most important was his emphasis on the Bible and the fact
that our Constitution was based on Biblical principles and written by
devoutly faithful men. He quotes John Adams telling words, Our
Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is
wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
It is a truth too often overlooked, except by the Left, which has
assiduously sought to destroy the Christian underpinnings of this nation
precisely for that reason. They know that only when Christianity is
destroyed and discredited will our people willinglyor maybe
ignorantly would be a better way to describe itsubmit to Socialism.
The Marxist Frankfurt School, of which Obama is a well-versed student,
made that goal explicit. I recommend you watch Phils speech, it is
insightful and entertaining in a way only he can deliver. I only wish
there were a viable candidate that would speak as plainly, honestly and
insightfully as old Phi.
Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush managed to get his message delivered at CPAC despite pretty
widespread conservative opposition to his prospective presidential
candidacy. Instead of a speech, which would doubtless have been met
with a lot of booing, he staged a tightly-controlled, scripted, on-stage
interview conducted by Sean Hannity. That the two conspired to keep it
controlled is beyond dispute. Hannity served up key questions that
allowed Bush to answer his critics on all fronts in a manner that could
not be challenged.
The questions and answers were delivered in machine-gun fashion with
no breathing room in between for opponents in the crowd to voice their
displeasure. Bush bussed in hundreds of supporters, who clapped and
roared their approval every time he raised a controversial issue, like his
support for illegal alien amnesty. He made it all sound as reasonable as

he couldseal the borders first, and then provide a pathway to

citizenship for the 11 million here. After all we cant send them back
now, can we? Yes, I would say we can. Furthermore, it is not 11 million,
but more like 30 million or morevirtually all prospective future
Democrats.
How Republican politicians refuse to understand that amnesty is the
death-knell for the GOP is beyond me. I suspect it is a measure of just
how powerful Chamber of Commerce and National Association of
Manufacturers money can be. It appears political genocide can be
bought. During the speech, conservatives staged a walkout, led by CPAC
regular, William Temple, dressed in his usual patriotic garb and carrying
a large Gadsden flag.
A breaking news story reveals just how serious it is that we get Obamas
amnesty outrage stopped in its track. Mark Levin interviewed a
Maryland conservative activist who recently penetrated a White House
Task Force on New Americans conference call on amnesty that was
supposed to be private. You can read about that and more, and listen to
the interview at Ann Corcorans great Refugee Resettlement Watch blog.
Wayne La Pierre
NRA President Wayne La Pierre talked tough on the 2nd Amendment
but conspicuously absent was any reference to Obamas illegal amnesty
efforts. As Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea has pointed out, illegal
alien amnesty is the greatest threat to the 2nd Amendment because
Obamas goal is to get them voting. With the 30 million or so illegals
poised to obtain legal status (not the 5 million repeatedly hyped),
Democrats will capture the permanent progressive majority they have
been seeking since the Democratic Party was captured by communists.
As we know, the NRA frequently talks out of both sides of its mouth. It
has been an effective voice for the 2nd Amendment, but sometimes
makes compromises that threaten the 2nds long-term viability. This is
one of those instances. Supporting Democrats and RINOs who later
show their true colors is another. Failing to support strong 2nd
Amendment defenders in some states is a third. For example, their
opposition to former Maryland Governor OMalleys 2013 gun grab was

virtually non-existent. Back then they promised a court challenge to the

blatantly unconstitutional law. We are still waiting.
Straw Poll
With the exception of 2012, when Mitt Romney won, the straw poll has
gone to Rand Paul or his father every year since 2010. The poll is
somewhat biased by the youthful CPAC attendance demographic, but
Paulies also swarm the voting booth every year. Noteworthy was
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walkers close second. Cruz came in a distant
third and Bush was number five, so apparently his Astroturf messaging
method didnt work. Chris Christie was near the bottom, earning only 2
percent support. Rick Perry tied for last with Sarah Palin. Here are the
results:
Given the poll bias, in my mind, Scott Walker was the true winner. I did
not see his speech, but the poll suggests Walker left CPAC in the
strongest position with the party faithful of any prospective future GOP
presidential candidate. Washington insider The Hill newspaper agrees,
writing:

His performance didnt have the same fervor as

his acclaimed speech last month to the Iowa
Freedom Forum, but it didnt matter. Walkers
CPAC straw poll placing a close second
behind the favorite Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
shows he got the most bounce out of the event.
His showing was especially impressive given
that he lacks the organizational muscle of the
likes of Paul and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
(R), who finished fifth.

And he deserves it. While from a messaging and charisma standpoint,

my personal favorite is Ted Cruz, Walker has been tested in an
unprecedented, relentless, vicious, four-year trial by fire from
Democrats, unions and the media. He is the first governor ever to
survive a recall election, and despite a national effort by unions and
Obamas Left, won handily. Same with his re-election. Walker has
survived unsullied by a four year secret probe which vies with the IRS
scandal as one of the greatest systematic abuses of governmental power
in recent memory. Corrupt prosecutors used the power of the bizarre
John Doe law in a vicious attempt to shut down the GOP throughout
the entire state and destroy Scott Walkers reelection prospects. The only
mystery is why Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm and his assistant,
Bruce Landgraf, are not in jail. Against all these odds, Walker has
governed effectivelyintroducing changes and reforms that have
reversed the states downward economic slide, balancing the budget and
cutting taxes.
The poll revealed some other interesting characteristics about CPACs
conservatives. As mentioned, it was a youthful crowd. Fifty percent were
25 or under and 42 percent were students. Sixty-four percent believe that
illegal aliens should be either deported and not allowed to return (37%)
or encouraged to return home to apply for citizenship (27%). Twentynine percent believe illegals should be allowed to stay. Of these, 18
percent thought they should be allowed to apply for citizenship.
Seventy-seven percent believe Congress should use its power of the
purse to defund Obamas unconstitutional amnesty.
Again reflecting the dominant age group, 41 percent believe that
marijuana should be legalized for medicinal and recreational purposes.
Only 27 percent believe it should remain illegal. The crowd was largely
pro-life. Depending upon the questions asked, between 68 and 74
percent were pro-life, while between 18 and 25 percent were proabortion. Of the issues that would dissuade poll participants from
supporting a candidate, i.e. deal breakers, people were all over the map
when allowed multiple responses:
Expanding Medicaid under Obamacare 40%

Supporting Gay Marriage 18%

Immigration Amnesty 35%
Supporting Common Core 37%
Being Pro-Choice 31%
Foreign Policy of Disengagement 32%
Taken alone however 58 percent said they would never vote for a
candidate who supported Common Core.

E.J. Dionne Jr.: GOP says

'yes' to 'no'
E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post
3:01 p.m. PST March 1, 2015

http://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/columnists/
2015/03/01/dionne-gop-political-strategy/24150021/
It's a daunting challenge to spin the word "no" into a hopeful and forwardlooking political battle cry.
There are, of course, circumstances when negative arguments can work. In
obviously terrible times, voters are often content to take a chance on a
barely sketched-out alternative. In midterm elections, which are like
midsemester report cards, voters often protest against what they don't like.
"No" was a successful pitch in three straight midterms going back to 2006.
The GOP's 1946 slogan, "Had Enough? Vote Republican," was a model of
simple and clever effectiveness.
But the evidence of the moment is that "had enough" will not be enough for
the GOP in 2016. Of course we cannot know from Hillary Clinton's current
leads of around nine or 10 points over her major Republican competitors
that she will ultimately prevail. Still, her advantage owes at least in part to
unease about where Republicans would take the country if they won both
the presidency and Congress. For now, voters don't want to go there.

Events of the past week underscore why. The absurdity of going to the wire
on funding the Department of Homeland Security tells us that many in the
party, particularly right-wingers in the House, do not care about how their
inability to govern in an orderly fashion looks to citizens outside the
conservative bubble.
For the more radical members of Speaker John Boehner's caucus, this is
all about high principle. Since most of them come from very conservative
districts, they will only strengthen their own political situations by continuing
to link DHS funding to overturning President Obama's executive actions on
immigration. They have nothing to lose.
But collectively, their party has a lot to lose. To win the presidency and to
improve their chances of holding the Senate in 2016, Republicans will have
to do far better with Latino voters than Mitt Romney did in 2012. This fight
will only make that harder. And middle-of-the-road voters don't like this sort
of brinksmanship, as well they shouldn't.
The way Republicans are behaving could thus turn one of the party's
assets, the likelihood that they will hold their House majority for some time,
into a liability. This argument is advanced forcefully by political scientist
Thomas Schaller in his new book, "The Stronghold."
Schaller describes the potential of a vicious cycle: As the party has become
more conservative, it has become more Congress-centered, "anchored to
and defined by its congressional wing, and its House caucus in particular."
But a majority of its House members are either extremely conservative or
fearful of primaries from the right. This makes the House highly sensitive to
right-wing donors, right-wing media and right-wing voters -- and far less
responsive to those middle-ground citizens who usually decide presidential
elections. The danger, says Schaller, is that the GOP's congressional
stronghold could become a "chokehold."
The doings at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that
closed on Saturday only reinforced the point. Republican presidential
candidates worry about those very conservative primary voters too, and
CPAC was an excellent opportunity for the hopefuls to show how well they
can dance to the oppositionist tune, a chorus of "no's" to Obama, Clinton,
liberalism and "big government."
Jeb Bush, who is actually very conservative, has put up some resistance to
the spirit of negativity. "We shouldn't be the reactionary party to how bad
things are," he told a Club for Growth gathering in Florida on Thursday.
When he appeared at CPAC on Friday, he did declare that "we have to
start being (BEG ITAL)for(END ITAL) things again," but only after praising
Republicans in Congress for standing up to Obama. He sidestepped when

Fox News' Sean Hannity asked about the House Republicans' approach to
DHS funding though he did speak of his party's need to win more Latino
votes.
Bush would clearly like to take a cue from his brother who, before the 2000
election, occasionally distanced himself from an unpopular right-wing
Congress. But Jeb is orchestrating his independence with great caution
and some ambivalence. The GOP is well to the right of where it was 15
years ago and also much more insulated. It's worth remembering that Fox
didn't become the largest cable news network until 2002.
In my experience, the people who see Jeb Bush as the most electable
nominee tend to be Democrats, not Republicans. This may prove his
general election strategy is working, but it also shows his party may not let
him get there because it's quite happy being "reactionary."

Scott Walker admits to

changing stance on
immigration, rejects Rudy
Giuliani comments about
Obama
BY ADAM EDELMAN
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/scott-walker-admits-changing-stanceimmigration-article-1.2133729
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, March 1, 2015, 5:53 PM

By: Scott Walker

Scott Walker On Amnesty: 'My Views Have Changed'

Daily Caller

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, days removed from a glowing reception at

the Conservative Political Action Conference, is now admitting to changing
his stance on the hotbed issue of immigration to a position more palatable
to conservatives.
Walker, in an interview with Fox News Sunday that was taped Friday but
aired Sunday, acknowledged that he, at one point, supported
comprehensive immigration reform that would have allowed undocumented
immigrants to remain in the U.S. and granted them a pathway to
citizenship.

My view has changed. I'm flat out saying it, Walker said. I don't believe in
amnesty.
Walker has emerged as a favorite among conservative Republicans and is
widely expected to run for President in 2016, but as attention over a
potential candidacy has grown, so, too, has scrutiny on a slew of comments
hes made over his political career.
Walker, who finished a close second in the CPAC straw poll Saturday night,
said he now supports immigration measures that are typically more popular
among conservative voters, like securing the border with Mexico.
But in 2013, he told the Wausau Daily Herald, when asked if he could
envision a system where undocumented immigrants could become U.S.
citizens by paying penalties and observing waiting periods, that he thought
it makes sense.
Walker, in his Fox News interview, also rejected controversial comments
made by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a fundraiser held for him,
questioning President Obamas patriotism and love for America.

!
JOE SKIPPER/AP

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was received warmly by attendees of the this
years Conservative Political Action Conference a summit typically used
by politicians to gauge interest in a possible presidential campaign.

I think, in the end, (Obama) and anybody else who is willing to put their
name on the ballot certainly has to have the love for country to do that,
said Walker, who had been criticized for not speaking out against Giulianis
comments.

In addition, the Badger State Republican backed away from yet another set
of comments that ignited controversy at CPAC he compared taking on
protesters in Wisconsin to being able to fight ISIS terrorists if he were
elected President clarifying that he was not comparing those two
entities.
What I meant was, it was about leadership, he said. The leadership we
provided under extremely difficult circumstances, arguably, the most difficult
of any governor in the country, and maybe, in recent times, in taking on the
challenge of not just the protesters, but everything we had to do the last
four years in stepping up and fighting the leadership to move our state
forward.
To me, I apply that to saying if I were to run and if I were to win and be
commander-in-chief, I believe that kind of leadership is what's necessary to
take on radical Islamic terrorism, Walker said.

DONALD TRUMP
SLAMS LIBERALS IN
DISHONEST
PRESS: IM GOING
TO START NAMING
NAMES
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/01/donald-trump-slams-liberalsin-dishonest-press-im-going-to-start-naming-names/
March 1, 2015

by MATTHEW BOYLE

Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP

Real estate magnate and reality television star Donald Trump

shredded liberals in the media who are dishonest on a
conference call with grassroots activists nationwide from Tea
Party Patriots on Sunday night, saying hes planning to start
calling out specific reporters for their inaccurate articles.
One of the things that the Tea Party has to be careful of is the
dishonest press, Trump said on the call, which is closed to media
but Breitbart News was providing exclusive access to it.
Its so dishonest. They dont cover certain people accurately. We
had something with Citizens United and David Bossie and it was
the biggest thing they ever hadand they [the media] dont even
report on it.
I walked into the roomyou couldnt even walk in the hallway, it
was so crowded, and he said there has never been anything like it.
Frankly, it was incredible in a certain way. But the media didnt
report it. You have to be really, really careful with the pressnot
all of them, because I know some great reporters. But Im going to
start naming names because it really is incredible how dishonest
the press is.
Trump added that he doesnt think the Tea Party movement has
gotten a fair shake in the press, and thats why hes stood up for
conservatives for years.
Ive always been the biggest advocate and a person whos stuck
up for the Tea Party to this day and I view it as just amazing
people who work hard and want to see this country be great
again, Trump said. I feel very strongly about that, Ive been a
long time fan and I think you know that better than anybody
Jenny Beth [Martin].
Yes I do and we certainly appreciate that very much, Martin, Tea
Party Patriots co-founder, said in response during the call. And
we all have learned you certainly have to be careful with the press

because they take things and they twist it and there are other
times when they just make things up to suit their own agenda.
In response to that, Trump said some in the media will make
things upor twist them out of contextto attack conservatives.
Thats true. They will literally make things up, Trump said.
They will take things out of context. Report a quarter of a sentence
when you have a qualification on a long-running sentencetheyll
take just the part that theyre talking about and wont put a
qualification in. These are really dishonest people.
Now, again, not in all casesbut in many cases, really dishonest
people. Ive dealt with the press all my life and Ive done fine with
the press. Ive known that theyre dishonest, and Ive known about
some high-quality people also, but I think in the world of politics
Ive met the most dishonest reporters Ive met in any place. I think
the Tea Party has been treated very, very unfairly over the years
and I think that your strength is greater than even you know
theres a great, great strength.
Martin introduced Trump, a potential 2016 presidential candidate
who just hired one of the top grassroots activists in IowaChuck
Laudneras the very definition of the American success story.
After walking through his business background and all his
bestselling books, she noted that Trumps first book, The Art of
the Deal, is considered a business classic and one of the best
books of all time.
Trump kicked off the conference call by mocking the left for
pushing Global Warming.
Its snowing in New York and the airports are all closed and
despite all of this global warming we are all hearing aboutwhich
is absolutely wildthe airports are just freezing, Trump said.
Some cities are snowed in and more snow is coming. Theyre
setting a record for cold, so theyre lucky they changed the term
for Global Warming to something else as you know because whats
going on now is incredible.

He also discussed the recent Conservative Political Action

Conference, which he spoke at, taking some more jabs at former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
I really enjoyed it [CPAC]. They worked very hard, Trump said.
I think thatI was very surprised at Bush because he got a modest
set of applause and hes very much in favor of educations
Common Core and hes very weak on immigration, and I was
actually surprised that he wants to give people who come into the
country illegally Social Security and he wants to give them
education.
The whole thing is ridiculous. If youre coming to other places,
they throw you out of the country but if youre coming here they
want to give you all sorts of advantages that will obviously lead
ultimately to citizenshipthatll be the next thing.
Later, Trump noted that Bushs place in the straw pollfifth place
with 8.3 percentcame largely because of the fact he had to bus
people in from K Street to vote for him and cheer for him in the
crowd when he was getting booed. Trump finished eighth with 3.5
percent of the vote.
I didnt have buses all over the placewe didnt do anything
and I came in ahead of a lot of the other primary candidates,
Trump said.
Trump also called on Republicans in Congress to hang tough to
block funding for President Barack Obamas illegal and
unconstitutional executive amnesty. The Republicans are soIm
a Republican and Im a very conservative person, and I wrote the
book The Art of The Deal, Trump said.
Ive made a lot of money making deals. Im very good at making
deals, including deals against China and other countries that are
just ripping us off. Ive make a lot of money against China which
youll see as I go along in this process because as far as Im
concerned its one of my greatest qualifications but the whole
DHS funding and the whole illegal executive order, the

Republicans should not fund unless they get rid of this executive
order.
People are pouring across the border by the thousands, by the
hundreds of thousands, and theyre just pouring acrosswe dont
know who they are, we dont know where they come from, we
know nothing about them.
Trump said hes upset Republicans in Congress are seeming to
cave again, though.
Im so disappointed that the Republicans seem to be once again
cratering on the whole thing with the funding because this is the
one timewe have only a short period of time [to stop this]and
believe me the last thing the president wants is to go to war on
this thing, Trump added. I think the Republicans have all the
cards and theyre not using them and theyre being conned by the
Democrats.

Paul Wins Again, Walker Finishes

Strong Second, in CPAC Straw
Poll
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/20234-paul-wins-againwalker-finishes-strong-second-in-cpac-straw-poll
Sunday, 01 March 2015
Written by Jack Kenny

!
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky came in first for the third straight year and Governor
Scott Walker of Wisconsin made a strong second-place showing Saturday at the end of
the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference in the Washington, D.C., suburb
of National Harbor, Maryland. Paul, whose supporters have adopted a Stand with
Rand theme, hailed the constitutional conservatives who chose to stand with him at
the CPAC event.
Our party is filled with constitutional conservatives who have chosen to stand with me
for a third consecutive straw poll victory, the Kentucky Republican said. Since
President Ronald Reagan, the (conference) has been the gold standard on where

conservatives stand. The constitutional conservatives of our party have spoken in a loud
and clear voice today.
Paul captured 26 percent of the votes cast by the 3007 conference attendees who
participated in the poll. Walker, the Republican governor whose controversial curbing of
the bargaining power of public employee unions has won the admiration of many of the
partys grassroots conservatives, came in second with 21 percent. His victory in
Wisconsin in a recall vote as well as his election triumphs in a blue state have
impressed some GOP strategists for his ability to attract working class and middle
income voters from among Democrats as well as Republicans. Walker, who received
some flak for his refusal to discuss foreign policy or answer a question about evolution
during a visit to London last month, said during his appearance at the conference on
Thursday that the massive protest demonstrations in Madison during the labor unrest
had prepared him for dealing with foreign crises, including the conflict with the ISIS
terrorists in the Middle East.
If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world, he said. Asked
about that comment on Saturday, Walker likened his battle with public employees to
President Reagans 1981 firing of striking air traffic controllers.
Candidly, I think foreign policy is something thats not just about having a PhD or talking
to PhDs. Its about leadership, he told a gathering of GOP donors in Palm Beach,
Florida. I would contend the most significant foreign policy decision in my lifetime was
made by a president who was previously a governor. A president who made a decision
that wasnt even about foreign policy. It was in August of 1981, when Ronald Reagan
fired the air traffic controllers.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz finished in third place with 11.5 percent of the vote, followed by
retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson in fourth with 11 percent. Former Florida GOP
Governor Jeb Bush, considered by some to be the early front-runner and a favorite of
the GOPs Washington establishment and deep-pocket donors, finished fifth at 8
percent of the vote.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey finished near the bottom of the
pack, in 10th place with 2.8 percent of the vote. Christie, who declined to run for
president in 2012 despite the urging of a number of party leaders and conservative
pundits, had been considered a formidable candidate for the 2016 nomination. His
reputation has since suffered, due in part to the Bridgegate scandal of September
2013 when three traffic lanes from Fort Lee, New Jersey, were shut down for four days,
cutting off access to and from the town via the New York-New Jersey George
Washington Bridge. Christie claimed he knew nothing about it and vigorously denied
allegations that the lanes were closed as retribution against Fort Lees Democratic
Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing the Republican governor in his 2013 reelection
campaign.
Three Christie appointees to the New York-New Jersey Port Authority resigned over the
scandal, which became the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney for New
Jersey, the Port Authority and the New Jersey Legislature. The state has been billed
nearly $9 million in legal fees by lawyers representing the Christie administration in the
investigations, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Christie has also been criticized for an apparent shortness of temper. At the CPAC
conference he defended his conduct at a public event last fall when he told a heckler to
sit down and shut up, suggesting that kind of bluntness is needed in the nations
capital.
Yeah, well, sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up, Christie said,
drawing laughs and applause from the audience. Some more of that stuff should be
happening in Washington, D.C. because there's so much ridiculous stuff being spewed,
especially out of the White House. Someone should say it's time to shut up.
Others receiving votes were former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, in sixth place
with 4.3 percent of the vote; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in seventh with 4.3 percent;
Donald Trump in eighth place with 3.5 percent; and former Hewlett Packard executive
Carly Fiorina in ninth with 3 percent. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry finished in 11th
place, with 1.1 percent, just ahead of the decimal point contingent, led by Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal, in 12th with .9 percent. Former GOP vice presidential candidate and
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finished 13th with .8 percent.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the Republican caucuses in Iowa
in 2008 with a strong pro-life and defense of traditional marriage theme, finished last in
the voting with just .3 percent.
Fiorina, the only woman written and talked about as a potential GOP contender, formed
a political action committee two weeks ago to raise money for a possible presidential
campaign. Despite her loss to veteran Senator Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate race in
California in 2010, Fiorina at the CPAC gathering sounded eager to take on the widely
anticipated Democratic nominee for president in 2016.
If Hillary Clinton had to face me on a debate stage at the very least she would have a
hitch in her swing, Fiorina said, employing a baseball analogy. Like Mrs. Clinton, I too
have traveled the globe. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, I know that flying is an activity, not an
accomplishment, Fiorina said to roars of applause. Mrs. Clinton, name an
accomplishment.
Fiorina also called on Clinton to explain how her acceptance of donations from foreign
governments to the Clinton familys foundation, the non-profit Clinton Global Initiative,
would not be a conflict of interest if she runs for president. The foundation has received
millions from foreign governments, the Washington Post reported last week, including
some with intricate diplomatic, military, and financial relationships with the United
States. Contributing nations include Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Australia, Norway, and the
Dominican Republic.
She tweets about womens rights in this country and takes money from governments
that deny women the most basic human rights," Fiorina said. She tweets about equal
pay for women, she added, "but wont answer basic questions about her own offices
pay standards and neither will our president.

An Atheist at
Conservative
Woodstock
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/01/an-atheist-atconservative-woodstock.html
03.01.15
Jack Holmes

Conservative evangelicals dominate the base of the

Republican Party. Is there room for non-believers, too?
It wasnt a coveted time slot, but Jamila Bey was happy to have it.
It was Day Two of the Conservative Political Action Conference,
and she been allotted a small window in the early afternoon to
address the assembled politicos at the conservative schmoozefest
in Maryland. Bey is on the board of the group American Atheists,
an advocacy group fighting for the civil liberties of atheists and
the total, absolute separation of government and religion. It was
born in 1959, out of the court case Murray v. Curlett, which
challenged prayer in public schools.

It doesnt seem like a faction that would be particularly welcome

at CPACs shindig, or, indeed, in the Republican Party. Until
Thursday, they werent.
On Feb. 24, 2014, a spokesman for the group told CNN that
American Atheists would have a booth at CPAC 2014 in an effort
to bring conservative atheists out of the closet. But the next day,
Mediaite reported that they had been pulled from the event, with
CPAC organizer Meghan Snyder explaining that American
Atheists misrepresented itself about their willingness to engage in
positive dialogue.
While it seems incredible that the CPAC organizers could mistake
the aims of the group, considering its name, it surprised few at the
time that it would not feature in a conservative eventand with
good reason.
To begin with, American evangelical Christianswho make up 18
percent of Americans but 36 percent of Republicanshave a very
frosty view of atheists. The evangelical section of the GOP base
exercises considerable power, especially in the tone and
messaging at an event like CPAC. But the issue is broader.
A May 2014 Pew Research poll asked respondents to rate the
desirability of certain traits in a presidential candidate. Their
responses indicated whether a trait made them more likely to vote
for a candidate, less likely, or it wouldnt matter. Fifty-three
percent of respondents said they would be less likely to support a
candidate if they were atheist, a metric worse than for a
hypothetical candidate who had never held elected office, had an
extramarital affair, or was gay.
This actually constituted a mellowing of the sentiment toward
atheists. A 2007 poll showed that more than 6 in 10 Americans
were less likely to support a nonbeliever. In June 2012,
respondents to a Gallup poll were more likely to support a
Muslim, a gay or lesbian, a Mormon, or someone of any race or
Judeo-Christian denomination.

Nevertheless, the very notion

that she was invited to speak
represents progress.
The modest uptick in atheist presidential fortunes coincides with
a growth in the countrys atheist population, from 1.6 percent to
2.4 percent from 2007 to 2012. The percentage of religiously
unaffiliated has also grown to around 20 percent of the
population.
The trend toward secularization is especially prevalent among
Millennials, an idea that Bey seized on in her CPAC speech: As of
the last census, we have about 68 million Millennial voters, about
the age of 18 to 34. Of these 68 million, nearly 40 percent identify
as secular. The future, she was arguing, was with a group of
people in whose lives religion plays an increasingly diminished
role.
Bey might have expected a less than enthusiastic reception, but
her speech was greeted with (very tiny) smatterings of applause
and virtually no howling or booing, perhaps because the room was
nearly empty. Theres a reason that time slot went to the godless
heathens.
Nevertheless, the very notion that she was invited to speak
represents progress, first and foremost because of the daunting
numbers cited above. Beyond that, there has never been a nonChristian, much less completely unaffiliated, president. No one in
the 114th Congress identifies as an atheist, and just one is
unaffiliated.
In addition, those evangelical Christians with such a dim view of
the non-religious essentially call the shots in modern movement
conservatism. As Frank Bruni illustrates, they make up a third of
the Republican base but essentially determine GOP policy.

Support for gay marriage and access to abortion runs about even,
and immigration reform enjoys strong support, among nonevangelical Republicans, while white evangelical Republicans are
strongly against all three. The GOP platform is against all three
strongly.

And yet, there was Bey, perched at the podium at CPAC talking
about the value of conservative secularists. There are atheist
libertarians and unaffiliated fiscal conservatives with, in her
words, no place to call home. She was looking to find them one
in the party of George H.W. Bush, who once opined: I dont know
that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be
regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God.
Most atheists align with the Democratic Party, precisely because
the religious right exercises such power over the GOP ticket. But
nonbelievers have no representation in Congress, and receive
little or no recognition politically beyond the odd Barack Obama
State of the Union call out. He has referenced protections for
those who dont believe, but no president has ever used the
word atheist in the address to Congress (Obama was the first to
use lesbian, bisexual, and transgender).
Liberals have fought to keep religionnamely Christianity and its
symbolsout of government and public institutions, but
maintaining the separation of church and state is not an atheist
battle but a democratic one. Religious non-belief is essentially an
unrecognized phenomenon in presidential campaigns, which are
often littered with instances of candidates from both parties trying
to out-Christian each other to no productive end.
Atheists are perhaps the most politically underrepresented group
in America, but they, along with the larger umbrella of the
unaffiliated, are a growing constituency. Will they find a home in
the GOPs mythical Big Tent? Will the Democrats make a

concerted effort to reach out to them, rather than sit by and watch
as they normally dowhile the ACLU tries to keep statues of the
Ten Commandments out of courthouses?
Bey was the first atheist to knock on the GOPs door, but so far no
one is listening. The Kirk Cameron movie is on the TV, and the
volumes turned up high.

Hillary 5.0
http://nypost.com/2015/03/01/hillary-5-0/
March 1, 2015 | 4:26pm

By Post Editorial Board


Hillary Clinton
Photo: WireImage

The Republicans are turning out to be a feisty bunch. Over the past few
days, thousands of activists gathered just outside Washington for the
annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
There, delegates heard from Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Jeb
Bush, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson to
name just some of those hoping to carry the Republican standard into the
2016 election.
From taxes to education, from health care to energy, and from
entitlements to foreign policy, they laid out their differences not only
with President Obama but with one another.
Those who followed CPAC saw a truly vigorous debate. Whoever
eventually emerges with the Republican nomination will be stronger for
having gone through these repeated engagements with a cross-section of
the partys best and brightest.
Wheres the equivalent for Hillary and the Democrats?
At a time when events overseas are demanding American attention, you
would think Mrs. Clinton would be out defending her record. And that
she would have to do so not just against just Republicans but against
other Democrats.
After all, from Russias growing aggression and the rise of the Islamic
State to Irans nuclear ambitions, as a former secretary of state, Mrs.
Clinton bears much responsibility for having shaped the world we now
face. But among Democrats, beyond former Maryland Gov. Martin
OMalley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, theres barely anything
going on.
So while Republicans fiercely debate our future, the only debate going
on within the Democratic Party seems to be how to once again rebrand
Hillary Clinton.

Scott Walker on
immigration: "My
view has changed
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-walker-flips-immigration-view-haschanged/
March 1, 2015, 4:24 PM
By: REENA FLORES CBS NEWS

Now that he's gearing up for a possible presidential

campaign,Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is already walking
back beliefs he held just two years ago, on the flashpoint
subject that has Congressional Republicans -- including the
party's leadership -- in knots.
"My view has changed. I'm flat out saying it," Walker said on
FOX News Sunday, addressing progressive immigration
policies that he once favored. "Candidates can say that."
Walker was responding to a grainy Wausau Daily Herald
video from two years ago showing the young governor, shirt
sleeves rolled up, answering a pointed question about a path
to legal status for undocumented immigrants.
"Can you envision a world where with the right penalties and
waiting periods and meet the requirements, where those
people can get citizenship?" a reporter asks off-screen.
In the clip, the governor responds simply: "Sure, yes. I mean, I
think it makes sense."
Walker rejected the idea that he was supporting "amnesty" at
the time.
Obama says he expects to win court fight on immigration
order
Jeb Bush clings to unpopular views on immigration,
Common Core
"I don't believe in amnesty," Walker said. "And part of the
reason why I made that a firm position is I look at the way
that this president has mishandled that issue."
Against pointed questioning, Walker continued his defense by
mentioning his record challenging the constitutionality of
Obama's immigration order.
"I was one of the first governors that joined the lawsuit that
has been successful, at least on this initial technicality," the

Wisconsin governor said. "And I hope we prevail ultimately

throughout the courts."
Walker's appearance on the cable show followed the
weekend's close second-place finish in the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll.
The conference -- a three-day conclave that gathers together
the more grassroots wing of the Republican party -- chose, for
the third year in a row, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul as its clear
favorite. But Walker, the crown prince of CPAC to Rand Paul's
king, didn't do too shabby: the 2016 hopeful raked in just over
a fifth of the votes, and jumped 7 percentage points from last
year's ranking.
Though his performance reviews weren't all overwhelmingly
positive -- he suffered a setback after comments that
seemingly compared terrorist threats like ISIS to the union
protesters he fought during his time as Wisconsin's chief
executive -- he came out of the Maryland weekend as more a
conservative darling than a dud.
Bloomberg Politics' Mark Halperin on "Face the Nation"
Sunday declared Walker one of the leaders in an otherwise
wide-open Republican nominee field.
"I learned talking to people at CPAC -- I think there's two
frontrunners now: Walker and Bush," Halperin said.

Another View: Political attacks

on Common Core are driven by
pandering
http://www.nhregister.com/opinion/20150301/another-view-politicalattacks-on-common-core-are-driven-by-pandering
By Campbell Brown, Special to The Washington Post
POSTED: 03/01/15, 4:09 PM EST |

At the Conservative Political Action Conference this last week, the supposed
evils of the Common Core educational standards were front and center. So,
too, was an unmistakable case of pandering.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared, We need to remove Common Core
from every classroom in America. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blamed
his predecessor for forcing his state to adopt the standards and said that he
is now deeply concerned about the heavy foot of the federal government
coming in.
Both now preach this opposition message with the zealous conviction of
converts because they are converts, having carried until recently a very
different message. And their explanations for their flip-flops border on the
absurd.
In April 2013, I interviewed Jindal at an education conference in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. Back then, Jindal was a passionate proponent of
Common Core, whose development was driven by the nations governors
and which had been adopted by most every state, including Louisiana.
Jindal made a strong case that day for how vital the standards were to
improving education in his state.

His big reversal came when he began openly exploring a presidential run.
Now he calls the standards a top-down, meddlesome approach that is
terrible for public education. His beef, like that of many Republicans
opposed to Common Core, is that the Obama administration ruined a good
idea when it tied federal dollars to the voluntary standards. Jindal has gone
so far as to sue the federal government for offering financial incentives to
states that sign up.
A basic lesson in recent history shows why Jindals conversion appears so
disingenuous. The Obama administration announced in the summer of
2009 that federal dollars would be available to states that embraced
Common Core, yet Jindal remained a champion until late 2013. Did it really
take him more than four years to discover that the federal government was
involved? Maybe that alone should disqualify him from being a serious
presidential candidate.
Christies inartful attempts to disguise his flip-flop have been no better. In
2013, he was also a big Common Core proponent, saying, This is one of
those areas where Ive agreed more with the president than not. Last year
he blasted other Republicans for opposing the standards, saying they care
more about their primaries than they care about anything else. Yet, lo and
behold, Christie has developed grave concerns, as he told Iowa voters last
month, because the federal government is tying federal funds to the
initiative. He has even asked a commission to reexamine New Jerseys
implementation in light of these new developments from the Obama
administration developments that were announced five years earlier.
All this, of course, is not about education. Or facts.
Jindal and Christie are running from Common Core with an eye on the
presidential primary, where attacking any intrusion into local affairs is an
applause line for conservatives. And they are not the only Republicans
backtracking all over themselves.
How about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker? He was an early supporter of
implementing Common Core in his state but, during a tough reelection
campaign in 2014, he abruptly called for its repeal. Now his position is
mush; he says he supports high standards but wants school districts to
know they can opt out if they want.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has also flip-flopped. In 2013, he

was still willing to admit that high standards across the states were a good
thing but suggested a name change to solve the standards branding
problem. Now he, too, is withdrawing his support and blaming the feds.
Indeed, some states such as Arizona have dealt with the backlash against
Common Core by keeping the standards but changing the name. We are
reduced to sleight of hand. Meanwhile, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has
become a target for standing by Common Core as a voluntary minimum
level of rigor for all states. His message to governors: Go ahead and set your
own standards if you want; just make them at least as rigorous.
Lets be clear about what Common Core is. It spells out what students
should know at the end of each grade. The goal is to ensure that our
students are sound in math and literacy and that our schools have some
basic consistency nationwide. But the standards do not dictate a national
curriculum, and teachers are not told how or what to teach.
The unpopularity of the initiative with segments of the public has been
caused by rough implementation in some states and the tests linked to the
standards. That frustration is legitimate and can be addressed. But
abandonment of the initiative for political reasons is craven.
Those running from Common Core may find that the political risks have
been overstated. A recent NBC/Marist poll of Iowa, New Hampshire and
South Carolina Republicans found that the number of people willing to
back a pro-Common Core candidate was greater than the number who said
support for Common Core was a deal- breaker.
Education never quite gets the attention it deserves in presidential
campaigns, but monster flip-flops surely do. So heres some advice for
people running for office: If you want to campaign against core standards,
perhaps you should try having core standards of your own first.

Wheres your loyalty? Rick Perry

disses Hillary Clinton over family
foundations reported acceptance of
foreign money
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/rick-perry-questions-clinton-foundationforeign-money-article-1.2133658
BY ADAM EDELMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, March 1, 2015, 4:18 PM

!
CAROLYN KASTER/AP

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry gives the thumbs up as he leaves the stage
after speaking during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
on Friday.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, fresh off a well-received appearance at the
Conservative Political Action Conference, continued to assert a honed
campaign-like message Sunday, taking aim at Hillary Clinton for her family
foundations acceptance of foreign donations.
I think most Americans realize that a phone call at 3:00 in the morning to
the President of the United States about an issue that deals with a foreign
country, that has given maybe tens of millions of dollars to the foundation
that she oversees is not right and its not only the appearance of
impropriety, its also the ethical side of this that I think most Americans
really have a problem with, Perry, who has hinted at 2016 presidential bid
in recent months, said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union.
The comments refer to reports that the Clinton Foundation accepted
millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments, posing a potential
conflict of interest for the former Secretary of State and her husband,
former President Bill Clinton, should they return to the White House in
2016.
Im really concerned that, not just going forward, what has been received
at the Clinton Foundation over the course of the years and how that affects
this individuals judgment, Perry added, repeating a theme hit on multiple
times at this weekends CPAC in Washington.
"Are you going to trust an individual who has taken that much money from
a foreign source? Wheres your loyalty? Perry asked.
A Washington Post report from last week disclosed that the Clinton
Foundation accepted tens of millions of dollars in donations from at least
seven foreign governments. One of the donations violated an ethics
agreement between Clinton and the Obama administration, The Post
claimed.

Walker: 'My view

has changed' on
immigration reform
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/01/walker-my-view-haschanged-on-immigration-reform/
Published March 01, 2015
FoxNews.com

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a presumptive 2016 Republican

presidential candidate, says he has changed his immigration
stance and no longer backs comprehensive reform that
would allow illegal immigrants to be penalized but remain in
the country.

My view has changed, Walker said in a Fox News Sunday

interview taped Friday. Im flat out saying it.

Walker in 2013 said a plan in which illegal immigrants can

become United States citizens by first paying penalties and
enduring a waiting period makes sense.

However, he is now saying such a plan is tantamount to

amnesty, amid criticism that he has flip-flopped on that issue
and others -- including right-to-work legislation in his home
state.

I dont believe in amnesty, said Walker, who finished

second Saturday in the Conservative Political Action
Conferences straw poll for potential 2016 Republican
presidential candidates. We need to secure the border. We
ultimately need to put in place a system that works -- a legal
immigration system that works.

Walker also is among the 25 Republican governors who have

joined in a lawsuit challenging the presidents 2014 executive
action that defers deportation for millions of illegal
immigrants.

After calling the right-to-work bill in the Wisconsin Legislature

a distraction during his 2014 re-election season, Walker
now touts the GOP-backed plan, which essentially stops
unions from collecting dues from non-union workers.

On Sunday, Walker said that now is the perfect time for the
bill to be passed and for him to sign it.

Walker also attempted to further clarify comments he made

Thursday during his speech at CPAC, the countrys largest
annual gathering of conservative activists, in which he
seemed to compare the Islamic State and union-backed
protesters he has faced.

I'm not comparing those two entities, Walker said. What I

meant was, it was about the leadership we provided under
extremely dicult circumstances, arguably, the most dicult
of any governor in the country, and maybe in recent times.To
me, I apply that to saying if I were to run and if I were to win
and be commander in chief, I believe that kind of leadership
is what's necessary to take on radical Islamic terrorism.

Scott Walker: I wasnt

comparing terrorists to
Wisconsin protesters
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/03/01/4159399_scott-walker-i-wasntcomparing.html?rh=1
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
McClatchy Washington Bureau
March 1, 2015

!
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at the winter meeting of the free market Club for
Growth winter economic conference at the Breakers Hotel Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, in
Palm Beach, Fla.
JOE SKIPPER AP

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Sunday he wasnt trying to compare

state protesters to terrorists.
If I could take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,
he told the Conservative Political Action Conference last week. He was
referring to Wisconsin protests four years ago against his challenges to
public employee unions.
Sunday, he explained to Fox News Sunday that I'm not comparing those
two entities. What I meant was, it was about leadership.
He called that leadership arguably, the most difficult of any governor in the
country, and maybe in -- in recent times, in taking on the challenge of not
just the protesters, but everything we had to do the last four years in
stepping up and fighting the leadership to move our state forward.
Whats that have to do with fighting terrorists and the Islamic State? To
me, he said, I apply that to saying if I were to run and if I were to win and
be commander-in-chief, I believe that kind of leadership is what's
necessary to take on radical Islamic terrorism.
Walkers comments didnt appear to hurt him among those who attended
the CPAC conference. He finished a strong second in its straw poll
Saturday, as audience members praised his challenges to unions.
Sunday, Fox host Chris Wallace also asked for an example of leadership.
Would you commit U.S. ground forces to combat ISIS in any way, shape or
form? Wallace asked.
I believe we should not take any action off the table, he said.
So does that mean ground forces?
For me to do something like that would require a number of things, Walker
said. Listening to the chain of command, particularly the Joint Chiefs, your
national security advisers and others, as to what's necessary and listening
to the people who are actually out in the field is the best way to do that.
But then also bring together a coalition. Certainly, reaffirming our major
asset, our major ally in the region, that being Israel, but also our other allies
around the world.

Ted Cruz comes in behind

Rand Paul and Scott
Walker in CPAC straw poll
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/03/01/ted-cruz-comes-in-behindrand-paul-and-scott-walker-in-cpac-straw-poll/
Published March 01, 2015

Fox News Latino

!
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - FEBRUARY 26: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) addresses the
42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 26, 2015 in
National Harbor, Maryland. Conservative activists attended the annual political
conference to discuss their agenda. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) (2015 GETTY
IMAGES)

Sen. Ted Cruz came in third place behind Sen.

Rand Pual and Gov. Scott Walker in the Conservative Political
Action Conferences annual presidential preference poll.
Pollsters announced Saturday that Paul won 25.7 percent of the
votes in the annual survey, giving the Kentucky senator third
consecutive win in as many years.
The Wisconsin governor came in second, with 21.4 percent while
Cruz received 11.5 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson
with 11.4 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 8.3
percent. All of the other names listed received under 5 percent.
The three-day CPAC conference in suburban Washington draws
many libertarian-leaning college students whose views and
priorities differ significantly from the Republican Party at large. But
it is nonetheless seen as a barometer of certain conservative
activists' early leanings.
Pollsters said just over 3,000 attendees voted. Nearly half
identified as between the ages of 18 and 25.
Respondents said economic issues, like jobs and taxes, were
most important to them in deciding whom to support as the
Republican nominee for president in 2016.
OXON HILL, MD.

Ben Carson Defends Obama

But Not Evolution
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/01/bencarson-2016_n_6779138.html
Posted: 03/01/2015 1:51 pm EST
By: Christina Wilkie

WASHINGTON -- Dr. Ben Carson defended President Barack Obama

Sunday against criticism that he was too inexperienced to be
president. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Carson went on to
suggest that certain scientific ideas, like evolution, are "just
propaganda."
The retired surgeon and possible long-shot for the Republican
presidential nomination challenged the familiar Republican critique
that Obama was too inexperienced to lead the country when he was
elected. "I'm not sure that the criticism of President Obama is
accurate," Carson said, adding that the president "wanted to
accomplish fundamental change in America, [and] I think he's done
quite a bit of that and he seems to know how to execute these
missions."
The praise for Obama was clearly tactical: Carson has never run for
elected office, which makes him vulnerable to similar criticisms. But a
lack of experience hasn't stopped Carson from making inroads into the
national political landscape, emerging in recent years as a conservative
darling of the GOP. On Saturday, Carson received 11.4 percent of the
vote in a straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference, placing fourth overall and besting former Florida
Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, the presumed 2016 frontrunner, by more
than 3 points.
"If I were to run [for president] and were to win, I would have very
different vision" than Obama, Carson said Sunday. "It would be a
vision of putting the Constitution back on the top shelf. It would be a
vision of making our government understand that it works for the
people. And that the government responds to the will of the people,

and not picking and choosing who should win and lose, what laws we
want to enforce." Carson added that "our laws that we enforce have
nothing to do with our own personal beliefs."
Carson also defended his belief in creationism, telling host Chuck
Todd, "I find a very good measure of correlation between my religious
beliefs and my scientific beliefs. People say, 'How can you be a
scientist, how can you be a surgeon if you don't believe in certain
things?' Maybe those things aren't scientific, maybe it is just
propaganda."
Despite a career in medicine, Carson, a Seventh-day Adventist, is an
outspoken creationist who openly questions evolutionary theory. He
also denies that climate change is real, a view that puts him at odds
with the vast majority of the scientific community.

Ben Carson on ISIS:

'Eradicate them now
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/234261-ben-carson-on-isiseradicate-them-now
March 01, 2015, 02:13 pm
By Jesse Byrnes

Dr. Ben Carson said on Sunday that the United States should move to
immediately defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other
extremist terrorist groups.
"We can sit back and say, 'Nah, they're not that big a deal,' or we can
recognize that the longer we allow them to grow, to spread, to root

get their roots well established the more difficult it will be to

eradicate them," Carson said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"We have to eradicate them now," he said. "We have to use every
means possible to do that."
Carson, the former Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon and
potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, slammed biggovernment programs and policies in a speech opening the
Conservative Political Action Conference last week.
"There's no question our standing in the world has changed very
dramatically," he told NBC on Sunday. "There's no question that the
leadership sets a very good measure of what kind of country we're
gonna be and whether our allies should trust us and whether our
enemies should test us."
Should Carson decide to launch his own Republican presidential bid in
2016, he vowed Sunday that he "would have a very different vision"
from President Obama, one focused on supporting the Constitution.
Asked if he would face similar criticisms of inexperience Obama faced
when he ran for the White House, Carson suggested those criticisms
were unfair.
"I'm not sure that the criticism of President Obama is accurate,"
Carson said. "You have to decide what it is that he wanted to
accomplish. He wanted to accomplish fundamental change in
America. I think he's done quite a bit of that."
Carson said he would decide not to run for the White House "if I found
there was really no support for it. that would cause me not to run."
For now, Carson said, "I'm seeing a very substantial amount of
support across the country in red states, blue states north, south,
east, west.

Fournier on Trump: 'He's a

Carnival Barker, Shouldn't
Take Him Seriously'
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/01/media-buzz-kirsten-powers-agrees-antigop-bias-ron-fournier-calls-donald-trump-carnival
Mar 01, 2015 // 1:57pm

On "Media Buzz" today, Howard Kurtz and his guests reacted to

the 2015Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC),
which included a hefty amount of press-bashing.
Mary Katharine Ham said a candidate professing his dislike for
the media has become "a part of the primary process." She
added that right-wing candidates have a legitimate reason to
complain about their treatment in the press.
Kirsten Powers agreed that,"There is a real bias that we've seen
against Republicans in the media. And I think it's gotten worse."
Ron Fournier asserted that to some degree the media deserves to
be slapped around a bit at conservative events.
"The folks who try to be in the middle, the folks who aren't
working for a partisan outlet, if you look at those groups of
reporters, we do tend to skew to the left," Fournier said. "And
sometimes we're not very good about both being accurate, being
accountable and being objective."

As for specific candidates at CPAC, they agreed that it was

important for candidates like Jeb Bush and Chris Christie to face
some of the tough questions, even if the event wasn't necessarily
"their crowd."
Kurtz mentioned Donald Trump, who has been flirting with a
presidential run dating back to 1999. Trump has said that he's
more serious this year and has even hired political staff.
"He may be more serious, but he's not a serious man," Fournier
said. "If he runs for president, he's not going to be president.
He's a carnival barker. We shouldn't take him very seriously ...
He's not a serious presidential candidate."
Watch more from "Media Buzz" above.

Rick Perry: America

Needs Boots on the
Ground to Defeat ISIS
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Rick-Perry-fight-ISIS-boots/
2015/03/01/id/627578/
Sunday, 01 Mar 2015 01:22 PM
By Sandy Fitzgerald

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday he is not mincing words:
The United States needs boots on the ground in the fight against ISIS,
and he believes Americans would thank a president who stood up for
their values in the fight on terrorism.
"We are going to have to have our military actively engaged with those
special operators from those other countries to eliminate the ISIS
threat," said Perry on CNN's "State of the Union" program, during
an interview recorded with host Dana Bash just after his Conservative
Political Action Conference speech late last week.
The likely repeat candidate for the GOP presidential nomination next
year confirmed that those words do mean he backs putting boots on
the ground in Syria and Iraq. But Perry, demurred when it came to the
numbers or battle strategy he'd advocate.
"I've written too many letters to moms, dads, spouses, next of kin for
almost a decade of people we've lost in Texas during this war on terror,
and to be sending information to the enemy, whether it's through the

media or any other source I will suggest to you is irresponsible," Perry

said.
But Perry said it's time to look back and see the opportunities that
were missed, such as "funding and giving weapons to the Syrian
rebels."
"We could have stopped ISIS before they ever got out of Syria," said
Perry. "Then as they moved into Iraq we had the opportunity with the
Peshmerga to fund them and we failed at that. So the options we have
left are not the best ones, but having a coalition with the Jordanians,
with the Saudis, with the other middle eastern countries...but they're
the lesser of options."
And as a potential candidate, Perry said he'd answer concerns from
voters about a Texas governor who wants to send U.S. troops to the
Middle East by stressing his background.
"I would suggest to them that I have the background and the ability to
make decisions on my own," said Perry. "I think if American and
western values are in jeopardy and U.S. troops working with a
coalition force is how you stop ISIS, I think the bulk of the American
people are going to say, thank you, 'Mr. President, for standing up for
our values.' Thank you for stopping this face of evil."
Also on Sunday, Perry told CNN that he supports the upcoming visit
this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who House
Speaker John Boehner invited to speak to Congress, noting that the
Obama administration has many issues with the Israeli government.
"If this was the first issue with Israel it would be that maybe we could
have some questions about, but it's not, said Perry. "We've seen the
Secretary of State [John Kerry] make the comparison between the
apartheid south Africa regime and Israel, you've heard varying
individuals in this administration criticize the prime minister, criticize
Israel."

To Perry's perspective, the Obama administration is not sending clear

messages that it respects Israel and will stand with the nation.
"Israel feels very vulnerable at this particular point in time because of
the feckless foreign policy we've seen out of this administration," said
Perry. "So I totally understand why Prime Minister Netanyahu feels
it's important for him to come and to express his concerns about
what's going on in front of the United States Congress. I'm glad he is."

Rand Paul Wins This Years

Republican CPAC Straw Poll,
Beats Out Scott Walker
http://www.inquisitr.com/1885769/rand-paul-wins-cpac-straw-poll/
Posted: March 1, 2015

Sen. Rand Paul won the Conservative Political Action

Conference straw poll Saturday for the third year in a row with
25.7 percent of the vote, according to the USA Today.

Saturdays CPAC straw poll ended the conference in

Maryland where Republicans tried to determine the best way
to win the presidency in 2016. Paul spoke to CBS News after
the announcement of his victory.

Since President Ronald Reagan, the Conservative

Political Action Conference has been the gold standard on
where conservatives stand. The constitutional
conservatives of our party have spoken in a loud and clear
voice today. I plan on doing my part, and I hope you will
join me as I continue to make the GOP a bigger, better
and bolder party.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker finished second in the survey of
CPAC attendees with 21.4 percent, up from last years finish
of fifth place.
Echoing last years straw poll results Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,
finished third with 11.5 percent, followed closely by retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4 percent, while former
Florida governor Jeb Bush finished fifth at 8.3 percent.
Bush, who didnt take part in last years CPAC straw poll and
was booed at this years conference, came out as a strong
moderate candidate in the survey. He voiced support for his
policies of improved legal status for illegal immigrants and
Common Core education standards.
The CPAC straw poll results show former Sen. Rick Santorum
in sixth place with 4.3 percent while Sen. Marco Rubio
received 3.7 percent for seventh followed by Donald Trump in
eighth with 3.5 percent.

More than 3,000 people participated in this years CPAC straw

poll of 17 political candidates with a plurality of young people
aged 18 to 25 years old.
Divisions inside the party where readily apparent during the
conference with disagreements breaking out over whether to
elect a hard core conservative who appeals to party values or
a more moderate candidate more acceptable to moderate
voters.
In fact Rand Paul, the CPAC straw poll winner may face more
of an uphill climb for the Republican nomination than he
expected with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson vowing to campaign
against him, as reported by the Inquisitr.
Although not a great predictor of a candidates ultimate
success or failure, the CPAC straw poll is important as a way
for candidates to field test campaign ideas.
We have a lot of disagreements, which is good, but I think we
spend too much time attacking each other, Noelani Bonifacio,
a legislative aide to a state senator in Hawaii, who voted for
Rubio, a Florida senator, in the straw poll, told the USA Today.
We should be attacking Democrats.

Can Scott Walker ride unionbusting to the White House?

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made a big impression at the
Conservative Political Action Conference, and hes leading
among Republicans in several polls. His fight with unions, he
says, makes him like Ronald Reagan.
https://news.yahoo.com/scott-walker-ride-union-busting-white-house-170256407.html

By Brad Knickerbocker

March 1, 2015 12:02 PM

View photo

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) speaks at the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, MD, February 26, 2015. Potential Republican
presidential candidate Walker told grassroots conservatives on Thursday that his battle
with labor unions as Wisconsin's governor had given him the mettle needed to take on
militant groups like Islamic State. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags:
POLITICS)

Rand Paul may have won CPACs presidential straw poll for the third
time in a row Saturday. His young libertarian legions turned out in
force, as they had for Sen. Pauls father, former Rep. Ron Paul.

But the big winner was Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who came
in a very strong second jumping ahead from his sixth place finish
last year and tripling his portion of the 3,007 votes spread among 17
candidates to 21.4 percent, not far behind Pauls 25.7 percent. When
voters first and second choices were added together, the margin
between the two narrowed to less than one percentage point.

Among the activists at the annual three-day Conservative Political

Action Conference (CPAC) who generally fall to the enthusiastic
right of the Republican spectrum Gov. Walker came across as the
strongest young challenger, not only to Democrats but to mainstream
Republicanism.

In a historically progressive state, he fought public employee unions,

beat back a recall eort that only strengthened his position, and won
reelection.

Although hes well-known mainly for what critics charge (and

supporters admire) is union-busting, Walker has emerged as the
shiny, new object among figures more prominent on the national
political stage. (Jeb Bush came in a mediocre fifth in the CPAC straw
poll. Farther back in the pack were former Sen. Rick Santorum, Sen.
Marco Rubio, Gov. Chris Christie, and former governor Rick Perry.)

But its not just conservative activists paying close attention to

Walker.

Not since George W. Bush in 2000 has a GOP presidential candidate

drawn support across so many divides, declares the headline on a
National Journal piece, which cites a new Quinnipiac University Poll
giving Walker 25 percent among likely participants in next year's Iowa
Republican caucus nearly twice as much as second-place finisher
Rand Paul.

The Real Clear Politics polling average also puts Walker at the head
of the pack, just in front of Bush

At CPAC, Walker did what all potentially-presidential speakers do

there: Genuflect at the record and memory of Ronald Reagan.,
comparing his head-butting with public employee unions to Mr.
Reagans 1981 firing of 11,000 air-trac controllers.

Events back home are boosting Walkers image in this regard.

At the state capitol in Madison Saturday, some 5,000 workers from

around the state were bused in to protest a so-called "right-to-work"
law approved by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate last
week. The measure would ban private sector workers from being
required to join a union or pay dues. Walker supports the bill, which
moves to the State Assembly (also GOP-controlled) this week. If the
measure comes to Walker for his signature, Wisconsin would become
the 25th right-to-work state.

Walkers early exposure to the bright lights of presidential politics has

not been without stumbles.

He avoided press questions about evolution, President Barack

Obama's love of country, and the president's religion. At CPAC,
Walker compared his political fight against union protesters in
Wisconsin to America's actual fight against Islamic State militants in
the Middle East a fiery statement his sta had to correct.

"Take your worst day in any state capital around the country, and
every day is like that on a presidential campaign," Republican
strategist Kevin Madden, a senior adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012
presidential campaign, told the Associated Press.

"The media scrutiny is brutal, the parsing of every quote never ends
and all of your opponents whether they're from the other party or
even inside your own has sta solely dedicated to ruining every one
of your events or interviews," Madden said.

Back to the Pauls for a second.

Ron Paul had some GOP primary and caucus victories when he ran
for president, but he was never going to win the Republican
nomination. And while Rand Paul may come across as more
attractive and mainstream than his father, and while he won CPACs
straw poll, hes still an outlier among his partys hopefuls as well as
among many typical Republican voters.

Which leaves Scott Walker for now, at least the most interesting
one to follow.

A CPAC lesson: How Rand Paul could be

like Reagan
Paul wins 3rd consecutive CPAC presidential straw poll this
weekend
http://www.wisn.com/politics/a-cpac-lesson-how-rand-paul-could-be-like-reagan/31553646
By John King

UPDATED 11:34 AM CST Mar 01, 2015

Alex Wong/Getty Images

WASHINGTON (CNN) President Barack Obama's effort to bridge the

trust deficit between African-Americans and law enforcement, the money

wars heading into 2016, a little CPAC history and a "do not reply" mandate
fill our Sunday trip around the "Inside Politics" table:
1. Winning CPAC once meant little, but are Rand Paul's multiple wins
just the ticket?
Rand Paul won his third consecutive CPAC presidential straw poll this
weekend, and most political journalists yawned -- and understandably so.
There have been 20 previous CPAC straw polls, and only in four of those
cases has the winner ended up as the Republican presidential nominee.
And in all four of those cases, it was in the actual election year.
Never has a winner in the year before the presidential vote -- like this year
-- gone on to win the nomination. So Sen. Paul shouldn't rush to measure
the White House drapes.
But he is now in special company: He's in a tie for CPAC wins (three) with
Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. Mitt Romney is the all-time leader with
four CPAC wins. Ron Paul has two.
So winning once is more or less meaningless, but winning twice or more?
The Pauls -- Rand and Ron -- are the only two men with at least two CPAC
wins who have not appeared on the GOP ticket. (Kemp was Bob Dole's VP
nominee.)
It's one more way, we can assume, that Rand Paul hopes to get some
separation from his dad heading into 2016.
2. POTUS hopes for action -- and legacy item -- in law enforcement
arena
Washington will be consumed this week with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's speech to Congress and the continuing fight over funding the
Department of Homeland Security.
But Nia-Malika Henderson of The Washington Post took us inside another
big event: a report from the task force Obama established post-Ferguson to
study the tensions between law enforcement and African-Americans.
"The White House has said that they have been surprised by so many
areas of commonality between these activists and law enforcement officials
who were on this task force," said Henderson. "Other people say the gulf is
as wide as you might imagine."
Henderson adds that the President doesn't want this report to gather dust
on the shelf but casts doubts over whether this will be part of Obama's
record.
"Whether or not it will be a legacy item, we'll have to see. That will probably
depend on legislation, and that seems fairly unlikely."
3. The super PAC campaign: Millions are OK, but billions rule

There is always a money race in presidential politics. But the times are
changing. Candidates need to raise cash for their actual campaign
committees, but that effort is taking a back seat to the bigger money chase.
Jonathan Martin of The New York Times shared some reporting on the race
to win over big -- as in billionaire -- support for the super PACs that now
dominate the world of political finance.
Martin noted it's March 1, and "not a single candidate has set up an actual
campaign committee."
"They have, though, set up super PACs, and this has dramatically changed
politics. The donors most coveted now are billionaires with a 'B,' those
[who] can stroke seven-, eight-figure checks and the year of the bundlers
who can raise a few hundred thousand dollars is seemingly passe."
4. Go West: The states are blue, but the money chase is bipartisan
It's not really a risk to say California, Oregon and Washington will go blue -Democratic -- in the 2016 presidential race.
So why, then, are many Republican hopefuls heading West, especially to
Silicon Valley? It's all about the cash.
Obama dominated high-tech fundraising in 2008 and 2012. Bloomberg's
Lisa Lerer traveled West recently as Hillary Clinton made a pitch for help
this time around. She reports that Clinton has many friends, but that there
is a fierce and bipartisan competition for money out West.
"This time she'll ... have competition from an unlikely source, Rand Paul,
who's opened an office there. He's hoping to tap into the libertarian vein of
some of the Silicon Valley money. Jeb Bush has also been meeting with
tech executives."
"It's not clear who's going capture this new and growing source of wealth
for elections that are supposed to cost over $1 billion on each side, but one
thing's sure. We'll see lots of candidates and staffers making many trips
down the 101."
5. DO NOT REPLY: Your government's guide to a partial shutdown
A temporary fix keeps the Department of Homeland Security running at full
steam this week, but Congress will be trying to find a longer-term solution
next.
So department workers still have to prepare and sort out whether they
would have to work -- or would be furloughed -- in the event funding
expires.
Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post gave us a glimpse at the contingency
planning, obtaining a memo sent to relevant workers as it appeared
Congress might not reach even a temporary deal before the Friday night
deadline.

"Buried deep in there on page 23--- a little note to the 15% of DHS workers
who might have been furloughed: you can check your email but you cannot
hit reply," said O'Keefe. "You were allowed to check for the status of the
furlough but to hit reply or to engage anyone on email might result in
severe penalties."
"So you would get paid after a shutdown, but you weren't allowed to check
your email. Perhaps a silver lining to the possibility of the shutdown.

Scott Walker: I wasnt

comparing terrorists and
Wisconsin protesters
http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/01/4018044_scott-walker-i-wasnt-comparing.html?
rh=1
March 1, 2015
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Sunday he wasnt trying to compare

state protesters to terrorists.
If I could take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,
he told the Conservative Political Action Conference last week. He was
referring to Wisconsin protests four years ago against his challenges to
public employee unions.
Sunday, he explained to Fox News Sunday that I'm not comparing those
two entities. What I meant was, it was about leadership.
He called that leadership arguably, the most difficult of any governor in the
country, and maybe in -- in recent times, in taking on the challenge of not
just the protesters, but everything we had to do the last four years in
stepping up and fighting the leadership to move our state forward.
Whats that have to do with fighting terrorists and the Islamic State? To
me, he said, I apply that to saying if I were to run and if I were to win and
be commander-in-chief, I believe that kind of leadership is what's
necessary to take on radical Islamic terrorism.
Walkers comments didnt appear to hurt him among those who attended
the CPAC conference. He finished a strong second in its straw poll
Saturday, as audience members praised his challenges to unions.

Sunday, Fox host Chris Wallace also asked for an example of leadership.
Would you commit U.S. ground forces to combat ISIS in any way, shape or
form? Wallace asked.
I believe we should not take any action off the table, he said.
So does that mean ground forces?
For me to do something like that would require a number of things, Walker
said. Listening to the chain of command, particularly the Joint Chiefs, your
national security advisers and others, as to what's necessary and listening
to the people who are actually out in the field is the best way to do that.
But then also bring together a coalition. Certainly, reaffirming our major
asset, our major ally in the region, that being Israel, but also our other allies
around the world.

Silence in the Face of Evil Is Evil

Itself': Wife of American Pastor
Imprisoned in Iran Speaks at
CPAC
March 1, 2015 | Filed under: Law & Government, Life & Society, Persecution, Top Stories, World
By: Heather Clark
http://christiannews.net/2015/03/01/silence-in-the-face-of-evil-is-evil-itself-wife-of-americanpastor-imprisoned-in-iran-speaks-at-cpac/

Like

ORLANDO, Fla. The wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for

conducting missionary and humanitarian work in the nationspoke at
theConservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, urging
her country to do more to free her husband.
My question isas Im proud to see my husband stand up for his faith in
the face of evilhow are we standing up as a country for him?, Naghmeh
Abedini, wife of Saeed Abedini of Idaho,asked. What kind of message are
we sending to the world when we continue to negotiate while Iran
continues to abuse one of our own, an American pastor?
As previously reported, Abedini, a former Iranian Muslim turned Christian,
left Iran in 2005 and moved to the United States with his wife and two
children to find religious freedom after facing conflict with authorities for
planting house churches in the county. In 2012, hetraveled back to Iran to
build an orphanage and visit his parentsand was about to return to the
stateswhen he was taken into custody.
Abedini was later charged with threatening the national security of Iran,
and for attempting to turn youth in the nation away from Islam and toward
Christianity.He was then sentenced to eight years in Irans notorious Evin
Prison, where he has spent the past two years behind bars.
In November 2013, Abedini was transported to Rajai Shahr Prison, which
was believed to pose an even greater threat to Abedinis health and safety.
Last May, while obtaining treatment at a local hospital for injuries
sustained from beatings, he was likewise beaten and returned to prison.
Abedinis wife requested a face-to-face meeting with Barack Obama in
January as he was scheduled to speak at an area university. She later told
reporters that Obama advised herthat getting Saeed out is a top priority
and he is working very hard to get Saeed home back to our family.
But on Saturday, while speaking at CPAC in Orlando, Naghmeh
Abediniexpressed disappointmentover the lack of voices speaking out for
religious freedom, including in regard to her husbands plight in Iran.

Silence in the face of evil is evil itself, she said. That means when we
dont act and we dont speak, we are doing the same things that the

persecutors are doing to my husband. When we dont speak in the face of

evil, were doing that evil ourselves.
Abedini warned that if American Christians remain silent regarding the
persecution of Christians in other nations, they will see persecution come to
their own soil.
If we dont address whats going on across the world, it will be something
we will have to deal with here, she declared. And were seeing were losing
our religious freedom here.
The pastors wife and mother of two exhorted those gatheredwith
Scriptures contingentpromisein 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads, If My
people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and
seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
This great nation is blessed because of our foundation on Jesus Christ,
Abedini said. My prayer is that we would turn our eyes back on Jesus,
that we will repent of the ways that we have looked to other things to fulfill
us, and that we would turn our eyes back to Jesus and pray and cry out for
healing for our nation, and that we get back to our core value of religious
freedom.


Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks at the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Md., Feb. 27, 2015. Photo by Kevin
Lamarque/Reuters

Rick Perry questions Hillarys loyalty

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/rick-perry-questions-hillary-clinton-loyalty
By Jane C. Timm
03/01/15 11:31 AM

Following aweekendfull of conservativeattackson Hillary Clinton at

theConservative Political Action Conference, former Texas Governor
Rick Perry added to the list, questioning the former secretary of states
loyalty in an interview that aired Sunday.
Responding to news that the Clinton foundation had not notified the
State Department when it previously accepted a donation from a foreign
nation, Perry argued that Clinton was disloyal.
I think it falls flat in the face of the American people when it comes to,
are you going to trust an individual who has taken that much money
from a foreign source? Wheres your loyalty? Perry said in an interview
that aired on CNNs State of the Union.


UP WITH STEVE KORNACKI, 3/1/15, 8:36 AM ET

Clinton Foundation donations under scrutiny

The donation from Algeria was for $500,000 and came right after the
Haiti earthquake. All of the funds were distributed for relief there. The
Clinton Foundation is a nonprofit that focuses on issues like economic

and leadership development and health security. Since 2010, theyve

raised a total of $36 million for Haiti efforts.
Are you going to trust an individual who has taken that much money
from a foreign source? Perry asked.
The foundation acknowledged they should have alerted officials about
the donation from the country.
As the Clinton Foundation did with all donations it received for
earthquake relief, the entire amount of Algerias contribution was
distributed as aid in Haiti, the statement said. This donation was
disclosed publicly on the Clinton Foundation website, however, the State
Department should have also been formally informed.
But Perry said Americans will question this.
Im really concerned that not just going forwardbut what has been
received at the Clinton Foundation over the course of the years and how
that affects this individuals judgment, Perry said.
Perry is actively exploring a second presidential bid; he joined the
crowded Republican field and spoke at this weekends Conservative
Political Action Conference, but Perry barely registered on the events
straw poll, earning just 1.1% of the votes.

E.J. Dionne Jr.: The GOPs loud yes to

no
BY E.J. DIONNE JR.THE WASHINGTON POST

03/01/2015 9:00 AM 02/27/2015 3:58 PM

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2015/03/06/dionne-gopsloud-yes/24502359/

WASHINGTON Its a daunting challenge to spin the word no

into a hopeful and forward-looking political battle cry.
There are, of course, circumstances when negative arguments can
work. In obviously terrible times, voters are often content to take
a chance on a barely sketched-out alternative. In midterm
elections, which are like midsemester report cards, voters often
protest against what they dont like. No was a successful pitch in
three straight midterms going back to 2006. The GOPs 1946
slogan, Had Enough? Vote Republican, was a model of simple
and clever effectiveness.
But the evidence of the moment is that had enough will not be
enough for the GOP in 2016. Of course we cannot know from
Hillary Clintons current leads of around nine or 10 points over
her major Republican competitors that she will ultimately prevail.
Still, her advantage owes at least in part to unease about where
Republicans would take the country if they won both the
presidency and Congress. For now, voters dont want to go there.
Events of the past week underscore why. The absurdity of going to
the wire on funding the Department of Homeland Security tells us
that many in the party, particularly right-wingers in the House, do

not care about how their inability to govern in an orderly fashion

looks to citizens outside the conservative bubble.
For the more radical members of Speaker John Boehners caucus,
this is all about high principle. Since most of them come from very
conservative districts, they will only strengthen their own political
situations by continuing to link DHS funding to overturning
President Obamas executive actions on immigration. They have
nothing to lose.
But collectively, their party has a lot to lose. To win the presidency
and to improve their chances of holding the Senate in 2016,
Republicans will have to do far better with Latino voters than Mitt
Romney did in 2012. This fight will only make that harder. And
middle-of-the-road voters dont like this sort of brinksmanship, as
well they shouldnt.
The way Republicans are behaving could thus turn one of the
partys assets, the likelihood that they will hold their House
majority for some time, into a liability. This argument is advanced
forcefully by political scientist Thomas Schaller in his new book,
The Stronghold.
Schaller describes the potential of a vicious cycle: As the party has
become more conservative, it has become more Congresscentered, anchored to and defined by its congressional wing, and
its House caucus in particular. But a majority of its House
members are either extremely conservative or fearful of primaries
from the right. This makes the House highly sensitive to rightwing donors, right-wing media and right-wing voters and far
less responsive to those middle-ground citizens who usually
decide presidential elections. The danger, says Schaller, is that the
GOPs congressional stronghold could become a chokehold.
The doings at the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) that closed on Saturday only reinforced the point.
Republican presidential candidates worry about those very

conservative primary voters too, and CPAC was an excellent

opportunity for the hopefuls to show how well they can dance to
the oppositionist tune, a chorus of nos to Obama, Clinton,
liberalism and big government.
Jeb Bush, who is actually very conservative, has put up some
resistance to the spirit of negativity. We shouldnt be the
reactionary party to how bad things are, he told a Club for
Growth gathering in Florida on Thursday.
When he appeared at CPAC on Friday, he did declare that we
have to start being for things again, but only after praising
Republicans in Congress for standing up to Obama. He
sidestepped when Fox News Sean Hannity asked about the House
Republicans approach to DHS funding though he did speak of his
partys need to win more Latino votes.
Bush would clearly like to take a cue from his brother who, before
the 2000 election, occasionally distanced himself from an
unpopular right-wing Congress. But Jeb is orchestrating his
independence with great caution and some ambivalence. The GOP
is well to the right of where it was 15 years ago and also much
more insulated. Its worth remembering that Fox didnt become
the largest cable news network until 2002.
In my experience, the people who see Jeb Bush as the most
electable nominee tend to be Democrats, not Republicans. This
may prove his general election strategy is working, but it also
shows his party may not let him get there because its quite happy
being reactionary.

GOP governors carry their

states' fiscal baggage to CPAC
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/01/258227/gop-governors-carry-their-states.html
BY EVAN HALPER
Tribune Washington BureauMarch 1, 2015

OXON HILL, Md. - After bolting to national prominence on a record of

bringing public employee unions to heel and taming runaway pension costs
like those that have challenged state governments across the country, New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie hit a very large hurdle recently.
A state court ruling last week caused the retirement policies Christie had
battered through New Jersey's Legislature to unravel spectacularly, leaving
the state with a huge deficit driven by pension costs that Christie had not, it
turns out, gotten fully under control.
The judge ruled that Christie had violated state law by not making almost
$900 million in required payments to the state pension fund in order to
balance last year's budget, a move the governor had planned to repeat for
the current fiscal year.
Among Republican governors hoping to become president, some, like
Christie, are having problems back home.
In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker also faces a big deficit, which he has tried
to close by making cuts to the budget of the state university system, long
the state's crown jewel. And Louisiana's Bobby Jindal is struggling with the
fact that the state has gone from a giant surplus to a giant deficit under his
stewardship.
In an election season in which voters have a sour view of Washington,
governors have unquestioned political appeal. But the problems that the
GOP trio have run into in the last few weeks are a reminder that being a
chief executive comes with downsides too.

When all is well, a governor can tout his record of decisive action. But right
now, governors who marketed themselves as fiscal miracle workers are
scrambling to avoid damage from dour headlines.
Democrats, of course, are doing everything they can to highlight the budget
troubles the Republicans face, particularly at a time when blue states like
California - which GOP presidential contenders have long derided as
financially reckless - are doing well.
"It's downright laughable for these governors to run a presidential campaign
on 'fiscal responsibility,'" said Jared Leopold, spokesman for the
Democratic Governors Association.
Each of the three tried a somewhat different strategy in speeches this week
to the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual Washington
gathering where GOP headliners pitch themselves to party activists.
Christie's approach - consistent with his persona - was defiance.
"The elite folks from the media who cover me every day," he declared,
"when you do things like I have done in New Jersey to take on a lot of
these special interests frontally that they support, they just want to kill you."
"I am still standing," Christie said. "Here I am."
Still standing, but wounded. Even before the state's fiscal problems made
headlines, Christie's position in the presidential field had been on the
decline.
Conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham, who interviewed Christie
onstage at CPAC, pointed out that in one recent poll of Republican voters,
he did worse than Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has become
a favorite among conservatives but an extreme long shot for the party's
nomination.
"The budget provides more ammunition to Republicans who don't like him
in the first place," said Jack Pitney, professor of political science at
Claremont McKenna College and a former Republican party official. "It's a
convenient place to hang their misgivings and animosities."
There is no shortage of ammunition. New Jersey's credit rating has been
downgraded eight times during Christie's tenure. Polls show that voters at
home have lost confidence in his financial management.
The state, according to data compiled by the Pew Charitable Trusts, is one
of the least financially secure in the country. Its rainy day fund is so small
that it could keep government running for just three days.
"These candidates won't be courting voters until later, but these troubles
are raising doubts with the money people and party activists they need to
court now," said David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public

Interest Polling at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "Potential supporters

are not flocking to Christie the way they did in the last presidential election,
when they were begging him to run."
For Jindal, a budget crisis is creating even more unwanted baggage.
"It's one thing for a Republican governor to be controversial and unpopular
in a Democratic state like New Jersey or Wisconsin, and quite another to
have rock-bottom ratings in a deeply conservative state like Louisiana,"
said Larry Sabato, a professor of political science at University of Virginia.
"In that sense, Jindal is in a deeper hole."
Analysts say the problem in his case is not so much the governor as
plunging oil prices, which deprive Louisiana of tax revenue it relies on to
pay for schools, roads and other services. But such are the perils of being
the state's chief executive. When things go wrong, the governor gets
blamed.
Jindal's strategy at CPAC was to change the subject. He did not talk about
state budget issues, preferring to steer conversation toward radical Islamic
terrorists, Obamacare, White House immigration policy and how federal
education policy oppresses his son, a second-grader.
He also took shots at the GOP leadership in Washington.
"It is time for our Republican leaders in Congress to grow a spine," he said.
Walker, who has long profited politically by portraying himself as a target of
liberal attacks, embraced the criticism he is facing at home as a mark of his
courage. And the crowd embraced him.
"We are a state that has been taxed and taxed and taxed, and today I am
proud to say after four years as governor we've reduced the burden on
hardworking taxpayers by nearly $2 billion," he said. "How many other
governors can say that?"
Although budget cuts at the University of Wisconsin will be controversial at
home, they may play well among Republican primary voters, many of
whom see universities as hotbeds of liberalism.
All three of the governors went over well at CPAC. How voters in Iowa, the
first caucus state, and others on the primary trail will respond remains to be
seen.
"Iowans hate debt," said Tim Albrecht, a GOP political consultant in Des
Moines. "These governors will need to spend a lot more time explaining to
voters here why they are having these budget difficulties."

White Nationalists, Sarah Palin,

and the Slow Death of the
Right-Wing Fringe
http://www.vice.com/read/cpac-white-nationalists-sarah-palin-slowdeath-of-right-wing-fringe-301
March 1, 2015

by Grace Wyler
I first covered the Conservative Political Action Conference in
2012, back in the early days of the last Republican presidential
primary, when Rick Santorum still seemed like a semi-credible
option, and Ron Paul was leading his guerilla takeover of
backwater local GOP executive boards. Heady with intra-party
rivalries, and still deep in the throes of the Tea Party fever dream,
the annual conservative hoedown was at peak l, propping up the
darkest elements of the right-wing fringe.
Herman Cain was there, decrying the "gutter politics" that had
exposed his habit of harassing women who weren't his wife in a
keynote speech. There was a panel on "The Failure of
Multiculturism: How the Pursuit of Diversity Is Weakening the

American Identity," featuring two prominent white nationalists,

and another on "Islamic Law in America," about the creeping
scourge of sharia in US courts. The whole thing reached a
frenzied peak when a wild-eyed Andrew Breitbart marched
outside to go "toe-to-toe" with Occupy Wall Street protesters
camped outside the venue, and had to be pulled away by security.
Three years later, a pack of CPAC attendees once again went
toe-to-toe with protestors, but this time, the protesters were white
nationalists, members of the neo-Confederate League of the
South up to picket the conservative gathering. As the event
wound down on Saturday, young activists, sporting their proudly
CPAC lanyards and Stand With Rand pins, came out to confront
the demonstrations, starting a chanting duel that quickly devolved
into heated arguments on the sidewalk outside the convention
center.
"You actually think the US should separate into different states?"
one kid asked a bearded protester carrying a sign that read
"Obama Hates White People...And So Does The GOP." "It's
just...I mean...," the kid struggled to find the words. "It's
disgusting," his companion volunteered. Across the street another
blazered CPACer shook his head dejectedly. "I'm sorry about
this," he told a nearby photographer. "I'm from 'Nova. We don't do
that there.

!
A member of the League of the South demonstrates outside CPAC Saturday. Photo by
Kalley Erickson

Obviously, this is a reasonable reaction to any Neo-Confederate

disruption, but it also hints at a tonal shift that could be detected
throughout the three-day event. Once reliably cuckoo, CPAC was
disarmingly relaxedeven reasonablethis year, notably lacking
in the kind of internecine flame-throwing, and racist dog-whistles
that have characterized the conference in the past. Two years
after the Republican National Committee warned the party that it
would have to be a lot nicer if it ever wanted to win another

election, grassroots conservatives seem to have gotten the

message.
Under new leadership, the American Conservative Union, which
hosts CPAC, made a concerted effort to tone down the spectacle
in 2015, and project a sleeker, more inclusive vibe. There were no
sinister Kirk Cameron documentaries, no biting immigration
tirades from Ann Coulter. Mike Huckabee, the leading evangelical
prospect for 2016, didn't attend this year's conference. Rick
Santorum, another Christian conservative favorite, talked mostly
about foreign policy, rather than social issuesthough most of the
audience wandered out during his speech anyway.
Amazingly, even Sarah Palin veered away from her usual script,
giving a thoughtful speech about the challenges facing veterans
when they return home. " America hands over her sons and her
daughters in service with the promise that they're going to be
taken care of," she said. "Well we, their mothers and their fathers
and their husbands and their wives, we're here to collect on the
promises made. We can't wait for D.C. to fix their bureaucratic
blunders. This bureaucracy is killing our vets." Then, to
everyone's surprise, she proposed a series of very reasonable
ways Congress could address the issue. Last year, she read her
own version of Dr. Seuss.
Of course, CPAC wasn't totally devoid of the fringe. On Friday, for
example, hidden-camera activist James O'Keefe hired someone
to walk around his party dressed as Osama bin Laden. And in
what was probably the highlight of the weekend, Duck Dynasty
star Phil Robertson went on an extended riff about STDs, or what
he likes to call "the revenge of the hippies."
"I don't want you to come down with a debilitating disease. I don't
want you to die early. You're disease-free and she's disease-free,
you marry, you keep your sex right there," Robertson informed an
afternoon audience. "I'm trying to help you, for crying out loud.
America, if I didn't care about you, why would I bring this up?"
For the most part, though, the conference was lucid, even normal.
Everywhere you looked, Republicans were talking about policy
ideas and proposals that could appeal beyond the ultra-

conservative grassroots activists in attendance. CPAC organizers,

long resentful of the overwhelming presence of young, libertarianminded activists at the annual confab, seemed to embrace them
this year, hosting talks on issues like asset forfeiture, criminal
justice reform, and digital currency.
In a marijuana legalization debate on the main stage Thursday,
former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who ran for
president on the Libertarian ticket in 2012, gave an impassioned
attack on prohibition, at one point faking a heart attack to prove
some point. "Having a debate about marijuana legalization is like
having a debate about whether the sun is going to come up
tomorrow. The sun is going to come up. Marijuana is going to be
legalized," Johnson declared, to raucous cheers. ""Conservatives
ought to embrace the fact that these are people making their own
decision, he added.
Democrats laughed off the idea that CPAC was broadening its
appeal beyond the fringe. "If CPAC is trying to be more inclusive,
they sure have a weird way of showing it," Democratic National
Committee spokesman Rob Flaherty told VICE. "Its attendees
loudly supported Civil Rights Act skeptic Rand Paul, gave an
award to proud homophobe Phil Robertson, and once again
attempted to exclude the Log Cabin Republicans. If this is what
inclusivity looks like, the Republican Party should be
embarrassed...and worried."
After years of demanding strict ideological purity from Republican
candidates, grassroots activists at CPAC seemed to have tamed
their cannibalistic impulses somewhat, making efforts to expand
the movement. Even former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who took
a beating from other speakers, as well as a noisy contingent of
booers, managed to engage skeptics in a lively Q&A Friday. And
while all of the likely 2016 candidates who spoke affirmed their
opposition to same-sex marriage, gay Republicans were publicly
welcomed to the conference after years of being snubbed by
conference organizers.
As The Nation's Michelle Goldberg suggests, the sudden turn
toward even-keeled professionalism could be problematic for

Democrats, who have based their entire election strategy on the

notion that Republicans are crazy extremists who hate women,
gays, and poor people. That argument is less effective if
conservative candidates can sound reasonable, and avoid issues
that alienate those voters.
"A preoccupation with social issues destroyed us in 2012," said
Gregory Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans,
the conservative gay rights group that was initially excluded from
CPAC but eventually invited to speak on a panel. "We left out
these issues in 2014," he added, "and we won everywhere.
Republicans need to remember what happened in 2014, and
keep that momentum going."
At this point, it's not clear how far will go in helping to rebrand the
GOP. But as Republicans seek to expand the party, it's a sign that
conservatives might be willing to sacrifice some of their crazier
elements in order to appeal to a broader swath of voters. "I don't
think the Republican Party is as in line with those louder voices as
some might think I think the trend is going well," said Armand
Cortellesso, a 30-year-old activist from Polk County, Florida.
"Nobody is going to listen to your economic policy if you start off
by saying that everyone isn't equal in the first place."

Scott Walker: 'My View

Has Changed' on
Amnesty
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Scott-Walker-immigrationamnesty-opinions/2015/03/01/id/627566/
Sunday, 01 Mar 2015 11:26 AM
By Greg Richter

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Sunday he has changed his position
on amnesty since he told a newspaper he could envision a path to
citizenship for illegals.
Walker talked to "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace in an
interview recorded last week at the Conservative Political Action
Conference and aired on Sunday.
Walker finished second in the CPAC straw poll on Saturday, trailing
only Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has won the past three CPAC
straw polls.
But Wallace wanted to know about Walker's response to a question on
July 2, 2013 from the Wausau Daily Herald that asked, "Can you
envision a world where, with the right penalties and waiting periods

and meet-the-requirements, where those people could get

citizenship?"
"Sure. Yeah. I mean, I think it makes sense," Walker said at the time.
But, Walker told Wallace, he has since talked to other governors who
deal with illegal immigration.
"I don't believe in amnesty," he said, adding he was one of the first
governors to join the federal lawsuit against President Barack Obama's
executive actions to help millions of illegal immigrants gain legal
status on hold.
Wallace pointed out that before he was governor, Walker was the
Milwaukee County Executive and supported the Kennedy-McCain
comprehensive immigration plan.
"My view has changed. I'm flat-out saying it," Walker responded.
He said he believes current immigration laws should be enforced, the
border should be secured and that the onus should be put on
employers by giving them access to the E-verify system to check an
applicant's legal status.
On other issues, Walker clarified his comments that have drawn fire in
which he is accused of comparing protesters of his education plan to
the Islamic State group (ISIS.)
Walker told Wallace he intended only to be referencing his own
leadership abilities.
The leadership he provided under those "most difficult circumstances"
prove his mettle, he said. "If I were to run, and if I were to win and be
commander-in-chief I believe that kind of leadership is what's
necessary to take on radical Islamic terrorists."
On the controversial comments made by former New York Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani saying Obama doesn't love America, Walker said,

"[Obama] and anybody else who's willing to put their name on the
ballot, certainly has to have a love for county to do that."
He also defended his own fiscal conservative credentials, saying that
the $2 billion budget shortfall prediction over the next two years is
based on a request sent in by state agencies. His own budget proposal
would leave a $123 million surplus, he said.
Walker is the son of Baptist preacher, and has said he is waiting on
guidance from God on whether to run for president.
"There are people of faith who can have a variety of political views. But
for us, personally, we make important decisions like we did years ago
to run for governor," Walker said.
He said his whole family prayed about whether he should run, and
they are doing so again as he mulls a 2016 bid.
"In terms of who's winning, it's going to be up to the voters," he said.

Rick Perry questions Hillary

Clintons ethical judgment
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/
2015/03/01/rick-perry-questions-hillary-clintons-ethicaljudgment/
By Jose A. DelReal
March 1, 2015



Former Texas governor Rick Perry salutes after speaking at the Conservative
Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland on Feb. 27,
2015. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Former Texas governor Rick Perry is raising questions

about Hillary Clintons ethical judgment after reports that
her familys foundation received millions of dollars from
foreign governments during her tenure as secretary of
state.
Are you going to trust an individual who has taken that
much money from a foreign source? Wheres your
loyalty? Perry, who is considering a 2016 White House
bid, told CNNs Dana Bash in an interview airing Sunday.
Im really concerned, not just going forward, but what has
been received at the Clinton Foundation over the course of
years and how that affects this individuals judgment.
A Washington Post report last week revealed that the
Clinton Foundation which is a philanthropic
organization accepted donations from seven foreign
governments. At least one of the donations reportedly
violated an ethics agreement between Clinton and the
Obama administration.
Its not only the appearance of impropriety. Its also the
ethical side of this that, I think, most Americans really
have a problem with, Perry said.
Perry also addressed a small dust-up between himself and
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who appeared to compare
labor protesters in the United States to Islamic State
terrorists during a speech at the Conservative Political
Action Conference on Thursday. Responding to the
remarks, Perry told MSNBC that the comparison was
inappropriate.
During the CNN interview Sunday, however, the former
Texas governor said he acceptedWalkers explanation.

I think the initial response when I heard that: Thats not

right. You dont make that connect. The governor has
gone back and clarified his remarks since then and clearly
said thats not what he was talking about, Perry said. I
respect that clarification and support him on that.

Perry: Have US troops fight

ISIS

Getty Images
By Jesse Byrnes - 03/01/15 10:41 AM EST
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/234245-perry-have-us-troops-fight-isis

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), who is weighing a 2016

presidential bid, said on Sunday that the United States should commit
troops to the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
"I think if American and western values are in jeopardy, and U.S.
troops working with the coalition force is how you stop ISIS, I think the

American people are gonna say, 'Thank you, Mr. President, for
standing up for our values, thank you for stopping this face of evil,'"
Perry said in an interview aired on CNN's "State of the Union.
Perry underscored that committing U.S. troops to the fight along with
local forces would not be his first choice, and said that the Obama
administration missed an opportunities to fund and arm forces in the
region.
The Obama administration maintains that the hundreds of military
advisers in Iraq to help coordinate the fight against ISIS do not
constitute U.S. boots on the ground, and members of Congress are
still at odds over language regarding enduring ground forces in
President Obama's request to use military force against ISIS.
Perry also swiped the "feckless foreign policy out of this
administration" when discussing the White House response to Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress on
Tuesday. President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary
of State John Kerry will not attend the speech, which has been
boycotted by some Democrats.

Walker takes 2nd in CPAC

presidential straw poll
By WBAY.com Staff
Published: March 1, 2015, 9:37 am
http://wbay.com/2015/03/01/walker-takes-2nd-in-cpac-presidential-straw-poll/

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has won the
Conservative Political Action Conferences annual presidential preference
straw poll.

Pollsters announced Saturday that Paul won 26 percent of the votes in the
annual survey, giving Paul his third consecutive win in as many years.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in second, with 21 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz
came in third in the contest with 11.5 percent, followed by retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush with 8.3 percent. All of the other names listed received under 5 percent.
The three-day CPAC conference in suburban Washington draws many
libertarian-leaning college students whose views and priorities differ
significantly from the Republican Party at large. But it is nonetheless seen as
a barometer of certain conservative activists early leanings.
The results are nonbinding and reflect only the views of the registrants who
chose to vote during the conference.
Pollsters said just over 3,000 attendees voted. Nearly half identified as
between the ages of 18 and 25.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Sunday reflection: Mark 9:210

POSTED AT 10:31 AM ON MARCH 1, 2015 BY ED MORRISSEY
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/01/sunday-reflection-mark-92-10/

Sunday Reflection is a regular feature, looking at the specific

readings used in todays Mass in Catholic parishes around the world.
The reflection represents onlymy ownpoint of view, intended to help
prepare myself for the Lords day and perhaps spark a meaningful
discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can
be found here. For previous Green Room entries, click here.
This mornings Gospel reading is Mark 9:210:
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain
apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his
clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach
them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were
conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, Rabbi, it is
good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah. He hardly knew what to say, they were so
terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the
cloud came a voice, This is my beloved Son. Listen to him. Suddenly,
looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to
relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had
risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Why does the Gospel describe Peter, James, and John as terrified, so
much so that Peters first impulse is to find an excuse to leave?
Theophanies are always terrifying events in Scripture, with the
exception being Jesus life in humanity and the Transfiguration
being the exception to the exception. The power and the majesty of the
Lord doesnt just frighten us in and of itself, but it reminds us of our

unworthiness to live in the presence of Him. We live most of our

spiritual lives in the dark, groping for small shafts of light, reflections
of His truth and His will. When it breaks through into our vision so
powerfully, its as if we are blinded by experience.
Ive related the story of our visit to Mount Tabor in a previous
reflection, but that visit during our pilgrimage always puts the
Transfiguration into a different context for me. Its a tall peak, and in
modern times pilgrims make it to the top in vans that navigate a
narrow and winding road. Due to the popularity of the site, several
vans are in operation simultaneously. Our driver intended on setting
speed records going up and down the hills, on roads that I noted
despairingly had no guard rails. When the driver stopped to allow us
out to take a picture near the top, I declined, preferring to remain
clinging to my seat belt. We had a more sensible driver on our way
back down, but I gave serious thought to walking down the road rather
than risk getting back in the van.
That wasnt a theophany but it was pretty doggoned terrifying at
times anyway.
I mention this because Peters reaction to the Transfiguration puts
that experience in mind for me. The four of them reach the top of the
mountain, and suddenly Jesus rises up, his form transfigured,
communing with the two greatest prophets, Moses and Elijah. Peter
becomes so overawed and whowouldnt be? that he volunteers to
leave, to go back down the mountain and gather the materials needed
for a camp. That trip would have taken hours at least, and put
considerable distance between Peter and the transfigured Lord even
if Peter had a crazy van driver at that time. Peter, though, had to have
thought that the reappearance of the two most important prophets of
Israel requiredsome sort of homage, and offers to make three tents to
pay respects to their authority perhaps not unlike the tent in which
the Ark of the Covenant was kept.
The Transfiguration scene gives us an extra twist on theophanies, with
the presence of the two major prophets of Israel joining the
risenChrist thetransfigured Christ. Until then, Moses and Elijah
were the epitome of the Law and the Prophets to Israel, the highest
human authorities in Scripture. They appear in consultation with a
form of Jesus that the disciples had never seen before, which
immediately underscores the status of Jesus for Israel in that moment.

The reappearance of the two and their immediate recognition of

who they were would have been an epiphany in itself.
What happens next, though, is even more significant. Peter offers to
make three tents of honor, presumably equal, for Jesus, Moses, and
Elijah. At that point, the full theophany occurs, with the Lord
commanding the disciples to listen toHim notthem. At that
point, the cloud dissipates, and Jesus remains by himself.
What does that mean? Our first reading gives us some perspective. In
Genesis 22, we read the story of Abraham and the test to which God
puts him. Abraham finally has his beloved son Isaac, a promise that
the Lord made to him in return for Abrahams faithfulness, but now
God tells Abraham that Isaac should be made a sacrifice instead.
Abraham does not disobey, going all the way to the point of holding
the knife to complete the task. An angel of the Lord stops him, and
Abraham sacrifices a ram instead. Human sacrifice was common in
those days, and indeed continued until relatively recently in human
history. God redirects humanity from that sacrifice by making the
lesson plain to Abraham.
The Transfiguration also is a redirection, this time of authority. The
disciples see Moses and Elijah in communion with Jesus, and at first
Peter prepares to serve all three. Instead, God intercedes and redirects
Peter and the disciples to serve the risen Christ. In Christ, both Moses
and Elijah are fulfilled, and Jesus becomes the authority for Israel and
the Gentiles alike.
Listen to Him. And when they look, Jesus has returned to his human
form, standing alone.
So what is transfiguration, especially as related to us? We are called to
that same life in communion with the Lord as Moses and Elijah. God
calls to us to give our self-sacrificial love to the Body of Christ just as
Abraham did with his own son, his most precious gift from God. When
we love God above all else, then that agape love will lead us to lift up
our neighbors, forming andtransforming ourselves and each other in
love. That redirects not just our faith but our lives, putting us in
service to Him rather than only asking the Lord to provide service to
us. We are called to live in the Trinitarian life, one that will transfigure
us to true children of God, through the one authority of Jesus Christ.
When that happens, we will have no need to build tents because we
will already be home.

Fox Host Quizzes Walker

On Answer About Union
Protesters And ISIL

#
AP Photo / Lefteris Pitarakis

By CAITLIN MACNEAL
Published MARCH 1, 2015, 10:21 AM EST
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/walker-union-protesters-isis

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Sunday insisted that he did not
mean to compare union protesters to the Islamic State this week.

After his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an

audience member asked Walker how he would address threats like
ISIL if he were president.
"If I can take on a hundred thousand protesters, I can do the same
across the world," Walker responded, referring to union protesters in
Wisconsin.
"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace questioned Walker on his
response.
"Isnt there a big difference between protesters and terrorists?"
Wallace asked.
"There is," Walker answered. "Im not comparing those two entities.
What I meant was about leadership."
The Wisconsin governor said that he provided leadership "under
extremely difficult circumstances" during the protests in Wisconsin.
"If I were to run and if I were to win and be commander in chief, that
kind of leadership is whats necessary to take on radical Islamic
terrorists," he said.
Wallace then asked Walker how he would handle the threat of the
Islamic State if he were president.
"Would you commit U.S. ground forces to combat ISIS in any way,
shape, or form?" Wallace asked.
"I believe we should not take any option off the table. I don't want to
run into war," Walker responded.
"That doesn't quite answer my question," Wallace retorted. "You're
president today you talk about leadership would you commit U.S.
ground forces, whether it's a full scale invasion, whether it's special
forces, would you commit U.S. ground forces to a combat role?"
Walker again did not lay out any specifics and said he would need to
consult advisors and individuals in the field before making a decision.



Scott Walkers Second

Choice Strategy
03.01.15
Ana Marie Cox
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/01/scott-walker-s-second-choice-strategy.html

Rand Paul won the CPAC straw poll, but the buzz seems to
be all about Scott Walker. Just dont look too hard for his true
believers.
Headline writers can be forgiven for needing to look past PAUL
WINS STRAW POLL for a fresh angle in writing about the
Conservative Political Action Conferences least surprising
outcome. One Paul or another has won CPAC for five or the past
six yearsRand since 2013, Ron in 2010 and 2011.

The Paul dynastywhich doesnt ring alarm bells here like the
Bush or Clinton dynastiesis built on an army of young and
passionate libertarians who treat CPAC like a tent revival-cumAmway convention.
So lets talk about the buzz following Scott Walker. Hot off of a
totally competent performance in Iowa, the Wisconsin Governor
came in second at CPAC, 26 to 21 percent. But thats not allin
the second choice ballot, Walker beat Paul 19 percent to 16
percent! And that might just be the best way to understand Scott
Walkers path to the nomination: He is everyones second choice.
Walker is the guy that lots of Republican base voters would be
kind of ok with. They like him! But in the parlance of junior high,
they do not like like him. When I searched the CPAC halls for
hardcore Walker supporters, my second choice was pretty much
the most enthusiastic thing people said.
His relative success is best understood as a triumph of hope over
self-reflection. It is the best proof that the gathering this year was
tangentially more concerned with electability than purity. It does
not, however, mean that he can get elected.
On Friday, Walker was at the center of an overflowing coffee
meet-and-greet that many took as proof that the pundit-endorsed
boomlet is real. It was impressive, said David Bossie, whose
Citizens United sponsored a series of such events. The only other
guy able to do that was Donald Trump.
The context Bossie provides suggests interest in Walker at CPAC
needs to be disambiguated with genuine grassroots support. Ask
around and the kernel of Walkers popularity with the base clearly
stems from faith that he is indeed one of themhe stood up to
unions! He survived a vicious attack from far left!
Whats made that kernel start to blossom, however, is utter
bullshit: The idea that everything about him the base likes coexists with an ability to appeal beyond that base.
a recall election.

Scott Walker survived a recall election is, in the mind of CPAC

watchers, proof of both his conservatism and a claim to middle
ground. But you know what makes you a legitimately consensusbuilding politician in a purple state? It isnt surviving a recall
election; its not having to survive a recall election.
The only part of the middle that Walker occupies is geographic,
and even then, only from a national prospective. Alec McGinnis
has demonstrated that whatever looks purple about Walkers state
is better understood as black-and-white. Walker rose to the
governorship inside a rightwing bubbleelected by the white
suburbs of Milwaukee and coddled by sympathetic conservative
media. Its no wonder that he has struggled with so-called
gotcha questions andeven those tossed at him with feather-light
softness.
Walker is often compared to Tim Pawlenty, another Midwestern
governor of a purple state. Pawlenty,but better, people say. This
is not so much a low bar but a line on the floor. Walkers
proponents seem to think that Walkers ability to sustain interest
for a whole monthand that recalldistinguish him. Perhaps!
Walker also benefits from a conservative base that seems hungrier
to win than punish lapses in purity. Jeb Bush was the only
candidate at CPAC others actively campaigned againstand he
came in fifth. Theres your headline.
Still, their interest in Walker does not represent a true
capitulation to demographic and political realities. Walker is less
Pawlenty than Howard Dean, born aloft by a base that thought
they had one of their own who could pass as something else.
My theory? Walker can only survive as a leading candidate for as
long as the belief in his appeal does not confront actually having
to appeal to people. His incrementally advancing public speaking
abilities are no match for a base that will soon enough seek out a
standard bearer that can at least hold their attention.
Eagerness to see Walker is about kicking the tires. Scratching
around the CPAC conference for those who were excited about

VOTING for him proved more difficult. Interviews turned up lots

of people who thought Walker could make a great candidate and
very few ready to work on that campaign
Contrast that with the palpable excitement by the scrums of Rand,
Cruz and Carson supporterseven the handful of trucked-in
Jebites. Americans for Tax Reforms Grover Norquist, who called
Walker an amazing guy, seemed to credit Walkers popularity
here to the bases pundit-level savvy over enthusiasm. I knew
who he was and thought well of him but I thought that was
because Im smart and I watch this stuff more than most people,
he said. What I didnt realize was that people in Iowa knew, and
just needed to see him speak. They know what he did in
Wisconsin, he said, and that excites them. Its like a field
saturated with gasoline, and you need a spark.
So thanks to the confluence of national media attention, national
money, and a friend placed highly in the national party (Reince
Preibus), activists are prepped to fall in love with Walker. But a
national political campaign is not a wildfire so much as a series of
slow burns that need be tended and fed.
As Norquist put it, hedging his own praise: I dont know if his
showing is going to be a floor or a ceiling.

How Conservatives Are Readying Their

'Grassroots Army' For 2016
http://kbia.org/post/how-conservatives-are-readying-their-grassroots-army-2016
FEB 28, 2015
By EDITOR



VIEW SLIDESHOW 1 of 3

Dalia Wrochesinsky (left) and Robin Saidenberg check their phones during
the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.
EMILY JAN NPR

This week's Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC,

brought all the expected on and off the main stage in
Washington D.C. speeches by presidential hopefuls, debates
and the annual straw poll. But there was one big addition:
hundreds attended the conference's first-ever Activism Boot
Camp, which trained attendees in the best practices of do-ityourself campaigning.
The boot camp, powered by American Majority, a nonprofit
conservative organizing group, was split into two tracks: the
"Candidate, Campaign Manager & Campaign Operative" track
and the "Activist" track. It featured lessons on social media,
fundraising, organizing and data and technology.
Ned Ryun, American Majority founder and president, led a
session called "Why We'll Lose the White House in 2016 (and
Deserve to)" call it a talk for motivated pessimists. He
outlined exactly what President Obama did in his 2012
presidential campaign that was so successful and how
Republicans can emulate it. Namely, he said, President Obama
used the best data analysts and technicians from the for-profit
tech sector.
And, Ryun says, Obama mobilized thousands more volunteers
on the ground who were able to reach more voters in person than
Mitt Romney did.
The message at CPAC was clear: a win for Republicans in 2016
must be a team effort. Conservatives need their activists to be

active as individuals on social media and in their

communities and as a whole to serve as a well-trained
"grassroots army."
Sen. Ted Cruz enthusiastically made that call during his CPAC
speech: "To turn this country around it will not come from
Washington; it will come from the American people. And so I
will ask every one of you if you will join our grassroots army."
He then asked the audience to take our their cell phones and text
the word 'Constitution' to a number he repeated.
There's a lot the right can learn from the left's grassroots
campaign skills, said Charlie Kirk, founder of student-run
nonprofit Turning Point USA. For one, President Obama "built
his legions on the backs of millennials," he says.
Stephanie Sparkman, a Texas conservative who attended CPAC,
agrees. One thing Republicans can do better, she says, is
"flipping copy [on] what the Democrats have been so successful
doing. It's not that hard."
The key part of that Democratic script, leaders say, is connecting
with voters through in-person conversations, recruiting
committed volunteers and paid interns, and establishing offices
and executing targeted voter registration in battleground states
like Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina and Florida. And no more
knocking on doors with paper and pen, they advise use
tablets and smartphones instead. And, use social media to push
conservative ideas.
One major target of that social media effort: Facebook. Obama's
posts on the network were liked nearly twice as much as
Romney's in June 2012, according to a Pew Study. Hoping to

flip those numbers in 2016, one boot camp session taught

activists how to cheat the Facebook algorithm to get more
impressions on posts.
Firing Up Young Activists
Young conservatives also acknowledge they have a big role to
play in the 2016 effort, especially when it comes to social media
and on-the-ground engagement.
Many students attended CPAC and the boot camp in groups,
including sophomore Alex Carrey, who helped organize the trip
for 37 members of Miami University's College Republicans
chapter. He was most excited to see Gov. Scott Walker speak,
and most concerned about foreign policy and the turmoil in the
Middle East.
One edgy speech spoke directly to young people. An activist
who goes by Sabo, and calls himself a "Republican guerilla
artist," said some may think he was there to teach "out-of-touch
politicians how to connect with young voters." But, he spoke
directly to them talking about kicking former Sen. Wendy
Davis' Hollywood donors in the nuts, and calling actress
Gwyneth Paltrow "a tool" while photos of his "Obama drone"
posters and a tattooed Ted Cruz were displayed on the screens
behind him.
Sabo conceded that he knows street art is illegal saying, "I'm not
trying to drag you kids into the gutter any more than I'm trying
to drag you to church." But he says he's "trying to touch kids
who are disinterested politically."
Political commentator Tom Basile says in order to reach
millennial activists and voters, messaging must be visual and

personal. Student-focused Turning Point USA, for example, tries

to "unite people around principles" like free markets and limited
government with slogans like "Big Government Sucks."
And those messages are sticking with young activists who say
they are ready to change the tide in 2016.

Naghmeh Abedini: My American

Pastor Husband Imprisoned in Iran,
Religious Freedom Ignored as
Obama Admin Negotiates With Iran
BY NAPP NAZWORTH , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
March 1, 2015|9:49 am
http://www.christianpost.com/news/naghmeh-abedini-my-american-pastor-husband-imprisonedin-iran-religious-freedom-ignored-as-obama-admin-negotiates-with-iran-134904/

(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST)

Naghmeh Abedini, wife of Saeed Abedini, an American pastor imprisoned in Iran,

speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, National Harbor,
Maryland, Feb. 28, 2015.

National Harbor, Md. Religious freedom is not being addressed in the

Obama administration's negotiations with Iran over its nuclear capability,
complained Naghmeh Abedini, an Iranian-American whose husband,
Saeed Abedini, is imprisoned in Iran because of his Christian faith.
"What kind of message are we sending to the world when we continue to
negotiate while Iran continues to abuse one of our own, an American
pastor?" she asked. "What is our message to the world on religious
freedom issues?"
Paraphrasing Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who died for his faith at
the hands of the Nazis, she added, "silence in the face of evil is evil in
itself."
Abedini was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a
yearly gathering of conservatives from across the country, near
Washington, D.C.
"I'm proud to see my husband stand up for his faith in the face of evil," she
said. "As he stands up for his faith, how are we, as his country, standing up
for him? I'm heartbroken that we continue to negotiate with Iran as they are
holding one of our own, an American pastor, captive."
Even though her husband, who converted from Islam to Christianity,
suffered beatings and solitary confinement, he will not deny his faith,
Abedini explained.
"He stood up for his faith because he believes Jesus Christ is the son of
God and he came on this Earth and died on the cross and paid for our sin.
He learned that truth as a Muslim and discovered the love of God. That
transformed his life forever. He wanted to lay down his life for the orphans
and for the hopeless."
Even as he is persecuted for his faith in Iran, Abedini added that she and
her husband continue to be concerned about the decline of religious
freedom and devotion to God in their own country.
For many years, she said, Saeed Abedini has been "weeping about" and
"getting on his knees for hours" in prayer for revival in the United States.
"The Bible says, when we turn our eyes to God, when we repent, seek
God, He will heal our land," she continued. "The responsibility is on God to
heal our land, our responsibility is to seek Him. This great nation is blessed
because of our foundation in Jesus Christ. My prayer, and Saeed's prayer,

is that we would turn our eyes back on Jesus, that we repent of the ways
we turn to other things to fulfill us, and turn back our eyes to Jesus. I pray
for healing for our nation and that we would get back to our core value of

CPAC Panel: How conservatives win

in 2016
POSTED AT 9:31 AM ON MARCH 1, 2015
BY ED MORRISSEY
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/01/cpac-panel-how-conservatives-win-in-2016/

Yesterday at CPAC, I intended to look around for some interviews and

keep an eye on the speeches, but had nothing else on the agenda
until about halfway through the day. Katie Pavlich needed to leave
early, but had a commitment to do a panel on the main stage in the
later afternoon. Since my flight out was Sunday, I suggested that I
could fill in for her, and the CPAC organizers were kind enough to
allow us to swap. The panel turned out to be Tanned, Rested, and
Ready: Do Conservatives Have What It Takes to Win in 2016? It also
turned out to be the last event of CPAC other than the announcement
of the straw poll results, and ended up being one of thelongest events.
It was a fine topic, and my fellow panelists (Matt Schlapp of ACU, Ned
Ryun of American Majority, and Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party
Patriots) and I found the nearly-full crowd still fully engaged as is
obvious from the video. Curiously, the candidate that drew the
greatest response was Jeb Bush, and not in a good way; when we
mentioned Bush, boos and catcalls immediately erupted. Its not a
direct result of any misstep by Bush in his CPAC address, but more the
problem that Ive pointed out for over two months, ever since Bush got
in the race. Hes not relevant to todays conservative movement.
In the panel discussion, I said that the 2016 election will give
Republicans a choice in the primary between the Old Guard and the
New Guard a choice between a focus on the future or a nostalgia
tour of our past. And as Ted Cruz said earlier in the week, if voters

have to choose between Bush nostalgia and Clinton nostalgia, theyll

choose the latter every time:
Its a lengthy video as the panel ran well over its allotted time, but its
worth watching in its entirety. My colleagues on stage haveexcellent
insight into what the grassroots and RNC need to do to ensure
conservative success. Id like to emphasize one particular point I make
later, though, which is that conservatives and Republicans have to
sellhope rather than despair. We get too much of the latter as a
consequence of having to oppose the Obama administrations
incompetencies and abuses of power, but the 2016 election gives us an
opportunity to make the case for how conservative principles and
reduced government will produce vast improvement for Americans
over the next four years. If were tanned and rested (well,some of us
are), then we should be ready to give voters plenty of positive reasons
to put aside a third Barack Obama term in the guise of Hillary Clinton
and more to the point, sell voters on how the Republican candidate
will be a President focused on a better future.
Note: Im traveling today and may have my Sunday Reflection up
later, if possible.

'I'm not comparing' union

protestors and ISIS, Walker
says
By Rebecca Shabad - 03/01/15 09:32 AM EST
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/234238-walker-clarifies-isis-union-comment

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) in an interview that aired Sunday

clarified recent comments he made in which he compared his role
taking on unions to taking on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
if he were elected commander in chief.
On Fox News Sunday, the potential 2016 presidential contender was
asked whether theres a major difference between taking on protestors
and a terrorist group.
There is, absolutely, he said. I made that clearIm not comparing
those two entities. What I meant was its about leadership.
Walker explained that his record as Wisconsin governor demonstrates
that he has the leadership skills needed to defeat ISIS.
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If I were to run and if I were to win and be commander in chief, I
believe that kind of leadership is whats necessary to take on radical
Islamic terrorism, Walker said in the interview taped Friday.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, Walker

said "If I can take on 100,000 protestors, I can do the same across the
world," Walker said in response to a question about international
terrorism.
On Fox, Walker was asked whether he would commit U.S. ground
troops to fight ISIS if he becomes president.
I believe we should not take any option off the table, Walker said.
Pressed further, Walker said he would need to listen to military
advisers, national security advisers and to bring together a global
coalition to make such a decision.
Walker came in second place in CPACs straw poll Sunday for the
2016 presidential election. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came in first place.

Presidential Hopefuls Court the GOP Base

Sunday, March 1, 2015 7:03
http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2015/03/presidential-hopefulscourt-the-gop-base-3115412.html
OXON HILL, Md.For conservative Republicans, the most wide-open
presidential contest in decades has created a wealth of contenders, a
field of would-be candidates eager to tout their credentials in pushing
the GOP to the political right.
Many of them began making their appeals Thursday at the annual
gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference that has
become a landmark on the campaign calendar. But it wasnt clear if any
potential candidate was building particular momentum.
More obvious were signs of what the crowd, which tends to skew younger
than the overall GOP electorate, doesnt want: A centrist nominee, or
someone who backs Common Core national education standards or
liberalized immigration laws. For some, that disqualified Jeb Bush, a
likely candidate who is widely viewed as one of the front-runners.
Support for Common Core in particular is the kiss of death, said Donna
Hurlock, a physician from Alexandria, Va.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told the CPAC attendees he had been a
consistent opponent of abortion rights and regretted seeking federal
funds predicated on his states adoption of the Common Core standards.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has surged in opinion polls the past
month, sought to build his foreign-policy credentials. He likened staring
down union protesters in Madison to taking the fight to Islamic State
overseas. I want a commander-in-chief who will do everything in their
power to ensure that the threat of radical Islamic terrorism does not
wash up on American soil, he said. If I could take on 100,000
protesters, I could do the same across the world.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said had the scars to prove he had battled party
leaders to push Congress to the right. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly
Fiorina cast herself as the partys best alternative to Hillary Clinton. And

retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson introduced himself as a fighter against

political correctness.
CPAC has long been the bastion of the organized grass-roots, unfriendly to
centrist Republicans. Mr. Christie has in the past been at odds with the
sort of activists who populate CPAC; he wasnt invited in 2013.
But during his onstage interview with the conservative radio host Laura
Ingraham, Mr. Christie used attacks on the New York media to connect
with the crowd, seeking to create a common enemy.
Mr. Christie passed on several opportunities to attack Mr. Bush. Instead he
sold himself as a survivor of media attacks. Here is the bad news for
them, he said. Here I am, and I am still standing.
Mr. Bush is due to address CPAC Friday, along with Kentucky Sen. Rand
Paul and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
For Mr. Cruz, the event served as an opportunity to bolster the image he
has aimed to create as a beacon of pure conservatism. He attacked fellow
Republicans in Senate leadership for not fighting sufficiently against
President Barack Obama s immigration policies.
Mr. Cruz lambasted a plan by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.,
Ky.) to break the deadlock over Department of Homeland Security funding
by passing a funding bill without a provision blocking Mr. Obamas
executive action on immigration.
Unfortunately, the Republican leadership is cutting a deal with Harry
Reid and the Democrats to give in on executive amnesty, Mr. Cruz said,
using a term many in the GOP use for Mr. Obamas action. Why? Because
they are not listening to you.
Ms. Fiorina, who this week launched a political-action committee to back
her presidential aspiration, is the only nationally known woman in the
2016 GOP field. She drew the most distinct contrast with Mrs. Clinton,
the front-runner for the Democratic Partys nomination.
Ms. Fiorina said Mrs. Clinton must explain the foreign donations accepted
by her familys foundation and accused the former secretary of state of
spending more effort on social media than on helping people. Hillary
likes hashtags, she said. But she doesnt know what leadership means.
In the hallways of the National Harbor convention center here, Messrs.
Cruz and Paul each had supporters distributing buttons and stickers. But
no Republican had more foot soldiers Thursday than retired neurosurgeon
Ben Carson.
Before Mr. Carson delivered a toned-down version of his stump speech
arguing against political correctness, 150 volunteers and 13 paid staffers

roamed the convention center hallways passing out T-shirts, stickers and
blue retractable banners that read Run Ben Run.
Many in the audience said the party would be making a mistake if it
nominated a centrist or someone who backed the Common Core
education standards or liberalized immigration laws.
My worst nightmare is that a moderate Republican is elected and things
will continue without much change, said Paul Bolon, a federal worker
from Vienna, Va., who was leaning toward supporting either Mr. Walker or
Mr. Cruz. Isaac Mehlhaff, an 18-year-old student at the University of
Wisconsin, said he is for Mr. Walker, calling him a conservative capable of
uniting the base and attracting centrists.
He can explain our ideas in a common-sense way, said Mr. Mehlhaff,
who was at CPAC working for a group aiming to promote smaller
government ideals to young people.
Corrections & Amplifications:
A journalist holds images of possible Republican presidential candidates
Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
National Harbor, Md. Due to incorrect information provided with a photo
from Bloomberg News, an earlier version of a photo caption with this
article incorrectly stated that the images were held by an attendee. Feb.
27, 2015.

The past nine CPAC straw

polls, in one graph
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/01/the-past-nine-cpac-straw-polls-inone-graph/?wprss=rss_politics

March 1, 2015
By Philip Bump

Perhaps you were curious how the results of the

Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll had
evolved over time but, sadly, aren't good at/didn't feel like
making graphs. Well, we were curious about that, and we
love graphs. So we made one.
This is the past nine years' worth of results, excluding
people who appeared only in one poll (and excluding
Donald Trump because, enough with him). It's ... messy!
But, then, we're plotting two very messy primaries.



The winners, in order: Mitt Romney, Romney, Romney,

Ron Paul, Romney, Rand Paul, Rand, Rand. Exciting!
What's interesting is how the margins have changed. In
presidential years, the results have been closer, but the
swings of support for different candidates have been wide.
The big gainer this year was Gov. Scott Walker (Wis.),
while Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) continued to slide. Chris
Christie, Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry have all seen better
days.
However! This straw poll has literally no utility in figuring
out who the nominee will be or who will win the
presidency. It doesn't correlate to overall results. It really
doesn't do much of anything at all. It's a marketing
gimmick, and we bit.
But it is data. So: We graphed it.

Why Jeb Bush Wont Follow

the Herd on Taxes
https://news.yahoo.com/why-jeb-bush-won-t-130200346.html

By Maureen Mackey

March 1, 2015 8:00 AM

Jeb Bush and Grover Norquist are having a spat over taxes.

Norquist, the longtime anti-tax activist, said Friday at CPAC (the

Conservative Political Action Conference) that he expected the former
Florida governor and potential 2016 candidate to sign his anti-tax
pledge. Most Republicans, including virtually all the other GOP
presidential contenders during their careers, signed it.

The written pledge to never raise the taxes of Americans makes a

promise real, Norquist believes, although some who signed it in good
faith have later chided Norquist for locking them into an ironclad
commitment they never intended.

Jeb Bush, however, did not sign the Norquist pledge while governor
of Florida (1999-2007), and neither did his father and brother during
their political careers. And on Saturday Bushs spokesperson shook
things up a bit when she said Jeb Bush has no intention of signing
the Norquist pledge or any other tax pledge if he seeks the 2016 GOP
nomination.

If Gov. Bush decides to move forward, he will not sign any pledges
circulated by lobbying groups, Kristy M. Campbell told ABC News.

To which Norquist retorted on Twitter, Really? Jeb Bush thinks all

American taxpayers (to whom the pledge is written) are a lobbying
group?

This could be intra-party squabbling except for one sticking point.

President George H.W. Bush famously said, Read my lips. No new
taxes, at the Republican National Convention in 1988 when he
accepted the GOP nomination. That pronouncement publicly
cemented his platform and helped him win the White House.

But it later came back to haunt him.

In 1990 during budget negotiations with the Democratic-controlled

Congress to reduce the national deficit, Bush compromised as part of
the deal and ultimately broke his tax pledge, which was gleefully
exploited by opponents. Bush lost his reelection bid in 1992 to Bill
Clinton.

Jeb Bushs spokesperson said that during his years as Florida

governor he did not raise taxes. He cut them each year for a total of
over $19 billion in tax relief. He does not support raising taxes and
believes cutting taxes and reforming the tax code will lead to greater
economic growth and more prosperity for Americans, Campbell told
ABC News.

Norquist rejected that argument on Twitter: Those who refuse to

sign, raise taxes when pushed hard enough by spenders.

He added this general comment for good measure:Memo to

Politicians waing on taxes: A tax hike is a pay cut for the American
people. A tax cut is a pay hike for the American people.

Maybe Norquist, who has never been elected to any oce, is making
something of nothing. Maybe hes trying to revive his pledge, pu
himself up or grab a little free post-CPAC publicity. Maybe this is his
way of judging the crowded GOP field.

One thing is for sure: Norquist at CPAC took time during a media
interview to deliver some serious advice for the presumptive
candidate. If you really want to make progress toward 2016,
reintroduce yourself to Americans, Norquist advised Jeb. You have
name recognition, but it is both a positive and a negative. So tell
people where you want to go and what you want to do. Why? Youre
out of shape as a candidate, havent held elective oce in nearly 10
years and most Americans dont have a clue what you did in Florida
as governor.

Rand Paul wins 2015 CPAC straw

poll, but Scott Walker comes upbig
POSTED 8:05 AM, MARCH 1, 2015, BY CNN WIRE SERVICE, UPDATED AT 02:52PM,
MARCH 1, 2015
http://fox6now.com/2015/03/01/rand-paul-wins-2015-cpac-straw-poll-but-scott-walker-comesup-big/


Gov. Scott Walker

WASHINGTON (CNN) Sen. Rand Paul won the Conservative

Political Action Conference straw poll for the third year in a row on
Saturday, February 28th with 25.7% of the vote, event organizers
announced Saturday at the National Harbor, Maryland, Confab.
But the biggest winner of the straw poll was perhaps Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker, who catapulted from fifth last year to second place this

year and came in just four points behind Paul, with 21.4% support. He
delivered one of the conferences best-received speeches, laying out his
vision for the economy and drawing enthusiastic applause that
overshadowed a tone-deaf answer he gave on foreign policy.
The closely watched survey of conference attendees represents a small
but vocal faction of the Republican party, and the voters tend to be
younger and libertarian leaning as many college students attend the
gathering. Paul won in 2014 and 2013, and his father, a libertarian icon
and former Texas congressman Ron Paul won in 2010 and 2011. 2012
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won that year.
The poll has added significance because its the last CPAC gathering
before the 2016 presidential primary season kicks off, thought it is
merely a preliminary survey of conservative sentiment, and its past
results have rarely been predictive of the GOPs eventual nominee.
While Mitt Romney won it in 2012, Gary Bauer, Rudy Giuliani and
Steve Forbes have all previously taken the top spot at the conference
before fizzling out in the presidential contest.
In this years poll, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz just barely edged retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson, taking 11.5 percent to Carsons 11.4 percent
support, largely unchanged from last year, when Cruz also took 11
percent and Carson took 9 percent support.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush drew 8 percent for a fifth-place finish, a
respectable showing that indicates conservatives are open to the
establishment pick, and willing to overlook his moderate views on
education and immigration reform. Indeed, last year Bush declined to
participate in the straw poll, and his aides downplayed his chances in
this years poll.
He delivered a strong performance during the conference, refusing to
waver from his support for a legal status for immigrants and even
handling a heckler with ease and good humor. But audible boos could be
heard from the CPAC crowd on Saturday when Bushs name was read.
The poll was perhaps more significant for the losers than the winners.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorums inability to break into the
top five despite emerging as the conservative favorite in the 2012

GOP presidential primary suggests he faces an even steeper challenge

in trying find a path to the nomination this year.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubios 4% support, putting him in seventh place,
also suggests he hasnt managed to heal some of the wounds he opened
up with conservatives with his role in passing the Senate immigration
reform bill in 2013.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal three of the GOPs more prominent
potential contenders, who have been making the clearest moves towards
a White House run came in 10th, 11th and 12th places, respectively.
That placed them behind real-estate mogul Donald Trump and former
HP CEO Carly Fiorina, two Republicans seen as much longer shots for
the nomination.
In this years survey, 3,007 participants voted, and nearly two-thirds,
63%, were women. As always, CPAC skewed young this year, with a
plurality of respondents, 47%, between 18 and 25 years old.
The CPAC straw poll offered a snapshot of conservative sentiment on
policy issues ranging from immigration reform to the Department of
Homeland Security funding fight currently raging on Capitol Hill.
Attendees were split on what to do with illegal immigrants currently in
the country, with 37% saying they should be deported; 27% saying they
should be encouraged to return home and apply for citizenship legally
and 18% saying they should be allowed to stay in the U.S. and apply for
citizenship.
More than three-fourths of attendees supported Congress using its
spending power to try to defund President Barack Obamas executive
action delaying deportations for millions of immigrants, despite the fact
that the measure cannot be defunded.
And a plurality, 41%, support marijuana legalization, a poll result that
drew loud cheers from the young crowd left in the final hour of the final
day of the conference.

Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll again, but Scott

Walker comes on very strong ... - Christian Science
Monitor
http://790talknow.com/foxfeedspro/details/item_180229/rand-paul-wins-cpacstraw-poll-again-but-scott-walker-comes-on-very-strong-/
Posted 2015-03-01 13:08:43 - by Admin

For the third year in a row, Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky has won The Washington
Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll taken at the annual Conservative
Political Action Conference. His young libertarian legions made that possible again, as
they did for Sen. Pauls father, former Rep. Ron Paul.
More interesting and likely more significant for the run-up to the 2016 presidential race
is how well Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did as well as former Florida governor
Jeb Bushs relatively mediocre showing.
Gov. Walker surged from sixth place in 2014 to second place this year, tripling his
portion of the 3,007 votes spread among 17 candidates to 21.4 percent, not far behind
Pauls 25.7 percent. The margin between the two was even closer (less than one
percentage point) when first and second choices were tallied.
Mr. Bush, meanwhile, was back in fifth place, behind physician Ben Carson and Sen.
Ted Cruz as well as Paul and Walker.
When seen in light of this Crowdpac spectrum of a dozen potential GOP candidates, the
results could have been predictable especially given CPACs gathering of activists
from the most conservative wing of the Republican Party.
Least conservative here is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, with Bush judged to
be only slightly more conservative. Most conservative is Paul, with Cruz, Walker, and
Carson not far behind. (Crowdpac is a political technology start-up that bases its
rankings on an individuals voting record, campaign donations, and communications,
including speeches and social media.)
Still, Bush who met with boos over his positions on immigration reform and the
Common Core educations standards can claim to have met expectations at CPAC
without any major gaffes.
Falling away behind Bush in the straw poll were former Sen. Rick Santorum and Sen.
Marco Rubio. Gov. Christie won just under 3 percent of the vote and former Texas
governor Rick Perry took barely more than 1 percent.

What would any election be without charges of vote manipulation serious or not?
The Pauls Ron and son Rand have done well in recent years by encouraging their
libertarian followers to show up and of course vote. Nearly half those voting this year
were ages 18-25.
This year, Jeb Bush was accused of busing in supporters both to cheer his
presentation and to vote for him in the straw poll.
From Bushs right, Breitbart.com blogger Matthew Boyle makes this charge, citing
reports in the New York Times and Slate, then quotes the (anonymous) grumbling of
operatives from other campaigns.
It comes as no surprise that the Bushies would try to rig the CPAC straw poll. Jeb, like
his father and brother, is strongly disliked and distrusted by the Base, one said.
This shows one thing: Jeb Bushs base is D.C. insiders and lobbyists, an operative for
another potential GOP presidential rival said. He has to bus them everywhere he goes.
They are his only hope, that they can buy him this election every step of the way. True
conservatives need to stand up and fight back.
By definition and tradition, CPAC is the voice of the political right, the place where
presidential hopefuls come to establish their bona fides, the place where Mitt Romney
felt the need in 2012 to describe himself as having been the severely conservative
governor of liberal Massachusetts.
Most attendees are activists on the political right, and CPAC is a place to bond and
cheer before going off to do political battle with the left perhaps, more to the point,
with moderate, mainstream Republicans willing to compromise with Democrats in order
to get beyond gridlock and try to make government function even if that means
following the advice of the late, great California lawmaker Jesse Big Daddy Unruh:
Sometimes you have to rise above principle.
Red-meat speeches are part of the program, none more so this year than radio talk
show Mark Levins.
Congressional Republicans, he said, have no principles, no strategy and no guts.
"It's time for a new Republican Party, Mr. Levin said. "No more excuses. No more
whining. No more lying to get you elected. No more crony deals with the U.S. Chamber
of crony capitalism.
Don't mistake winning the CPAC straw poll as the first step toward winning the GOP's
presidential nomination, the National Journal reminds us. In CPAC's 41-year history,
only three poll winners on record have gone on to become Republican presidential
nominees: Ronald Reagan (who won twice), George W. Bush, and Mitt Romney.
Among others who have won CPACs straw poll: Gary Bauer, Rudy Giuliani and Steve
Forbes.

Chris Christie: Watercolor

Memories Of A Candidacy
That 'Peaked Too Soon'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/01/chris-christie-2016_n_6772928.html
Posted: 03/01/2015 7:30 am EST Updated: 03/02/2015 12:59 am EST

By: Jason Linkins

As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was still settling into his swivel
chair at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, his
interlocutor for the Q&A session, conservative talk-radio host Laura
Ingraham, began by asking about his "rough couple of months ... in
the media."
"They just want to kill ya," Christie said, "but I'm still standing."
Christie was, at the time, referring semi-explicitly to The New York
Times. "I don't subscribe, by the way," Christie said, to a smattering of
applause. Moments later, he had another quip for the Grey Lady. "I
went to my parish priest and said Im giving up The New York Times
for Lent, Christie joked. Bad news: He said you have to give up
something youll actually miss.

Pro tip for anyone who wants to demonstrate that the media isn't
living rent-free in your head: Maybe just pick one funny story about
how you gave up reading The New York Times.
But Ingraham couldn't have been more right about Christie's recent
woes. In the last two weeks especially, it seems as if the political press
has decided en masse to start spading the graveyard soil over
Christie's once-lush aspirations for higher office. There is varying
enthusiasm for the duty.
NBC News' Perry Bacon has discussed the "growing skepticism from
influential Republicans about his likely presidential run." Politico's
"caucus" of Iowa insiders couldn't find a place for Christie in their
deliberations. FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten, after examining the ratio
of name recognition and net favorability among the potential GOP
candidates, offered up this 16-word coffin nail: "Chris Christie, the
Republican governor of New Jersey, is well known, but not
particularly well liked."
A charitable Peter Grier, writing for the Christian Science Monitor,
suggests that Christie merely "peaked too soon," and reckons that the
bad news is coming in heaps because the fix was in:
Do you think its a coincidence that The Washington Post and The
New York Times and Politico all had stories running down Christies
chances within days of one another? If so, weve got an exclusive deal
to sell you a section of the Garden State Parkway.
"Christie can still come back," insists Grier. Tell that to The
Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin, who says all that's left of Christie is
to take "lessons" from his "collapse."
Perhaps the most telling description of Christie in this avalanche of
bad news comes from The Daily Beast's Olivia Nuzzi, who typically
noses out tri-state train wrecks with a sommelier's skill. Nuzzi catches
Christie at a D.C. hotel, tending over an audience of soused New
Jersey politicos who had just made their way to the nation's capital
aboard the "Walk To Washington's" booze train: "Things are less
existential at the Marriott," she writes, "where a disengaged Christie is
walking to the podium. He is thinner, but looks tired. His marsupial
face sags around his pronounced nose, making him take on an almost
Nixonian quality."

Onstage with Ingraham, Christie sought to recapture some of his

former brio. Presented with despairing poll numbers by Ingraham,
Christie summoned some steel: Is the election next week? (To which
Hot Air's Noah Rothman responded: "If that sounds a lot like 'the only
poll that matters is the one taken on Election Day,' e.g. the universal
declaration of a losing candidacy, it does to me as well.")
Indeed, it is not. And yet, this week, there's the knowledge that some
opportunities have been lost. Christie took a swipe at Jeb Bush on the
CPAC stage, quipping, "If the elites in Washington who make back
room deals decide who the next president is going to be, then he's
definitely going to be the frontrunner." Maybe so, but the
uncomfortable truth is that Jeb has, by now, won over many of the
elites that Christie was used to hosting in back rooms of his own. As
has Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
And that story -- the one in which Christie's decline is twinned with
Walker's rise -- has deep roots. Back in February, Politico's Anna
Palmer described "Republican strategists" as being of the opinion that
"no one [was] in a better position to get a boost from the Christie
Bridgegate scandal than Walker." But even as Bridgegate failed to
become the albatross that so many Christie critics promised, Walker
kept on shining in comparatively favorable light. Flash-forward to Feb.
26, and you find The Fiscal Times' Liz Peek training her eyes far from
Fort Lee. "Unfortunately for Christie, New Jerseys finances are once
again in crisis, and it could get ugly," writes Peek, in a piece titled
"Scott Walker Stealing Christie's Playbook."
The Walker-Christie dynamic was explored further this week by
Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman, but given the fact that
Christie either hasn't subscribed to The New York Times in a long time
or just gave up reading for Lent, there's a good chance he missed it.
But the comparison is irresistable. Christie versus Walker. How do you
want to play it? Compare the governor with a sling of YouTube clips of
him yelling at public sector employees to the governor who bested
them in a series of political brawls? Place the guy who wanted a
blowout win over nobody Barbara Buono next to the guy who
zealously relishes the opportunity to brag about surviving close calls?
You can't help but see Christie as the guy who went through much less,
and has come out looking the more tired of the two.

Walker, of course, arrived at CPAC on the last gusts of balloon juice

vented over Rudy Giuliani's infamous contention that President
Barack Obama doesn't "love America." As Giuliani was sharing that
particular moment with Walker, the Wisconsin governor faced a
fusillade of inquiry as to whether he shared those sentiments. Walker
merely shrugged and took advantage in a way that put fresh veneer on
his status as a conservative folk-hero -- by using the contretemps as
one more instance of being targeted unfairly by the liberal media.
Meanwhile, here's Chris Christie, at CPAC, begging Laura Ingraham to
be allowed to take a piece of that narrative for himself.

Conservatives take turns slamming

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and
even Jeb Bush
http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/nation/conservatives-take-turns-slammingbarack-obama-hillary-clinton-and-even-jeb-bush
PostedMarch 1, 2015 - 7:15am.

By David Lightman
McClatchy Washington Bureau
(TNS)
OXON HILL, Md. Republican potential presidential candidates seemed torn
Thursday: Would they get more accolades from conservatives by bashing
President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush?
It was hard to say whom the thousands of activists attending the first full day of
the Conservative Political Action Conference disliked most.
They cheered when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered a terse description of
Obama: Lawless imperator, or emperor.
They loved former business executive Carly Fiorinas demand: Mrs. Clinton,
name an accomplishment.
And they applauded energetically when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said
Bush would be the favorite of elites in Washington who make backroom deals.
The conference, which will continue Friday with appearances by Bush and other
possible 2016 candidates, is the biggest test so far of how they fare with this
crucial Republican constituency. Bush faces the most scrutiny, and some activists
Thursday were considering walking out during his appearance.
Six potential candidates appeared Thursday, and their views were largely similar.
They wanted the Affordable Care Act repealed, a get-tougher policy with illegal

immigration and stronger American leadership in the world, especially against

terrorism.
We need a president who will stand up and say we will take the fight to them
and not wait till they take the fight to American soil, said Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker, who got the days biggest crowds and biggest cheers.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal went further, calling Obama disqualified and
incapable of being commander-in-chief.
The differences involved tone and style. Christie, never a big favorite of this bloc,
engaged in a 20-minute question and answer session with radio talk-show host
Laura Ingraham. He started slowly, drawing only occasional, polite applause as
he bashed Washington elites and The New York Times.
Christie has been sinking in recent Republican presidential polls. He dismissed
them, asking sarcastically, Is the election next week?
One constant criticism, Ingraham said, is that hes hotheaded.
The word they miss is passion, Christie fired back. Sometimes people need to
be told to sit down and shut up.
That seemed to rouse the crowd. He jabbed gently at Bush, a supporter of the
Common Core educational standards. Christie, once a backer himself, said he
now had implementation regrets because parents and teachers seemed to
have less say on education policy.
Fiorina aimed her firepower at Clinton. Like Mrs. Clinton, I too have traveled the
globe, said the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer. Unlike Mrs.
Clinton, I know that flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.
She challenged Clinton to please explain why we should accept that the millions
and millions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation from foreign
governments dont represent a conflict of interest.
The Clintons foundation has come under fire for accepting contributions from
foreign governments.
The audience loved it, and Fiorina proved an energetic warmup for Cruz, a
favorite of this crowd. He walked around the stage as he spoke, almost shouting
at times.
We could have had Hillary here, he said, but we couldnt find a foreign nation
to foot the bill.
Cruz urged rebuilding the Reagan coalition of the 1980s, when the former
California governor challenged Washington and its ways.
The Texas senator went down a list of issues immigration, the debt ceiling,
efforts against the Islamic State and so on and, without naming names, urged
everyone to make sure their candidates are true to conservative principles.
Walker was the days biggest attraction. He drew a standing-room-only audience,
and at one point some audience members began chanting, Run, Scott, run. His

message was that Washington is washed up, and that he could streamline the
federal government in the same way he manages Wisconsin.
Jindal also ripped into Washington, blasting congressional leaders, including
Republicans, for not doing enough to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
We need to be principled conservative Republicans, he said. This election
wasnt about getting a nicer office for Mitch McConnell. McConnell has not
moved to a new office since becoming majority leader last month.
Offering a gentler tone was retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who appears to
have the largest army of supporters at the conference. He talked about
implementing new policies such as home schooling or health care accounts.
He didnt want to rehash conservative disdain for Obama. That would be too
depressing, Carson said.

Jeb Bushs Success at CPAC:

More Than Convincing
https://news.yahoo.com/jeb-bush-success-cpac-more-113700357.html

By Rob Garver

March 1, 2015 6:30 AM

If things never get any worse for Jeb Bush than they did at the
Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, hes in pretty
good shape to make a strong run at the GOP presidential nomination
in 2016.

Bush won only 8.3 percent of the vote in the events presidential
straw poll. That put him in fifth place in an event that has become the
annual high water mark for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, whose strong
libertarian views play well at the event. But Bush was never expected
to do particularly well at CPAC, so a top-five showing wasnt a major
setback.

The former Florida governor was not exactly on friendly ground when
he appeared at the annual gathering of conservatives held at National
Harbor, on the banks of the Potomac outside Washington. For a dayand-a-half before his speech, for example, conservative radio host
Laura Ingraham used her appearances to bash his immigration policy.

Playing to the crowd, she even suggested that he run on a joint ticket
with Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Before his appearance, the Washington Times published a story

about the plans of an untold number of attendees to walk out on
Bush. By Friday morning, the influential Drudge Reports splash page
had a photo of Bush with a single word: Walkout?

Sure enough, there were boos and shouts of Common Core when
Bush took the stage accompanied by Fox News host Sean Hannity,
but they were quickly drowned out by his supporters. (The shouts of
Common Core were a reference to Bushs support for the
controversial multi-state public school curriculum.)

The former Florida governor hadnt been on stage long when a large
Gadsden flag, the Dont Tread on Me emblem of the Tea Party,
appeared above the crowd to Bushs left, and began moving slowly
across the ballroom. Carried by Georgia resident William Temple, a
regular at Tea Party events in Revolutionary War garb, the flag
attracted dozens of followers, who streamed out of the auditorium as
Hannity began talking with Bush

Two things were telling. First, while the participants were noisy they
began chanting No more Bushes! outside the ballroom there
werent really very many of them. Second, a large percentage of
those who left wore bright red shirts with the Stand with Rand
message of those who back Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, also a GOP
presidential contender.

Paul, who has won the previous two CPAC straw polls, is a favorite at
CPAC. His libertarian views are attractive to a crowd that skews much
younger than the general electorate.

In the hallway outside the ballroom, the marchers were feeling

triumphant. Temple held court, surrounded by a gaggle of cameras,
while young Rand Paul supporters were eager to share their views.

Were a little sick of people trying to pander to us, said Armand

Cortellesso, a 20-something graduate of Johnson & Wales University.
He had traveled to CPAC from Rhode Island.

I think theyre trying to use government to expand their interests,

which usually involve expanding military operations around the world,
with contracts for developers, contractors, and security firms and of
course, with oil companies.

Another Paul supporter, college student Christopher Nosko of

Charlotte, N.C., said, We dont need any more Bushes in the White
House. We dont need any more establishment Republicans in the
White House.

Back in the ballroom, Bush was articulating his positions on a number

of controversial issues, among them immigration reform. Loud boos
were quickly drowned out by the cheering of Bush supporters after
Hannity mentioned he supported the plan to give drivers licenses to
illegal immigrants and to allow children of illegals to get in-state
tuition at Floridas state-run universities.

Bush stood by both positions. He also drew applause for a strong call
to defend the border and reduce the number of people eligible to
come to the U.S. because they have a relative here already.

He reiterated a call for some current undocumented immigrants to be

oered a path to legal permanent residence. I know there is some
disagreement here. But the simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11
million people. We should give them a path to legal status, where they
work, where they dont receive government benefits, they dont break
the law, they learn English, and they make a contribution to our
society.

Bush addressed the potential of a partial shutdown of Homeland

Security because of a fight over defunding President Obamas
executive orders on immigration. He said, It makes no sense to me
that were not funding control of our border, which is the whole
argument. Im missing something.

By the time Hannity steered Bush to his record as governor of Florida,

which included tax cuts, education reforms, spending cuts and more,
it felt as though Bush had mostly won the conservative audience
over.

Bushs record as governor was likely news to many attendees who

were barely out of kindergarten when Bush was first elected in 1998.
Theyd only barely finished middle school when he finished his
second and final term in 2007.

It may be ironic that a man aiming to be the third consecutive

member of his family to occupy the White House should need to
introduce himself to voters. But Jeb Bush hasnt held elective oce in
eight years, and is more associated with the presidencies of his

father, George H.W. Bush, and crucially his brother, George W. Bush,
than with his own record.

He took steps to change that on Friday and judging by the cheers,

made a great deal of progress. Outside, in the hallway, Temple, his
Gadsden flag, and the gaggle of Rand Paul supporters were all long
gone.

Scott Walker Wows

Conservatives as Early
Surge Holds
Sunday, 01 Mar 2015 07:05 AM
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/scott-walker-wows-conservatives-surge/
2015/03/01/id/627526/

Image Before Text End Scott Walker's early surge in the jockeying for
the 2016 Republican presidential nomination reflects the belief by
conservatives that he is truly one of their own and has a track record to
show for it.
But the Wisconsin governor's rapid rise to the top of national polls of
Republicans is coming at a cost. His recent verbal stumbles have made
him look ill-prepared for the national spotlight and exposed his
inexperience on the campaign trail.
Walker's star appeal was on display at the Conservative Political
Action Conference, a four-day gathering of conservative activists
outside Washington that concluded on Saturday.
In a surprising show of strength, he came in second in the CPAC straw
poll with 21.4 percent of the votes from the 3,007 people who cast
ballots. He was behind only Kentucky Senator Rand Paul at 25.7
percent.
When Walker attended a CPAC coffee reception on Friday a day after
addressing the conclave, the crowd spilled out of the conference room
and into the hallway, with people straining to hear what he had to say.
Walker may be benefiting as the potential alternative for conservatives
to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, whose moderate record has

made him the party establishment candidate but who has alarmed
many grassroots activists on the right.
But his sudden fame is also a result of having governed from the right
and lived to tell about it. The CPAC poll found 39 percent of
respondents felt the most important quality for a Republican
presidential candidate to possess is a solid conservative record, a
requirement that Walker appears to meet.
"I think he's a man of principle and he has staked out tough positions
and stood by them," CPAC attendee Mike Potaski, 66, of Uxbridge,
Mass., said of Walker.
Walker, 47, burst on the scene in January at the Iowa Freedom
Summit, a gathering of conservatives in Des Moines, where activists
reveled in his record of having defeated a 2012 recall effort over his
challenge to the collective bargaining process for most public unions
in Wisconsin. He is soon to sign right-to-work legislation that would
ban private sector workers from being required to join a union or pay
dues.
With the sudden fame has come increased scrutiny. He stumbled over
a question about evolution on a visit to London. And when asked by
The Washington Post last week whether he believed President Barack
Obama was a Christian, he hedged in his response, even though
Obama has frequently spoken of his Christian faith.
Then when he addressed CPAC on Thursday, Walker said his battle
with labor had given him the mettle needed to take on militant groups
like Islamic State.
"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same in the rest of
the world," he said.
The remark drew criticism from Democrats who felt he was comparing
pro-union protesters to Islamic State militants.
The missteps barely caused a ripple at CPAC, where conservatives
were looking for a savior who can rally the Republican Party against
the expected Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 White
House race.
"Is he going to be 'Reaganesque' in his speeches and perfect in every
one? No. But it's okay," said Dave Bossie, president of Citizens United,
an influential conservative group. "That's what makes him a little
different from some of these guys who are a little more polished.
People connect to him."

But veteran campaign watchers see the potential for trouble ahead for
Walker.
"If Walker responds to such questions in a way that satisfies or
reassures fair-minded voters, he passes the test and continues to move
up. If he doesn't, doubts will increase, and, if it happens often enough,
he'll fall back into the field," political analyst Charlie Cook wrote in
National Journal.

Walker making splash,

but finding presidential
politics ups the scrutiny

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker responds to a question from board member Frayda
Levin after he spoke at the winter meeting of the free market Club for Growth
winter economic conference Saturday. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

By Steve Peoples and Thomas Beaumont THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sunday, March 1, 2015

http://www.telegram.com/article/20150301/NEWS/
150309999/1116
OXON HILL, Md. Scott Walker may have won three elections in the past four
years, but he's still finding his way in presidential politics.

The Wisconsin governor made a splash last month in first-to-vote

Iowa, wowing Republicans and vaulting to the top of several still-waytoo-early polls.
Then came "punts" on questions about evolution, President Barack
Obama's love of country and the president's religion. Last week Walker
compared his political fight against union protesters to America's
actual fight against Islamic State militants in the Middle East.
"Take your worst day in any state capital around the country, and
every day is like that on a presidential campaign," said Republican
strategist Kevin Madden, a senior adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012
presidential campaign.
"The media scrutiny is brutal, the parsing of every quote never ends
and all of your opponents whether they're from the other party or
even inside your own has staff solely dedicated to ruining every one
of your events or interviews," Madden said.
While Walker has yet to formally announce a White House bid, other
Republicans likely to run already view him as a threat in the unofficial
race to emerge as the strongest alternative to former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, the early favorite of the party's establishment. Walker's newly
formed political action committee opened a national headquarters in
Madison, Wisconsin, a few days ago, and several key aides are slated
to move to town this week.
Walker characterized last week's episodes as media driven.
"I'm not going to take that bait," the 47-year-old Walker said Saturday
about his recent media encounters, while speaking to the Club for
Growth's annual winter meeting in Florida. "I'm going to talk about
things that everyday Americans want to talk about."
Walker was extending his weekend of presidential politicking to the
influential anti-tax group meeting, where some of his 2016
competitors were also present.
Walker's candidacy will be predicated in large part on his actions as
Wisconsin's governor: stripping the collective bargaining rights of state

workers during his first term, winning a recall election and then reelection despite the determined efforts of organized labor and
Democrats to boot him from office.
But while those victories put Walker in an intense spotlight, it doesn't
compete with what he'll face in the year leading to the Republican
primaries. And his early steps as a top-tier presidential contender have
been marked by stumbles.
The latest came on opening day of the Conservative Political Action
Conference in Washington, during an energetic speech that seemed to
quash concerns that Walker is too bland for presidential politics.
Having again shed his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves, as he did
during his January appearance in Iowa, he was nearing the end of his
appearance when he was asked about the Islamic State group.
"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the
world," he said.
The remark was quickly followed by a clarification from Walker's stillnew staff, who said he didn't compare the protesters, who spent weeks
camped out in the state Capitol in Madison in 2011, to the militants.
But the criticism of those who believe he did just that lingered into the
next day. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Walker's "judgment
is impaired."
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is contemplating a second bid for
the Republican presidential nomination, piled on publicly.
"You are talking about, in the case of ISIS, people who are beheading
individuals and committing heinous crimes, who are the face of evil,"
Perry said on MSNBC. "To try to make the relationship between them
and the unions is inappropriate."
During a trip to London earlier in the month, Walker refused to say
whether he believed in evolution. A week later, he said he didn't know
whether President Barack Obama loves America or is a Christian.
Democrats are already using those comments to raise money.

Frayda Levin, a Club for Growth board member, told Walker during an
open question-and-answer session at the Florida meeting that she had
heard him described as "not prepared to speak on foreign policy."
Walker said he would appoint qualified advisers if elected, but said
national security crises were akin to domestic quandries, describing
former President Ronald Reagan's decision to fire 11,000 striking air
traffic controllers in 1981.
"The most important element in foreign policy and national security is
leadership," he said.

Paul outpolls Walker for bragging rights at

CPAC - Philly.com
http://790talknow.com/foxfeedspro/details/item_180199/paul-outpolls-walker-forbragging-rights-at-cpac-philly-com/
Posted 2015-03-01 08:06:59
by Admin

WASHINGTON - Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) took the top spot for the third year in a row at
Saturday's Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, edging out Wisconsin's
Republican governor Scott Walker in the last CPAC presidential preference contest
before primary voting begins.
Paul had been the prohibitive favorite heading into this year's balloting, which featured
17 candidates. More than 3,000 attendees voted, a 20 percent increase over 2014's
turnout. Nearly half identified as between the ages of 18 and 25.
The conference draws many libertarian-leaning college students whose views and
priorities differ from the Republican Party at large. But it is nonetheless seen as a
barometer of certain GOP conservative activists' early leanings.
Respondents said economic issues, such as jobs and taxes, were most important to
them in deciding whom to support as the Republican nominee for president in 2016.
googleon: all Hundreds of Paul fans had streamed in from across the country for the
three-day event in National Harbor, Md., but his percentage of the vote dropped, to 25.7
percent, from 31 percent in 2014.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush had made a major effort to do well, sponsoring
buses to ferry in supporters and paying entry fees for some who came - a push that
brought him a fifth-place showing.
Walker, who drew a significant level of grass-roots excitement at the conference with a
strong performance in his Friday address, drew 21.4 percent of the vote, a significant
improvement on his fifth-place showing last year. Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), who
finished second to Paul in 2014, drew 11.5 percent of the vote, roughly the same as he
had in 2014.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson came in fourth place.
New Jersey's Gov. Christie came in 10th place, with 2.8 percent of the vote.

A candidate's popularity at CPAC hasn't been a great predictor of success with the
larger GOP electorate, as attendees tend to have a stronger libertarian bent than the
Republican majority.
But prognostication isn't really the point of CPAC.
The event - which is sponsored by think tanks, conservative websites, and influential
interest groups such as the National Rifle Association - is more about theater, a forum
for budding presidential candidates to road-test ideas. And in that regard, this year's
gathering did not disappoint.
Some of the excitement had to do with the fact that organizers changed the format.
Rather than just deliver speeches, candidates were expected to take questions from the
audience, a twist that helped some candidates but hurt others.
Walker made headlines for appearing to draw a parallel between his fight in 2011
against public-sector unions and the challenge the United States faces in combating the
Islamic State, the militant group in Iraq and Syria that has taken responsibility for
beheadings, burnings, and other savagery.
A spokeswoman for the governor later clarified that he "was in no way comparing any
American citizen" to the militants. She continued, "What the governor was saying was
when faced with adversity, he chose strength and leadership."
Bush, who has a wide support base in the Republican establishment but who is disliked
by some conservatives because of his stances on immigration and Common Core
education standards, stepped onto the stage to boos from the audience. But he
managed to put in what many observers called a solid performance by touting his
conservative record on issues such as affirmative action and taxes.

Rand Paul wins straw poll in boost to 2016

presidential prospects - Daily News & Analysis
http://790talknow.com/foxfeedspro/details/item_180194/rand-paul-wins-strawpoll-in-boost-to-2016-presidential-prospects-daily-new/
Posted 2015-03-01 08:23:52
by Admin

!
Reuters
Senator Rand Paul won a straw poll of conservative activists on Saturday,
giving his potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 a
boost, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker came in second in a
surprising show of strength. Whether the victory for Paul will have longlasting benefit is unclear since his libertarian views may not have broad
appeal in the Republican Party.

Paul, a 52-year-old Kentucky Republican, outdistanced most other potential candidates

by taking 25.7% of the vote at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a gathering
of activists on Washington's outskirts of Washington. "The constitutional conservatives
of our party have spoken in a loud and clear voice today," Paul said in a statement. " I
plan on doing my part and I hope you will join me as I continue to make the GOP a
bigger, better and bolder party."
Walker's second-place showing at 21.4% represented a significant show of support
among conservatives and suggested his potential candidacy will have real staying
power as he seeks to remain among the front-runners for the nomination. Texas
Senator Ted Cruz came in third with 11.5% of a total of 3,007 who registered votes at
the CPAC gathering. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, an establishment candidate
who is amassing millions of dollars for a campaign should he decide to run, took fifth
place with 8.3% of the vote, a not-unexpected showing given conservative opposition to
some of his moderate stances.
Boos rang out in the audience when Bush's tally was announced. The Bush camp made
clear that he did not compete in the straw poll, which is a survey of people attending the
conference. The straw poll concluded the four-day conference at a hotel along the
Potomac River, where conservatives heard from more than a dozen potential
contenders for the chance to represent the Republican Party in the November 2016
election. Walker, 47, was clearly among the most popular at the event. But Paul had a
strong showing from activists, and his victory in the straw poll marked the third year in a
row in which he came out on top, dominating the event just as his father, former Texas
Congressman Ron Paul, had.
The CPAC straw poll, however, does not necessarily identify the next Republican
presidential nominee. Mitt Romney won the straw poll in 2012 and went on to win the
nomination. But the 2008 nominee, John McCain did not win the poll. The poll also
asked respondents about other issues, with 41% saying they would like to legalize
marijuana.

Chris Christie in political

free fall as approval rating
plummets


New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pauses as he addresses delegates at the California Republican Party Spring 2015 Organizing Convention in
Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, Christie told the crowd of about 500 lunch guests that the party should not rush into choosing a 2016
presidential nominee because of pressure from pundits and donors.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/4/chris-christie-political-free-fall-approvalrating/?page=all
By David Sherfinski Wednesday, March 4, 2015

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies approval rating has hit 35 percent in
the Garden State in a new Fairleigh Dickinson poll - the lowest rating
the PublicMind poll has measured since he took office.
Fifty-one percent disapprove of Mr. Christies performance - also the
highest disapproval thats been recorded in the poll fromPublicMind, the
universitys survey research center.
Mr. Christie waved off a recent spate of bad press at last weeks
Conservative Political Action Conference, saying he doesnt listen to
elite folks in the media who try to kill him every day.
And here is the bad news for them: here I am, and I am still standing,
he said.
Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind,
the universitys survey research center, said a central question on
everyones mind is how Mr. Christie can run for the Republican
presidential nomination with voters back home largely unhappy with
what theyre seeing.
If hes defined by his record, these numbers will make an already
difficult journey harder, she said. If, however, hes able to define
himself to Republicans nationally through his accomplishments, like
tenure and pension reform among teachers, and winning reelection with
support from key demographics as a Republican in a Democratic state,
the next year could be better for the governor.
The survey of 790 registered voters was conducted from Feb. 23-March
1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Rick Perry on the move in full presidential

swing
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/rick-perry-on-the-move-in-full-presidential-swing.html/

By: Christy Hoppe

Published: March 4, 2015 8:34 am


Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry talks with area business leaders, Wednesday Feb. 11, 2015, in
Bedford, N.H.

Untethered from Texas and official duties, former Gov. Rick Perry has
embarked on a full schedule of rallies, events and dining for dollars.

While Perry does not put out a schedule of his events, his appearances
can be pieced together from numerous media reports and the
announcements of event sponsors.
So in case you were wondering what the former governor was up to, the
answer is a lot of travel to key states.
Two weeks ago, it was a four-day swing through donor-rich California,
speaking with local conservative groups and meeting with his RickPAC
board regarding finances.
Last week was Washington, D.C., where he joined the parade of GOP
presidential hopefuls giving speeches at the Conservative Political
Action Conference. He also attended a private dinner hosted by the U.S.
Global Leadership Coalition.
This week, Perry was the speaker before about 50 deep-pocketed donors
at a dinner at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City. He also has named
Austin Barbour, a well-known political operative and nephew of former
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, to head a super PAC to begin serious
money raising.
Next week, Perry goes to South Carolina, the first southern primary state
to speak to potential supporters at a private home and appear at a
Greenville Chamber of Commerce event.
In April, Perry takes aim at the National Rifle Associations annual
meeting in Nashville, Tenn., then up to Nashua, New Hampshire for the
First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit and then to Iowa for
a Faith and Freedom Coalition event.
While Perry has maintained since last year that he wouldnt be making
an announcement about his candidacy until May or June, he has widely
hinted that the decision has been made. And his travel schedule certainly
shows it.
His message at most of these events has stressed his executive
experience as Texas governor, the strength of the Texas economy under
his stewardship, that hes the only GOP candidate with military
credentials and that hes much better versed and prepared candidate than
in 2012.

Regardless, with the wide-open and crowded field, Perry has yet to break
through according to polls. But there is still a year and a lot of miles
ahead.

Is Scott Walker Ready for Prime Time?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3264031/posts
Posted on March 4, 2015 at 9:29:28 AM EST
By: Jonah Goldberg

Prepared or not, the Wisconsin governor is now the 2016 front-runner.

Any chef will tell you that you need great ingredients to pull off a great
meal. Less discussed but just as true: You need to cook the ingredients in
the right order.
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has nearly all of the right ingredients
to win the GOP nomination. He is popular among both antiestablishment activists and the big donors of the establishment. He has
working-class appeal (desperately needed for the GOP), and hes battletested in his home state a state many believe the Republicans could
finally pick off in a presidential election.
The question is whether his timing is off. In countless discussions I had
at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference as well as
among people Ive talked to who attended the Club for Growth meeting
in Florida last weekend the concern for friends, and the hope for foes,
is that Walker is peaking too soon.
That the Wisconsin governor is not ready for prime time is rapidly
becoming conventional wisdom. At an off-the-record yet widely
reported donor event in New York City (the one where Rudy Giuliani
accused the president of not loving America), Walker avoided concrete
or specific answers on nearly every major issue not squarely in his
Wisconsin comfort zone.
At the Club for Growth event, the moderator interviewing Walker told
him point-blank that the feedback from that N.Y. event was that you
were not prepared to speak about foreign policy.

On Saturday, the Washington Examiners Byron York asked Walker

where he came down on the fight over funding for the Department of
Homeland Security and about the larger question of immigration policy.
Walker replied with a gale of word fog.
Walkers defenders, and they are legion, will tell you that he never
planned on being a top-tier candidate this soon. Its a sign of his broad
appeal, the grassroots hostility to a Jeb Bush coronation, and the liberal
medias fear of Walkers potential that hes being put under the
microscope so early.
Walker said as much to York, We had no idea that after that Iowa
summit there would be that kind of acceleration to the race. But were
here, and were not going to complain about it.
All of that is undoubtedly true to one extent or another, and Walkers
reply is a good one. But so what? Hes still facing the challenge of being
the front-runner before he is ready.
Its a bigger problem than it might seem. Walker planned on defining
himself to the country on his timetable. With that plan in ashes, hes
facing a liberal news corps and a Republican field of competitors hellbent on defining Walker if he wont. From the media, that means lots of
questions about President Obamas religion, Walkers views on
evolution, and other ridiculous gaffe hunts.
Walker has been punting his word on such questions, but also on
more serious topics. That is a fine tactic when few are paying attention.
Other candidates have been punting on various issues too, but no one
knows or cares because they arent the front-runner. When youre in the
spotlight, punting stops being a way to avoid giving an answer and
instead it becomes the answer.
Walker is in danger of being the guy known for not having a good or
any answer to tough questions. Thats particularly poisonous for him,
given that he is running on leadership and truth-telling.
Of course, its not all downside. Being unfairly targeted by the media
also has the effect of boosting your name and, more important, causing
the rank and file to rally to your defense. For example, New York Times
columnist Gail Collins attacked Walker for higher-education cuts that

occurred before Walker took office. And the hard Left is frequently
concocting attacks they then have to retract.
But Walker cannot afford to become merely a culture-war avatar of
grassroots resentment against the lamestream media. Thats the route
to a radio show, not the White House. His path to the nomination still
hinges on being the most acceptable alternative to establishment frontrunner Jeb Bush and to anti-establishment heroes Rand Paul and Ted
Cruz. If he cant thread that needle, Senator Marco Rubio will be happy
and well-prepared to step in.

Is Scott Walker ready for

2016 spotlight?
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/234538-is-scott-walker-ready-for-the-2016spotlight
03/04/15 06:00 AM EST
By Cameron Joseph

Scott Walker might be soaring in the polls, but some Republicans are
afraid the glare of the newfound spotlight is exposing worrisome
cracks.
The potential presidential candidate has made a number of missteps
in recent weeks, dodging some questions and giving answers to
others that have left some Republicans wondering about his depth of
knowledge on a range of topics he hasnt dealt with as governor of
Wisconsin.
While strategists say none of his mistakes have done long-term
damage, many are prodding him to hit the books, before he makes
one that does.
He has to tighten up his message and bolster his foreign policy
credentials quickly, said GOP strategist Ron Bonjean. Nows the time
you can learn from some of those stumbles.
Walker got thunderous applause for his Thursday speech at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and claimed second

place in the presidential straw poll. But Democrats pounced on him for
comparing his fight against unions to his ability to combat Islamic
terrorists, and his campaign was forced to clarify the remarks.
At a Club for Growth meeting with top GOP donors just days later in
Florida, he faced criticism for lacking details in some of his policy
answers.
The next day, his comment in a Fox News interview that his view has
changed on allowing illegal immigrants a path to legalization opened
him up to charges of flip-flopping on the topic.
The rapid series of missteps come on the heels of other headaches
for Walker aides. The governor faced criticism including from some
of his allies for refusing to answer questions about President
Obamas patriotism and religion, and for saying hed punt when
asked if he believed in evolution.
The Club for Growth meeting in particular highlighted a number of
potential concerns for Walker going forward.
His comment that the most significant national security decision in
his lifetime was when President Ronald Reagan broke the air traffic
controllers strike left some in the crowd scratching their heads, though
his point was that Reagan had shown the mettle hed need to take on
the USSR.
And his vague answer on a question about Wall Street regulations led
to an incredulous follow-up from his interviewer, a backer of Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who asked if he was just not that aware of whats
happening with Dodd-Frank, according to those in the room.
National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote that, after both the
Club for Growth event and CPAC, hed heard from Republicans that
the Wisconsin governor is peaking too soon.
Walker is in danger of being the guy known for not having a good
or any answer to tough questions. Thats particularly poisonous for
him, given that he is running on leadership and truth-telling, wrote
Goldberg.

Club for Growth President David McIntosh said Walker was warmly
received at the event, which also featured a number of other likely
presidential contenders, and said that many of the groups heavyhitting donors gave him a pass for now to catch up on some
policy details.
But McIntosh admitted hed had several people tell me they wanted
more detail from the governor.
He acknowledged he was still getting up to speed on some issues,
and here are his principles, McIntosh said. My sense in talking to his
team is he has plans to do some pretty intensive economic briefings
with experts to take his issues from state to federal issues.
Walkers team paints the stumbles as minor missteps from a
candidate who has been thrust into the spotlight, pointing out that the
intense attention hes receiving is because he has rapidly emerged as
the front-runner.
The reason hes getting this kind of scrutiny now is because of his
success, said one Walker adviser.
Those close to Walker privately admit that no one expected him to
shoot to the top of the polls so quickly following a hugely popular
speech in Iowa last month, and theyve been scrambling to catch up
ever since. Hes still hiring top staffers, and the hope is that, once the
campaign is fully operational, the problems will go away.
They didnt even bring on the foreign affairs policy person until this
week. The domestic person was three weeks ago. So what you do is
you live off the substance that is there in the candidate [for now], one
Walker ally said late last week.
But strategists say Walker doesnt need only more policy details and a
more robust staff, but also to learn message discipline.
Some of his off-the-cuff remarks hint that he needs to be more careful
in his answers, such as his declaration during CPAC: If I can take on
100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world, and his
refusal to say whether he believes Obama is a Christian the week
before.

Its when hes unscripted and not thinking about answers that its
been a problem, said GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway.
Walkers team seems to recognize he needs to cram on policy. He
spent hours during a Washington trip in late February meeting with
foreign policy thought leaders. Hes also met with some former
secretaries of State in recent weeks to bone up on international
affairs.
Walker hasnt made any fatal mistakes and has plenty of time to
rebound before voting begins in January 2016.
But Republican strategists reiterate he needs to tighten up his
message now or risk a tumble from the top of the polls.
People are giving him a break because of how fast he was put into
this situation, but hes going to have to cram on [foreign policy] and a
myriad of other policy issues now that hes close to the front of the
pack. said Bonjean. If Gov. Walker is making these mistakes this
time next year I dont think people will be very forgiving.

Outpouring of Support for Israel at

CPAC 2015
http://www.jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=10278:outpouring-of-support-for-israel-at-cpac-2015
WEDNESDAY, 04 MARCH 2015 09:24
BY JV STAFF

Dr. Ben Carson is a neurosurgeon who has become a figure in conservative politics in the last few years

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivers an impassioned address to those assembled for the CPAC conference in
Washington

Texas Governor Rick Perry

David Ben Hooren (left), publisher of The Jewish Voice, and former GOP presidential candidate Rick
Santorum at the CPAC conference in Washington, DC.

United States conservatives gathering at their annual conference Saturday, February

28, elected Republican Senator Rand Paul as their top pick for president, for the third
year in a row. Israel was a reoccurring topic for many of the speakers. All present
showed support for the country and responded positively every time Israel was
mentioned.
Dr. Rand Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. Elected in 2010, he has
proven to be an outspoken champion for constitutional liberties and fiscal responsibility,
and a warrior against government overreach. Among his first legislative proposals:
cutting $500 billion in federal spending and a plan to balance the federal budget in just
five years. He has since introduced similar bills with growing support. In the Senate,
Rand serves on the Foreign Relations, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions,
Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and Small Business Committees.
A graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, Rand was a practicing
ophthalmologist in Bowling Green, Ky., for 17 years.
In 1995, he founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that
provides eye exams and surgery to needy families and individuals. Today, even as a
U.S. Senator, he continues to provide pro-bono eye surgery to Kentuckians in need of
care.
Rand has been a vocal advocate for term limits, a balanced-budget amendment, a
Read the Bills Act, and an audit of the Federal Reserve. He has gained prominence for
his independent positions on many political issues.
In the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, Wisconsin governor Scott
Walker came in a close second. This is a reflection of the Walkers increasing popularity
among the partys most ardent Tea Party conservatives ahead of the 2016 elections.
The libertarian-leaning Paul, son of former congressman and presidential candidate
Ron Paul, led CPACs field of 17 hopefuls with 25.7 percent, compared to Walkers 21.4
percent.
Scott Walker is the only Republican to ever serve as Milwaukee County Executive. After
the special election in 2002, the voters honored him with full terms in 2004 and 2008. In
his last election, Scott received nearly 60% of the vote in a county that President
Obama carried with about two-thirds of the vote.
On January 3, 2011, Scott Walker was inaugurated as Wisconsins 45th Governor.
Since that day, he has proposed bold reforms that have eliminated the states $3.6
billion budget deficit without raising taxes and gave school districts and local
governments the tools to balance their budgets without the massive layoffs seen in
other states. To date, these profound changes have saved Wisconsin taxpayers some
$3 billion.
Governor Walker has also cut taxes by $2 billion for individuals, families, farmers,
seniors, and small businesses since taking office. In fact, after skyrocketing by 27
percent in the decade before Governor Walker took office, property taxes on a medianvalued home will actually be lower in 2014 than they were in 2010.
Governor Walker set an aggressive goal to help Wisconsins private sector create
250,000 jobs and he stands by it. Were not there yet, but were on our way. After years
of record job loss, Wisconsin has created over 100,000 jobs during the Walker
administration.

In fact, more jobs were created in Scott Walkers first three years than in former
Governor Jim Doyles first three years, more jobs were created in Scotts first three
years than in Doyles first four years, more jobs were created in Scotts first three years
than in all eight years of Jim Doyles time as Governor. Nearly twice as many jobs were
created during Scott Walkers first three years as were created during the three years
Mary Burke worked for Governor Doyle.
In the annual survey of job creators from the states chamber of commerce, 95% said
Wisconsin is headed in the right direction (compared to just 10% who said the same
thing in 2010). Chief Executive Magazines ranking of the best state for business moved
Wisconsin up from 41st in 2010 to 14th in 2014.
Governor Walkers number one priority is helping the people of this state create jobs.
He will keep that focus so that everyone who wants a job, can find a job.
On June 5, 2012, Scott Walker became the first governor in American history to win a
recall election. He won the election with more votes and by a higher percentage than he
had won in 2010. Since then, he has continued to push bold reforms that keep power in
the hands of the hard working taxpayers of Wisconsin.
In third, was Senator Ted Cruz with 11.5 percent; slightly ahead of Dr. Ben Carson, a
neurosurgeon who has emerged as a powerful conservative voice in recent years, who
received 11.4 percent.
In 2012, Ted Cruz was elected as the 34th U.S. Senator from Texas. A passionate
fighter for limited government, economic growth, and the Constitution, Ted won a
decisive victory in both the Republican primary and the general election, despite having
never before been elected to office.
Propelled by tens of thousands of grassroots activists across Texas, Teds election has
been described by the Washington Post as the biggest upset of 2012 . . . a true
grassroots victory against very long odds.
National Review has described Ted as a great Reaganite hope, columnist George Will
has described him as as good as it gets, and the National Federation of Independent
Business characterized his election as critical to the small-business owners in [Texas,
and], also to protecting free enterprise across America.
Teds calling to public service is inspired largely by his first-hand observation of the
pursuit of freedom and opportunity in America. Teds mother was born in Delaware to an
Irish and Italian working-class family; she became the first in her family to go to college,
graduated from Rice University with a degree in mathematics, and became a pioneering
computer programmer in the 1950s.
In recent years, Cruz fragmented his own party when he helped push the U.S.
government into shutdown over budget fights, and for opposing Republican leadership
on a series of issues.
Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, the Republicans forth pick, is an emeritus professor of
neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine, and he has directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Childrens
Center for over 39 years. He became the inaugural recipient of a professorship
dedicated in his name in May, 2008. He is now the Emeritus Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.,
M.D. and Dr. Evelyn Spiro, R.N. Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery, having retired on
June 30, 2013.

Some career highlights include the first separation of craniopagus (Siamese) twins
joined at the back of the head in 1987, the first completely successful separation of
type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africa, and the first successful
placement of an intrauterine shunt for a hydrocephalic twin. Although he has been
involved in many newsworthy operations, he feels that every case is noteworthy
deserving of maximum attention. He is interested in all aspects of pediatric
neurosurgery and has a special interest in trigeminal neuralgia (severe facial pain) in
adults.
Dr. Carson holds more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees. He is a member of the
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished
Americans, and many other prestigious organizations. He sits on the board of directors
of numerous organizations, including Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation,
the Academy of Achievement, and is an Emeritus Fellow of the Yale Corporation, the
governing body of Yale University. He was appointed in 2004 by President George W.
Bush to serve on the Presidents Council on Bioethics. He is a highly regarded
motivational speaker who has addressed various audiences from school systems and
civic groups to corporations and the Presidents National Prayer Breakfast.
Former governor Jeb Bush came in fifth. Jeb Bush is the 43rd governor of the State of
Florida, serving from 1999 through 2007. He was the third Republican elected to the
states highest office and the first Republican in the states history to be reelected.
Governor Bush remained true to his conservative principles throughout his two terms in
office cutting nearly $20 billion in taxes, vetoing more than $2.3 billion in earmarks
and reducing the state government workforce by more than 13,000. His limited
government approach helped unleash one of the most robust and dynamic economies
in the nation, creating 1.4 million net new jobs and improving the states credit ratings,
including achieving the first ever triple-A bond rating for Florida.
During his two terms, Governor Bush championed major reform of government, in areas
ranging from health care and environmental protection to civil service and tax reform.
His top priority was the overhaul of the states failing education system. Under Governor
Bushs leadership, Florida established a bold accountability system in public schools
and created the most ambitious school choice programs in the nation. Today, Florida
remains a national leader in education and continues to enjoy rising student
achievement.
After leaving office in 2007, Jeb returned to the private sector, where he reestablished
his career as a successful businessman, entrepreneur, and investor.
He has also maintained his passion for improving the quality of education for students
by founding and serving as the chairman of one of the nations leading conservative
education reform organizations, the Foundation for Excellence in Education. The 501c3
non-profit works with state and education leaders, teachers, and parents to develop and
implement reforms that lead to rising student achievement.
But the likely center-right candidate received a mixed reception, including heckles, when
he courted CPACs conservative attendees Friday.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose approval ratings have suffered a dramatic
slide in recent months, placed a dismal 10th with 2.8 percent.
A total of 3,007 votes were cast between Wednesday and Friday at CPAC, according to
a tally by The Washington Times, which helped organize the poll.

The vote is watched closely, not necessarily as a prediction of exactly who will emerge
as the Republican presidential nominee, but as a barometer of how the partys core
conservatives see those who might end up on the ballot.

GOPs net neutrality point

man says fight is not over
In a Meerkat interview, Sen. John Thune says the
emergence of future Meerkats is threatened by net
neutrality
https://news.yahoo.com/gop-s-net-neutrality-point-man-says-fight-is-notover-222832704.html
March 3, 2015 6:28 PM

By Jon Ward

View photo

In this June 20, 2014 file photo, Sen. John Thune, of South Dakota, speaks at the
South Dakota Republican Convention in Rapid City, S.D. Midwestern lawmakers and
farmers are shifting the attention of a locomotive and railcar shortage problem to
Washington this week with legislation, a committee hearing and meetings with decision
makers. Thune, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation, said Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, he and committee chairman
Sen. John Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virginia, are introducing legislation to
give the national Surface Transportation Board more eciency and authority, in hopes
of easing the problem. (AP Photo/Toby Brusseau)

WASHINGTON The Republican Partys point man in Congress on

net neutrality admitted Tuesday that the party has been slow to act on
the issue, but insisted that Congress must be the body setting the
rules for how the Internet will be regulated instead of the FCC.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the third-ranking Senate Republican and

the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, spoke with Yahoo
News in an interview conducted over Meerkat, a messaging app that
broadcasts live video in real time to Twitter.

Thune said he intends to make a push for Congress to pass

legislation while courts litigate the rules passed by the Federal
Communications Commission last week subjecting the Internet to
regulation under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. Behemoth
Internet service providers Verizon and Comcast are expected to bring
lawsuits against the new rules.

The FCC is going to end up in court, probably for years. And theres
going to be a lot of legal uncertainty associated with this. So
Congress can create clear rules of the road, Thune said. We think
that to achieve what people want in the end which is an open
Internet the way to do that is to have Congress step in and
establish clear rules of the road rather than rely on a statute thats
literally 80 years old."

Thune said his proposed legislation would prevent a lot of the things
that people are concerned about in particular the intentional
slowing of online trac, the blocking of lawful content by ISPs, or a
requirement to pay higher fees for faster speeds without giving
this incredible amount of power and authority to the FCC, which
comes with a lot of downside risk for consumers out there.

In other words, Thune does not believe there is no need to regulate

the Internet, but believes that the proper referees for disputes over
Internet resources should be Congress and the court system, rather
than political appointees and appointees at a federal agency.

Thune speculated that innovative new products like Meerkat might

not see the light of day if the FCC remains the place where the
Internet is regulated.

Allowing the FCC to regulate net neutrality has some serious

implications for access to the Internet, cost, investment in the Internet
and its future, technologies like [Meerkat], cutting-edge type things
where in the past weve had a light touch regulatory regime thats
really encouraged and enabled innovation, Thune said. The regime
that would be implemented under the FCC could shut it down, he
said.

Still, Republicans are late to this debate. Proponents of having the

FCC regulate the Web have been making their case for years, while
the GOP has largely ignored the issue. Even last week, days after the
FCC had passed its new rules by a 3-to-2 vote, Republican
presidential candidates at the Conservative Political Action
Conference mentioned net neutrality only once, and that was in
response to a question during a question and answer session.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, when asked how he would respond as

president to the FCCs new rules, said, On that or any other
principle, to me the guiding principle should be freedom. He
muttered an aside about having the government out of the way and
then moved on. He said nothing of substance that indicated he knew
anything more than the average American about the issue.

And that has been the problem write large for the GOP, which Thune
acknowledged.

That may be true, he said when asked if the GOP has been caught
o guard by the movement on net neutrality.

We didnt realize they were headed down this path until November of
last year when the president made it clear that he wanted the Internet
basically to be treated as a public utility, he said. There are a lot of
people across the country who are just now starting to pay closer
attention to this.

Thune also said that Republicans have failed to communicate

eectively with younger Americans, who care more about net
neutrality than their elders. Were using social media platforms
through the committee, but I dont think theres really been an attempt
to broadcast what the implications of this decision by the FCC mean
for people under 30, he said.

Scott Walker may have been

biggest winner at conservative
conference
http://www.bradenton.com/2015/03/03/5668204_scott-walker-may-have-beenbiggest.html?rh=1
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
March 3, 2015

!
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker waves while speaking during the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. Thirteen
potential candidates each got 20 minutes before the Conservative Political Action
Conference. Walker got the loudest applause.
CLIFF OWEN AP

Scott Walker may have won the Conservative Political Action Conference
after all.

David Catanese of U.S. News & World Report writes that according to a
measurement of media impact by GOP consulting firm The Gage Group
and social analytics company General Sentiment, the Wisconsin governor
had the events biggest media value share. He got a 25 percent share,
followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs 23 percent.
The data were compiled from combing Twitter, Facebook, news websites,
blogs, comment sections and forum postings for candidate names and
associated hashtags and keywords, and assigning a value to all of the
mentions on a scale determined by sentiment.
Heres how it works, according to Catanese:
Each media mention is assigned a dollar value, and the more positive the
coverage, the higher dollar value it receives. The idea, says GOP targeter
Alex Gage, is to measure a brands reach and place a hard number on the
overall level of exposure a candidate gets over a given time frame. In
shorthand, he refers to it as a candidates kindling effect.
CPAC took a straw poll, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., won. Walker was
second, and Bush was fifth.
But Catanese wrote that any buzz around Paul was trumped by Walker
and even Bush.

Ben Carson Takes Big

Step Toward
Presidential Bid
In busy news cycle, Hopkins' neurosurgeon
among first to formally explore 2016 campaign.
By Ron Cassie. Posted on March 03, 2015
http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/2015/3/3/ben-carson-takes-big-steptoward-presidential-bid


Huffington Post

BLOG SECTION SPONSORSHIPS Travel Style & Shopping

It's been a hectic 24 hours.
Monday morning, Sen. Barbara Mikulski surprised the political world by
announcing that she would not seek reelection in 2016, immediately
setting off a day of wild speculation about potential contenders to fill her
shoes.
Then, this morning, the presumed Democratic frontrunner for her seat,
former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, issued a statement praising
Mikulski's record, but declaring that he would not be a candidate for her
office. He has been, after all, making the rounds in Iowa, New
Hampshire, and South Carolinaearly presidential primary states
where, it is presumed, he will eventually throw his hat in the ring.
Which brings us to renowned former Johns Hopkins' neurosurgeon Dr.
Ben Carson. The 63-year-old conservative Republican launched a formal
presidential exploratory committee Tuesdaya key move that allows
him to start raising money now for a campaign should he decide to enter
the race. He made the announcement via video on his new website,
which highlights his compelling personal story, groundbreaking career in
pediatric neurosurgery, and philanthropy.
In his nearly 4-minute video announcement, Carson, who has never held
elected office, says, "All of us are frustrated with the way Washington
has let us down. Career politicians simply don't understand the
disappointment, anger, and pain in real America."
He says that if he receives enough encouragement and support over the
next few months, he'll make for a run for president.
Although Carson has at times created controversy with his public
remarks, such as expressing his opposition to same-sex marriage and
Obamacare, as well as his creationist views, he remains popular among
conservatives. At the recent, annual Conservative Political Action
Conference in National Harbor, MD, Carson finished fourth in the straw
poll with 11.4 percent of the vote, after Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul with
25.7 percent, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with 21.4 percent, and Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz with 11.5 percent.

It's worth noting that Carson outpolled former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush,
who finished with 8.3 percent of the tally, as well as Florida Sen. Marco
Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Texas Gov. Rick Perryall
of whom received less than 4 percent of the vote. Carson, who has often
appeared on Fox News as a political commentator, discussed his
potential bid on Meet the Press this past weekend. At this point, there
seems little to indicate why he wouldn't run.
In fact, Carson, who talks often about his religious faith, may play
particularly well in the Iowa Republican caucus and South Carolina
primary if former Gov. Mike Huckabee does not enter the race.
O'Malley, on the other hand, has struggled to make much of dent in
national Democratic presidential polls, and recently tried to distance
himself from Hillary Clinton.
Time will tell if Carson or O'Malley will be able to gain traction in their
potential primary campaign efforts, but what does seem clear is that
neither man lacks ambition for the job.

Ben Carson files to run for

president in 2016
BY TIM CAVANAUGH | MARCH 3, 2015 | 2:31 PM

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ben-carson-files-to-run-for-presidentin-2016/article/2560981

In this Feb. 26, 2015 file photo, Ben Carson speaks in National Harbor, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn

Ben Carson is ocially running for president.

The retired director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital

announced Tuesday that he had filed paperwork with the Federal Elections
Commission to run in what is expected to be a crowded 2016 presidential
race.

Carson, a 2008 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is

celebrated for a successful 1987 operation that separated twins joined at
the head. He has also written a series of inspirational books detailing his
views on patriotism and citizenship, as well as an emotional memoir of his
hardscrabble youth and rise to the top of the medical profession.

But it was his unexpected criticisms of President Obama at a 2013 prayer

breakfast that thrust him to the center of American politics. While he has
no prior political experience and his policy comments have occasionally

raised eyebrows among the media and the GOP establishment, the brain
surgeon has attracted a zealous and active following. Carson supporters
were highly visible and numerous at last week's Conservative Political
Action Conference near Washington, D.C.

The list of prominent Republicans hoping to run next year is exceedingly

long, and includes senators, governors, former politicians of various
stripes and at least one business leader former Hewlett-Packard CEO
Carly Fiorina. But Carson is the first of the likely candidates to file
paperwork.

He's not the first GOP candidate at all, however. That distinction belongs
to perennial candidate Jack Fellure of Hurricane, West Virginia, who filed
his intention to run immediately after the 2012 presidential election but no
longer has the GOP field to himself.

The text of Carson's email to supporters follows:

Dear American,
Yesterday, I filed with the Federal Election Commission the necessary
paperwork to formally consider a run for President of the United States in
2016.
Let me tell you why I'm taking this step today, and how you can help.
For many years, I have traveled the country closely studying our politics. I
believe we are on the verge of robbing our children of the American Dream.
We are racking up a virtually insurmountable debt, stifling our economic
potential and placing our children's future at risk.
At home and abroad, we are silencing honest debate about our challenges,
our differences and our culture, all in the name of political correctness.
We are ceding more and more power to Washington bureaucrats at the
expense of our personal liberty, ignoring the wisdom of our founders who
risked their lives to form "a more perfect union."
Too many of our children are trapped in failing schools and find themselves
thrust into a deadly cycle of crime, dependence and despair.
Over the course of thousands of operations as the head of pediatric
neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, I have spent most of my adult life
caring for very ill children. As co-founder of the non-profit Carson Scholars
Fund, my wife Candy and I have spent years helping children find their own
inspiration to reach their full, God-given potential.
In many ways, that is the duty of my generation to do everything in our
power to give the next generation the opportunity to achieve greatness.
I believe that with hard work and determined leadership, greatness is within
our grasp. America was founded on the self-evident truth that we as a nation
have the right to think big and pursue happiness.

It is this core principle that allowed me, a young boy, raised in Detroit by a
single, illiterate but determined mother, to overcome poverty, bad grades, and
low self-esteem to become one of the world's leading physicians.
I've decided to explore a potential run for the office of President because I
believe my values, life experience, and willingness to speak the truth and seek
solutions, prepares me well to lead our nation toward more prosperity,
security, and freedom for every American.
As I travel around the country to listen, learn and determine whether or not
this is a race I can win, your financial support during the next two months will
be extremely helpful.
To make a secure contribution to my exploratory committee now, please go
here.
I look forward to working with you, and the rest of our fellow citizens to restore
the promise of America.
Thank you, and God Bless America.
Sincerely,
Ben Carson

Ben Carson: It's time for my

Iowa fans to join me
Jennifer Jacobs, jejacobs@dmreg.com 5:51 p.m. CST March 3, 2015

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/03/
ben-carson-time-iowa-fans-join/24322869/

!
(Photo: Charlie Litchfield/The Register)

Ben Carson says it's time for all of his Iowa supporters to come into the fold
with him.
Passionate conservatives have been trying to draft Carson, a retired
pediatric brain surgeon and book author, into the 2016 presidential race. It's
looking more likely that they will get their way.
Carson has formally created a presidential exploratory committee called
Carson America, he said Tuesday morning.
"Now we want the people who have been running around with our signs to
officially join our organization," Carson told The Des Moines Register in a
telephone interview. "They're in Iowa. They're in every state."
Various groups have been doing legwork for Carson.
The National Draft Ben Carson For President Committee has at least 300
Iowans, including one person in all 99 counties, promoting him to fellow
voters. Hundreds more are on a mailing list, organizers said.
An issue advocacy group Carson was associated with called American
Legacy Center, which can accept unlimited donations without disclosing its
donors, hired Iowa tea party activist Ryan Rhodes in mid-January to
organize in Iowa. And Carson has been raising money through USA First, a
political action committee with a "Join us!" option on its website.
On Tuesday, Carson told the Register that his new website,
www.bencarson.com/explore/, is a place where volunteers can unite.
"We wanted to make it really easy for people," he said. "We're ready to
invite those people in to help."
Dallas County Republican Christi Taylor, the Iowa co-chair of National Draft
Ben Carson movement, told the Register. "My reaction is: 'It's about time
exclamation point!' To me this means we have successfully encouraged a
highly qualified and brilliant man to consider running for our highest office in
our country."
Taylor said she and her husband, Rob, a state legislator, will be the Iowa
co-chairs for Carson's exploratory committee. Rhodes will officially join
Team Carson in the next month, he said.
Carson told the Register he will announce in two months whether or not
he's running for president. "That will really depend on how much support
we get," he said.
Carson leapt into national headlines when he took some jabs at President
Barack Obama at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast - as Obama sat
nearby. Since then, Carson has delivered several speeches in Iowa,
stressing how he overcame poverty in his youth in Detroit to become head
of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

Carson has polled well with Iowa GOP activists. And last weekend, national
conservatives at the CPAC conference put him in fourth place in their straw
poll of favorite presidential contenders.
"If you're pro-life, you're 'anti-woman,'" he said in his CPAC remarks. "If
you're pro-traditional family, you're a 'homophobe.' If you're white, and you
oppose a progressive black person, you're 'racist.' If you're black and you
oppose a progressive agenda, you're 'crazy.' And if you're black and you're
pro-life and you're pro-traditional family, they don't even know what to call
you. You end up on some kind of watch list for extremists."

Ben Carson investigates

running for 2016 Republican
presidential nomination
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ben-carson-mulls-running-president-2016article-1.2135846

Tuesday, March 3, 2015, 1:42 PM

BY CELESTE KATZ

!
CAROLYN KASTER/AP

Ben Carson arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action

Conference on Thursday.

The doctor is in.

Baltimore pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson announced Tuesday that
he has filed paperwork to launch an exploratory committee to investigate a
run for the 2016 Republican nomination for President.
The surgeon, who railed against Obamacare at the Conservative Political
Action Conference last week and placed fourth in the activists' straw poll
also fired up a new website, bencarson.com, to promote his potential
candidacy.
"In every aspect of Dr. Carson's life, he has exemplified true leadership.
Overcoming dire poverty in his youth to become head of pediatric
neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Carson is uniquely situated to
understand the needs and hopes of all Americans," Terry Giles, Carson's
longtime friend and "prospective campaign manager," said in a release.
Carson, 63, has attracted Tea Party loyalists with his message about
lessening government dependency and slashing the national debt.

The Draft Ben Carson

Movement Is Having a
Great Day
On Tuesday, the retired neurosurgeon became the first
Republican to officially jump into the presidential pool.
BY EMMA ROLLER
March 3, 2015
http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/the-draft-bencarson-movement-is-having-a-great-day-20150303
Dr. Ben Carson is scrubbing in.
In a video released Tuesday, Carsona retired neurosurgeon
who has quickly become the most prominent black leader in
the Republican Partyannounced the launch of his
exploratory committee to run for president.
"If I run for president, it will be because I know what it's like to grow up in a
tough neighborhood and feel marginalized. If I run, it will be because I know
firsthand that quality education is the ladder to climb out of poverty and
dependence," Carson said in the video. "While I don't claim to have all the
answers to every question that plagues us, I do have a passion to reach

out, listen, and build commonsense solutions to the problems that are
holding us back as a nation."
He is the first Republican considering a 2016 bid to set up an exploratory
committee. In November, Jim Webb became the first (and, so far, only)
prominent Democrat to do so.
insert catalyst after 5 paragraphs
While no other prominent Republican has formed an exploratory committee
yet, nearly all of the politicians seriously considering a presidential run have
either established vaguely named leadership PACs or tax-exempt 527
groups to start fundraising on a national scale. Carson himself has a
leadership PAC, USA First, which he launched last fall.
It's worth noting that the presence of Carson's exploratory committee,
Carson America, does not mean Carson is now an official presidential
candidateonly that he is "exploring" that possibility. Carson has said he
will officially decide whether he will run for president by May 1.
As Ron Elving wrote in 2006, the announcement of the exploratory
committee is a long-held political tradition for garnering media attention and
raising money without having to fully disclose the source of donations:
Candidates use an exploratory committee as not only a transitional phase
for their bookkeeping but as an extra claim on media attention. Some of the
most skillful handlers like to leak word that their candidate is testing the
waters, then leak word that he or she is thinking about forming an
exploratory committee. Additional "news" can be made when the same
candidate actually forms such a committee and registers with the Federal
Election Commission. Yet a fourth round of attention may be generated
when the word exploratory gets dropped from the committee filing.
Carson's announcement comes shortly after his speech to the
Conservative Political Action Conference, where he offered his take on
Obamacare, Common Core, and Israel.
At the end of the day on Friday, the National Draft Ben Carson for
President Committeewhich changed its name on Monday to the "2016
Committee" to get ahead of campaign finance lawshosted a cocktail
reception for Carson supporters, offering swag such as Carson '16 bumper
stickers and Carson-themed calendars. The crowd of supporters skewed
older, with a handful of college students scattered throughout. As attendees

noshed on cheese and crackers, beef kabobs, and mini empanadas, the
leaders of the Draft Carson group trumpeted their accomplishments.
John Philip Sousa IV, the straight-talking chairman of the Draft Carson
groupand great-grandson of the famous march composersaid his team
has raised $15 million so far. "Eat your heart out, Hillary!" Sousa said on
Friday. Tami Cali, a senior adviser to the draft committee, said the group
was "more than certain" that Carson would soon announce an exploratory
committee. She was right.
That trumpeting will surely continue this week. Vernon Robinson, the draft
committee's campaign director, said his group's volunteers were essential
to convincing Carson to take this step, and noted that this is the first
successful conservative draft since the effort to draft Barry Goldwater in
1964.
"The 30,000 volunteers who played a central role in changing Dr. and Mrs.
Carson's mind about running for president are the real heroes," Robinson
told National Journalon Tuesday. "Nobody creates an exploratory
committee now just to explore. If they create an exploratory committee,
they're running."
Robinson partially credited the success of the draft campaign to Carson's
book tour last summer.
"Thousands of our volunteers showed up at that book tour with Run Ben
Run banners," Robinson said. "I think that the volunteers who rallied to the
cause of drafting Ben Carson get almost all the credit for changing his
mind."
Whether or not the draft committee had a significant impact on Carson's
decision, it's clear that his camp intends to take his candidacy seriously.
Carson's team recently hired three Republican operatives who worked on
Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, and the hires keep rolling in.
However, Carson will still have considerable hurdles to overcome, including
the inevitable claims of his inexperience working in politics.
Liberals may scoff at the idea of Carson as a viable candidate, but as Fred
Barnes recently wrote in The Weekly Standard, Carson should not be so
easily dismissed. He has a compelling personal storyperhaps more so
than any Republican he's up againsthe's staffing up with veteran GOP
operatives, and he has proven himself to be a formidable fundraiser. A
Gallup Pollin December found that Carson is the sixth-most-admired man
in the U.S., in between George W. Bush and Stephen Hawking.

Robinson said his group is "ecstatic" about the news, and he said it will
help his group draft not only Carson, but also draft a message to push with
media outlets and the group's 500,000 email subscribers.
"There's a Message of the Week meeting in 12 minutes," Robinson said.
"Sometimes we don't have a Message of the Week, and we have to punt.
At least we won't have to worry about that today."

Ben Carson forms presidential

exploratory committee
Published March 03, 2015

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/03/carson-forms-presidential-exploratorycommittee/



March 8, 2014: Possible GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson at the Conservative Political
Action Conference, in Oxon Hill, Md.(REUTERS)

Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson has filed paperwork to

create a presidential exploratory committee, making him the first

high-profile Republican candidate to begin raising money for a

potential White House bid.

Carson filed the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission

late Monday.

For the next few months, Dr. Carson looks forward to listening to
the American people to gauge support for a presidential
candidacy,said Terry Giles, who was recently named campaign
chairman. Obviously, this is a very big step.

The 63-year-old Carson rose to national prominence after

criticizing President Obama's health care law at the 2013
National Prayer breakfast. He quickly developed a loyal following
among the GOP's most conservative voters.

Similar to a presidential campaign committee, an exploratory

committee allows Carson to begin raising money for a White
House bid.

While popular among conservatives, Carson remains largely

unknown to many voters.

"We realize we have to build a bridge from the far right to what I
call the center-Democrats," Giles said.

Carson finished fourth in a 2016 GOP presidential straw poll at

last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest
annual gathering of conservative activists. He finished behind
Kentucky Sen.Rand Paul, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Carson's committee on Tuesday announced the names of several

people to its senior political team including Ed Brookover as a
senior strategist. Brookover previously worked on various
Washington-based Republican campaign committees.

The committee also announced that Doug Watts will be Carson

America's communications director, overseeing media,
advertising and social media activities, according to the
committee.

Watts has directed dozens of legislative, congressional and

initiative campaigns, including the advertising programs for
Reagan-Bush '84.

The committee has already hired former Newt Gingrich aide Ruth
Sherlock to serve as state director in South Carolina; Je Reeter,
of Houston, to be national finance chairman; and Mike Murray to
runsmall-dollar fundraising, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Murray is the chief executive ocer of direct marketing company

TMA Direct Inc.

Carson also will soon likely name a communications director,

campaign manager and two deputy campaign managers, Giles
said, adding that they are also building teams in Iowa and South
Carolina.

His national headquarters will be in the Virginia suburbs just

outside Washington.

While the exploratory committee doesn't compel Carson to run,

he is expected to launch a formal campaign in late spring.

"I'm certainly very hopeful that he will announce in May," Giles

said. "I think there's a great likelihood he will."

Before he retired, Carson was the director of pediatric

neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

Opinion: Bush must speak truth to GOP

voters
http://www.kesq.com/news/opinion-bush-must-speak-truth-to-gop-voters/
31572374
By Ruben Navarrette CNN Contributor
POSTED: 03:21 PM PST Mar 02, 2015

(CNN) When Jeb Bush spoke last week at the Conservative Political Action
Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, the likely GOP presidential
hopeful did better than expected.
Of course, that could have been because expectations were so low.
You remember "Bush Derangement Syndrome." When George W. Bush
was president, it afflicted liberals who thought the chief executive couldn't
do anything right. Now that Jeb might run for president in 2016, the
condition vexes conservatives who believe that when it comes to choosing
the GOP nominee, the former Florida governor is all wrong.
During Bush's speech, a few dozen supporters of Sen. Rand Paul of
Kentucky -- wearing red T-shirts with the words "Stand With Rand" -walked out and later blasted Bush as insufficiently conservative.
But what should really count for a lot is that Bush is sufficiently competent.
He's the grownup in a roomful of extremists who -- as they compare union
members to ISIS (Scott Walker) or vow to abolish the IRS (Ted Cruz) or
bash the media (Chris Christie) -- seem most interested in applause lines.
Bush is a serious person with a serious shot at the presidency, something
that you just can't say about all Republicans who appear to be running.
As someone who is bilingual and whose wife hails from Mexico, Bush can
hit Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, where it hurts by carving
into her Latino support. In his 1998 gubernatorial election, and 2002 reelection, Bush received over 60 percent of the Latino vote.

And it's no secret that, for many Latinos who might vote for Bush, the
make-or-break issue is immigration.
That's because many Latinos see immigration as a way of determining a
candidate's character. Latinos will be watching to see if Bush stands up to
the pressure from extremists to join the GOP's closed border chorus.
They're used to being thrown under the bus by politicians who sacrifice
Latinos to gin up support from non-Latinos. And they won't put up with it.
So which way is Bush going to go on immigration?
For many years, he extolled the contributions of immigrants and expressed
dismay that elements of his party are closed-minded and mean-spirited on
the issue. He even acknowledged that, to many, the party is seen as "antiimmigrant."
Lately, though, Bush has injected more nuance into his views -- and turned
them mushy in the process.
On the question of whether undocumented youth should have a path to
citizenship, for example, Bush at first supported the idea, then he opposed
it. And most recently, he has said that he could support such a path if
Congress mandates it.
On the Arizona immigration law, Bush apparently likes the concept of
enlisting local police to be "the eyes and ears" of the border patrol. But he
has also been sympathetic to critics who worry that this will lead to ethnic
profiling of Latinos.
Too often, Bush leaves the impression that he'll say whatever he needs to
say to avoid conflict.
So it was actually refreshing to see Bush use his appearance at CPAC -which took the form of an onstage interview by conservative talk show host
Sean Hannity -- to once again speak plainly. In response to questions,
Bush emphasized the need to secure the U.S. border, insisted that
immigration policy should be driven by economic concerns and the need for
high-skilled immigrants, and reaffirmed support for giving undocumented
immigrants driver's licenses and in-state tuition at public colleges and
universities.
The crowd booed that last one.
Bush criticized President Obama's executive actions to prioritize
deportations, but also bashed Republicans in Congress for protesting that
policy by holding up funds for the Department of Homeland Security.
Finally, in response to what is often the most contentious aspect of this
debate, Bush also stressed the need to create a path to citizenship for
millions of illegal immigrants who are currently in the United States.

"I know there's disagreement here," he said. "The simple fact is that there
is no plan to deport 11 million people. We should give them a path to legal
status where they work...and contribute to our society."
More boos.
The way Bush sees it, the GOP is good at being against things but "we
have to start being for things again."
In response to a heckler, Bush stared out into the crowd to address his
critic.
"I'm marking you down as neutral," he told the heckler. "I'll look forward to
being your second choice."
Not even close. In the Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference
straw poll of 3,007 participants, Bush came in fifth out of 17 candidates with
just 8 percent of the vote. First place went to Rand Paul, who earned 25.7
percent.

Reason Triumphs over Common Core

Opponents
March 02, 2015 by Anne Kim
http://republic3-0.com/reason-triumphs-over-common-coreopponents/

Common Core opponents are losing the fight a

hopeful sign that sound policy can trump ideology.

Ask any parent of a school-age child: Its not unreasonable to

expect some objective measures of achievement.


First-graders should know how to count to 100 and add and

subtract up to 20. Third graders should know the dierence
between a noun and a verb. High school seniors should be able to
solve basic problems in algebra and write essays using facts to
support opinions.
Standards such as these have been voluntarily adopted by 43
states and the District of Columbia. But these standards also bear

the label of Common Core now fighting words amongcertain

conservatives for whom theCommon Core isas anathema as
Obamacare.
For the past several years, activists have waged war against
states adoption of Common Core State Standards, and so far this
year, theyve persuaded lawmakers in19 statesto introduce
legislation proposing their repeal.
But for all the sound and fury, Common Core opponents have
accomplished next to nothing, succeeding in just one state
Oklahoma. And while some may see the right wings losing fight
against the Common Core as simply evidence of their waning
political muscle, the real reason behind these losses is an
optimistic one: the Common Core remains intact because its
good policy. In a political landscape littered with the victims of
ideological warfare, this is one battle where common sense is
prevailing over demagoguery.
While Common Core opponents have sought to cast the standards
as just another egregious example of federal over-reach (i.e. by
President Obama), these charges have foundered on the shoals of
reality.
For one thing, the Common Core State Standards are the
consensus product of astate-drivenprocess, led by state school
chiefs and governors from all but a tiny minority of states, that
began in 2009. Although the federal government has taken a few
steps to endorse the Common Cores adoption, a federal power
grab this certainly isnt.
Second, the Common Core State Standards have the staunch
support of the business community, long distressed by the
ongoing shortage of skilled workers. Both theChamber of

Commerceand theBusiness Roundtable, for example, have

invested major resources garnering support for the Common
Core, including through grass-roots campaigns and lobbying.
The business communitys self-interest in an educated workforce
isnt hard to grasp. While the Census Bureau reports that
roughly42 percentof Americans over age 25 now have an
associates degree or more (a marked improvement), its far short
of what the U.S. economy needs and far behind what our
international competitors are achieving.
Georgetown UniversitysCenter on Education and the
Workforceestimates that two-thirds of jobs by the end of the
decade will require some sort of post-secondary credential. Yet
theLumina Foundationreports that America ranks 11thglobally in
post-secondary achievement, and in countries such as South
Korea, Japan and Canada, the percentage of post-secondary
graduates is already at or above 60 percent.
The shortage of skilled workers is acute even in manufacturing,
which is increasingly technology-driven. The Manufacturing
Institutes 2015skills gap reportpredicts that while manufacturing
will generate 3.5 million jobs over the next decade, as many as 2
million jobs will go unfilled for lack of skilled workers.
But perhaps the most significant hurdle for Common Core
opponents is that theyve posited no practical alternative to its
repeal thereby rendering their opposition substantively
meaningless.
Theres a big dierence between what sounds good politically
and what actually makes sense legislatively, said Karen Nussle,
Executive Director of the Collaborative for Student Success, in a
recent briefing for reporters.

As a case in point, Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Michael

Petrilli cites the experience of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who
acquiesced to a do-over of the states standards at the behest of
his Tea Party base.
[Pence] had a group work on new standards, Petrilli told
reporters. And guess what? They looked a lot like the Common
Core. Petrilli continued: Thats because reading is reading, and
math is math.
In a hopeful sign for future pragmatism in politics as well as in
policy, GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush recentlydefended his
support of Common Core standards at conservatisms signature
confab, the Conservative Political Action Conference in
Washington, D.C., arguing that the Common Core isnt the
federal takeover of education its detractors have claimed.
While there are certainly plenty of issues where ideology, not
sound policy, continues to carry the day, the triumph of reason in
the Common Core debate may signify a broader thaw in the
deadlocked politics of today.

Scott Walker may have been real winner at

CPAC auditions

Associated Press
Gov. Scott Walker waves as he walks off-stage after addressing the Conservative
Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., last Thursday.

By Doyle Mcmanus
March 2, 2015
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/scott-walker-may-havebeen-real-winner-at-cpac-auditions-b99454448z1-294706601.html
The fervent Republicans who throng the Conservative Political Action
Conference every year aren't representative of the American electorate.
They aren't even representative of the GOP electorate. For four of the last

five years, their straw poll for president has chosen Rand Paul or Ron Paul.
These are not everyday Republicans.
Yet the conference, which took place Thursday through Saturday, is still an
important event "the starting gun of the Republican primary campaign," in
the words of one veteran GOP strategist. It's the first real national audition
for potential Republican candidates, all on the same stage, one after the
other even if the TV audience is only on C-SPAN. And a good performance
can help recruit conservative foot soldiers across the country.
Here's what we learned: Bush has staying power, despite conservatives'
suspicion that he's a closet moderate. Scott Walker, the governor of
Wisconsin, is hot the new more-conservative hope to stop the Bush
juggernaut. Sens. Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) could rise if
Walker stumbles. Chris Christie looks like a spent force. And Rand Paul is still
Rand Paul.
Yes, it's still early; none of these proto-candidates has even announced
formally that he's running. But it wasn't too early for each to deploy
campaign buttons and T-shirts in CPAC's big convention hall. And that means
it isn't too early to describe the rough shape of the 2016 GOP field: no single
front-runner, but four or five candidates who are most likely to succeed.
Bush didn't have the attendees on his side. There was a smattering of
catcalls when he took the stage; a flag-waving activist in a Revolutionary
War uniform led a decorous walkout of about two dozen.
But Bush's organization had salted the room with supporters a page from
Practical Politics 101 and their cheers beat back the boos. Bush sensibly
tackled the two issues on which he has diverged from his party orthodoxy
immigration and education and while he attempted to make his positions
sound as conservative as possible, he didn't trim them much.
"It's fine to oppose the bad things," Bush said. "We need to start being for
things again." It was a solid, steady performance before a tough audience,
and a step Bush needed, to remind GOP voters that he's a conservative, too.
But the real winner of the event may have been Walker, the usually taciturn
governor of Wisconsin, who brought the audience to its feet with an
animated speech full of red meat.
"There's a reason we celebrate July 4 and not April 15," Walker said. "We
celebrate our independence from government, not dependence on it. Get
government out of the way."
He listed his actions as governor confronting public employee unions,
lowering taxes, pushing anti-abortion legislation, lowering restrictions on
concealed firearms and said they showed that he is "someone who's going
to fight."
He stumbled when, asked how he would handle Islamic terrorists, he
suggested his experience as governor covered that, too. "If I could take on

100,000 protesters (in Wisconsin), I can do the same across the world," he
said a parallel that doesn't hold up long.
But his audience hardly noticed.
One more lesson: Republicans will be talking a lot about foreign policy in this
campaign.
The growing hawkishness in conservative ranks is a bad sign for Rand Paul,
who has broken with most of his colleagues to urge restraint in U.S. foreign
policy. But it's in keeping with recent polls that show most voters holding
more confidence in Republicans than Democrats on foreign policy a
reversal of a GOP slump after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
What was missing from CPAC? Any sign of the intellectual ferment in
conservative think tanks about how to address the stagnant incomes of the
American middle class. Most speakers stuck to more traditional fare: smaller
government, lower taxes, less regulation. There are new ideas in the
Republican Party, but this, it seems, was neither the time nor the place.
But election day 2016 is still a year and a half away. On the Republican side,
they're off and (almost) running.

Jeb Bush stands up to

conservative jeers
Kathie Obradovich, kobradov@dmreg.com
3:16 p.m. CST February 28, 2015

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/
kathie-obradovich/caucus/2015/02/27/cpac-live-coverage-kathieobradovich/23993973/

!
(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told groaning and booing members of a
conservative crowd on Friday that he'd like to be their second choice if he
runs for president.
"First of all, for those that, uh, made an 'ooo' sound is that what it was?
I'm marking them down as neutral and I want to be your second choice if I
decide to go beyond this," Bush said at the Conservative Political Action
Conference near Washington, D.C.
Bush is often labeled with the "m-word," moderate for some of his
education policies and stands on immigration. He chose a different label
when asked during a 25-minute, on-stage interview with Sean Hannity from
FOX News.
"I would describe myself as a practicing, reform-minded conservative and
I've actually done it," Bush said.
Hannity focused most of his questions on the two issues most often used to
tar Bush as too moderate: immigration and Common Core standards for
education.
Bush emphasized points of agreement with the audience, emphasizing the
border must be secured before anything else is done. He said Congress
should pass a bill to block President Obama's executive actions on
immigration and that unaccompanied youth who crossed over from Central
America should have been sent home from the border.

!
DES MOINES REGISTER

CPAC message: Washington is washed up

However, he also said he believes the country needs "economic-driven"
immigrants, including a path to legal status for people here illegally. He said
instead of pitting immigrants against American citizens in a competition for
scarce jobs, focus on growing the economy so there are plenty of jobs for
everyone. He also didn't back down from legislation passed in his state to

in-state tuition for children who came into the country illegally. He pointed
out that it was signed into law by a "conservative" governor, Rick Scott.
On education, he noted that education standards were part of a
comprehensive set of reforms that also included school vouchers and other
school-choice options. "We did all this, and we raised standards" so that
students who finish high school are career or college ready, he said.
Then, he said the federal government should stay out of setting standards
and cut strings to federal money for using Common Core standards. "The
role of the federal government, if there's any, is to provide incentives for
more school choice," he said.
Bush, the last of a two-day lineup of potential 2016 presidential candidates,
was also the one most often jabbed and reviled by previous speakers.
Hannity surveyed audience members earlier in the day about their choice
for the GOP nomination. Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie both
drew louder boos than applause.
It was interesting that both Bush and Christie also sat for interviews -- Bush
with Hannity, Christie with radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham -- instead
of giving speeches. Maybe that was CPAC's way of trying to keep hostile
audience members at bay.
It didn't stop other speakers from savaging Bush, whose brother and father
are former presidents. Ingraham suggested Bush and Hillary Clinton run on
the same ticket.
"I mean, go through the list of things they agree on: Common Core,
amnesty, giving Obama fast-track trade authority, allowing the trade deals
with China, the surveillance culture," she said. "I'm designing a bumper
sticker. It could be Clush 2016: What difference does it make?"
Ingraham also made some nasty and inappropriate personal attacks
against Bush and his wife. I don't need to repeat them but suffice to say
they showed how much venom some conservatives have for Bush.
Bush may be trying to put his record in the most "right" light, but he showed
poise and strength in standing up to such vitriol and trying to win over
skeptics. As the interview went on, he was applauded much more than he
was booed. He may not have won their votes, but he deserved their
respect.
Rand Paul calls for strong defense, cautious foreign policy
Sen. Rand Paul, often accused of isolationist foreign policy, said Friday he
just wants to follow the Constitution.
Paul, R-Kentucky, said his priority is always national defense. On foreign
policy, however, Republicans are not all the same.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Photo:
Carolyn Kaster, AP)

"On one end, there are people who believe we should never be anywhere
outside our borders. On the other end, there are people who believe we
should be everywhere, all the time. I think really, in the end what we should
do is obey the Constitution," Paul said.
Specifically, he said the Constitution says war should be initiated and
declared by Congress. "We must protect ourselves from jihadists without
losing who we are as a people in the process," he said. "We must think
before we act."
Paul wasn't among speakers rattling the saber against ISIS but he was
particularly sharp in his criticism of former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton's record. He argued that toppling secular dictators leads to the
growth of radical despots. "Hillary's war in Libya allowed thousands of
surface-to-air missiles to fall into the hands of radical Islamists," he said.
Both former Sen. Rick Santorum and Donald Trump called for escalating
U.S. military action against ISIS.

Santorum called for 10,000 boots on the ground against ISIS and "serious"
air strikes. "If ISIS wants a 7th-century caliphate, let's oblige by bombing
them back to the 7th century," he said.
Trump, a billionaire businessman and TV personality, said defeating ISIS
would be his top priority as president. "Nobody, if I decide to run, and win,
nobody would be tougher than Donald Trump, nobody," he said.
Santorum said he and Paul both believe in a need for strong national
defense, but they differ on how to accomplish that. "I think we need a
robust military to defend ourselves, to protect our security interests and
make sure we can be a reliable ally. We need to lead the world. If America
doesn't lead the world, someone else will."
Paul was easily the crowd favorite so far at the Conservative Political
Action Conference, with hundreds of mostly young supporters in red Tshirts packing the audience.
Fox News commentator Sean Hannity had the audience "vote" for the 2016
GOP nomination through applause. Paul was the walk-away winner.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz, who both spoke on
Thursday, were next. Former Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie got boos.
Christie also spoke on Thursday. Bush is up soon.
Trump: I'm really inclined to do this
Donald Trump tried to convey Friday that he's serious this time about
running for president.
"I'm really inclined, I want to do it so badly," he said.

Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Photo: Carolyn
Kaster, AP)

Responding to questions from FOX News' Sean Hannity, he said he's at 75

or 80 on a scale of 1 to 100 in favor of running. "I love building. I'm building
all over the world and I love it, more than anything else I love it. But I love
this country," he said. He said his children are in position to run his
company.
He said politicians and run and lose and run again. "With me, I give up a lot
when I do this. I already told the 'Apprentice' people, you know, NBC
wanted to renew and I said, I'm doing something else," Trump said.
Trump considered running in 2012 but never organized a campaign. He
said he counted on Mitt Romney to win but he failed. "I'm looking at it very
seriously. I don't want what happened to Mitt Romney to happen again
because that was a tremendous blow for this country."
This time, he's already hired an experienced operative in Iowa: Chuck
Laudner, who helped Santorum win in 2012. I guess the Donald won't need
Chuck's truck.
Santorum, Trump make birther jokes

Rick Santorum came up snake-eyes in the speaking order craps shoot. He

was supposed to follow Donald Trump but instead had to speak after a latearriving Sen. Rand Paul.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum pauses as he speaks during the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP
Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)

As Santorum was explaining why Republicans needed to "stand up for the

little guy," busloads of college-aged Paul supporters were filing out of the
auditorium.
Santorum doggedly ramped up rhetoric on foreign policy and sharply
criticized Obama.
"We don't need a weatherman-in-chief, we need a commander-in-chief to
run this country," he said.
He joked the president has become so unpopular overseas that the
government of Kenya is looking for proof Obama was born in America.
(Birther humor, get it?)
Trump also addressed birther issue, noting that both Hillary Clinton and
John McCain tried to get Obama's birth certificate in the 2008 campaign.
"Hillary Clinton is a birther," Trump said.

Perry hammers Obama on foreign policy

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry hammered out a message on foreign policy
Friday, echoing harsh criticism of the Obama administration's handling of
ISIS and Iran.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster,
AP)

Perry, who has been taking steps toward a second run for president in
2016, spoke at the CPAC conference near Washington, D.C.
"This administration's incompetence in Iraq and Syria have allowed the
emergence of ISIS," Perry said.
He said the goals of ISIS, a radical Islamic terrorist group, is "apocalyptic"
and aims not only kill Christians and Jews but Muslims who don't adhere to
their extreme ideology.
"ISIS represents the worst threat to freedom since Communism," Perry
said.
Perry did not offer a prescription for defeating ISIS, however.

He offered two non-negotiable principles for negotiations with Iran:

"Number one is, Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons,
period. And number two, Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state."
Perry's address was high energy and frequently interrupted by applause
from the audience.
Rubio: I don't want to be in politics my whole life
Sen. Marco Rubio said Friday he hasn't decided whether to run for
president but if he does, he's not going to hedge his bet.
"I don't want to be in politics my whole life. I want to serve our country and I
want to do some other things," Rubio said.
Rubio spoke at the CPAC Conservative Political Action conference near
Washington, D.C., on Friday morning and then participated i

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., arrives to speak during the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn
Kaster) (Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)

n a question-and-answer session with Sean Hannity of FOX News. Rubio

kept his remarks brief but he was greeted with standing ovations at the
beginning and end of his remarks.

Hannity asked him why he wants to be president. "I haven't made that
decision yet, Sean, but good try to get me to answer that question," Rubio
responded, to laughter from the audience.
Rubio added, however, that he wants to be in public service because "I
believe I owe a debt to America that I will never be able to repay."
The Florida senator indicated he'll decide whether to run for president
before the filing deadline to run for re-election to the Senate.
"I think if you want to run for president of the United States and you decide
that's what you've been called at this time in your life to at least run for, the
best place for you to serve America, that's what you run for," Rubio said. "I
don't think you can start thinking about what's my exit strategy, what's my
Plan B."
More coverage of CPAC
I'm blogging and live-tweeting the speeches of potential 2016 presidential
candidates.
Yesterday, both parties in power in Washington, D.C., took a beating from
many speakers. Meanwhile, the audience of conservatives at the American
Conservative Union conference heard from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, businesswoman Carly Fiorina and New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie. Ben Carson, a popular radio commentator, also spoke early
Thursday.

Bobby Jindal at CPAC: Repeal

Obamacare; remove Common Core from
every classroom; we are at war with
radical Islam


Associated Press photo by CLIFF OWENGov. Bobby Jindal speaks during the
Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday.
BY GREGORY ROBERTS

March 13, 2015

http://theadvocate.com/news/11705842-123/bobby-jindal-at-cpac-repeal

National Harbor, Md . Gov. Bobby Jindal took aim at the Affordable

Care Act, Common Core educational standards and President Barack
Obamas leadership in the fight against Islamic terrorism in a speech
Thursday that stuck to familiar ground at the Conservative Political
Action Conference.
The 2015 CPAC is a significant way station on the road to the
Republican presidential nomination, and the four-day event includes
appearances by a dozen potential candidates at the Gaylord resort and
convention center. Jindal is counted among them , although he has
struggled to emerge from the back of the pack in opinion surveys. He
spoke immediately after Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who has
vaulted to the top of the Republican polls.
Walker proved to be a tough act to follow, as he generated a
considerably more enthusiastic response than Jindal. So, too, did U.S.
Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly
Fiorina, two other potential Republican candidates who spoke earlier in
the program, although Jindals reception was warm and positive.
Jindals speech was a less-focused shaping of candidacy than those of
Walker, Cruz and Fiorina although they steered clear of formal
declarations, in some cases with a wink-and-nod if I run routine
intended to avoid federal election law restrictions on campaign
contributions. In response to a question after his remarks, Jindal said, as
he has before, that he is thinking and praying about a decision to run,
which he said should come in the next couple of months.
Sponsored by the venerable American Conservative Union nonprofit
advocacy organization, CPAC annually draws thousands conservative
movers and shakers, rank-and-file activists and many students to
listen to speeches by political candidates and panel discussions on such
subjects (this year) as Common Core, immigration, Islamic extremism,
the Affordable Care Act, marriage equality, abortion and voter fraud.



Jindal ticked off his three main targets, saying, We must repeal every
single word of Obamacare, and We need to remove Common Core
from every classroom in America and We are at war with radical
Islam.
He called on his fellow party members in Congress to grow a spine
and said, The Republicans in Washington are about to wave the white
flag of surrender on replacing the Affordable Care Act and blocking
Obamas executive orders granting reprieves to certain categories of
illegal immigrants.
Jindals speech, adapted to the 20-minute CPAC format, was a
reworking of ones he has delivered at different stops around the country
and abroad in recent months. His second term as governor winds up at
the end of 2015, and he is barred by term limits from seeking re-election.
He alluded to the controversy generated by his January speech in
London that invoked the existence of Muslim no-go zones in Europe
a widely discredited claim and that praised assimilation of

immigrants to America. Jindal, whose parents were born and raised in

India, repeated his disdain for the use of hyphenated ethnic descriptions
such as Indian-American and said, There is nothing wrong with saying
if you want to come to America, you should want to be an American.
And, in keeping with a tone he has struck consistently, he said it was
important to hunt down and kill the Islamic terrorists at war with the
United States.
How have we ever won any victory in any war except by killing our
way to victory? he asked.
The event features a presidential straw poll conducted on touch screens
in the convention center lobby, and this year, it includes 17 candidates.
Results will be announced late Saturday. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.,
has easily won the last two polls. Jindal finished second in the 2009
straw poll.
Jindal, 43, has appeared at CPAC several times in past years. In 2014, he
attracted publicity with his comment that Obama is the worst president
in Jindals lifetime.
Several more possible presidential candidates will speak on Friday,
including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, former Texas Gov. Rick
Perry and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Check out the full schedule on
the CPAC website, cpac. conservative.org.
Also taking the CPAC stage on Friday: Louisiana native and Duck
Dynasty star Phil Robertson. Robertson will speak at 11:40 a.m.
CPAC will stretch through the weekend and will include a straw poll on
the 2016 presidential race on Saturday.

CPAC head welcomes 'diversity of

opinion' at conservative confab
http://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/
s-1621354?fs
Feb 27, 2015
By:McClatchy, Washington Bureau
OXON HILL, Md. -- The Conservative Political Action Conference, which
is scheduled to feature a parade of potential Republican presidential
candidates testing their messages and their appeal to thousands of
party activists from all over the country, began Wednesday and
continues through Saturday.
McClatchy sat down with Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union, which sponsors the event, for a preview. Schlapp,
former political director for President George W. Bush, became
chairman in June.
McClatchy: How do you define conservatism today?
Schlapp: That's really something that CPAC is all about trying to
determine. We're not a church. It's a mistake to somehow think there's
a book of dogma and you accept those teachings if you're a
conservative, and if you don't, you're not. People who approach politics
that way are making a mistake.
It's more a political coalition than anything else. Conservatism is
the ... desire to have a limited government that doesn't get involved in
my life, that doesn't have a bloated bureaucracy that (gets) involved in
every aspect of the economy, that isn't a big regulatory state.

McClatchy: Fairly or unfairly, conservatives have developed a

reputation as somewhat intolerant. Is that a fair conclusion and if so,
how do you overcome that?
Schlapp: It is our intent to be open-minded, to be inviting and to have
a conversation with anybody. Certainly conservatives who have
diversity of opinion on all kinds of issues need to be welcome at CPAC
and play a large role.
McClatchy: So have you invited any activists for abortion rights?
Schlapp: We haven't invited anyone here because they're pro-choice,
but I know there are people in our program that have those views;
there are sponsors that have those views. Take the concept of
libertarianism alone -- it's a huge part of our movement. They believe
government shouldn't be involved in those issues, and they are
welcome here.
McClatchy: Why are the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gayrights group, not a CPAC sponsor? (Greg Angelo, the group's executive
director, will speak as part of a Saturday panel on Russia.)
Schlapp: There was a certain amount of confusion whether they've
signed up or not. ... After CPAC is over and we've gotten a good
night's sleep, we're going to meet and discuss what issues we can
work on together.
Gay conservatives are welcome at CPAC. ... We can't be any more
forthright that this is an event for conservatives and that includes
conservatives who are gay.
(Until last year, under previous chairman Al Cardenas of Miami, gays
were not welcome at CPAC. Until a few days ago, Log Cabin
Republicans said they were still excluded from CPAC.)
McClatchy: Are you concerned that modern conservatism is being
defined as simply anything that President Barack Obama is against? Is
conservatism being oversimplified?
Schlapp: It's always hard for conservatives. They're usually in the lane
as saying the growth of government is a threat. And liberals are in the
lane where they get to come up with new government programs. The
way the argument goes is liberals come up with new programs to help
someone and the conservative then says I'm against that new
government program.
The problem with that from a marketing standpoint is that we always
say no and the liberal looks like he's trying to help someone. That's a
completely false argument, but that is a little bit what happens.
McClatchy: Give me an example where government works.

Schlapp: I think America in the world is one of the few positive forces
to keep the world stable. I like that we're feared. I worry we're not
feared as much as we should be. The second thing is that government
has a big role, an important role, in assuring our rights are protected.
McClatchy: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C., are not listed as speakers. Where are they?
Schlapp: Mike Huckabee had had some past criticisms of CPAC. I think
he couldn't get here because of his schedule. We would have loved to
have had him and we did invite him.
McClatchy: Sen. Graham?
Schlapp: Lindsey Graham, this idea he's running for president is a
boomlet. It's happened in very short order. Unfortunately, I wish if he
is going to run for president and wanted to speak at CPAC, I wish he'd
communicated much earlier. I assume we would have been open to
inviting him. ... We weren't trying to be disrespectful to Sen. Graham.
McClatchy: What about Jeb Bush?
Schlapp: Jeb Bush is coming to CPAC because Jeb Bush wants to be at
CPAC and he knows the importance of talking to these activists, and I
give him credit for coming. The words he chooses as he explains his
positions on these issues will be incredibly important. He has a chance
at CPAC to, without any filter at all, explain to these activists what his
philosophy is and what his approach is on these issues and other
issues he faced when he was gov.
McClatchy: What are the concerns about Gov. Bush?
Schlapp: You know what they are. They've been so widely reported.
When was governor he cut taxes every year. He was seen as a
governor who took on the teachers union. He was tightfisted with the
budget. But it's been several years since he's been governor. As you
know, politics is about tomorrow, not yesterday. He has to tell these
people what he wants to do for them tomorrow.
McClatchy: Discuss national security and the divide among
conservatives.
Schlapp: I worked for Bush and (Vice President Dick) Cheney. Is that
the conservative position? Rand Paul (Kentucky senator and possible
2016 candidate for president) has really found a voice that's less
interventionist. Is he the conservative consensus after so many wars,
so many deaths?
I talked to a lot of candidates. They don't know where to go. They
don't know where that consensus is. They don't know which book to

pull off the shelf, to study, to learn what the consensus is. There's a lot
of diverse opinions on what the consensus should be.
Conservatives agree on this: We didn't get hit after 9/11 in a major
way. That is a pretty major achievement. I think there's a growing fear
we're taking our eye off that ball.

At CPAC, pushing Republican hopefuls

to dive into policy specifics
POSTED: 06:17 p.m. HST, Feb 26, 2015
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/nyt/
19040101_At_CPAC_pushing_Republican_hopefuls_to_dive_into_policy_specifics.html

By: Nick Corasaniti and Alan Rappeport, New York Times

Prepared remarks are out. Answering tough questions is in. And there should be plenty of them
especially for a candidate named Bush.

"We don't want to hear the same freaking stump speech 20 times," said
Ned Ryun, a board member of the American Conservative Union. "We want
to hear people speak on specific issues."
That is the early outlook from the Conservative Political Action Conference,
the annual gathering of many of the youngest and most fervent activists in
the right wing of the Republican Party. Nearly every major White House
aspirant in the party is set to speak at the event on Thursday and Friday.
Especially at this point in the presidential cycle, CPAC, as it is universally
known, has long been a proving ground for Republican contenders in
connecting with and inspiring the most enthusiastic, organized elements of
the conservative base.
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin generated considerable excitement ahead
of his appearance Thursday. "He's under-promise, over-deliver in a
nutshell," said Matt Robbins, the president of American Majority, a group
that pushed for Walker's re-election as governor last year. "He's as Midwest
as it gets."
Matt Kibbe, the president and chief executive of FreedomWorks, a Tea
Party-aligned group, said, "I think Scott Walker is the candidate that might
split the difference between the Rand Paul wing and the Jeb Bush wing."
But the crowd has a decidedly libertarian streak: Paul, the junior senator
from Kentucky, has won the CPAC straw poll the last two years, and broad
support for a criminal justice overhaul among attendees this week an
issue that Paul has championed suggested that he holds something of a
home-court advantage this year as well.

Bush, the former Florida governor, whose fundraising sprint has given him
an early advantage, appeared more a subject of curiosity, if not downright
skepticism.
"I think young people are tired of hearing the Bush name," said Jeff Frazee,
the executive director of Young Americans for Liberty, a group that was
spawned by the 2008 presidential campaign of Ron Paul, Paul's father.
"The policies that he represents are very much those of a moderate liberal."
Candidates' performances at CPAC are generally appraised by the kind of
responses they earn for their most rousing applause lines, along with how
they fare in the straw poll, and no one here suggested that would suddenly
change. But many attendees said they would not be satisfied with sharpedged attacks alone.
"I would like to see more from the candidates than just railing on Obama
and Hillary and the media," said Matt Batzel, the national executive director
of American Majority. "It needs to be less about red meat and more about
solutions and bold ideas for the problems that face the country."
Sensing those stirrings, organizers are trying something different this year:
a question-and-answer period of at least six minutes to go with each of the
major speeches by White House contenders.
Bush, for one, has said he plans to skip a formal speech and instead spend
his entire 20 minutes fielding questions, which are likely to include
challenges to his embrace of Common Core educational standards or his
moderate views on immigration.
But Bush's recent attention to income inequality could earn him some
goodwill with the so-called millennial generation: Many attendees who said
they had struggled to find decent work after graduating from college called
jobs and the economy their top priorities.
While Paul's youthful following tends to serve him well in the straw poll,
scoring a clear win this year may prove difficult, as CPAC organizers have
made some changes to the polling process to get more details on what
attendees think about policy issues and how their views on candidates
change over time.
This year's conference agenda is full of workshops intended to give
conservatives ground-game advantages that they have sometimes lacked.
Attendees will have the chance to learn skills such as video "tracking" to
spy on opponents' public events and record their embarrassing moments
and using tools like Facebook and Twitter to identify and galvanize likeminded voters.
Those heading to CPAC said they also wanted to hear clear answers from
would-be candidates on how they would fight the Islamic State, a concrete

strategy for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, and an
immigration policy that would respond to President Barack Obama's
executive actions.
Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party supporter from Dallas, said Obama's
immigration plan provided an opportunity for Republicans to widen their
tent and attract African-American voters. "We need to make clear that
amnesty is going to be a huge job killer in the black population," Pierson
said. "It's their lives that are going to be impacted the worst."
As the conference seeks to take itself more seriously, through audience
questions and the three-day-long "activism boot camp," attendees will still
have the freedom a popular word here to express themselves.
"There's far fewer Brooks Brothers blue blazers and Adam Smith ties, and I
think that's a healthy thing," said Kibbe, of FreedomWorks.
Indeed, that loosening up extends to the panels: For the first time since
2005, the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay conservatives, have been
invited not just to attend, but to speak on a panel, about Russia under
Vladimir Putin.
And, of course, there is the much-chronicled party scene, which Grover
Norquist once likened to the Burning Man festival, "but with more clothes."
"People play hard and work hard," said Robbins of American Majority, "and
there's nothing wrong with either of that.

At CPAC, Softball Questions

for 2016 GOP Frontrunners
By Rob Garver

February 26, 2015 6:08 PM

https://news.yahoo.com/cpac-softball-questions-2016-gop-230800432.html

The plan going into this years Conservative Political Action

Conference (CPAC) was to break from some established norms.
Speakers were going to be asked dicult questions; they would be
forced to take some risks. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union, the conference sponsor, had even promised a
stellar interaction with the assembled speakers.

The Republican Party, having lost two consecutive presidential

elections and now potentially facing the formidable Hillary Clinton in
2016, is anxious to select a candidate who can compete nationally.
As Schlapp told Washington Post columnist Dan Balz, CPAC could be
a chance to see how potential 2016 contenders do when required to
think on their feet about the issues.

Some folks didnt get the memo, apparently.

In his grilling of Sen. Ted Cruz, the conservative favorite from Texas,
Fox News host Sean Hannity oered up the most egregious softball
of the day, asking, Why does Ted Cruz love America? Cruz
launched into a crowd-pleasing answer that began with, This

country is the greatest country in the history of the world, and ended
in applause.

While Hannitys meatball may have been the worst, it was dierent
only in degree, not in kind, from most of the other discussions held on
the main stage.

In her appearance with N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, conservative radio

host Laura Ingrahams version of a pointed query was, What gives
with Common Core? Whyd you sign it? She was referring to the
controversial educational standards that many conservative
lawmakers oppose.

Christie was allowed to get away with blaming his decision on his
successor, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, saying Corzine had teed it
up for him. We signed on to try to get funds for a really dicult
fiscal time, said Christie.

Christie, who is facing numerous problems in New Jersey, including a

struggling economy and a courts rejection of his plan for dealing with
state pension funds, glossed over those issues. He went on at length
about his tough-talking style.

Sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up, he said
to a large round of applause. Quite frankly, Laura, more of that stu
should be happening in Washington, D.C. Because theres so much
ridiculous stu being spewed, especially out of the White House.
Someone should tell them to shut up. More applause.

(Ingraham also spent a considerable amount of the 20-minute

interview directly and indirectly attacking former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, one of the frontrunners for the Republican nomination, whose
views on immigration reform she appears to dislike intensely.)

Near the end of the Christie interview, Ingraham finally brought up the
elephant in the room: The governors terrible poll numbers. She noted
that hes polled in the single digits recently, near the bottom of the
GOP field.

Thats pretty low, she said.

There it was, right over the plate and Christie crushed it.

If Im going to run for president, Im not worried about what polls say
21 months before we elect the president of the United States, he
thundered.

What about Jeb Bush, she asked, and his massive fundraising
operation?

If the elites in Washington who make backroom deals decide who

the president is going to be, then hes the frontrunner, Christie said.
If the people of the United States decide to pick the next president
of the United States and they want someone who looks them in the
eye, connects with them and is one of them, Ill do okay if I run.

Christie left the stage as he had entered, to the strains of Enter

Sandman by Metallica.

Bush Says He Has The Right Kind of

Record
Ex-Florida governor tells anti-tax group he's a conservative who gets results
By THOMAS BEAUMONT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 10:42 p.m.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20150226/POLITICS/150229375

PALM BEACH | In an impassioned speech to an influential anti-tax group, former

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ticked though eight years of tax cuts and economic growth, and
said it could be done nationally, should he continue on his path to an all-but-declared
Republican candidacy for president.
articlepicture2.pbo



Jeb Bush pauses as he speaks to the Club for Growth winter economic conference at the
Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach on Thursday.

JOE SKIPPER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

As if to his would be rivals, Bush said essentially: Talk is cheap.

"It's easy to talk about it," Bush told more than 200 at the exclusive Breakers Hotel for
the group's winter meeting going on through Saturday. "I hope you believe that you want
someone who has the proven leadership skills to make it happen."
Bush, who served as governor from 1999 to 2007, noted that his administration cut taxes
each year, totaling $19 billion in reductions.
He also told how he fully funding his state's pension program, cut the state government's
workforce by more than 13,000 and left the state with 1.3 million more jobs than when he
started.
He made the claims as other Republican governors weighing presidential campaigns are
dealing with daunting budget challenges.
He was scheduled to speak in Washington today to the Conservative Political Action
Conference, the largest annual meeting of conservative activists, some of whom have
grown skeptical of Bush's conservative credentials since he left office eight years ago.
Bush appeared more animated during the speech, unlike two previous policy speeches
this month on the economy in Detroit and on foreign policy in Chicago.
He was interrupted by applause and often smiled and joked with the club's president and
event moderator, David McIntosh.

Walker gets front-runner

treatment at CPAC

Conservatives attending the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference tell USA
TODAY what they are looking for in a presidential candidate. H. Darr Beiser, USA
TODAY
Martha T. Moore, 6:08 p.m. CST February 26, 2015
http://service.meltwaternews.com/mnews/redirect.html?
docId=3897234163&userId=2980165&cId=93155&agentId=864916&type=1&s=85595&
url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.news-leader.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics
%2Felections%2F2015%2F02%2F26%2Fcpac-presidential-candidates
%2F24079409%2F

!
(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. It might be a sign you're a front runner if

you're the speaker who draws protesters.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker drew brief, shouted protests and chants of
"Run Scott run!" as he spoke to conservative activists at their annual
gathering on the cusp of the 2016 presidential season. In turn, he gave a
talk indistinguishable from a stump speech.
The Republican governor touted his success in ending collective bargaining
rights for public employees in Wisconsin. "We don't have seniority or tenure
anymore. ... We put the power back in the power of the hardworking
taxpayers.'' Then came the pitch: "If we can do it in Wisconsin, there's no
doubt we can do it in America.''
When asked how he would respond to ISIS as commander in chief he
replied that the U.S. needs a president who would project the "kind of
confidence" to protect both the U.S. and prevent terrorist attacks globally.
Referring to union opposition to Wisconsin's end to public employee
unions, he said, "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same
across the world.''
Before Walker spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, some
activists were already voting for him in the event's straw poll which for
the last two years has been won by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who speaks
Friday.
"He's principled, and he doesn't seem to back down,'' said Cheryl Howell,
an attendee and at-home mother from Oak Hill, Va. "He has lowered taxes,
he has done everything he said he would do. He's shown he has a spine.''
Many of the potential candidates have spoken at this annual event before,
but the upcoming presidential campaign raises the stakes, even the anxiety

level, for conservatives who believe the Republican Party should nominate
only a candidate who meets their conservative criteria.
Waiting in line to vote for Walker in the straw poll, Donna Robinson, a
registered nurse from Gainesville, Va., said Republicans should have
learned from the 2008 election not to run a moderate Republican like in Mitt
Romney. "The progressive Republicans think the party is with them and
they think they have to govern from the middle, and they don't,'' she said.

!
Customers browse the selection of buttons at the PC Button booth during
theConservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 27. (Photo:
H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

Carleton Goodnow, a legal writer from Malvern, Pa., said he's looking for a
candidate with an elusive quality shared by Ronald Reagan and, he
admitted, Barack Obama. "The crucial issue is a presence and a
personality that is widely appealing. I don't know where that candidate is.
I'm waiting for him to emerge.''

New Jersey's Chris Christie a governor who says he likes taking

questions got some tough ones when he sat for a conversation with talkradio host Laura Ingraham. He said he "of course" has regrets his past
support for Common Core educational standards, which are unpopular with
conservatives, and he brushed off negative coverage about his acceptance
of luxury travel paid for by foreign governments.
Christie added a dig at former Florida governor Jeb Bush, his potential
rival, whose recent speeches have included answering only pre-selected
questions from the audience.

!
ONPOLITICS

'Passionate' Christie wants Jeb Bush to answer more questions

The town hall meetings Christie conducts in New Jersey are "what elected
officials owe to their constituents," he said. "Everybody who aspires to high
positions of leadership should be willing to take unscreened,
unrehearsed questions from the people who pay their salary."
Donna Hurlock, a gynecologist from Alexandria, Va., appreciated Christie's
answering questions, but she's already made up her mind that he won't get
her vote if he runs.
"I'm surprised how likable he was," she said. "He gives the impression of
being an honest guy, but I want to support people who do conservative
things. Gov. Christie is probably as good as New Jersey will get, but I'd
much prefer Ted Cruz be the next president."
Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and the sole woman in
the large GOP field, was the most direct in criticizing Hillary Clinton to
the delight of the CPAC audience. "She tweets about women's rights in this
country and takes money from governments that deny women the most

basic human rights," Fiorina said, referring to donations to the Clinton

Foundation from foreign governments. Clinton is considered the prohibitive
favorite to be the Democratic nominee if she runs for president in 2016.

!
ONPOLITICS

Fiorina blasts Clinton at CPAC meeting

!
ONPOLITICS

Ted Cruz slams Obama, Clinton in fiery CPAC speech

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also zinged Clinton for the same thing. "We could
have had Hillary here, but we couldn't find a foreign nation to foot the bill,"
he joked in a speech heavy with themes of liberty and freedom alongside
biting attacks on President Obama, Clinton and the ways of Washington.

Bush, who has taken the most overt steps toward running for president by
forming a super PAC and quickly raising a lot of money, will appear Friday
for a question-and-answer session. But there was little visible enthusiasm
for the son and brother of former presidents, who has supported Common
Core standards and a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
"I'm not a real fan of mainstream anymore and he's real mainstream,'' said
Scott Schein, a retired paramedic from Palm Bay, Fla. "I'm not sure he's
going in a direction I like on immigration.''
"Bush is for Common Core; Bush is for amnesty. He's for so many things I
disagree with,'' said Bob Kauffman, a retiree from Maple Grove, Minn.
(north of Minneapolis), who wore a red "Walker in 2016" button on his lapel.

At CPAC 'boot
from the Left

camp,' learning

http://stylemagazine.com/news/2015/feb/26/cpac-boot-camplearning-left/?page=1
By: Willie Grace | 2/26/2015, 6:51 p.m.


While 2016 hopefuls flocked to the National Harbor, Maryland, confab on Thursday, aspiring activists
listened attentively the day before as conservative operatives extolled the work of people who would only
be blamed and blasted at any other time during the conference. Barack Obama and his 2012 campaign
chief tech officer Harper Reed. Obama's campaign operatives and volunteers. The socialist organizer Saul
Alinsky.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (CNN) -- In a tightly packed room at the

Conservative Political Action Conference, more than a hundred conservatives sat
down in rows or leaned against the walls to hear a half-dozen political operatives

teach the basics of their trade and share one hard truth: the Left is a whole lot better
at modern campaigning.
While 2016 hopefuls flocked to the National Harbor, Maryland, confab on
Thursday, aspiring activists listened attentively the day before as conservative
operatives extolled the work of people who would only be blamed and blasted at
any other time during the conference. Barack Obama and his 2012 campaign chief
tech officer Harper Reed. Obama's campaign operatives and volunteers. The
socialist organizer Saul Alinsky.
"I disagree with the Left on their policy ideas, but on their organizing and
training...I swipe their ideas all the time," said Ned Ryun, founder and CEO of
American Majority, a group aimed at training conservative activists in grassroots
and campaign organizing.
But Ryun and his American Majority colleagues are neither dwelling on nor shying
away from the fact that Democrats and progressive activists have outpaced their
rivals on the right in areas ranging from get-out-the-vote efforts to social media
and data collection.
Instead, they're taking notes and sharing them with conservative activists who are
ready to win the next election, whether at the federal, state or local level.
And CPAC could be the ideal time to move the needle, with thousands of some of
the most enthusiastic, animated and often young conservatives gathered to fire each
other up and get inspired by the high-profile politicians and would-be-candidates
who are the main attraction.
So when Ryun joined last year the board of the American Conservative Union,
which organizes CPAC, he says he "started beating the drum from day one" that
CPAC should also be a venue to train activists and would-be campaign managers.
Matt Schlapp, first-year chairman of the ACU, was quickly on board.
"If you like their ideas and they have a compelling message, what are you actually
going to do to make them successful?" Ryun asked. "We're really trying to bridge
the gap between ideas and talking and action, and that bridging is really about
training."
The seminars drew all types of conservatives: most had volunteered on a campaign
before, but some had yet to take their conservative zeal to the next level.
The pupils-for-a-day picked up terms like "win number," learned about the need
for candidates to spend half their time fundraising and the number of votes you can
win per 100 phone calls.

And then there was Fernando Torrez, a first-time candidate vying for a seat on the
Alexandria, Va. city council.
The CPAC "boot camp" wasn't the first campaign training session Torrez had
attended, but the emphasis on get out the vote training and social media convinced
Torrez that he needs to buy into Twitter to head a successful campaign.
"I'm not a Twitter fan, but after today I think I'm going to have to be," he said at the
end of the day.
That's something most on the Left are already tuned into, American Majority's
National Executive Director Matt Batzel said during his session on harnessing
social media.
"The Left is naturally better at these things," he told the room of conservatives.
"We're lagging behind in these areas."
Republicans stressed after snagging a historic majority in Congress following the
midterms last fall that they had finally caught up with Democrats and, in some
cases, beat them at their own game online and on the ground.
But in an interview after his class, Batzel explained that while conservatives have
been making inroads online, "there's still a gap" and "a long ways to go" to close it.
"We don't necessarily come at it from the objective that what the right has done
works," Batzel said. "We want to look objectively at what has worked, what hasn't
worked. So the Right may be better at certain things, but online ... ."
For all the tactics employed by liberals shared Wednesday, the objective of the day
was clear: teaching would-be candidates and campaign staffers how to win and
booting liberals out of office.
It's the reason why Anthony Neutout drove from Indiana to the suburbs of
Washington, D.C. to enjoy his first CPAC and attend what was billed as "activism
boot camp."
"I'm here because I want to learn anything I can to get Rand Paul elected," Neutout
said. "I think I'm going to be more effective.

CPAC highlights, from the

speeches to the swag

!
Conservatives attending the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference tell USA
TODAY what they are looking for in a presidential candidate. H. Darr Beiser, USA
TODAY
USA TODAY Washington 7:16 p.m. EST February 26, 2015

!
(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. The 2015 Conservative Political Action

Conference kicked off Thursday in National Harbor, Md., with a gaggle of
potential Republican presidential candidates pitching their 2016 credentials
at the annual event. The highlights so far:
WALKER'S MOMENT
Scott Walker blasted President Obama's leadership and vowed to restore
America's standing around the globe, couching himself as a standardbearer for conservatives eager to retake the White House.
"We need a leader in America who stands up and realizes that radical
Islamic terrorism is a threat to our way of life and to freedom-loving people
around the world," Walker said. "We need a leader who will stand up and
say we will take the fight to them and not wait until they take the fight to
American soil."
The CPAC audience rose to its feet several times as Walker spoke,
including sharing his now-familiar story of how he fought special interests in
Democratic-leaning Wisconsin to win three elections in the last four years.
He slammed the way politicians in Washington especially Obama
make govern and make decisions.

!
ONPOLITICS

Scott Walker bashes Washington to win over CPAC crowd

"The president measures success by the people who are dependent on
government," Walker said. "We should measure success by how many
people are no longer dependent on government."
The governor won raves inside the convention hall for his reference to
fighting unions back home in Wisconsin, but he also was criticized for this
comment: "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across
the globe," Walker said, responding to a question on how he would defeat
the Islamic State.
In an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal after his speech, Walker
said he did not regret his statement. "You all will misconstrue things the
way you see fit," he said. "That's the closest thing I have in terms of
handling a difficult situation, not that there's any parallel between the two."
Democrats and their labor allies shot back. "If Scott Walker thinks that it's
appropriate to compare working people speaking up for their rights to brutal
terrorists, then he is even less qualified to be president than I thought.
Maybe he should go back to punting," said Mo Elleithee, communications
director for the Democratic National Committee.
Catalina Camia
STRONG WORDS FROM JINDAL
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told conservatives that Washington lawmakers
need to do their jobs, and that includes congressional Republicans.
"It is time for them to govern the way they campaigned, and get rid of
Obamacare," Jindal said in his speech.
In addition to repealing Obama's health care program, Jindal also hit other
hot-button CPAC issues by saying the U.S. must remove Common Core

education standards "from every classroom" and "win the war against
radical Islamic extremism."

!
ONPOLITICS

Jindal blasts Washington pols (including Republicans)

While Islamic State-style terrorism threatens the United States, Jindal said
that President Obama has proven himself "incapable of being our
commander-in-chief."
While saying "this president has done a lot of damage," the Louisiana
governor also had harsh words for Republican lawmakers who, in his view,
have failed to stand up to Obama.
"It is time for our Republican leaders in Congress to grow a spine," Jindal
said.
David Jackson

A woman piles up stickers for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at the Conservative Political
Action Conference on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo: Alex Wong, Getty Images)

CRUZ: 'DEMAND ACTION, NOT TALK'

Ted Cruz served conservatives a red-meat diet, delivering a speech heavy
on themes of liberty and freedom laced with biting attacks on President
Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and the ways of Washington
"Washington wants Obamacare, the people want liberty," the Texas senator
said in one example. "Don't believe President Obama when he says when
you like your Internet, you get to keep your Internet."
Cruz took aim at Clinton, saying she's the embodiment of all that's wrong
with Washington. He also threw out a zinger amid reports that the Clinton
Foundation accepted funding from foreign governments while she was
secretary of State. "We could have had Hillary here, but we couldn't find a
foreign nation to foot the bill," he joked.

!
ONPOLITICS

Ted Cruz slams Obama, Clinton in fiery CPAC speech

As for his GOP rivals with their eye on the White House, Cruz seemed to
raise doubts about moderate-minded presidential candidates who say they
are conservative. He didn't mention anyone by name, but said there is a
way to test their conservative bona fides.
"Demand action, not talk," Cruz said. "If a candidate tells you the
Obamacare, fantastic. (But) when have you stood up and fought against it.
If a candidate says they oppose Obama's illegal executive amnesty, terrific.
When have you stood up and fought against it."
Invoking Ronald Reagan and his ability to build coalitions across
ideological lines, Cruz also exhorted the CPAC attendees to "paint in bold
colors" and avoid candidates who "talk the talk but don't walk the walk."
Catalina Camia

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

CHRISTIE'S JEB DIG

Don't call him short-tempered or hot-headed. Call him "passionate.''
That's how New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie described himself before a full
house of conservative activists at the CPAC gathering Thursday, when talkshow host Laura Ingraham read off a list of the unflattering adjectives
sometimes applied to Christie.

!
ONPOLITICS

'Passionate' Christie wants Jeb Bush to answer more questions

"The word they miss is passionate," Christie said. Referring to a muchviewed video of Christie barking at a New Jersey resident during a town
hall meeting. "Sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up,"
Christie said, to applause.
"Some more of that stuff should be happening in D.C.," he said. "There's so
much ridiculous stuff being spewed."
But he told Jeb Bush, in so many words, to stand up and start talking. The
town hall meetings he conducts in New Jersey are "what elected officials
owe to their constituents," Christie said, an unsubtle reference to Bush
answering only pre-screened questions at his recent speeches. "Everybody
who aspires to high positions of leadership should be willing to take
unscreened, unrehearsed questions from the people who pay their salary."
Martha T. Moore

Carly Fiorina waits to be interviewed at the annual Conservative Political Action

Conference on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images)

FIORINA TAKES ON CLINTON

A Republican woman who may seek the presidency devoted part of her
CPAC speech Thursday to bashing another female candidate: Hillary
Rodham Clinton.
"Mrs. Clinton, name an accomplishment," Carly Fiorina told the
Conservative Political Action Conference, later adding: "Hillary may like
hashtags but she does not know what leadership means."

!
ONPOLITICS

Fiorina blasts Clinton at CPAC meeting

Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, criticized the Democratic frontrunner over foreign money: "Please explain why we should accept that the
millions and millions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation
from foreign governments do not represent a conflict of interest."
Asked about the importance of having a female candidate, Fiorina said, "I
think our party needs to be as diverse as the nation we seek to represent."
Women are not a "special interest group," she added "we are a majority
of the nation."
David Jackson

Ben Carson is surrounded by supporters as he waits to be interviewed at the annual

Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26,
2015. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images)

CARSON'S KICKOFF
Ben Carson kicked off CPAC on Thursday morning with an attack on big
government liberalism, saying it cannot solve problems ranging from health
care to the federal debt.
"We need to move in a very different direction," Carson said.
ONPOLITICS

Ben Carson to CPAC: We need new direction

In a critique that stretched back to the Great Society programs of the
1960s, Carson said that government programs are about "redistribution
and control," while debt and radical Islam are threatening to "destroy" the
United States.
Carson, a neurosurgeon, has not formally announced his candidacy, but is
considered a potential 2016 presidential contender. But he is backed by a

group of supporters who have organized in early primary and caucus

states, including every county in Iowa.
The government should have a "safety net" for people in need, Carson said
during a question-and-answer session, but eliminate programs that create
"dependency " for too many people.
"What I want is for people to have real freedom," Carson said.
David Jackson

DEMS ARE WATCHING

CPAC isn't just a must-see event for Republicans eager to win back the
White House. Democrats are also focused on CPAC, but as fact-checkers
and critics.
Trackers from American Bridge, a Democratic opposition research group,
are roaming the hallways with cameras in hand in the hopes of catching an
"oops" moment or quote that will become fodder for attacks. They're also
trained on the main stage, where Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul,
Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and other Republicans hoping to
become president will speak.

!
ONPOLITICS

Democrats ready to pounce at the CPAC 'circus'

"We've seen this circus before," said Debbie Wasserman Schultz,
chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. "We have to watch if
any of the speakers lose the general election before we get to 2016."

 Catalina Camia

Supporters of Sen. Rand Paul work at a stand at the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference at National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty
Images)

RACKING UP SWAG
Ah, political conventions an opportunity to meet new friends
reconnect with like-minded activists and get a whole lot of free stuff.
"That's a stress ball," says Edwina Rogers, CEO of the Secular Policy
Institute, offering a rubber ball painted like a globe.

!
ONPOLITICS

CPAC delegates rack up free gifts

Vendors at the CPAC are offering a variety of products in efforts to attract
delegates, and potential customers. Attendees can get a Townhall Media
coffee thermos, or free one-on-one career counseling sessions. The 60
Plus Association, which wants to repeal the "death tax," is offering free Tshirts, letter openers and candy.
Whether candy or comic books, the goal is the same: Get attention for gifts,
but promote your ideas to interested parties.
"The freebies are helping a lot," Rogers said. "Especially with the younger
folks."
David Jackson

Jack Baumann looks out through American flag glasses during the Conservative Political
Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)

SELLING IDEAS
Like many conventions, CPAC includes sessions on how to sell various
products in this case, conservative political ideas.
Delegates are looking to promote both policies particularly health care
and education as well as the simple nuts and bolts of getting
conservative-leaning people out to vote.

!
ONPOLITICS

"Yes, We Won in 2014 but Still Fail on the Ground and Online,"
announces the title of one breakout session.
Other sessions are devoted to "The Conservative Replacement to
Obamacare," "Common Core: Rotten to the Core?" "When Should America
Go To War?" and "The New Frontiers of Data."
Meanwhile, conservative activists roam the halls of the convention center at
National Harbor, selling causes that range from legalization of marijuana to
asset forfeiture laws. One group hands out buttons reading "God Bless
Free Enterprise."

Sen. Marco Rubio sees opportunity for

redemption on the right
BY CHRIS ADAMSMCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
02/26/2015 6:08 PM 02/26/2015 6:19 PM
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article11261348.html

GALLERY SLIDES


Sen. Marco Rubio will address thousands of activists at the Conservative Political Action
Conference, a four-day gathering just outside Washington, on Friday. In attendance will
be the heavyweights of todays GOP, as well as the thought leaders, pundits and
conservatives Rubio needs to reach and persuade in order for him to be a viable
contender in 2016. EVY MAGES GETTY IMAGES

OXON HILL, MD.

They should love him.
He has one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate. He
talks forcefully about fighting the Washington establishments biggovernment vision for America, Obamacare and excessive spending.
Yet Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has met with a yawn so far from
conservatives, the people who may hold the key to his shot at the 2016
Republican presidential nomination.
Rubio will get a prime chance to do something about it Friday, when he
addresses thousands of activists at the Conservative Political Action
Conference, a four-day gathering just outside Washington. In attendance
will be the heavyweights of todays GOP, as well as the thought leaders,
pundits and conservatives Rubio needs to reach and persuade in order
for him to be a viable contender in 2016.
So far, hes polling low, and his numbers among conservatives have
been lower than those among Republicans overall.
His name, to grass-roots activists in Iowa, never comes up, said Steve
Deace, a nationally syndicated radio host based in Iowa, a pivotal early
test for the presidential nomination.
Rubios actions over the past two years, Deace said, opened the door for
others, such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose voting record is one tick
to the right of Rubios.
Cruz wins the space now that Rubio had a year and a half ago, Deace
said.
The reason, of course, is Rubios celebrated role in a 2013 immigration
debate. Rubio pushed a bipartisan overhaul of the nations immigration
system that made it through the Senate but stalled in the House of
Representatives. Many conservatives lambasted him.
Brent Bozell, chairman of the national conservative advocacy group
ForAmerica, said he was shocked by how harsh the response was
among the grass roots toward Rubios immigration role.

I asked if they could give him a mulligan because he was a brand-new

face, Bozell said. Nobody was willing to do so. I think he hurt himself,
and I think he knows it.
Even so, Rubios actions on immigration are certainly not a death
sentence among conservatives, said Richard S. Conley, an associate
professor of political science at the University of Florida.
If Rubio is as astute as I think he is, I think he can turn this back around
and the memory of two years ago will be short-lived.
Looking ahead to the high-profile appearance Friday, Rubio told
McClatchy his message isnt going to change for the audience.
That message, he said, is one of acknowledging the difficult time for
millions of Americans and the rough transition from the old economy to
the new. Globalization and automation have eliminated or replaced
millions of jobs, he said, and those that remain dont pay enough.
Rubios message should hit right at the heart of conservatives. But the
potential GOP field is crowded with contenders who do the same. Some,
such as Cruz, dont need to spend time regaining the trust of
conservatives it never went away.
After bursting onto the political scene in 2010, Rubio did build a solidly
conservative record in the Senate.
According to the American Conservative Union, which organized this
weeks event, Rubios lifetime voting record rates 98.67; two senators
are tied with him and two others have 100 ratings (the highest possible).
By another measure, Rubio was the 17th most-conservative senator in
2013, according to ratings by the National Journal. Among other
potential presidential candidates, Cruz fell to Rubios right and Sen.
Rand Paul of Kentucky just to his left.
Rubio has started to regain his footing publicly, receiving positive press
and political buzz in recent weeks in part because of his high-octane
role battling the White Houses opening to Cuba. But that has yet to
translate into significant support.
In recent national polls, his support has been in single digits among
Republicans, ranking sixth or seventh. While a CNN poll showed his

support among self-described conservatives to be in line with his support

among all Republicans, other polls have found his support among
conservatives to pale in comparison.
A December McClatchy-Marist poll showed Rubio at 5 percent among
moderate Republicans and Republican-leaners and at 3 percent among
conservative/very conservative ones. His standing among conservatives
tied him for ninth. Rubios support among those who identified
themselves as supporters of the tea party was 0 percent.
As for voters in Iowa, a Quinnipiac University poll of Republicans likely
to attend the states caucus that was released this week showed Rubio at
4 percent; moderates gave him slightly more support than conservatives
did.
I dont think he has a standing, said Deace, the Iowa-based radio host,
who has a strong following among conservatives. I think hes a
nonentity, presidential-wise. He doesnt have a home-state
constituency, and he doesnt have an issue constituency. And it all goes
back to the immigration battle, he said.
Rubio has plenty of room to improve, however, and he has the kind of
support among Washington pundits that could translate into a viable
candidacy. A recent Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll of
definite or probable Iowa caucus-goers found Rubio with views that
were about right not too conservative or too moderate and positive
favorability ratings.
And as Rubio points out, he was once a long shot in Florida to win his
Senate seat.
Added Bozell: If you look at the short list of conservative candidates
out there, hes on it. If you look at the short list of moderate candidates,
hes on it. That makes him formidable.

Walker says Wisconsin

protests prepared him to fight
terrorism
Kathie Obradovich, kobradov@dmreg.com 3:21 p.m. CST February 28, 2015

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/
kathie-obradovich/caucus/2015/02/26/cpac-live-coverage-kathieobradovich/23994375/

!
(Photo: Cliff Owen, AP)

Washington, D.C. -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, speaking at CPAC on

Thursday, suggested his experience in dealing with angry
protesters in Wisconsin prepared him to take on terrorists as
president.
"I want a commander-in-chief that will do everything in their power to
ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists do not wash up on
American soil," he said.
Then he added, "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same
across the world.
That sounds like a stretch, to say the least. Walker has detailed violence
and threats from people angry about his actions to challenge union power
in Wisconsin. But that's a far cry from dealing with ISIS and other terrorists
being armed and trained by foreign governments.
A spokeswoman for Walker said in an email Thursday night that he was "in
no way comparing any American citizen to ISIS" and that his comment was
meant to convey that when faced with adversity, he chooses strength and
leadership.
Walker's star has been on the rise since last month's crowd-pleasing
speech at the Freedom Summit in Iowa. He proved popular with the
conservative audience at CPAC. Many of his comments were met with
cheers and applause, especially references to defunding Planned
Parenthood, requiring voters to show ID and implementing a right-to-work
law. A reference to his potential presidential run sparked shouts from some
in the audience of "Run, Scott, run!"
He was also interrupted by a heckler or two. He effectively shut down the
shouts with a joke about protests following him from Wisconsin. "Apparently
the protesters come from Wisconsin as well. But you know, those voices
can't drown out the voices of millions of Americans who want us to stand up
for the hard-working taxpayer," Walker said.
Jindal: GOP about to surrender on Obamacare
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal argued that Republicans didn't win elections in
2014 by promising to change parts of Obamacare.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (Photo:
Cliff Owen, AP)

"It's time for them to govern the way they campaigned and repeal
Obamacare," he said.
Jindal added, "This election wasn't about getting a nicer office for Sen.
Mitch McConnell."
He spoke more expansively about repealing Obamacare than other
potential 2016 candidates. "At the same time that Republicans in
Washington are about to wave the white flag of surrender on amnesty, they
are about to wave the white flag of surrender on repealing Obamacare. And
I'm here to tell you, we've got to tell them, we won't stand for that."
Cruz: Senate GOP leaders not listening to Americans
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz lashed out at Hillary Clinton at CPAC on Thursday but
was nearly as scathing about entrenched GOP politicians in Washington.
Cruz said Clinton "embodies the corruption" of Washington. He also
accused the GOP leadership in the Senate of not listening to Americans on
immigration.

"Unfortunately, Republican leadership is cutting a deal with Harry Reid and

the Democrats to give in on executive amnesty," Cruz said. "And the
question why is because they are not listening to you."
The audience booed.
Senate Republican leaders reportedly are trying to move forward with the
budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which some Republicans
wanted to use as leverage against the president's executive actions on
immigration.
Cruz compared the Washington establishment to taxi companies resisting
the encroachment of ride services like Uber. "In both parties, they fight
vigorously because they don't want the power to be back with the American
people," he said.
During a lively interview session with Sean Hannity of Fox News, Cruz also
addressed the question about how he could run for president even though
he was born in Canada.
"Look, I was born in Calgary. My mother was an American citizen by birth.
Under federal law, that made me an American citizen by birth. The
constitution requires that you be a natural-born citizen," Cruz said.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks with Laura Ingraham during the Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. (AP
Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)

Christie: Listen to Americans, not media

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seemed to think there was a prize at CPAC
for whoever hated the New York Times the most.
He bashed the newspaper at least three times, saying politicians pay too
much attention to Beltway media and too little to middle-income Americans.
He joked that he told his priest he was giving up the New York Times for
Lent.
When the audience started to clap, he said: "Don't cheer; it's bad news. He
said, 'Chris, that's not acceptable. You have to give up something you'll
actually miss.'"
He also jabbed at the Beltway media when asked about his sinking
standing in some polls relative to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"If what happens is the elites in Washington who make backroom deals
decide who the president is going to be, then he's definitely the frontrunner. If the people of the United States decide to pick the next president
of the United States and they want someone who looks them in the eye,
connects with them and is one of them, I'll do OK on my own."
Christie didn't give a speech but instead sat for an on-stage interview with
national conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. She asked him about the
increasing unwillingness of Congress members to hold town hall meetings
with constituents.
Christie said he held his 128th town-hall meeting on Wednesday. He said
people can raise their hands and ask questions instead of having to submit
questions on cards for pre-screening.
"That's what elected officials owe to their constituents," Christie said.
I absolutely agree, by the way. Christie is criticized for matching belligerent
questions with belligerent answers, but he pointed out, "We're all from New
Jersey."
Ingraham wondered if Christie was taking a swipe at Bush.
"What's I'm saying, Laura, is that everybody who aspires to high positions
of leadership in their state or in their country should be willing to take
unscreened, unrehearsed questions from the people who pay their salary."
Fiorina taunts Hillary Clinton
Former tech industry executive Carly Fiorina made a blunt case at CPAC
on Thursday for having a Republican woman in the race for president in
2016.
Fiorina, who has two trips to Iowa scheduled in March, was asked how
important she thinks it is for the GOP to have a woman in the presidential
race. She said the party ought to be as diverse as the U.S. population.



"Women are now 53 percent of voters. So as I like to tell some of my

Democratic friends who continue to talk about the war on women, we are
not a special interest group. We are the majority of the nation," Fiorina said
to cheers and applause.
"And I will say this, if Hillary Clinton had to face me on the debate stage, at
the very least, she would have a hitch in her swing," Fiorina said.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO reprised the harsh criticism of Clinton
that she brought to the Freedom Summit in Des Moines last month. She
also slammed the former New York senator and first lady for contributions
to the non-profit Clinton Foundation from foreign governments.
"She tweets about women's rights in this country and takes money from
governments that deny women the most basic human rights,"
Fiorina said of Clinton. " Hillary likes hashtags. But she doesn't
know what leadership means."
Fiorina is among potential 2016 presidential candidates headed to Iowa
next week for an agricultural summit. She's also scheduled to
speak at a GOP women's conference on March 14 in West Des
Moines.

Atheists Actually Allowed at

CPAC This Year
Last year they got the boot, this year they got a
booth and a speaking slot.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/26/
atheists-actually-allowed-at-cpac-this-year
By Nikki Schwab
Feb. 26, 2015 | 4:40 p.m. EST

The American Atheists got very close to having a booth at the Conservative
Political Action Conference last year, but then the groups president David
Silverman got a little mouthy. I used the word attack, he says sheepishly

at this years conference. (He also said on CNN that, The Christian right
should be threatened by us, but thats neither here nor there.)
[FLASHBACK: Big Mouth Gets Atheists Booted From CPAC Booth]
A year later, the secular group has made nice with the American
Conservative Union and was rewarded with a booth in CPACs exhibit hall
and a speaking slot, utilized by American Atheists board member Jamila
Bey.
Were not here to create trouble, Bey swears. We are here to say, You
cant say in order to believe in small government, you have to believe in
Jesus.
The audience reacted pleasantly to Bey who had an early morning
speaking slot on Thursday. (Though not with the same enthusiasm as, say,
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas).
Holding court at the downstairs booth, which holds buttons and a brochure
answering the question Why are we here? an attendee dips by to wish
Bey and Silverman well.
[READ: Meet CPACs Liberty-Loving Purse Lady]
Thats what people have been doing all day to me, Bey says. Shes
maybe the 100th person whos walked by me and said, Hi, good job, thank
you.
Silverman said hes also gotten a mostly positive reception. We have met
so many atheists, he says. The other thing, not only have we met so
many atheists, but we met so many Christians who agree that we ought to
have a table and so many Christians who agree that there should not be
Christianity in conservatism.
But have there been haters?
Oh yeah, yeah, there have been some haters, but they have been the
minority, Silverman says.

You May Not Know Who This

Woman Is, but She Just Hinted She
Could Take on Hillary in 2016
By: Zach Noble
http://cnmnewz.com/you-may-not-know-who-this-woman-is-but-she-just-hintedshe-could-take-on-hillary-in-2016/

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Hillary Clintons receiving no quarter from

conservatives assembled on the doorstep of the nations capital.
She was slammed in particular by a powerful woman who could give her a run
for her presidential money.

Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, walks the hallway before her
speech at CPAC in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2015. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll
Call, Inc.)
Addressing the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday
afternoon, Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and chair of the
American Conservative Union Foundation, hammered the presumptive 2016
Democratic presidential candidate.
Like Mrs. Clinton, I too have travelled the globe, said Fiorina, who mounted a
failed bid for U.S. Senate in California in 2010. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, I know that
flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.Mrs. Clinton, name an
accomplishment.
Then she doubled down.
Please explain why we should accept that the millions and millions of dollars
that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments dont
represent a conflict of interest, Fiorina implored Clinton
Fiorina,an established business leader with a net worth north of $100 million,
was referencingthe news that broke Wednesday night that the Clinton
Foundation accepted millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments
duringher tenure as secretary of state.
Fiorinas harsh assessment of Clinton wasnt over.
[Clinton] tweets about womens rights in this country and takes money from
governments that deny women the most basic human rights, Fiorina said. She
tweets about equal pay for women but wont answer basic questions about
her own offices pay standards and neither will our president. Hillary likes
hashtags. But she doesnt know what leadership means.
Fiorina may not be on many voters radar for 2016, but when asked about the
need for female candidates in 2016, she fired back with a hint that she may
run.
If Hillary Clinton had to face me on the debate stage, I guarantee she would
have a hitch in her swing, Fiorina said.

Behind the 2016 scenes, Jeb Bush's

team taking steps to reassert his
conservative credentials
Article by: STEVE PEOPLES and THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press
February 26, 2015 - 9:55 PM
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/294256061.html?
page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

OXON HILL, Md. As Florida's governor, Jeb Bush was among the
nation's most conservative state chief executives. He's quietly embarking
on work to convince the right flank of the Republican Party that he would be
that same kind of conservative in the White House.
Eight years removed from office, Bush is viewed by some conservatives as
a squishy moderate: a member of the GOP's most established family with
toxic positions on immigration and education standards.
For that reason, perhaps none of the likely 2016 candidates has more to
gain than Bush at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, the
nation's largest annual conference of conservative activists.
"The challenge for him is this isn't about yesterday, it's about tomorrow,"
said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which
hosts CPAC. "The key is, what will he do if he's president of the United
States, and does he have a message that will appeal to conservatives?"
Bush speaks at CPAC on Friday, and amid his aggressive fundraising
efforts nationwide, his team and key backers are also taking steps to
remind the party of his history as a conservative in office.
In a possible trial run for his Friday speech, Bush asserted a fiscally
conservative stance and record during a speech to the Club for Growth, an
influential anti-tax group, at its winter meeting in Florida.
"If you apply conservative principles and you stick with it, and you have the
leadership skills to bring people toward the cause, you can move the
needle on these things," Bush said. "Trust me, I did."
In phone calls and private meetings, Bush's team is reviving old alliances
with top social and economic conservatives, broadening his network of

conservative opinion leaders and trying to quiet his more aggressive critics.
Al Cardenas, a longtime Bush supporter and former chairman of the
American Conservative Union, said it would take Bush six to eight months
to "totally set the record straight."
"As I've told the governor, the key word is patience," Cardenas said. "I can
tell you as a matter of fact those meetings have begun to be placed on the
calendar and are beginning to take place. He wants leaders of the
movement to be comfortable with his leadership."
Cardenas and other Bush allies say the problem is one of misperception,
as conservatives of a new era are simply less familiar with his record as
Florida governor.
Aides say that while in office from 1999 to 2007, Bush was among the first
state executives to take on teachers unions, lowered taxes each year and
signed Florida's "stand your ground" gun law. He was a hero among social
conservatives for his actions to keep Michael Schiavo from removing the
feeding tube from his brain-damaged wife, Terri.
Today's criticism centers almost entirely on Bush's support for Common
Core education standards and an immigration policy that would create a
path to citizenship for people living in the country illegally. He is also hurt by
lingering resentment over the rise in government spending during brother
George W. Bush's administration.
Skeptics were reminded of their misgivings late last year, when Bush said a
Republican might need to "lose the primary to win the general," viewed by
some as a swipe at the heavy influence of conservatives in picking the
party's White House nominee.
Just four in 10 self-identified conservatives and tea party supporters rated
Bush favorably in an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted earlier this
month. There was evidence, too, of anti-Bush sentiment in the crowded
hotel lobbies Thursday as thousands of activists gathered for CPAC.
"I have not seen a single Jeb Bush button here," said Neil McGettigan, 25,
of New Jersey. "Honestly, I think the media's more excited about him than
anyone here."
As they privately court prominent conservatives, Bush's confidants are also
encouraging him to outline his conservative bona fides more publicly.
Longtime Bush donor Al Hoffman said he recently told the governor he
needs to openly explain how his positions on immigration and Common
Core are in line with conservative economic principles.
Bush's team is also trying to win over some of his most aggressive critics.
They include Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist, who
praises Bush's economic record as Florida governor, but regularly attacks

his refusal to sign a pledge not to raise taxes if elected president. Bush is
one of the only top-tier GOP presidential contenders not to sign.
"I've had a bunch of people from Jeb's world call me on behalf of the
campaign," Norquist said. "There are many things he did well as
governor. ... But it's all about the pledge. It makes you wonder about
whether he's a team player."
Some conservatives need no convincing. Bush already enjoys formal and
informal support from a growing network of well-connected conservative
leaders with whom he maintains regular contact.
"It'd be hard to be better than Bush on the life issue," said Marjorie
Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a national group that
advocates for social conservative values and supports candidates who
oppose abortion. "He's said many times said it to me that he can be
counted on."
While Schlapp won't formally endorse a presidential candidate as leader of
the American Conservative Union, he said Bush had "sterling conservative
credentials" as Florida governor and "took prominent conservative positions
in a battleground state."
"Conservatives play a large role in determining who the Republican
nominee is," said Schlapp, who served as political director in Bush's
brother's White House. "People will forgive him if they connect to him when
he makes his pitch. I think that's what's critical."

Republicans seek the

perfect date (read:
candidate) for 2016

AP
FILE - In this Aug. 8, 2014, file photo Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands by a
painting presented to him of his likeness by Erick Erickson after the governor
spoke to attendees at the 2014 Red State Gathering in Fort Worth, Texas.
Lets say that America has given you the job of picking the perfect candidate
for president. There are all sorts of things to start the list: leadership, vision,
charisma, communication skills and foreign policy cred. And more:
fundraising prowess, authenticity, empathy, a keen understanding of the
presidency and maybe a little familiarity with running for the office. Theres
no People magazine list of the hottest candidates. But you can bet most of
these candidates like what they see in the mirror. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez,
File)

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

Posted Feb. 26, 2015 at 2:00 PM

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150226/NEWS/150229449


WASHINGTON, D.C. Let's say, for a moment, that America has
given you the job of picking the perfect candidate for president.
Good luck, Mr. or Ms. Voter, deciding what they've got to have
and what they can do without.
There are all sorts of things to start the list: leadership, vision,
charisma, communication skills and foreign policy cred. And
more: fundraising prowess, authenticity, empathy, a keen
understanding of the presidency and maybe a little familiarity
with running for the office.
And even more: good looks are always a plus, even if people
don't want to admit it. For many, being an "outsider" is a must at
a time when "Washington" is on the outs with a lot of people.
Where do you even start? For Republicans, you can't do much
better than this week's Conservative Political Action Conference.
There are as many as two dozen GOP hopefuls eyeing the party's
nomination in 2016, and many of them will be offering
themselves at CPAC as the perfect prom date for conservatives in
search of a winning candidate.
Can anyone claim the total package? Matt Schlapp, chairman of
the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, sees a
strong lineup of potential candidates and says that now, "they're
going to preen and strut and we're going to see a president
emerge."
But you know how schoolgirls may dream up the perfect
boyfriend by imagining a mashup of the jock, the hottie and the
smart kid, with a whiff of bad boy for excitement? What if
Republicans could do the same to assemble their dream
candidate to go up against the Democratic nominee, who most
expect will be Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Here's a look at a few qualities they might want to pick from, and
some of the candidates with something to offer.
___
LEADERSHIP
Pick a governor. Wisconsin's Scott Walker, New Jersey's Chris
Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are among at least 10
current and former governors considering a bid. Says Walker,
"Governors are the ones who get things done." One other option:
Carly Fiorina, a former tech executive, has the initials "CEO" on
her resume.

___
COMMUNICATION
Grab a senator. Boy, do they know how to talk. There are at least
five current and former senators considering running, and
Florida's Marco Rubio, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Texan Ted Cruz
are all known for giving a good speech. Rubio has the added
benefit of a compelling back story to share on the stump: he's
the son of Cuban immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking a
better life.
___
THE OUTSIDER
Walker is a Harley-riding preacher's son who's been governor
since 2011 and cultivated the image of the outside-Washington
upstart. He's best known for a taking on public unions, and
surviving a 2012 recall election after that brouhaha.

Chris Christie: Some in

DC 'Need to Sit Down and
Shut Up'
Thursday, 26 Feb 2015 03:18 PM
By Sandy Fitzgerald
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Chris-Christie-2016-election-Common-Corepro-life/2015/02/26/id/627107/

Sometimes there are people who "need to be told to sit down and shut
up," and that includes plenty of people in Washington, New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday during the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC) being held in Maryland through the
weekend.
Christie, who sat down with conservative radio show host Laura
Ingraham for an interview rather than doing a traditional speech
before the conservative crowd, fielded questions on his brash
reputation, how he'd separate himself from other contenders, and
even the early 2016 polls that show him trailing behind other
candidates like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker.
The American Conservative Union posted video of the conversation
onto YoutTube.
And when it comes to some people who describe of him as "explosive,
short-tempered, and impatient" they forget the real word,
"passionate," said Christie, explaining that he is the offspring of an

Irish father and a Sicilian mother and grew up learning the value of
being passionate on subjects.
Ingraham referred to the time Christie told a heckler to "sit down and
shut up," and Christie told her that not only do some people need to do
that, but "some more of that stuff should be happening in D.C.,"
making a dig at the Obama administration.
Meanwhile, Christie told Ingraham he is not worried about recent
polls, including a Public Policy Polling survey that showed him
with just five percent of the voters, far behind Walker at 25 percent,
Dr. Ben Carson at 18 percent, Bush at 17 percent, and former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee at 10 percent.
"Is the election next week?" the governor told Ingraham.
Christie also used the interview to bash the media, particularly The
New York Times.
"Here I am, I'm still standing," he said. "What matters more...I wake
up every morning knowing how to fight for the people in my state."
Ingraham also noted in her interview that Christie has been criticized
over signing an application for Race to the Top Funds in 2010 under
the federal Common Core standards.
But he noted that he has a hesitation over it all now, because he
believes states need to be under the control of local boards and
parents, not the federal government.
Christie also used the platform to remind listeners that he has always
held a pro-life stance, running for governor both times on his record
and vetoing Planned Parenthood five times out of his state's budget.
"My record has always been strong and resolute," he said. "Don't
believe what the media tells you if you're pro-life you can't get elected."

Christie also questioned the stance of potential challenger Bush on

Detroit and immigration, with Bush suggesting that the city should be
repopulated with immigrants, and saying they have a stronger work
ethic.
"The fact of the matter is the most entrepreneurial people in the world
are in the United States, that's why people want to come here," he told
Ingraham.
But overall, Christie called for more open politicians like himself who
stand up firmly for their principles, including when it comes to the
challenge of beating someone like probable Democrat nominee Hillary
Clinton for the White House, who he says believes in giving a handout
that includes a minimum wage increase.
"Parents aren't sitting around the table and saying 'if my kids could get
a higher minimum wage' " how much better off they would be. Rather,
Christie said he wants a country where parents can look at their
children and tell them they can be anything they want.

February 26, 2015 3:11 PM

The Designated Hillary-Slapper

By Ed Kilgore
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_02/
the_designated_hillaryslapper054388.php#

When Carly Fiorinas name first got circulated as a potential 2016 president
candidate, I was more than a little puzzled, given her dubious record as a
business executive and her dismal performance in her one run for political office.
I did figure GOPers would welcome her to the field because it was unseemly to
have no women running the year Democrats will likely nominate Hillary Clinton.
But now that shes spoken at CPAC (her position as a board member of the
sponsoring organization, the American Conservative Union, scored her a prime
first-day speaking slot), her role in the campaign is a lot clearer: she gets to
hammer Clinton day in and day out without risking the Lazio Problem: the
phenomenon (named after her 2000 Senate opponent Rick Lazio) of voters,
particularly women, not particularly liking it when a bunch of white men beat up
on a very accomplished woman. Fiorinas presence guarantees theres no
gathering of candidates without a good, uninhibited attack on HRCincluding
the gathering today (per a report from Bloomberg Politics Ben Brody:)
Potential Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina took on Hillary Clinton in her
speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, questioning the
former secretary of states record and launching an apparent attack on contributions
that her familys foundation received from foreign governments.
Mrs. Clinton, please name an accomplishment, Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard
CEO and Senate candidate, said. And in the meantime, please explain why we should
accept that the millions and millions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Global
Initiative from foreign governments does not represent a conflict of interest.
She also hit the presumed frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic nomination on her
record on womens right, the Benghazi attacks, and her approach to Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
I have met Vladimir Putin, and I know that his ambition will not be deterred by a
gimmicky red reset button, she said.
The mentions of Clinton prompted boos from the audience and applause for Fiorina.

Of course it did.
Now one thing I said back in September that I havent changed my mind on at all
is this: the relative effectiveness of Fiorina in bashing Clinton day in and day out
will help Republicans figure out if its a good idea to nominate a woman for Vice
President this time around. And who knows? If shes really effective, Fiorina

could even get her own name on the veep list, though more likely theyll go with
someone a bit more successful, like Gov. Susana Martinez or Rep. Cathy
McMorris Rodgers or (shudder) Sen. Joni Ernst.
If Carly does well, though, shes almost certainly in line for a decent cabinet post
or a prime ambassadorship, and every time she lands a blow against HRC, she
probably scores another corporate board appointment if she stays in the private
sector. But she wont impress me unless she makes one whole speech without
mentioning Clinton.

Carly Fiorina Just Offered the Harshest

Criticism of Hillary Clinton at CPAC So
Far
"Hillary may like hashtags, but she does not know what
leadership means." #CPAC2015
BY EMMA ROLLER
February 26, 2015
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/carly-fiorina-just-offered-theharshest-criticism-of-hillary-clinton-at-cpac-so-far-20150226

Carly Fiorina embedded a message deep within her speech at the

Conservative Political Action Conference: Don't count me out of 2016.
As National Journal's Shane Goldmacher astutely points out, Fiorina is on
the board of the American Conservative Unionthe group that organizes
CPACmeaning she likely had sway over when she gave her speech. And
she got a nice deal: Going in between Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Ted
Cruz guaranteed a big audience.

And that audience got a good show, including some red meat they may not
have expected from the lesser-known Fiorina, who served as CEO at
Hewlett-Packard until 2005. Unlike every other Republican presidential
hopeful at CPAC, Fiorina is uniquely able to criticize Clinton without having
to worry about cries of sexism. And it's an ability that she did not take for
granted on Thursday.
"This is not leadership," she said of Obama. "Nor is it leadership when
Secretary Clinton asks what difference does it make when our embassy is
deliberately attacked by terrorists and four Americans are murdered,"
Fiorina said. "It makes all the difference, Mrs. Clinton, and the required
response has never come."
Fiorina also took the opportunity to slam the other leading lady in
Democratic politics: Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
"Elizabeth Warren is right: Crony capitalism is indeed alive and well,"
Fiorina said. "Government and government programs have grown so big,
so powerful, so costly, and so complex that only the big and the powerful
can prosper. But Elizabeth Warren is dead wrong about how to end crony
capitalism. You see, whether it is Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, or net
neutrality, all this government complexity means the big get bigger, the
small disappear, and the powerless are trapped."
Fiorina also readministered a burn notice to Clinton about her claim of
traveling to 112 countries during her time as secretary of State. "Like Mrs.
Clinton, I too have traveled the globe," Fiorina said, adding that "flying is an
activity, not an accomplishment."
"I have met Vladimir Putin, and I know his determination will not be
deterred by a gimmicky red reset button," Fiorina continued. "Mrs. Clinton,
please name an accomplishment. And in the meantime, please explain why
we should accept that the millions and millions of dollars that have flowed
into the Clinton Global Initiative from from foreign governments doesn't
represent a conflict of interest."
"She tweets about women's rights in this country and takes money from
governments that deny women the most basic human rights. She tweets
about equal pay for women, but won't answer basic questions about her
own office's pay standardsand neither will our president. Hillary may like
hashtags, but she does not know what leadership means."

In the question-and-answer period after her remarks, Fiorina was asked

how important it is to have a female candidate in the 2016 presidential
race. "Any suggestions on who that should be?" the interviewer asked
cheekily.
"I think our party needs to be as diverse as the nation we hope to
represent," Fiorina said, noting that women now make up 53 percent of the
electorate. "We are not a special-interest group., We are the majority of the
nation."
At the end of her appearance, Fiorinagot in final jab: "If Hillary Clinton had
to face me on a debate stage, at the very least she would have a hitch in
her swing.

Leaders gather for CPAC 'boot camp'

Group gives praise to the Left for strong campaigning
skills
Author: By Jeremy Diamond CNN
Published On: Feb 26 2015 12:00:49 PM EST Updated On: Feb 26 2015 09:57:58 PM EST
http://www.news4jax.com/politics/at-cpac-boot-camp-learning-from-the-left/31497660

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (CNN) In a tightly packed room at the Conservative Political Action Conference,
more than a hundred conservatives sat down in rows or leaned against the
walls to hear a half-dozen political operatives teach the basics of their trade
and share one hard truth: the Left is a whole lot better at modern
campaigning.
While 2016 hopefuls flocked to the National Harbor, Maryland, confab on
Thursday, aspiring activists listened attentively the day before as
conservative operatives extolled the work of people who would only be
blamed and blasted at any other time during the conference. Barack
Obama and his 2012 campaign chief tech officer Harper Reed. Obama's
campaign operatives and volunteers. The socialist organizer Saul Alinsky.
"I disagree with the Left on their policy ideas, but on their organizing and
training...I swipe their ideas all the time," said Ned Ryun, founder and CEO
of American Majority, a group aimed at training conservative activists in
grassroots and campaign organizing.
But Ryun and his American Majority colleagues are neither dwelling on nor
shying away from the fact that Democrats and progressive activists have
outpaced their rivals on the right in areas ranging from get-out-the-vote
efforts to social media and data collection.
Instead, they're taking notes and sharing them with conservative activists
who are ready to win the next election, whether at the federal, state or local
level.
And CPAC could be the ideal time to move the needle, with thousands of
some of the most enthusiastic, animated and often young conservatives

gathered to fire each other up and get inspired by the high-profile politicians
and would-be-candidates who are the main attraction.
So when Ryun joined last year the board of the American Conservative
Union, which organizes CPAC, he says he "started beating the drum from
day one" that CPAC should also be a venue to train activists and would-be
campaign managers. Matt Schlapp, first-year chairman of the ACU, was
quickly on board.
"If you like their ideas and they have a compelling message, what are you
actually going to do to make them successful?" Ryun asked. "We're really
trying to bridge the gap between ideas and talking and action, and that
bridging is really about training."
The seminars drew all types of conservatives: most had volunteered on a
campaign before, but some had yet to take their conservative zeal to the
next level.
The pupils-for-a-day picked up terms like "win number," learned about the
need for candidates to spend half their time fundraising and the number of
votes you can win per 100 phone calls.
And then there was Fernando Torrez, a first-time candidate vying for a seat
on the Alexandria, Va. city council.
The CPAC "boot camp" wasn't the first campaign training session Torrez
had attended, but the emphasis on get out the vote training and social
media convinced Torrez that he needs to buy into Twitter to head a
successful campaign.
"I'm not a Twitter fan, but after today I think I'm going to have to be," he said
at the end of the day.
That's something most on the Left are already tuned into, American
Majority's National Executive Director Matt Batzel said during his session
on harnessing social media.
"The Left is naturally better at these things," he told the room of
conservatives. "We're lagging behind in these areas."
Republicans stressed after snagging a historic majority in Congress
following the midterms last fall that they had finally caught up with
Democrats and, in some cases, beat them at their own game online and on
the ground.
But in an interview after his class, Batzel explained that while conservatives
have been making inroads online, "there's still a gap" and "a long ways to
go" to close it.
"We don't necessarily come at it from the objective that what the right has
done works," Batzel said. "We want to look objectively at what has worked,

what hasn't worked. So the Right may be better at certain things, but online
... ."
For all the tactics employed by liberals shared Wednesday, the objective of
the day was clear: teaching would-be candidates and campaign staffers
how to win and booting liberals out of office.
It's the reason why Anthony Neutout drove from Indiana to the suburbs of
Washington, D.C. to enjoy his first CPAC and attend what was billed as
"activism boot camp."
"I'm here because I want to learn anything I can to get Rand Paul elected,"
Neutout said. "I think I'm going to be more effective.

Conservatives convene in
Washington for CPAC
Three-day event is a testing ground for potential 2016 Republican
hopefuls
By Ed Adamczyk   | Feb. 26, 2015 at 12:20 PM
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/02/26/Conservativesconvene-in-Washington-for-CPAC/1311424968707/#ixzz3SszYmtNP



Dr. Ben Carson speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
National Harbor, Maryland, February 26, 2015. Photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License
Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Conservative Republicans

have convened just outside Washington at CPAC 2015, a three-day
parade of speeches designed to rouse the faithful and perhaps make a
presidential candidate a front-runner.
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual carnival of
conservatism for donors, activists and potential candidates. This year it
can be seen as a battleground, not only for presidential hopefuls invited
to speak but for the direction the embattled party will take as it heads to
2016.
The guest list of speakers includes the names Bush, Palin, Cruz, Christie,
Trump, Fiorina, Jindal, Rubio, Perry, Paul, Santorum and others
including Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association and Nigel
Farage of the small-government United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP). Many of these names are someone's idea of a presidential
candidate, and for all intents, the GOP run for the White House starts
Thursday with something of an adventure in comparison-shopping.
"Conservatives are hungry to find a standard-bearer, but they're open to
who it is," said Matt Schlapp, the new chairman of the American
Conservative Union, sponsor of the event, told the Washington Post.
"They're actually shopping right now. ... How (potential candidates)
execute will have a huge impact on where the race goes next."
The Republican Party has cracks in its policies, a perception problem, a
lack of unity and concerns about its future as it applies to growing
demographic minorities. Furthermore, not every Republican in the
United States thinks he or she is represented at a conference which
blatantly panders to the conservative mindset, and yet the campaign for
an election 20 months away has to begin somewhere.
The party is unified in its opposition to President Barack Obama and its
contempt for presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Expect a
three-day festival of mudslinging, except in those moments the
conventioneers stop to ponder the future and of how the GOP has not
been well-served by negativity.

Each of the speakers regarded as presidential timber (Jeb Bush will use
his allotted time not for an address but for a question-and-answer session
with conservative commentator Sean Hannity) already has a loyal core
of supporters; CPAC will reveal if the prospective candidates can bridge
gaps and turn themselves into favorites, at the expense of their rivals.
The conference thus has the elements of a tent revival meeting, a
boardroom debate about funding and an "American Idol" audition: Take
an up-close look, note the talent and potential and choose one.
Going into this year's event it is difficult to point to a front-runner. Mitt
Romney's star was ascending until he chose not to contest for the
nomination; Jeb Bush and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., are currently at
the top of polls. No one seems completely in line with the party line; the
take on immigration of Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., or the
isolationist stance of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for example, are at odds
with standard Republican ideology.
Attendees' opinions will mesh on gun control, small government and
messages on bumper stickers for sale ("Fight crime, shoot back"). Who
walks away, Saturday, a winner, or at least a front-runner, remains to be
seen.

CPAC: Were not a church

theres no dogma
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
February 26, 2015
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/02/26/4153842_cpac-were-not-a-churchtheres.html?rh=1

OXON HILL, MD. The Conservative Political Action Conference, which is

scheduled to feature a parade of potential Republican presidential
candidates testing their messages and their appeal to thousands of party
activists from all over the country, began Wednesday and continues
through Saturday.
McClatchy sat down with Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union, which sponsors the event, for a preview. Schlapp,
former political director for President George W. Bush, became chairman in
June.
McClatchy: How do you define conservatism today?
Schlapp: Thats really something that CPAC is all about trying to
determine. Were not a church. Its a mistake to somehow think theres a
book of dogma and you accept those teachings if youre a conservative,
and if you dont, youre not. People who approach politics that way are
making a mistake.
Its more a political coalition than anything else. Conservatism is the . . .
desire to have a limited government that doesnt get involved in my life, that
doesnt have a bloated bureaucracy that (gets) involved in every aspect of
the economy, that isnt a big regulatory state.
McClatchy: Fairly or unfairly, conservatives have developed a reputation
as somewhat intolerant. Is that a fair conclusion and if so, how do you
overcome that?
Schlapp: It is our intent to be open-minded, to be inviting and to have a
conversation with anybody. Certainly conservatives who have diversity of
opinion on all kinds of issues need to be welcome at CPAC and play a
large role.

McClatchy: So have you invited any activists for abortion rights?

Schlapp: We havent invited anyone here because theyre pro-choice but I
know there are people in our program that have those views; there are
sponsors that have those views. Take the concept of libertarianism alone
its a huge part of our movement. They believe government shouldnt be
involved in those issues, and they are welcome here.
McClatchy: Why are the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gay-rights
group, not a CPAC sponsor? (Greg Angelo, the groups executive director,
will speak as part of a Saturday panel on Russia.)
Schlapp: There was a certain amount of confusion whether theyve signed
up or not. . . . After CPAC is over and weve gotten a good nights sleep,
were going to meet and discuss what issues we can work on together.
Gay conservatives are welcome at CPAC. . . . We cant be any more
forthright that this is an event for conservatives and that includes
conservatives who are gay.
trim_indicator EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM
McClatchy: Are you concerned that modern conservatism is being defined
as simply anything that President Obama is against? Is conservatism being
oversimplified?
Schlapp: Its always hard for conservatives. Theyre usually in the lane as
saying the growth of government is a threat. And liberals are in the lane
where they get to come up with new government programs. The way the
argument goes is liberals come up with new programs to help someone
and the conservative then says Im against that new government program.
The problem with that from a marketing standpoint is that we always say no
and the liberal looks like hes trying to help someone. Thats a completely
false argument, but that is a little bit what happens.
McClatchy: Give me an example where government works.
Schlapp: I think America in the world is one of the few positive forces to
keep the world stable. I like that were feared. I worry were not feared as
much as we should be. The second thing is that government has a big role,
an important role, in assuring our rights are protected.
trim_indicator EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM
McClatchy: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C., are not listed as speakers. Where are they?
Schlapp: Mike Huckabee had had some past criticisms of CPAC. I think he
couldnt get here because of his schedule. We would have loved to have
had him and we did invite him.
McClatchy: Sen. Graham?

Schlapp: Lindsey Graham, this idea hes running for president is a

boomlet. Its happened in very short order. Unfortunately, I wish if he is
going to run for president and wanted to speak at CPAC, I wish hed
communicated much earlier. I assume we would have been open to inviting
him. . . . We werent trying to be disrespectful to Sen. Graham.
McClatchy: What about Jeb Bush?
Schlapp: Jeb Bush is coming to CPAC because Jeb Bush wants to be at
CPAC and he knows the importance of talking to these activists, and I give
him credit for coming. The words he chooses as he explains his positions
on these issues will be incredibly important. He has a chance at CPAC to,
without any filter at all, explain to these activists what his philosophy is and
what his approach is on these issues and other issues he faced when he
was gov.
McClatchy: What are the concerns about Gov. Bush?
Schlapp: You know what they are. Theyve been so widely reported. When
was governor he cut taxes every year. He was seen as a governor who
took on the teachers union. He was tightfisted with the budget. But its
been several years since hes been governor. As you know, politics is about
tomorrow, not yesterday. He has to tell these people what he wants to do
for them tomorrow.
McClatchy: Discuss national security and the divide among conservatives.
Schlapp: I worked for Bush and Cheney. Is that the conservative position?
Rand Paul (Kentucky senator and possible 2016 candidate for president)
has really found a voice thats less interventionist. Is he the conservative
consensus after so many wars, so many deaths?
I talked to a lot of candidates. They dont know where to go. They dont
know where that consensus is. They dont know which book to pull off the
shelf, to study, to learn what the consensus is. Theres a lot of diverse
opinions on what the consensus should be.
Conservatives agree on this: We didnt get hit after 9/11 in a major way.
That is a pretty major achievement. I think theres a growing fear were
taking our eye off that ball.

Which Republican has

the most to prove at
CPAC 2015?
By: JAKE MILLERCBS NEWS
February 26, 2015, 5:56 AM
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/which-2016-republican-has-the-most-toprove-at-cpac-2015/

The 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)

kicks off in Maryland Thursday, and a number of potential
Republican presidential candidates are descending on the
three-day event to woo the people whose votes they might
need next year.
First held in 1973, CPAC has emerged as a marquee annual
event for the American right wing: an opportunity for leading
lights and rising stars to consult with one another and
appraise the political figures who could stake a claim to their

allegiance. The organizers bill the event as the "nation's

largest gathering of conservatives."

Focus on 2016: Tightening race among GOP favorites

"This really is the first chance that these folks will have to say
before such a large audience, 'This is who I am, this is what I
believe in,'" said Ross Hemminger, a spokesman for the
American Conservative Union, which spearheads CPAC.
The conference takes on an added sense of urgency in the year
before a presidential race, as battle lines are drawn and the
jockeying among potential GOP primary rivals intensifies.
That's especially true this year, with a wide-open race for the
Republican nomination and no fewer than a dozen potential
candidates scheduled to speak.
The speeches will provide an early look each candidate's
strategy for courting the conservative base. And the potential
payoff could be huge. The rapid rise of Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker in the wake of his well-received speech at the Iowa
Freedom Summit last month illustrates how quickly a rousing
appearance at a conservative confab can alter the early
primary landscape.

With that in mind, here's a look at the pressures and

expectations some potential candidates face when they take
the stage over the next three days.

Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush's signal last December that he's planning to run for
president dramatically reorganized the GOP landscape
heading into 2016, and the former Florida governor is already
assembling formidable a team of operatives and fundraisers.

Play VIDEO

James Baker: Jeb Bush is the 2016 Republican

frontrunner
Bush is expected to post a strong showing among the GOP's
donor class and its more moderate, business-friendly wing.
But his speech at CPAC could demonstrate how Bush will
court the party's base, which views him with suspicion due to
his heterodox views on immigration and education.
"In some ways, Jeb Bush has the most to prove of anyone,"
said GOP pollster and strategist Frank Luntz, a CBS News
contributor. "His record as governor is unassailable, but his
more recent positions on immigration reform and education
are problematic with the conservative base. He doesn't have to

change their minds on those issues, but he does have to

convince them that these issues should not disqualify him
from consideration."
Rick Wilson, a Florida-based GOP strategist, said Bush "ought
to show them the kind of conservative leader he was in
Florida. He needs to reacquaint them with his record and his
philosophy."
"He also has to show some passion," Luntz added. "His
speeches in recent days have lacked the intensity and fire that
crowds like the one at CPAC expect."

Chris Christie
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, once considered a top
contender for the 2016 GOP nomination, has slipped out of
the conversation recently. His appeal among the GOP's
establishment wing has been corroded by the arrival of Jeb
Bush, and he faces problems at home in New Jersey, including
record low approval ratings and a still-simmering traffic
scandal involving the George Washington Bridge.
And while his bombastic style helped make him a national
figure, there is ample concern about how well it would wear
over the course of a long presidential campaign.
"I think Christie has a high hill to climb at CPAC," said
Wilson. "He may be trying for a reboot to show people the
kind of spark and energy that he used to have is still
something he can bring to a discussion."
Some aren't counting Christie out just yet, though. "Not only
do I think he's still viable, I think he's one of the top three.
There just needs to be a mute button added to the Christie
repertoire," said Luntz. "Christie has only one volume: loud.
And that pays off for this audience, but it's not enough. He

needs to use CPAC to lay out a more comprehensive, positive

agenda."

Scott Walker
As noted before, Walker's speech at the Iowa Freedom
Summit last month catapulted him into the top tier of
potential GOP contenders - juicing his early poll numbers and
adding a healthy dose of name recognition. Since then,
though, Walker has stumbled over questions about evolution,
his lack of a college degree, and President Obama's Christian
faith.

Play VIDEO

Scott Walker punts a question on evolution

With his speech at CPAC, Walker will look to prove that he's
not just the flavor of the month, but a viable candidate for the
Republican nomination who can weather a rough news cycle
or two (and punch back, if need be). He'll likely nod at his
effort to curtail the power of public employee unions in his
state - a push that earned him an unsuccessful recall election
and plenty of goodwill among the GOP base.
"Walker has replaced Chris Christie as the number-two
candidate for Republicans in 2016," said Luntz.

"Conservatives know what he did on unions, now they need to

know what he would do on other issues - it's much more
informational. They are predisposed to like him. He has to
turn that like into love."
"Scott Walker needs to show he's not just a flash in the pan,"
said Wilson. "He also needs to remind these guys that he...has
been up against every single thing the Democratic hate
machine can throw at him, and not only has he survived it,
he's crushed them."

Rand Paul
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won the last two CPAC straw polls,
and his supporters will be out in force at this year's
conference. His libertarian leanings have endeared him to
parts of the Republican base on economic policy and
government surveillance issues, but they've also distinguished
him from his party at times, particularly on foreign policy.
GOP security hawks have been very critical of Paul, saying his
aversion to foreign entanglements is simply dangerous.
At CPAC, look for Paul to emphasize those issues on which he
and the conservative base align, while alleviating any doubts
on issues on which they disagree.
"Rand Paul is one of the best GOP spokespeople right now,"
said Luntz. "When he speaks, people listen, and for the most
part people like what they hear. The challenge is a single
issue: foreign policy. And foreign policy does matter to the
conservative faithful. Paul's position on foreign policy is not
the mainstream of conservative Republicans right now. So it's
an interesting challenge for him: Does he try to change them,
or does he accept that the issue will always be an Achilles heel
for him?"

"Rand Paul needs to show, in an era in which ISIS is rising

and the loss of America's foreign status is starting to hurt us
so much, that he's not just going to offer isolationism," said
Wilson. "He's done some good work on that in the last two
years, but not perhaps enough for people to swallow their
objections."

Ted Cruz
The Republican base loves Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The party's
old bulls, though, are wary of the freshman senator, who's
repeatedly clashed with GOP congressional leaders on policy
and legislative strategy over the last several years. Cruz will
likely bask in the adulation of a friendly crowd at CPAC, but
he may also use his speech to extend an olive branch to the
party establishment.
"This will be a party atmosphere for Cruz - it will be like a
coronation," said Luntz. "He's got these people in his corner
already, and he'll celebrate with them. But these people alone
do not win the Republican primary. He needs to be able to
reach people who don't attend CPAC and aren't as
conservative as those in the room."
"It's good to have fluency with the conservative base, and Cruz
certainly has that," added Wilson. "That said, the election isn't
CPAC, and CPAC isn't the election."

Marco Rubio
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is not the firebrand that Ted Cruz or
even Rand Paul can be, and he doesn't have the some level of
establishment support as someone like Jeb Bush. But he's
young, articulate, and well-liked by a broad spectrum of
conservative voters. He also speaks about foreign policy more
fluently than many potential GOP candidates, thanks to his

work on foreign affairs in the Senate. Expect him to try to

solidify those strengths during his CPAC speech.

Play VIDEO

Sen. Marco Rubio taking steps toward presidential run

Luntz said Rubio "consistently does the best" of any potential
GOP candidate in focus group dial testing. "In terms of simple
messaging, Rubio's is the most positive of all the candidates,"
Luntz said. "He may appear young to some, but the more they
hear from him, the more they like him."
Wilson predicted Rubio would "surprise the hell" out of the
CPAC audience, despite his support for comprehensive
immigration reform, which has earned him brickbats from
conservatives.
"When people see Marco talking about his life story, his family
history, his view of American exceptionalism, they're going to
come out of their chairs," Wilson said. "They're going to be
blown away. He's got a Reaganesque vision of optimism that I
think will surprise some folks at CPAC who have only seen
Marco Rubio in recent years through the filter of talk radio."

Rick Perry

Play VIDEO

Rick Perry slams Obama, says 2008 was an "oops"

During twelve-plus years as governor of Texas, Rick Perry
amassed a conservative record that could serve him well in a
GOP primary. But when he ran in 2012, his record took a
backseat to his often unusual performance on the campaign
trail, including a painful moment at one primary debate when
he offered an "oops" after failing to remember the third
federal department he'd proposed shuttering. If he hopes to
succeed in 2016, he'll need to remind GOP voters about his
record in Texas while assuaging any doubts sown by his illfated 2012 bid.
"Rick Perry is much more animated, much more passionate,
and much more focused today than he was three years ago,
and when people hear his record, they do give him a second
look," said Luntz. "The question is whether he can erase
perceptions of 2012 over the next year."
"Rick Perry has been born again hard," added Wilson. "He
recognized what went off the rails in 2012, he's out telling the
Texas story, and he needs to keep telling the Texas story. He
needs to show the folks at CPAC that the Saturday Night Live
clich version of Rick Perry was an exception to his actual
story.

Ben Carson
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and conservative activist,
burst onto the scene in 2013 by condemning Obamacare at the
National Prayer Breakfast as the president looked on. He's
earned a passionate core of disciples, some of whom have
even set up an effort to draft him into the presidential race.
But if he hopes to have a real shot at the GOP nomination in
2016, he'll need to broaden his focus, sharpen his message,
and demonstrate the kind of political aptitude expected of a
presidential candidate.
Some aren't sure he can rise to that level.
"I'm not convinced that he and his team are prepared to
mount a serious national campaign," said Wilson. "There's a
bit of rising concern that Ben Carson is a fundraising effort by
a few consultants and not a national campaign."
"Ben Carson has to prove that he deserves more than just a
second look," added Luntz. "He has to prove that someone
who's never run before is worthy of a primary or caucus vote
when there are so many other more qualified candidates."

Carly Fiorina
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's last political
foray - a 2010 California Senate bid - fell short. But she's
earning some early buzz as a potential dark horse presidential
candidate for the GOP in 2016. Hemminger, the ACU
spokesman, tagged Fiorina as one to watch.
"Every campaign cycle, people are looking for something
different," he said. "Her experience is so broad, and so vast, I
really think she is that something special. I think you're going
to see a lot more from her. I wouldn't be surprised to see a
groundswell of support for her, particularly here at CPAC."

The fact that she's among the only women in the GOP's 2016
bullpen could help set her apart, but she will need to address
concerns that someone with her nonpolitical background is
prepared to carry a national party through a presidential
election.
Luntz said Fiorina's business experience could be a selling
point for her among conservatives, "but that alone isn't
enough. She has to prove that someone without any political
experience whatsoever not only knows the policies but also
knows how to get elected."
"She's got some dark horse potential," Wilson added. "She
needs to work on that and make sure people view her as
someone who can play in the national space."

Conservatives convene in
Washington for CPAC
Three-day event is a testing ground for potential 2016 Republican
hopefuls
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/02/26/Conservativesconvene-in-Washington-for-CPAC/1311424968707/
By Ed Adamczyk   | Feb. 26, 2015 at 12:20 PM


Dr. Ben Carson speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
National Harbor, Maryland, February 26, 2015. Photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License
Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Conservative Republicans

have convened just outside Washington at CPAC 2015, a three-day
parade of speeches designed to rouse the faithful and perhaps make a
presidential candidate a front-runner.
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual carnival of
conservatism for donors, activists and potential candidates. This year it
can be seen as a battleground, not only for presidential hopefuls invited
to speak but for the direction the embattled party will take as it heads to
2016.
The guest list of speakers includes the names Bush, Palin, Cruz, Christie,
Trump, Fiorina, Jindal, Rubio, Perry, Paul, Santorum and others
including Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association and Nigel
Farage of the small-government United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP). Many of these names are someone's idea of a presidential
candidate, and for all intents, the GOP run for the White House starts
Thursday with something of an adventure in comparison-shopping.
"Conservatives are hungry to find a standard-bearer, but they're open to
who it is," said Matt Schlapp, the new chairman of the American
Conservative Union, sponsor of the event, told the Washington Post.
"They're actually shopping right now. ... How (potential candidates)
execute will have a huge impact on where the race goes next."
The Republican Party has cracks in its policies, a perception problem, a
lack of unity and concerns about its future as it applies to growing
demographic minorities. Furthermore, not every Republican in the
United States thinks he or she is represented at a conference which
blatantly panders to the conservative mindset, and yet the campaign for
an election 20 months away has to begin somewhere.
The party is unified in its opposition to President Barack Obama and its
contempt for presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Expect a
three-day festival of mudslinging, except in those moments the

conventioneers stop to ponder the future and of how the GOP has not
been well-served by negativity.
Each of the speakers regarded as presidential timber (Jeb Bush will use
his allotted time not for an address but for a question-and-answer session
with conservative commentator Sean Hannity) already has a loyal core
of supporters; CPAC will reveal if the prospective candidates can bridge
gaps and turn themselves into favorites, at the expense of their rivals.
The conference thus has the elements of a tent revival meeting, a
boardroom debate about funding and an "American Idol" audition: Take
an up-close look, note the talent and potential and choose one.
Going into this year's event it is difficult to point to a front-runner. Mitt
Romney's star was ascending until he chose not to contest for the
nomination; Jeb Bush and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., are currently at
the top of polls. No one seems completely in line with the party line; the
take on immigration of Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., or the
isolationist stance of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for example, are at odds
with standard Republican ideology.
Attendees' opinions will mesh on gun control, small government and
messages on bumper stickers for sale ("Fight crime, shoot back"). Who
walks away, Saturday, a winner, or at least a front-runner, remains to be
seen.

Show Time: CPAC kicks o next phase

of GOP campaign

By Chris Stirewalt

Published February 26, 2015

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/26/show-time-cpac-kicks-o-next-phasegop-campaign/

SHOW TIME: CPAC KICKS OFF NEXT PHASE OF GOP

CAMPAIGN
Every major player for the Republican presidential nomination
knows where to be this week: the Conservative Political Action
Conference in suburban Washington. Its always a big deal, but
CPAC takes on new significance this year as Republicans try to
sort through a bumper crop of presidential contenders. And they
will all, with the exception of Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, make the trip to Prince Georges
County, Md. to audition for the partys activist base. Think of it

this way: There a two concurrent contests going on in the GOP.

One is a fundraising drag race in the first eight months of the
year. Well see the results as quarterly filing come in. But the
other fight is for the hearts and minds of issue-driven activists
social, fiscal, libertarian, national security and even more niche
concerns who propel the party. Well know by Saturday whos in
the lead for that prize.

[Watch Fox: Campaign Carl Cameron with the latest on GOP

2016ers live from CPAC.]

Schlapp-ed - The American Conservative Union, under the

leadership of new Chairman Matt Schlapp has rebooted the
event, which had in recent years come to cater to the partys
libertarian wing, in favor of the more broad-spectrum Reaganite
conservatism that animated the organization at its outset. The
response has been dramatic. Moderates (Jeb Bush), social
conservatives (Rick Santorum), libertarian leaners (Rand Paul)
and defense hawks (Marco Rubio) will all be making their case
to attendees and competing in the events annual presidential
straw poll. And rather than just canned speeches, candidates are
consenting to be questioned by conservative opinion-makers like
Laura Ingraham, who will be sauting Gov. Chris Christie, RN.J., today.

[Ben Carson kicked o the event in the morning. Other speakers

today include Christie, Carli Fiorina, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,
Gov.Scott Walker, R-Wisc., and Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La.]

Fearless forecast - Walker has the most to gain or lose as he is

arriving amid a rapid ascent to frontrunner status. Heres the Fox
News First fearless forecast: Several candidates will get a boost
out of the weekend but at least one will start to see the window
close on his or her presidential hopes. In a field this crowded, the

same rule applies as to college admissions and suspensions:

Easy in, easy out.

[Meanwhile, in Florida - Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush;

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker;
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas; Indiana Gov. Mike Pence; and Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal are confirmed to speak at the Club for
Growth three-day winter meeting which begins today Palm
Beach, Fla.]

Schiavo brother stands up for Jeb - In a WSJ op-ed, Terry

Schiavos brother, Bobby Schindler, writes, The usual media
suspects are excoriating Jeb Bush, again, for trying to help save
my sister Terri Schiavos life. An article last month in the Tampa
Bay Times, The Audacity of Jeb Bush, later quoted in a New
Yorker article titled The Punisher, accused the former Florida
governor of going all in on Schiavo and running roughshod over
Florida state law. I suppose attacks like these go with the territory
of what appears to be a presidential run by Mr. Bush. But it is
telling that the attacks never tell my sisters whole story, or
identify the coalition of liberals and conservatives, believers and
nonbelievers, that tried to prevent her slow death by
dehydration.

[USA Today: Former President George W. Bush will join

President Obama in Selma, Ala., on March 7 for the 50th
anniversary of the voting rights marches there.]

Rand smokes Jeb over pot laws - In an interview on The Kelly

File, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. had a message for Jeb Bush: stop
being a hypocrite. The presidential hopeful said that Bushs
admission to being a stoner in prep school and current stance on
tough drug laws make him unfavorable to young voters. Rand
said, I think if you talk to young people theyre not very tolerant
of hypocrisy. And the fact that Jeb admits that when he was in an

elite prep school where very wealthy kids, went to school, that he
smoked pot but hes still willing to put somebody in jail for
medical marijuana in Florida. Watch the exchange here.

[Now legal in D.C. - USA Today: Despite warnings from

congressional Republicans, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser
allowed D.C.s marijuana legalization law to take eect at 12:01
a.m. Thursday. Under Initiative 71, people ages 21 or older will
be allowed to possess two ounces or less of marijuana, use
marijuana on private property and give one ounce or less to
another person as long as no money, goods or services are
exchanged.]

Walker ready to wallop unions again - NYT: It was a flashback

to 2011: Hundreds of union members in hard hats and work
boots waved signs under falling snow, denouncing Gov. Scott
Walkerand his fellow Republican lawmakers outside this Capitol
building on Wednesday. Yet this time, their numbers were smaller,
their chants softer. As Mr. Walker builds a presidential run on his
eort to take on unions four years ago, he is poised to deliver a
second walloping blow to labor. After saying for months that an
eort to advance so-called right-to-work legislation would be a
distraction from dealing with larger issues like the states
economy and job growth, Mr. Walker is now preparing to sign a
measure, being fast-tracked through the Republican-held State
Legislature, that would bar unions from requiring workers to pay
the equivalent of dues.

Perry takes a shot at Dubyas Putin policy - In a new campaign

video, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry takes an indirect swipe at
the foreign policy of former President George W. Bush. Perry,
who has been focused on Russias partition of Ukraine says
administrations of both parties have badly miscalculated the
intentions of Vladimir Putin and the Russian state over the last
decade and a half. Perry calls for confronting Russia head-on.

We need to lead our allies, this is Russia were talking about, we

have to stop telling President Putin what we wont do and
telegraphing our limitations. The peace and the security of the
world is at stake and the consequences of inaction are too great
to be ignored.

Carson backs boots on the ground in Iraq, Syria - Wash

Times: In an exclusive interview with The Washington Times,
Ben S. Carson said radical Islamic terrorists threaten the United
States, and he called for boots on the ground to defeat the
organization. We have to, first of all be able to identify them, who
they are, but we have to recognize that right now, theyre sort of
in an adolescent stage. If we continue to let them grow, they will
be in a full-grown adult stage and able to inflict more damage.
The retired neurosurgeon and possible presidential candidate
said U.S. air support alone isnt recognizing the real danger
America faces from the Islamic State.

Christie courts Cantor - Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) will meet

with business leaders and potential donors today in Richmond,
Va. His hosts include former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Trump threatens real run - WaPo: This time, Donald J. Trump

says, he really means it. The billionaire real-estate mogul, who
has long amounted to a one-man sideshow in GOP presidential
politics, said in an interview Wednesday that he is more serious
than ever about pursuing a run for the White House in 2016. In
recent days, Trump said, he has hired staers in key primary
states, retained an election attorney and delayed signing on for
another season as host of NBCs The Celebrity Apprentice
because of his political projects. Everybody feels Im doing this
just to have fun or because its good for the brand, Trump said in
an interview with The Washington Post. Well, its not fun. Im not
doing this for enjoyment. Im doing this because the country is in
serious trouble.

CLINTON CASH VIOLATED ETHICS RULES

WaPo: TheClinton Foundationaccepted millions of dollars from
seven foreign governments during Hillary Rodham Clintons
tenure as secretary of state, including one donation that violated
its ethics agreement with the Obama administration, foundation
ocials disclosed Wednesday. Most of the contributions were
possible because of exceptions written into the foundations
2008 agreement, which included limits on foreign-government
donations. The agreement, reached before Clintons nomination
amid concerns that countries could use foundation donations to
gain favor with a Clinton-led State Department, allowed
governments that had previously donated money to continue
making contributions at similar levels. The new disclosures,
provided in response to questions from The Washington Post,
make clear that the 2008 agreement did not prohibit foreign
countries with interests before the U.S. government from giving
money to the charity closely linked to the secretary of state.

[Clintons fundraising flap has not hurt her with Iowa Democrats.
Quinnipiac Universitys first poll of potential Iowa Democratic
caucus shows Clinton leads with 61 percent, followed by Sen.
Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at 19 percent, and Vice President
Joe Biden at 7 percent. All other contenders were at 5 percent or
below.]

Biden claims ignorance - BuzzFeed: Vice President Joe Biden

had little to say Wednesday about the Clinton Foundations
acceptance of foreign donations. No, I dont have any comment.
I dont know enough about it, Biden said when asked by
BuzzFeed News about the donations to the foundation, which
have come under scrutiny in recent weeks.

[A headline in Wednesdays Fox News First wrongly stated that a

questionable speech by Bill Clinton had been approved by his
wifes State Department. We regret the error.]

No time to lose - WaPos Al Kamen noted that Hillary Clintons

campaign in waiting, Ready for Hillary, is holding a fire sale on
geegaws . Its a move that suggests the campaign is getting
ready to reboot with its permanent designs and logos.

#TBT - The Atlantic looks at the Democratic candidates seeking

to retake the Senate in 2016, including Ohios Ted Strickland,
Wisconsins Russ Feingold, North Carolinas Kay Hagan and
Pennsylvanias Joe Sestak, and what they have in common with
their partys presumptive presidential nominee. Theyre all aging
baby boomers who have lost before. Clinton isnt that old
she'll be 69 on Election Day 2016but all this talk of age has
some Democrats worried about the graying of the partys pool of
candidates, and the shallow bench of youngsters behind them.
Many in the party are worried about the age of party leaders in
Congress. But one of the clearest demonstrations of the age gap
is in races for the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hope to recover
control in 2016.

Crossroads wades into N.H. Senate race Talk about first in

the nation! In the groups first 2015 ad buy, Crossroads GPS
launches radio ads today in New Hampshire, hitting Democratic
Gov. Maggie Hassans anticipated bid for Republican Sen. Kelly
Ayottes seat, in the Senate. This ad encourages Granite Staters
to speak out on Gov. Hassans tax-laden budget.

WITH YOURSECOND CUP OF COFFEE...

For nearly every parent who has ever had their eyes glaze over
and brains go numb at reading with their children, the great E.B.
White has been a salvation. His books Charlottes Web, Stuart
Little and Trumpet of the Swan boast writing far superior to

most adult literature but still captivate children as young as four.

How did he do it? By not trying. Brain Pickings discovered a
treasure of an interview White gave to the Paris Review in 1969 in
which he laid out his philosophy for kid lit. Anyone who writes
down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up,
not down. Children are demanding, White said. They are the
most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and
generally congenial readers on earth. White, who also coauthored the definitive style guide for writers of all ages, said
there was a particular advantage to writing for an audience that
the members of which had not yet surrendered their imaginations
to the workaday cares of adult life. [Children] accept, almost
without question, anything you present them with, as long as it is
presented honestly, fearlessly, and clearly, he said. I handed
them, against the advice of experts, a mouse-boy, and they
accepted it without a quiver. InCharlottes Web, I gave them a
literate spider, and they took that.

POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve 45.1 percent//Disapprove
50.3 percent

Direction of Country: Right Direction 33.2 percent//Wrong

Track 58.4 percent

BAIER TRACKS: THREAT MATRIX

When Secretary of State John Kerry decided to try to put the
threat from ISIS into perspective in congressional testimony, he
raised some eyebrows in the intelligence community. Kerry told
lawmakers, Our citizens, our world today, is actually, despite
ISIL, despite the visible killings that you see and how horrific they
are, we are actually living in a period of less daily threat to
Americans and to people in the world than normally; less deaths,
less violent deaths today, than through the last century.

That prompted a quick response from lawmakers and from inside

the intelligence community. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn,
former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President
Obama told Fox News, Secretary Kerryis out of touch with
reality, he clearly is not listening to the entire U.S. intelligence
community, he is not reading any of the intelligence or other
things that have been written over the last few weeks, months,
years. [ F]or him to make those statements is totally
irresponsible and he should be challenged by anyone who cares
about the future of this country. Kerrys comments appear to be
part of a pattern. The president, for example, recently told Vox
that he believed the media was hyping the threat from terrorists.

But we have a reminder today about the relentless enemy we

face. It was on this day 22 years ago that terrorists detonated a
truck bomb in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New
York. It killed six Americans and injuring hundreds more, but it
didn't have the intended eect of bringing down the tower. Eight
years later, though, the terrorists would not only accomplish that
goal, but bring down both towers in the most audacious attack
on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor.

The administrations assurances would be comforting if true. But

the people we talk to in and around the intelligence community
the people who actually analyze the data see things very
dierently. They see a threat matrix exponentially more deadly
than it was 22 years ago today. Bret Baier.

Ummm - The prime minister, as you will recall, was

profoundly forward-leaning and outspoken about the importance
of invading Iraq under George W. Bush, and we all know what
happened with that decision. Secretary of State John Kerry,
who voted for the Iraq war as a Senator, testifying before the
House Foreign Relations Committee, Wednesday.

[Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testifies today

before the Senate Armed Services Committee.]

The Judges Ruling - Citing challenges to the protection against

unreasonable search and seizure provided by the Constitutions
Fourth Amendment, Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge
Andrew Napolitano ponders the notion of a government fearful
of freedom: What if invading our freedoms keeps us less safe?
What if the president has failed to keep our freedoms safe? What
if the government doesnt like freedoms? What if the government
is afraid we will exercise them?

OBAMA VOWS AGGRESSIVE RESPONSE ON COURT

DEFEAT FOR AMNESTY: THIS IS JUST ONE JUDGE
The Hill: Participating in a town hall-style immigration forum in
Miami, [President Obama] said a recent ruling against his new
immigration policies by a federal judge in Texas was wrongly
decided and promised to use all his legal options to ensure the
new programs are ultimately adopted. This is just one federal
judge. We have appealed it very aggressively. Were going to be
as aggressive as we can, Obama said during the event at Florida
International University, hosted by MSNBC and Telemundo, the
Spanish-language media giant. Im using all of the legal power
vested in me in order to solve this problem.

Denied using immigration for a political advantage - Rejecting

accusations that he failed to push through immigration reform
when Democrats controlled Congress, President Obama blamed
Republicans, then and now, and seemed a perturbed when
asked if both parties are playing political ping pong with
immigration. Thats just not true,Obama said. Democrats have
consistently stood on the side of comprehensive immigration
reform. You do a disservice when you suggest that, Ah, nobody
was focused on this," the president added. Because then you
don't know who's fighting for you and who's fighting against
you.

Homeland funding fight will return to House - WaPo: The

Senate voted Wednesday to move ahead with a bill to fund the
Department of Homeland Security after Democratic leaders
dropped an earlier pledge to block it unless they get assurances
from House Republican leaders that it would pass their chamber.
The bill advanced on a procedural vote by a 98-2 margin. The
only dissenters were Republican Sens. James Inhofe (Okla.) and
Je Sessions (Ala.) Final passage could come before Friday
when current funding will run out at DHS. We're going to do
everything we can to make sure it passes by an overwhelming
vote,Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) told
reporters. He said he looked forward to working with
Republicans "in thenext 24 hours" to get this done. Even if the
bill clears the Senate, it's unclear how the House will respond.

A.G. nominee to advance today - The Senate Judiciary

Committee is expected to endorse today the confirmation of
President Obamas nominee to replace Eric Holder as attorney
general. Former U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch is likely to receive
some bipartisan support from the committee, but her embrace of
Obamas executive amnesty for illegal immigrants will set up a
contentious vote in the full Senate.

Obama foundation polls Chicagoans on taking park property

to build library -AP: The foundation developing Barack
Obamas future presidential library has commissioned polling in
Chicago to determine whether residents support building it on
the South Side, people close to the foundation said, in the
clearest sign to date that the library likely will go to the University
of Chicago. Aiming to counter the vocal opposition from park
advocates, the Barack Obama Foundation earlier this month
enlisted a prominent Democratic pollster who worked on both of
Obama's presidential campaigns.

HOUSE GOP TO CHALLENGE ADMINISTRATION CLAIMS ON

OBAMACARE BACKUP PLAN
Health Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell will face tough
questions today about her claim that the administration has no
plan to deal with a federal lawsuit that could eviscerate the
ObamaCare. In a letter earlier this week, Burwell said her agency
had no backup plan if the Supreme Court strikes down
ObamaCare subsidies in states that did not establish exchanges.
But according to a preview provided to Fox News by House
Republicans, Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., chairman of the Energy and
Commerce Committees subcommittee on health, has reason to
believe those claims may not be true.

[Watch Fox: Correspondent Doug McKelway reports on Health

Secretary Sylvia Burwells testimony on Obamacare flaws.]

Sasse oers plan to use Cobra coverage - First, in the event

that the court strikes down the subsidies as illegal, Congress
must be prepared to oer immediate, targeted protection to
those hurt by this administrations reckless disregard for the rule
of law. ObamaCare took these patients hostage. Conservatives
have a duty to save them. So within a week I will introduce
legislation that uses the 1985 Cobra law as a temporary model
to protect those harmed by ObamaCareSecond, Republicans
need to unify around a specific set of constructive, longer-term
solutions, and then turn the 2016 presidential election into a
referendum on two competing visions of health care. Simply
opposing ObamaCare isnt enough. Republicans must address
this countrys health-care crises, cost and uninsurance, both of
which have been exacerbated chiefly by excessive federal
meddling. --Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., in WSJ op-ed.
VETS GROUP RELEASES REPORT ON HEALTH CARE TODAY
Concerned Veterans for America is releasing today its report and
recommendations for improving veterans health care. The group

previewed the findings in this online video. The group is also

hosting a summit today in Washington. Expected participants
include Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and House Veterans Aairs
Committee Chair Rep. Je Miller, R-Fla.

HIGH DRAMA AS OBAMA INTERNET REGS DEBUT

Fox News: The Federal Communications Commission is driving
toward a landmark vote Thursday on a sweeping plan that critics
warn would impose a new era of regulation for how Americans
use and do business on the Internet, even as eleventh-hour
appeals inject added drama behind the scenes. The so-called net
neutrality proposal has been the subject of fierce debate, in part
because the 332-page plan is being kept from public eyes.
President Obamas vocal push for aggressive Internet rules also
has raised questions on Capitol Hill over undue influence by the
White House -- but House Republicans who had planned a
hearing on that very subject said Wednesday they would
postpone after Chairman Tom Wheeler allegedly refused to
testify.

[Watch Fox: Correspondent Peter Doocy reports on the FCC

decision.]

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A NOCTURNAL

RAPTOR
A driver in Tukwila, Wash. lost control of his vehicle and crashed
into a power pole, knocking out power lines and causing a major
commotion Tuesday night. What was the cause? Booze?
Joyriding kids? How about an owl? KIRO reports that the driver
told police that he was chasing an owl immediately before the
crash. Police did not arrest the driver who they say was not
under the influence of anything but avian enthusiasm.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES

So perhaps by [John Kerrys] own logic, we ought to be
questioning his judgment. I would say that his performance in the
job he has now as a diplomat, somebody exercising judgment, is
not exactly sterling. Charles Krauthammer on Special

Rand Paul crunch time at

CPAC
By REUTERS
February 26, 2015

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/conservative-event-CPAC-RandPaul/2015/02/25/id/626890/
With Republican rivals like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush off to a
strong start in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, Rand Paul will
seek his own breakout moment at an annual gathering where
hopefuls go to burnish their conservative credentials.
Of all the potential candidates speaking at the meeting of the
Conservative Political Action Conference, the Kentucky senator
should feel most at home. He won the event's presidential straw
poll the last two years, buoyed by support from young libertarianleaning conservatives who plan to turn out in force again this year.
The 52-year-old Paul, famous for his non-interventionist approach
to world affairs, could find himself at odds with a growing
hawkishness among other Republican hopefuls mustering support
with their calls for more aggressive action against Russia and
Islamic State militants.
"He's got a challenge to overcome," said Al Cardenas, former
chairman of the American Conservative Union which organizes
the event known by its acronym, CPAC.
Due to speak on Friday, Paul can nonetheless count on a
generational divide of sorts between the party's traditional foreign-

policy hawks and younger activists who have come of age during
13 years of nonstop U.S. engagement in wars.
"We've grown up in war in Afghanistan and Iraq and we all have
friends who have gone overseas and either have not come back
or have come back mentally scarred. There's a toll that's been
taken on young people in this war," said Jeff Frazee, executive
director of Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian group that
has had a heavy presence at recent CPAC gatherings.
The influence of libertarians can be seen this year on panels that
will tackle criminal-justice reform and marijuana legalization, as
well as more traditional topics such as abortion and President
Barack Obama's signature healthcare act.
SHARED SPOTLIGHT
With 20 months to go before the election, Walker, 47, and Bush,
62, will each have a moment in the CPAC spotlight.
Walker, the Wisconsin governor, is riding a surge of conservative
support from a warmly received speech at the Iowa Freedom
Summit last month but came under fire this week when he
demurred on whether he believed Obama was a Christian.
Bush, the former Florida governor seen as the establishment
favorite, has sought to crowd out rivals with an intensive
fundraising push. His Friday appearance will test his appeal to
conservatives who oppose his support for Common Core
education standards and immigration reform.
CPAC can be risky terrain for an establishment candidate. Former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney drew widespread derision
on his way to capturing the Republican nomination in 2012 when
he argued he had governed the liberal-leaning state in a "severely
conservative" fashion.
The father and brother of former presidents, who has been out of
office since 2007, Bush will share the stage with a new generation
of conservatives forged by the Tea Party movement.
Paul's family name has goodwill attached due to the multiple
presidential campaigns run by his father, former Texas

Congressman Ron Paul, whose isolationist positions had a

narrow yet noteworthy appeal in a segment of the Republican
Party.
Paul defenders say Paul has been clear about his support for
action against Islamic State. "He wants to make sure it's done in a
targeted, smart way with a clear plan for victory," said Jesse
Benton, a Paul friend and former aide.
Republican strategist Ron Kaufman said Paul's objective is
twofold: To retain his father's rabid base of support but make clear
he is not in lockstep with him. "It's a fine line he has to walk,"
Kaufman said.
The straw poll result will be announced on Saturday.

The Money Behind CPAC

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/cpac-money-corporate-sponsors/
2015/02/26/id/627044/
Thursday, 26 Feb 2015 11:19 AM

On Thursday, several thousand conservative activists swarmed the

National Harbor convention center near Washington for a three- day
affairthat will feature mostof thepotential Republican candidates for
president, from Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina to Jeb Bush and Scott
Walker.
The story of howtheConservative Political Action Conference, or
CPAC, mushroomedfroma small, informal gathering of the right
intoa multimillion-dollar can't-miss pageant for the Republican Party
is reflected in its corporate sponsors. It'sunderwritten by theNational
Rifle Association, the HeritageFoundation, the TrumpOrganization
Inc. and the Motion PictureAssociation of America in addition to
much more modestly moneyed religious and small-government
interest groups.
The American Conservative Union,the nonprofit organization that
puts on CPAC, generated$8 million in revenue in 2013, according to
its most recent tax documents, almostdouble its budget just two years
earlier. The funding explosioncoincided with the rising influence of
the Tea Party movement, which became a guiding force in the 2012
presidential election. On the CPAC stage that year, eventual
Republican nominee Mitt Romney, once the governor of deep-blue
Massachusetts, labeled himself "severely conservative."
The CPAC presidential tryoutscontinued in 2013 and 2014, with New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie and KentuckySenator Rand Paul
drawing some of the largest crowds and warmest receptions. But as
CPAC's influence on the party has grown, some of the activists have

complained that it's also become stale, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of
the American Conservative Union. This is his first year at the helm of
CPAC.
"As I rethought the way CPACoccurs, I wanted tofocus every decision
we make on what's best for the activists who are attending," Schlapp
said. Hewas thinking about his mother, he said, who's coming tothe
convention from Wichita, Kan.The plane ticket, hotel room, and
three-day pass representa significant investment for people like her,
he said. "They need to feel like they're getting something special for
the money."
To shake things up, speakers will respond to questions posed through
Twitter in addition to delivering prepared remarks, Schlapp said.
Some presidential hopefuls, including Bush, are choosing to forgo a
formal speech altogether in favor of a longer Q&A session.The roster
includes Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal and
Ted Cruz. Schlapp said the2016ers would be wise to take as many
questions as possible. "Anybodywho tries totalk through the Q&A is
telling people that they don't really want to hear from voters."
And Schlapp said CPAC won't try to hide divisions among
conservativesanothercriticismof attendees in recent years, he said.
"The feedback was that some issues were sanitized, that there
appeared no disagreement where there actually is," he said.This year's
panels on immigration, gay marriage, education, privacy versus
national security, and conservative approaches to criminal justice
should be meaty, notpreachy,he said.
As anonprofit group, the American Conservative Union is not
required to disclose its donors. But a review of CPAC's marketing
materials, schedule and ACU's30-person board of directors
showswho's paying the bills.
TheNRA exemplifiesthesymbiotic and multi-layered relationship
between CPAC and its funders. The gun lobby group is a "presenting
sponsor," the convention'stop tier of donors, though its unclear how
much money that involves. And the NRAis again helping to pay for an
exclusive opening-night CPACparty, called the "Good Guys
Reception." It's invitation-only.
Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's chief executive officer, is a featured
speaker at CPAC, commanding the Friday slot just before Bush. David
Keene, one of the ACU's board members and its long- serving

chairman, from 1984-2011, is the pastpresident of the NRA. His

current employer, theWashington Times(he's now the news
organization'sopinion editor), also is a CPAC "presenting sponsor."
One America News Network, a new cablenews network that began as
a partner of theWashington Times, is sponsoring the Ronald
ReaganDinner on Friday night. Indiana Governor Mike Pencewill
givethe keynote address.
Other conservative-leaning media also help pay forCPAC: Breitbart,
the National Review andSalem Communications. Another set of
sponsors includes conservative activists and research groups such
asCitizens United, Americans for Tax Reform, the American
Principles Project, the Heartland Institute, the Leadership Institute,
the College Republican National Committee, Let Freedom Ring and
Tea Party Patriots.
Some of thepresidential hopefuls speaking also put up money for
CPAC through outside groupsthey lead. Thatdonor list includes the
Jobs, Growth &Freedom Fund (Cruz) and Patriot Voices (Santorum).
The Trump Organization'sDonald Trump, who reportedly hired a
presidential campaign manager in-waiting this week, also will speak.
In all, CPAC's programlists more than 50 corporate and
organizational sponsors.
And of course the attendees also make up a goodbit of the
convention'sfunding. By some accounts, 10,000 people attended last
year.A premium, all-inclusive pass purchased on site costs $1,700.
For seniorslike Schlapp's moma three-day pass costs at least$150.

CPAC message: Washington

is washed up
!

Conservatives attending the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference tell USA
TODAY what they are looking for in a presidential candidate. H. Darr Beiser, USA
TODAY
Kathie Obradovich, kobradov@dmreg.com 3:18 p.m. CST February 28, 2015
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/kathie-obradovich/caucus/
2015/02/26/cpac-speakers-bash-washington/24086823/

!
(Photo: Cliff Owen/AP)

OXON, Md. Washington, D.C., is less than a dozen miles away, but a
lineup of potential Republican presidential candidates worked so
hard to distance themselves that the nation's capital might as well
be on Mars.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby
Jindal and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed not only President
Barack Obama and Democrats but also GOP leaders in Washington.
"Washington is washed up. The power structure in Washington is broken,"
Walker said.
He joked that Washington is "68 square miles surrounded by reality."
Walker, on the rise in the polls after a stem-winding speech at last month's
Iowa Freedom Summit, proved popular at the American Conservative
Union's CPAC conference. When he referred to his potential run for
president, a few in the audience shouted, "Run, Scott, run!"
Cruz, the only pre-2016 speaker on Thursday who actually works in
government in Washington, D.C., was even harsher in his criticism of his
GOP colleagues in Washington. Running as a Washington outsider isn't
just for actual outsiders.
"Unfortunately, Republican leadership is cutting a deal with Harry Reid and
the Democrats to give in on executive amnesty," Cruz said, to boos from
the audience. "And the question why is because they are not listening to
you."
Senate Republican leaders reportedly are trying to move forward with the
budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which some Republicans
wanted to use as leverage against the president's executive actions on
immigration.
Cruz compared the Washington establishment to taxi companies resisting
the encroachment of ride services like Uber. "In both parties, they fight
vigorously because they don't want the power to be back with the American
people," he said.
Jindal argued that Republicans didn't win elections in 2014 by promising to
change parts of Obamacare. "It's time for them to govern the way they
campaigned and repeal Obamacare," he said.
Jindal added, "This election wasn't about getting a nicer office for Sen.
Mitch McConnell."

!
Customers browse the selection of buttons at the PC Button booth during
theConservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 27. (Photo:
H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

Christie focused most of his scorn on the Beltway media but also jabbed
Jeb Bush when he was asked about the former Florida governor's
fundraising machine and rise in the polls.
"If what happens is the elites in Washington who make backroom deals
decide who the president is going to be, then he's definitely the frontrunner," Christie said of Bush. "If the people of the United States decide to
pick the next president of the United States and they want someone who
looks them in the eye, connects with them and is one of them, I'll do OK on
my own."
Christie said he held his 128th town-hall meeting on Wednesday. He said
people can raise their hands and ask questions instead of having to submit
questions on cards for pre-screening. "That's what elected officials owe to
their constituents," Christie said.

Former tech industry executive Carly Fiorina focused mostly on Democrats

but also made a blunt case for having a Republican woman in the race for
president in 2016.
Fiorina, who has two trips to Iowa scheduled in March, was asked how
important she thinks it is for the GOP to have a woman in the presidential
race. She said the party ought to be as diverse as the U.S. population.
"Women are now 53 percent of voters. So as I like to tell some of my
Democratic friends who continue to talk about the war on women, we are
not a special-interest group. We are the majority of the nation," Fiorina said
to cheers and applause.
"And I will say this, if Hillary Clinton had to face me on the debate stage, at
the very least, she would have a hitch in her swing," Fiorina said.
CPAC continues on Friday with speeches from Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas
Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Rand Paul, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Donald
Trump and Bush. Follow my live tweets at @KObradovich and blog posts
at DesMoinesRegister.com.

Ted Cruzs CPAC Televangelism

"
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/26/ted-cruz-s-cpactelevangelism.html
02.26.15
By: Olivia Nuzzi

Ted Cruz, CPACs favorite traveling salesman, was back and

selling his favorite product: himself.
Ted Cruz is onstage at CPAC. As is his custom he has declined to
stand behind the lecturn and is instead pacing methodically
around the stage with a microphone pinned to his blue striped tie.
To turn this country around it will not come from Washington; it
will come from the American people, he yells. And so I will ask
every one of you if you will join our grassroots army. Take out
your cellphone and text the word Constitution to the number
33733. Let me give that to you again! Take out your cellphone and
text the word Constitution to 33733!

"
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

His voice booms throughout the ballroomspeeding up, slowing

down, soaring and winding down to a faux-whisper at carefully
chosen intervals, like a televangelist or someone trying to sell you
a set of steak knives and a Bedazzler at 3 a.m. on an infomercial.
It will be each of you empowering and energizing we the people
that turns the country around!
A text to 33733 received this automated response: Together lets
bring bold, clear leadership to America tedcruz.org. Text STOP to
end or HELP for help. Msg&Data Rates May Apply. No more than
30 messages/month.
More than any other likely Republican presidential candidate,
Cruz is a salesman.
He understands what his audience wants to hear, and he knows
how to say it sweetly.
This is a room full of patriots, he says to hoots of approval. The
men and women who are gathered here today are gathered to
fight for freedom in our country. And the men and women of
CPAC are going to play a fundamental decision in how we turn
this country around! The men and women gathered here today are
going to play a crucial role in reigniting the miracle of America.
Cruz begins to talk faster and louder.
The pace and energy of his speech has picked up so much, in fact,
that it sounds as though he could start talking in tongues at any
second.
How do we do that, how do we win, how do we bring back the
miracle that is America? #1. We reassemble the Reagan coalition.
#2. We bring together fiscal conservatives and social
conservatives and national security conservatives. We stand
strong for economic growth, but we also stand for life and
marriage. We defend the constitutional rights, but we also stand
and lead the fight against ISIS and a nuclear Iran.
The crowd is eating it up, and Cruz is beaming.
And now, Cruz is joined onstage by Fox News Sean Hannity for a
short interviewa part of a new format introduced by Matt

Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union,

CPACs sponsor.
Schlapp told The Washington Post that the new format would be
more challenging for speakers.
The Q&A gives them a chance to be spontaneous and to make
newsnot in a negative way but in a positive way, he said. I
think it makes them nervous that the format has changed. It could
be high-risk, but it could also be very high-reward.
HELLOOOOOOO CPAC! Sean Hannity shouts. Give it up for
Senator Ted Cruz!
High-risk?
Hannity and Cruz now engage in verbal masturbation, with
Hannity repeatedly giving Cruz chances to differentiate himself
from his Republican rivals and attack President Obama.
What does Cruz say to his GOP critics?
The central point is we shouldnt be listening to Washington. We
should be listening to the American people! And what does Cruz
think America should do about ISIS? We need a commander in
chief who will actually stand up and defend the United States of
America!
Doing his best game show host impersonation, Hannity tells Cruz
to get ready for the lightning round!
Finally, Hannity is going to ask some tough questions.
What could the top five agenda items of a President Cruzwhat
would they be?
Oh.
Cruz, who one imagines has been addressing himself as
President Cruz in his bathroom mirror every morning since
early childhood, was more than ready with a well-thought-out, if
puddle-deep list.
And the crowd goes wild.
#1. Repeal every blasted word of Obamacare!
Applause.

#2. Abolish the IRStake all 125,000 IRS agents and put them
on our Southern border!
Applause.
#3 Stop the out-of-control regulators at the EPA
Applause.
#4 Defend out Constitutional rights! All of them!
Applause.
#5 Restore Americas leadership in the world as the shining city
on the hill!
Hannity says he has just one more question for Cruz. Perhaps hes
saved the most challenging for last.
Why does Ted Cruz love America?
Its a tough one, for sure, but Cruz is prepared to answer it: This
country is the greatest country in the history of the world! It has
been a haven for freedom.
He remembers his father, who fled from Cuba to this shining city
on the hill.
If we get back to this, brighter days are ahead!
Remember to text Constitution to 33733 to support freedom,
but mostly to support Ted Cruz.
Text within the next hour and Cruz will repeal Obamacare and
give you a Bedazzler; Text within the next half-hour and he will
send IRS agents to patrol the U.S.-Mexican border and you get a
second Bedazzler free! But text now and Cruz will restore
Americas greatness and personally Bedazzle a pair of your
favorite jeans.
Text now!

At conservative gathering,
Rubio wins applause and
laughs
By Chris Adams
McClatchy Washington Bureau
(Published Friday, February 27th, 2015 07:57AM)

http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/2015/02/27/2359233/at-conservativegathering-rubio.html

OXON HILL, Md. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told a gathering of

conservative activists from around the country Friday morning that America
doesnt owe him anything but that he owes a debt to America that I will
never be able to repay.
Before a mostly-full ballroom at the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference outside Washington, the Republican and potential presidential
candidate recounted his personal history, one that took his parents with
little money, no connections, and limited education from Cuba to South
Florida.
Less than four decades later, all four of their children live the lives and the
dreams that my parents once had for themselves, Rubio told the
gathering. For me, America isnt just a country. Its the place that literally
changed the history of my family.
The possible path to 2016 is tricky and tight for Rubio, once a darling of the
nations conservatives but now treated skeptically by many. Despite one of
the most-conservative voting records in the U.S. Senate, Rubio lost many
of his conservative fans in 2013, when he pushed a bipartisan overhaul of

the nations immigration system that made it through the Senate but stalled
in the House of Representatives.
Many conservatives lambasted him for his role, and to this day some hold it
against him. In a potentially crowded GOP presidential field some with
conservative credentials superior to Rubios standing out before this
important constituency could be difficult.
In attendance were the heavyweights of todays GOP, as well as the
thought leaders, pundits and conservatives Rubio needs to reach and
persuade in order for him to be a viable contender in 2016. Nearly all the
potential 2016 Republican contenders have or will make appearances at
event, and the winner of a straw poll for attendees to pick their favorite will
be announced Saturday.
The first-term senator from West Miami, who emerged on the national
scene in 2010, both gave a speech to the crowd and was interviewed on
stage by a conservative who excited the crowd as much or more than some
of the candidates have: Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
In his six-minute opening, Rubio excited the crowd a dozen times, bringing
extended applause and sometimes laughter with barbs at the Obama
administration.
Addressing both foreign policy and domestic themes, Rubio riffed on
several imagine statements - conjuring what a new direction for the
nation could bring.
Imagine if we repealed and replaced ObamaCare, he said to applause.
Imagine if we had leaders that understood that the family, not government,
is the most important organization in society, he said to more applause.
Imagine if our laws protected innocent human life, from conception to
natural death, he said to even-bigger applause.
And finally, to both applause and raucous laughter: Imagine if we had a
president who doesnt travel the world bad-mouthing America. After all,
thats the U.N.s job.

At conservative gathering, Sen. Marco

Rubio wins applause, laughs
BY CHRIS ADAMS, MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
02/27/2015 10:53 AM 02/27/2015 5:16 PM

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article11334686.html
GALLERY SLIDES


Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. walks from the stage on Friday after speaking during the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. CAROLYN
KASTER AP

OXON HILL, MD.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida delighted a gathering of conservative
activists from around the country Friday, saying America doesnt owe
him anything but that he owes a debt to America that I will never be
able to repay.
Before a mostly full ballroom at the annual Conservative Political
Action Conferenceoutside Washington, the Republican and potential
presidential candidate recounted his personal history, one that took his
parents with little money, no connections and limited education
from Cuba to South Florida.
Less than four decades later, all four of their children live the lives and
the dreams that my parents once had for themselves, Rubio told the
gathering. For me, America isnt just a country. Its the place that
literally changed the history of my family.
The fact that the son of a bartender and a maid that worked in a hotel is
sitting on the stage with you today, he added later, thats why America
is special.
Rubio also worked to confront one of the most damaging at least
from the perspective of this audience episodes in his young political
career: the 2013 debate over immigration.
Well, it wasnt very popular. I dont know if you know that from some
of the folks here, he quipped, to widespread chuckles.
The possible path to 2016 is tricky and tight for Rubio, once a darling of
the nations conservatives but now viewed skeptically by many. Despite
one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate, Rubio lost
many of his conservative fans when he pushed a bipartisan overhaul of
the nations immigration system that made it through the Senate in 2013
but stalled in the House of Representatives.
Rubio said hed learned from 2013.
He acknowledged that there are millions of people whove lived in the
U.S. for years and havent broken laws except for those on immigration.
What Ive learned is you cant even have a conversation about that until
people believe and know not just believe, but its proven to them

that future illegal immigration will be controlled, he said. That is the

single biggest lesson of the last two years
In attendance were the heavyweights of todays GOP, as well as the
thought leaders, pundits and conservatives Rubio needs to reach and
persuade in order to be a viable contender in 2016. Nearly all the
potential presidential Republican contenders appeared at the event.
In his six-minute opening, and a question and answer session with Sean
Hannity of Fox News, the first-term senator from West Miami excited
the crowd several times.
He pointed barbs at the Obama administration, and brought laughter
with several lines a couple joking about selling books hes written.
In discussing his plans to revamp American higher education, Rubio
talked about his own education debt: I owed over $100,000 in student
loans, which I paid off with the proceeds of my book now available
on paperback, if youre interested.
Talking about his long-term political plans, he said, I dont want to be
in politics my whole life. I want to serve our country and Id like to do
some other things. Like maybe own an NFL team or something. I dont
know. Id have to sell a lot of books for that.
Addressing both foreign policy and domestic themes, Rubio riffed on
several imagine statements conjuring what a new direction for the
nation could bring.
Imagine if we repealed and replaced Obamacare, he said to applause.
Imagine if we had leaders that understood that the family, not
government, is the most important organization in society, he said to
more applause.
Imagine if our laws protected innocent human life, from conception to
natural death, he said to even bigger applause.
Finally, to both applause and raucous laughter: Imagine if we had a
president who doesnt travel the world bad-mouthing America. After all,
thats the U.N.s job.
Hannity proclaimed him a great conservative, tea party senator, and
Rubio hit the themes the crowd loved. He also dinged, in one-word

answers, the current occupant of the White House and one whod likely
be in Rubios way if he decides to run.
One-word answer on Barack Obama: Failed.
And Hillary Clinton: Yesterday.

Jeb Bush tells conservative

skeptics he hopes to be their
'second choice'

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush answers a question earlier this week at the Club for Growth's
conference in Palm Beach, Fla. On Friday, he addressed the Conservative Political Action
Conference. (Joe Skipper / Associated Press / February 26, 2015)

By: Michael A. Memoli, Kathleen Hennessey

10:48 p.m. EST, February 27, 2015

http://www.ctnow.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-republicanscpac-20150227,0,1208486.story

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush defended his credentials as a reformminded conservative Friday, even as he held firm to positions that
threaten to undermine his standing with party activists, telling skeptics
that he hoped to be their second choice to win the GOP presidential
nomination.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual
proving ground for Republican candidates, the establishment favorite
came with practiced quick answers and light quips for a 20-minute
question-and-answer period with Fox News host Sean Hannity. He
acknowledged his audience's suspicions, and laid out, gently, a case for
broadening the party's appeal.
There are a lot of other conservatives that haven't been asked. They
don't know that they're conservative, Bush said. If we share our
enthusiasm, love for our country and believe in our philosophy, we will
be able to get Latinos and young people and other people that we need to
win.
Bush's appearance was his first before a large, conservative crowd since
he
began his still-undeclared quest for the 2016 nomination and was a
showcase of what's to come if he hopes to win over primary voters. His
top competitors for the nomination, including Sen. Rand Paul of
Kentucky, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, also addressed the group this week,
each test-driving speeches and banter aimed at winning over, or at least
quieting, some of the party's most ardent troops.
For Bush, the challenge involved touting his conservative credentials,
while holding firm to positions that are problematic for many core
Republican conservatives, such as supporting immigration reform and
the Common Core education standards.

On immigration, he reiterated his support for some kind of path to legal

status for those who have come to the U.S. illegally, saying there is no
plan to deport 11 million people.
We should give them a path to legal status where they work, where they
don't receive government benefits, where they learn English and they
make a contribution to our society, he said.
But Bush also said he opposed President Obama's recent executive
action that would shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation. He
supported a congressional effort to try to block the policy, he said, but
not if doing so risked funds for the Department of Homeland Security, a
strategy pursued by some congressional Republicans.
I'm not an expert on the ways of Washington. It makes no sense to me
that we're not funding control of our border, which is the whole
argument, he said.
He stood by his support for granting driver's licenses and in-state tuition
to some immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. He also talked about the
Common Core, saying he supported the idea of set standards, but
suggested he was aligned with conservatives on his opposition to federal
government involvement. The Obama administration, Bush said, has
meddled in the process with its Race to the Top program that ties
school money to achievement on standardized tests.
Not all potential candidates had to approach the crowd on the defensive.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who spoke Thursday, was clearly a
favorite, thanks to his confrontations with public employee unions and
his survival of a recall election. Walker's speech received thunderous
applause.

We won in Wisconsin, a state that hasn't gone Republican for president

since 1984, he said. We did it without compromising. We stood up and
said what we were going to do, and we did it.
The otherwise polished Walker stumbled, though, when he discussed
whether voters should be concerned about his lack of foreign policy
experience: He said his fights with labor unions equipped him to fight
Islamic State militants.
If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe,
he said, causing even some supporters to wince.
Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky, was another welcome face at the
gathering. He also tried to defend his foreign policy vision, making clear
he takes a more nuanced view than his famously noninterventionist
father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
In his speech Friday, Paul was grounded in libertarian principles but
argued for a more traditional Republican line on defense. His views
unparalleled, undefeatable and unencumbered by nation-building
are an extension of President Reagan's advocacy of peace through
strength, Paul said, during remarks often interrupted by chants of
President Paul!
The conference also included the outer rings of the party's reach.
Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson delivered a meandering speech that
offered advice on legislative decorum and sexually transmitted diseases.
Donald Trump offered a recent real estate deal with the federal
government as proof that he has the mettle to lead the nation.
Still, organizers said this year's gathering was focused on trying to test
the politicians likely to win the party's nod next year. Rather than just
allow would-be candidates to deliver a red-meat speech, the group has

required them to follow their opening remarks with a question-andanswer session. Conservative media figures including Hannity and Laura
Ingraham have led the questioning.
Hannity peppered Rubio with questions about the politically difficult
parts of his record, particularly immigration. Rubio's support for a
bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013 was
extremely unpopular with many conservatives. The senator said the
lesson he had learned in the two years since helping to write that
legislation was that you can't discuss pathways to citizenship until
Americans believe that future illegal immigration will be controlled.
Bush, too, was asked rapid-fire questions with thorny implications. He
denied reports that he may be shifting his opposition to same-sex
marriage as he courts gay donors, saying, No, I believe in traditional
marriage. And he won cheers by declaring he opposes legalizing
marijuana but believes states ought to have that right to do it.
Hannity mentioned how, when he had said Bush's name in an earlier
speech, many in the audience booed, and so offered the former governor
a chance to defend his record.

For those that made a ooo' sound is that what that was? I'm
marking them down as neutral, and I want to be your second choice,
Bush said.

Laura Ingraham Takes Aim

At Jeb Bush And His Wife At
CPAC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/laura-ingraham-jebbush_n_6768936.html
Posted: 02/27/2015 10:32 am EST Updated: 02/27/2015 10:59 am EST

Amanda Terkel
aterkel@huffingtonpost.com

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Radio host Laura Ingraham came out

swinging against Jeb Bush Friday morning at a conference for
conservative activists, taking a personal swipe against his wife's
spending habits.
"Jeb could really explode the gender gap. ... Women could really turn
out in droves for Jeb Bush," said Ingraham in her speech to at the
Conservative Political Action Conference. "What woman doesn't like a
man who gives her a blank check at Tiffany's? Diamonds are a girl's
best friend -- that would be a great theme song for Jeb Bush."
Ingraham was referring to a 1999 incident when Bush was governor of
Florida that left the couple "deeply mortified" and "politically
chagrined," according to The Washington Post. Federal customs
officials detained Jeb Bush's wife Columba for misrepresenting how
much she spent on clothing and jewelry during a five-day shopping
trip in Paris.
The Washington Post recently reported that less than a year later,
however, Columba also "took out a loan to buy $42,311.70 worth of
jewelry on a single day" at a store in South Florida.

Ingraham's joke Friday morning didn't sit well with some, including
Bush confidant Ana Navarro and conservative Washington Post writer
Jennifer Rubin.
Ingraham has been open in her dislike of Bush. She's gone after him
for his position on issues like immigration and the fact that he hasn't
been courting talk radio.
On Friday, she told the crowd that there really wasn't any difference
between Bush and potential Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"We could dispense with this whole nomination process together. ...
Why don't we just call it quits? And Jeb and Hillary can run on the
same ticket," she said. "I mean, going through the list of things they
agree on: Common Core, amnesty, giving Obama fast-track trade
authority, allowing the trade deals with China, the surveillance
culture. So I'm designing the bumper sticker. It could be, Clush 2016:
What difference does it make?"
Bush is scheduled to speak at CPAC Friday afternoon and will face a
crowd of many young, libertarian activists who remain skeptical of
having another Bush in the presidency.

Rubio: Obama sees deal

with Iran as his legacy

http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2015/02/27/rubio-obama-sees-deal-withiran-as-his-legacy-n1963344

AP News | Feb 27, 2015

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) President Barack Obama's health

care law was the legacy of his first term and he is pursuing a
nuclear deal with Iran as the hallmark of his second,
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told conservative
activists on Friday.
Both, the likely 2016 presidential candidate said, were
destined to fail.
"It is a foreign policy that treats the ayatollah of Iran with
more respect than the prime minister of Israel," Rubio told
those meeting near Washington at the annual Conservative
Political Action Conference.
Rubio added that Obama's foreign policy has left the United
States weaker than when he took office and he is not
sufficiently supportive of U.S. ally Israel, which strongly
opposes the talks with Iran and its leaders. Obama's
administration and its allies are in negotiations with Iran's
leaders to curb Tehran's nuclear program.
Republicans and some Democrats have been critical of the
attempt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is

coming to Washington next week speak to Congress and is

expected to criticize the efforts, as well.
Rubio said talks with Iran are foolish and the U.S. should side
with Israel in opposing Iran's nuclear program. He said the
next president should have one message to communicate to
the world: "It is bad to be our enemy and good to be our
friend.

Meet the senator who thinks

he's solved the GOP's
Obamacare dilemma
BY PHILIP KLEIN | FEBRUARY 27, 2015 | 11:15 AM

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/meet-the-senator-who-thinks-hes-solved-thegops-obamacare-dilemma/article/2560819

Sen. Ben Sasse thinks he has solved a dilemma that could arise if the U.S. Supreme Court declares...

Sen. Ben Sasse, the former university president and health policy adviser
in the Bush administration, thinks he has solved a dilemma that could arise
if the U.S. Supreme Court declares Obamacare's health insurance
subsidies illegal in up to 37 states.

In such circumstances, President Obama and his fellow Democrats would

push Republicans to pass a "simple fix" that would change the language
of Obamacare in a way that would allow the subsidies to continue to flow.

But doing so would be a nonstarter for Republicans, because it would

further enshrine the healthcare law and restore hundreds of billions of
dollars in spending that would otherwise be wiped out by the Supreme
Court decision.

"I think what a lot of conservatives have not understood is the

Machiavellian fine print" of Obamacare's regulations, the Nebraska
Republican told theWashington Examiner in a Thursday interview at the
Conservative Political Action Conference.

What he meant is that if Obamacare subsidies are struck down, under the
current regulations, insurers would be free to cancel millions of insurance
policies before the end of the year and will likely do so within 30 to 60
days of any Supreme Court decision (which is likely to come by late June).
And Democrats would exploit these cancellations to maximum political
advantage to pressure Republicans.

"It is going to make the Paul Ryan throws grandma o the cli ads look
like child's play compared to what's going to be happening when they're
going to have known identifiable victims," Sasse predicted. "The president
has already said, 'We know the names of all of these people,' meaning 'we
can trot them out as our hostages.' When they try to do that, there's going
to be unbelievable pressure on Republican governors to opt into
Obamacare and therefore undo what the Supreme Court would have just
done to uphold the rule of law. We need to make sure that while we don't
expand, extend, or fix Obamacare, we need to be able to oer targeted,
temporary, transitional assistance to those sick people who are going to
be subject to yet another Obamacare bait and switch, 'if you like your plan
you can keep your plan.'"

Sasse's solution is to adapt "Cobra," the law that allows workers who
have lost or changed jobs to maintain their health coverage for 18 months,
to enable Obamacare subsidy recipients to maintain their coverage for a
temporary amount of time. Unlike Cobra, however, under which individuals
have to pay the full cost of their health insurance premiums, the Sasse
plan would provide financial assistance.

"We need a long-term conversation about the alternative to Obamacare,

but you can't do that in the 30 days after the court ruling," he said.

Any plan to extend subsidies for 18 months would likely cost tens of
billions of dollars.

Sasse said that there will have to be a debate if any osets are needed,
though he predicted that his plan would be a cost saver.

His argument was that in the event of a Supreme Court decision stripping
federal exchange subsidies, states would respond by establishing their

own exchanges to claim the subsidies, which would enshrine Obamacare

in those states, imposing more costs over time. If states established their
own exchanges, it would allow them to add more beneficiaries to
Obamacare, whereas his plan would only help those with coverage at the
time of a decision maintain it.

If osets are needed, however, Sasse suggested one way would be to

undo the funding for "demonstration projects," or experiments, that were
allowed as part of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, which he argued
were improper, citing a report by the Government Accountability Oce.

Any decision by the Supreme Court striking down the federal subsidies
would also eectively eliminate the employer mandate and weaken the
individual mandate in up to 37 states. The reason is that the fines imposed
on employers who don't oer health coverage are only triggered if a
worker receives federal insurance subsides without the subsidies, there
are no penalties. As far as the individual mandate, there's an exemption for
individuals who cannot find aordable health insurance and removing the
subsidies would allow more people to claim such an exemption.

In addition to the cost of signing onto a "simple fix" in the wake of a

Supreme Court decision, another problem would be that it would also
eectively re-impose the mandates on individuals and businesses.

But Sasse argued his plan would avoid this possibility, because his Cobrastyle subsidies wouldn't be designed to trigger the employer mandate, and
they wouldn't aect the individual mandate, because no new enrollees
would be able to claim the Cobra subsidies only those who choose to
keep their Obamacare insurance.

Rick Perry warns of danger,

uncertainty, but says weve
survived worse even
Jimmy Carter
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
National Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) more >
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/27/cpac-2015-rick-perry-warns-danger-uncertainty/?
page=all

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times - Friday, February 27, 2015

A fired-up Rick Perry warned the crowd Friday at the Conservative

Political Action Conference in suburban Washington that at no time in
the last 25 years has the future been more uncertain and the world more
dangerous than it is today.
Like many of the speakers at CPAC, the former Texas governor
lamented the Obama administrations response to the Islamic State
terrorist group, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
They are a religious movement that seeks to take the world back to the
7th century, he said. Their aims are apocalyptic.
The president declared in the State of the Union that the advance of
ISIS has been stopped, and that is simply not true, Mr. Perry said. We
didnt start this war, nor did we choose it, but we will have the will to
finish it.

The potential 2016 GOP presidential contender also said Iran must not
be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and that Israel has the right to
exist as a Jewish state.
Our allies doubt us, and our adversaries are all too willing to test us,
he said. No one should be surprised that dictators like Assad [would]
cross the presidents red line because he knows the president wont even
defend the line that separates our nation from Mexico.
Mr. Perry also said any discussion about comprehensive immigration
reform has to start with border security, and brought up his confronting
President Obama over the issue.
And thats exactly why last summer I told the president, looked him
right in the eye and I said, If you will not secure the border between
Texas and Mexico, Texas will, he said to applause.
Mr. Perry also talked up his own job creation efforts as governor of
Texas and also charged that the unemployment rate is a sham in that it
leaves millions of Americans out.
And if the Republican party doesnt take a stand for these
Americans, who will? he said.
He did close, however, with an optimistic tone.
Weve survived worse, he said. We had a Civil War in this country;
we had two World Wars. We had a Great Depression. We even survived
Jimmy Carter. We will survive the Obama years, too.

RUBIO: HILLARY 'YESTERDAY,'

OBAMA 'FAILED'
'Only 1 election away from triggering a new American century'
Published: 02/27/2015 at 10:04 AM
By:

JEROME R. CORSI

http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/rubio-hillary-yesterday-obama-failed/

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. At the Conservative Political Action

Conference Friday morning, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a possible 2016
presidential candidate, gave an emotional speech echoing President
Ronald Reagan and arguing from his personal life story that the greatest
days of the United States of America lie ahead.

The world knows we are exceptional, Rubio told an enthusiastic audience.

When was the last time you heard about a boat load of American refugees
arriving on the shores of another country?
Yet, he said, at home we have millions of families that are living paycheck
to paycheck, and they are wondering when things are ever going to get
better for them.
And around the world because of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy, our
allies no longer trust us, and our enemies no longer fear us, he said. We
now have a foreign policy that treats the ayatollah in Iran with more respect
than we treat the prime minister of Israel.
In a question-and answer-session after his speech, Rubio drew applause
when he told Sean Hannity that illegal immigration must be brought under
control.
In a word-association round with Hannity, Rubio chose yesterday in
response to Hillary Clinton and failed in response to Obama.
What do YOU think? Who is your favorite presidential candidate for
2016? Sound off in todays WND poll!
In his speech, Rubio said the bad news is that today our nation is on the
road to decline, but the good news is that we are only one election away
from triggering a new American century.
Imagine if we cut our taxes and simplified our regulatory code, he said.
Imagine if we balanced the budget. Imagine if we repealed and replaced
Obamacare. If we did these things our economy would create millions of
new jobs and the American dream would reach more people than ever
before.
Rubio stressed that the family, not the government, is the most import
element of society, and he insisted laws must protect human life from
conception to death.
Imagine if we had a commander in chief that understood that the way to
deal with ISIS is not to offer them jobs, he said. Imagine if we didnt have
a president who traveled the world bad-mouthing America. After all, thats

the United Nations job. Imagine if we didnt have a secretary of state who
believes America is as safe as we have ever been while in the mean time
radical Islamic jihadists are taking young women as brides, are burning
prisoners in cages and beheading Christians on a beach in Libya.
Turning to his personal story, he said, I have a debt to America that I will
never be able to repay.
His parents arrived in the U.S. from Cuba in 1956 with no money and no
connections.
They barely spoke English, but less than four decades later all four of their
children are living the dream my grandparents came here to achieve, he
said.
For me, America isnt just a country, he said. Its the place that literally
changed the history of my family.
Check

Perry shows off foreign

policy chops
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/234098-perry-shows-offforeign-policy-chops
February 27, 2015, 10:16 am
By Jonathan Easley

Greg Nash

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry touted his foreign policy chops at the
Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, criticizing
President Obama as weak in dealing with terror threats.

At no time in the last 25 years has the future been more uncertain
and the world more dangerous than it is today, Perry said. Our
country has entered a time of testing, and our political leadership is
failing the test. The president bows to political correctness while
making grave miscalculations that make the world less safe.
Perry blamed Obama for the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
(ISIS), arguing that the president has frittered away strongholds the
U.S. once had in the region and created a power vacuum whereby the
terrorist organization could rise.
This administrations incompetence in Iraq and Syria has allowed for
ISIS to emerge, Perry said.
The former 2012 presidential candidate who's mulling another run also
criticized the president for failing to tie the radical extremists in ISIS to
Islam, a frequent criticism from many at the conservative conference.
Obama has said he doesnt describe the U.S. as being at war with
radical Islam, because he doesnt want to give ISIS undue credit.
Lets be very, very clear about who ISIS is and what they represent,
Perry said. They are a religious movement that seeks to take the
world back to the 7th century. Their aims are apocalyptic. They mean
to cleanse the world of Christians, Jews, and Muslims that disagree
with them. Their stated vow is to kill as many Americans as possible.
Its time for the American people to hear the truth.
ISIS represents worse threat to freedom since communism, Perry
continued.
We didnt start this war, nor did we choose it, but we will have the will
to finish it.
He also said the Obama administration has adopted a policy of
managing Irans nuclear threat, rather than one of prevention.
I believe it is fundamentally dangerous to grant Irans nuclear
ambitions political cover, Perry said. Iran should not be allowed to
develop nuclear weapons period.
And he said Obamas perceived weakness gave Russian President
Vladimir Putin the opening he needed to invade Crimea.
There are no real consequences when dictators defy America and
this must change, Perry said. For the world to be safer, America
must be stronger and for America to be safer, our borders must be
secure.

Perry is considering another run for the White House and says hell
decide by May or June whether to run again. Perry generated buzz
ahead of his Washington visit last month by announcing he had
signed on more than 80 major donors to serve on his leadership
PACs advisory board.
The former governor has admitted he jumped into the 2012 race
overestimating his political skills and that his lack of preparation and
subsequent missteps and misstatements ultimately sunk his
campaign.
Since then, he has impressed some Republicans with his polished
presentation and firmer grasp on domestic and international issues,
but many still wonder if hell ever live down the oops moment that
defined his ill-fated 2012 run.
Perrys attacks against the administration could be a preview of his
potential campaign message, as hell be seeking to convince voters
that hes a more learned candidate than the he was last time.
The big talking Texan can still work a crowd. He walked on stage to
AC/DCs Back in Black, and his Texas swagger was well-received
among conservatives at the conference.
Ive never been more certain than I am today that Americas best
days remain in front of us, Perry said. The weakness and
incompetence of our government should not be confused with
the strength of American people.
Weve survived worse: We had a Civil War, two World Wars we
even survived Jimmy Carter, Perry laughed. We will survive the
Obama years too.

CPAC 2015 LIVE

UPDATED 8:19 AM PST Feb 28, 2015
http://www.kcra.com/politics/cpac-2015-liveblog/31495098
By: CNN staff

WASHINGTON (CNN) The year's biggest conservative confab features

thousands of activists, elected officials and party leaders gathering for the
Conservative Political Action Conference.
But while they're meeting at a convention center just outside of
Washington, D.C., their minds --- and rhetoric --- are focused squarely on
the White House and on attacking Hillary Clinton, the most likely
Democratic nominee in 2016. Here's every critical thing they said about her
Thursday:
This year's CPAC marks the unofficial kickoff of the battle for the
conservative vote among GOP presidential contenders. For some, like
Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, the event will be a homecoming, a return to
their most ardent and loyal supporters.
For others, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, CPAC represents a lion's
den, full of activists skeptical of his conservative chops and wary of his
presidential aspirations.
CPAC can put a potential contender on the map, as it did with retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson last year, when the movement launched to draft
him into the presidential race drew significant attention and he took third in
the presidential straw poll.
But it can also cripple a frontrunner, as it did when then-GOP frontrunner
Mitt Romney called himself "severely conservative" at the 2012 convention.
What does CPAC look like? check out the video below:

Here's what you need to know:

Friday
Bush survives CPAC grilling
3 p.m. - Jeb Bush defended his positions on immigration -- and made some
breaks from hard-line conservatives -- in front of a rowdy crowd Friday
afternoon.
The former Florida governor went all-in on his support for a giving
undocumented immigrants a path to legal status, and for making in-state
college tuition available for those immigrants.
But he earned loud cheers from the crowd by saying he'd favor closing the
U.S.-Mexico border first, before enacting any other immigration reforms,
and for saying tens of thousands of Central American immigrants who
arrived in Texas last summer should have been deported.
And he punted on a question about Congress' ongoing fight over funding
the Department of Homeland Security and whether Republicans should
stick with a measure that also defunds President Barack Obama's
immigration actions -- even at the risk of shutting the department down.
"I'm not an expert on the ways of Washington," he said.
Bush's comments came in a highly-anticipated question-and-answer
session with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Some members of the crowd walked out early in Bush's appearance, and
others interrupted him with jeers. But they were matched in volume by
Bush's supporters.
Hannity put Bush on defense for much of the 25-minute session, quizzing
him on his stances on two issues that could hurt him with the GOP base:
immigration and the Common Core education standards.
Bush used the education questions to tout his role as one of the nation's
leading conservative reformers, noting that Florida had launched the first
statewide voucher program on his watch and offered a long list of choices
that allow students and their parents to decide how to spend public
education dollars.
He also told the crowd that Republicans need to pivot from their opposition
to Obama -- who he called a "failed president" -- to a more positive agenda
in 2016.
"It's good to oppose the bad things, but we need to start being for things,"
Bush said.
The same, he said, goes for him -- the candidate with a father and brother
who were president.

"I have to show what's in my heart. I have to show that I care about people,
about their future," Bush said. "It can't be about the past."
--- Eric Bradner, CNN
Duck Dynasty star wings it on center stage
In between the seemingly endless parade of 2016 hopefuls -- Duck
Dynasty star Phil Robertson had plenty of red meat to offer to CPAC's
conservative attendees, and advice to any potential Republican
Candidates.
"Carry two things wherever you go in case you become president -- your
bible and your woman,"
The former A&E reality show was not shy in asserting his own unabashedly
conservative beliefs.
"I am a god-loving, bible-believing, gun-toting, capitalist," Robertson
declared to the crowd.
Taking a decidedly spiritual tone, Robertson read mostly from religious
texts and selected writing from George Washington, John Adams and
Thomas Jefferson, imploring conservatives to hold onto America's religious
roots.
"If you think I'm a little too religious for you, just listen to your founding
fathers, the men that founded this country," Robertson said, "then decide if
I'm too religious for you."
Robertson also lamented the decline of the American family, citing CDC
data on rates of sexually transmitted diseases as evidence of the U.S.'s
moral decline.
He also likened the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria to the rise of Hitler and
Stalin before World War II, pointing to a lack of Christian values as a
common strain in those two nations.
"I don't see a dime's worth of different in any of them," Robertson said.
He closed with another nod to 2016.
"If we don't have spiritual men making political decisions, you're going to
lose this country," Robertson warned.
-- Johnny Verhovek, CNN
Santorum: Presidency 'not an entry level position'
1:15 p.m. Former Sen. Rick Santorum pitched his foreign policy experience
at CPAC on Friday as he laid out the radical Islamist threat the United
States faces.

"Commander in chief is not an entry level position. And the oval office is no
place for on the job training, not in times like this," said Santorum, who
spent eight years on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Santorum had trouble building applause lines as a crowd of Sen. Rand
Paul supporters filtered out of the room after Paul, a crowd favorite, left the
stage.
But the crowd's enthusiasm grew as Santorum shifted focus from
economics and the need to "stand for the little guy" to the threat of radical
Islam.
Santorum laid out his vision for a hawkish foreign policy, calling for a robust
military and the need for the United States military to deploy 10,000 "boots
on the ground" to defeat ISIS.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Rand, the doctor, pitches 2016 'healing' message
1 p.m. - Sen. Rand Paul while speaking to a friendly audience, stuck largely
to his stump speech but also used his background as a physician to
distinguish himself from the rest of the crowded field of potential
presidential candidates.
"As a doctor, I will take it and make it my mission to heal the nation, reverse
the course of Obamacare, and repeal every last bit of it," he said, adding
that Chief Justice John Robert's decision was the "mistake of the century."
The Kentucky Republican undoubtedly had the warmest reception from the
young CPAC crowd, which has traditionally tilted in favor of the libertarianleaning senator and previously his father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
The audience was the fullest yet in the massive ballroom, and chants of
"President Paul" occasionally broke out.
Paul ticked through his views on privacy and the Bill of Rights and rallied
the crowd to its feet with a healthy dish of red meat, reiterating that it's time
for Hillary Clinton to "permanently retire" and calling for term limits for
members of Congress.
And while polls show momentum building towards a more aggressive U.S.
response against ISIS, Paul tried to carefully walk the line of supporting a
strong national defense while still holding onto his non-interventionist
views.
"Without question we must defend ourselves," he said. "I envision an
America with a National Defense unparalleled, undefeatable, and
unencumbered by nation building.
Perry talks foreign policy, immigration

9:42 a.m. - Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry tried to leverage the experience
that 14 years as a border-state governor gives him over the rest of the
2016 Republican presidential field during his Friday morning CPAC speech.
Perry hit the issue of immigration hard, repeatedly touting his state's efforts
-- which included deploying the National Guard -- to stop an influx of
undocumented minors that were crossing the U.S.-Mexico border last
summer.
He recalled a conversation with President Barack Obama during the
President's visit to Dallas last year.
"I said to him, Mr. President, if you don't secure this border, Texas will, and
that's exactly what we did," he said.
Asked about his plans for immigration reform, Perry offered no specifics,
though.
"If you do not secure the border first, you can't have a conversation about
immigration reform, that's just a fact," he said.
He also called for "aviation assets" to monitor the border.
Perry also slugged Obama -- who was the sole focus of his speech and
remarks in a subsequent question-and-answer session, unlike other
Republicans who have hit Hillary Clinton or other party members -- for his
handling of foreign threats like ISIS.
He said the United States must support Israel and be sure not to "grant
Iran's nuclear ambitions diplomatic cover."
Perry touted tax cuts and regulatory reforms enacted in Texas as a national
model, and said that there's "nothing wrong with America that cannot be
fixed with new leadership."
Comparing Obama's leadership to wars, depressions and Jimmy Carter,
Perry said: "We've survived worse."
CNN spent time with Perry in New Hampshire recently. He kissed babies,
shook hands, and tried to convince voters that 2015 Perry is a far different
potential candidate than the one who "stepped in it" four years ago. Watch
that below and read on for more from CPAC:
Rubio: Hillary Clinton is so 'yesterday'
8:40 a.m. - For Sen. Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton is "yesterday."
That may be why, during his Friday-morning speech at CPAC, the potential
presidential contender laid out his vision for a "new American century."
In a succinct address, the Florida senator said that while America's still
exceptional, "you wouldn't know it by listening to the President, who's
described our nation as sometimes being arrogant or dictating terms to
others."

"Our nation is on the decline," he added. "The good news is, we are one
election away from triggering another American century."
Rubio leaned heavily on his own personal story in his speech, referencing
his family's immigration to America and his working-class upbringing.
"America doesn't owe me anything," he said, "but I have a debt to
America."
And in a question-and-answer session with Sean Hannity, Rubio again
drew a juxtaposition between the problems of the past and the solutions of
the future.
"We're basically having the industrial revolution every five years --- and our
leaders are basically stuck in yesterday," he said.
In a rapid-fire word-association segment, Rubio described Clinton, the
presumptive Democratic presidential frontrunner, as "yesterday," Bill Clinton
as "really yesterday," and Obama as "failed."
But he was careful to keep controversy at arms length in the question-andanswer session, distancing himself from his role in passing the Senate
immigration reform bill in 2013 that sparked heavy backlash from
conservatives. He called for tougher border control and restrictions on legal
immigration before addressing those in the U.S. illegally.
"You can't even begin to have a conversation about [immigrants in the U.S.
illegally] until people believe, and know ... that future illegal immigration will
be controlled," he said.
Thursday
Jindal closes day one of speeches
6:25 p.m. - Gov. Bobby Jindal laid out his criticism of Common Core,
slammed President Barack Obama on the fight against radical Islam and
reemphasized the need for immigrants to assimilate in the United States.
Jindal's one-liners may have been new to many in the crowd, but most of
his speech was recycled from past appearances and resembled an
address he delivered earlier this month at an American Principles Project
event.
Jindal also took the opportunity to knock Obama on remarks he made
earlier this month at the National Prayer Breakfast.
"I'll keep my eye out for the medieval Christians," Jindal said. "Why don't
you go out and win the war against radical Islam."
When taking questions, Jindal emphasized the time he's spent in the last
year putting out policy papers through his policy organization, America
Next, noting that he's staked out positions on everything from energy
independence to alternatives to Obamacare and Common Core.

Walker harsh on Obama's foreign policy, vague on his own

5:25 p.m. -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker offered a blistering critique of
President Barack Obama's handling of the threat of "radical Islamic
terrorism" on Thursday -- but little substance on how he'd address the
challenge himself.
"We need a president, a leader, who will stand up and say, we will take the
fight to them and not wait until they bring the fight to America's soil, to our
children and our grandchildren," Walker said.
Later, in a short opening speech, he added: "We need to show the world
that in America, you have no better ally and no greater enemy. In America,
we will stand up for what is right and stand against what is wrong."
Asked by an audience member about how he'd deal with the threat of the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Walker responded that he gets FBI threat
briefings from his adjutant general and that "without divulging confidential
information," he's been concerned about the group for years.
But he didn't offer a specific answer to how he'd take on the group, instead
pivoting back to his experience in Wisconsin.
"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,"
he said.
It was a reference to Walker's fight against labor unions in Wisconsin,
where his move to strip public employees' collective bargaining rights
caused months of protests, forced him to survive a recall election, and
turned him into a rock star on the right.
Those fights were Walker's comfort zone. He touted Republican efforts in
Wisconsin to block government dollars from going to Planned Parenthood,
to require photo IDs to vote, and to reduce regulations. He also pointed to a
new GOP push to enact union-busting right-to-work legislation there.
In making his pitch, Walker showcased the no-compromise rhetoric that
has made him a conservative favorite.
"We won in Wisconsin a state that hasn't gone Republican for president
since 1984. ... We did it without compromising," he said. "We stood up and
said what we were gonna do, and then we did it."
- Eric Bradner, CNN

Perry passes on Jeb Bush attack

4:55 PM -- After he joined the 2012 presidential race, a brash Rick Perry
quickly laid down a marker when asked how he differed from George W.
Bush, another Texan who made it to the White House.

"I went to Texas A&M," Perry told reporters as he strolled confidently

through the Iowa State Fair in late summer 2011. "He went to Yale."
Perry was drawing an unmistakable cultural contrast and making no secret
about his frosty relationship with the Bush family.
Today, with Perry and another Bush --- Jeb --- both looking at the
presidency in 2016, the recently-departed Texas governor is this time
staying away from direct attacks on the GOP's most famous family.
Asked if the country has an appetite for a third Bush presidency, Perry
passed on needling the former Florida governor.
"Really I think the country has an appetite to get the country back working,"
he told CNN as he walked through the crowded hallways of CPAC on
Thursday. "I don't think the country cares what state they're from."
Asked again about his relationship with the Bushes, Perry again punted.
"I don't think the country cares about anything other than who is going to
get this country back working again, and who is going to have a foreign
policy that is cogent, where are allies know who is going to be there for
them, and when people who aren't our friends cross red lines, there is a
consequence," Perry responded. "They could care less what state they're
from."
-- Peter Hamby, CNN
That time Carly Fiorina appeared at the Clinton Global Initiative
4:40 p.m. - Shortly after Carly Fiorina wrapped her speech to CPAC, where
she repeatedly attacked former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's record on
foreign policy issues, a pro-Clinton rapid response political organization
reminded reporters of a time when the former Hewlett-Packard executive
spoke at the Clinton family's flagship organization.
"#TBT that time @CarlyFiorina spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative.
#CPAC2015," the group Correct the Record tweeted on Thursday
afternoon, a reference to the Throwback Thursday ritual of recalling times
gone by on the social media outlet.
The group also included a link to a press release including details of the
May 2013 event, which was billed as an event gathering top CEOs and
government officials on "boosting the economy."
"I think on balance it's a positive thing, actually," Fiorina says of the
foundation in 2013. She added in an interview with Jake Tapper that "the
Clinton Global Initiative does a lot of good work around the world," but says
that the group's corporate ties will likely cause HRC problems if she runs.
When asked about the Clinton critique, a spokeswoman for Fiorina turned
the query back on the former first lady.

"It's a simple question: can they name a single accomplishment from her
time as Secretary of State? They've been asked many times. I have yet to
see an answer," Sarah Isgur Flores said in an emailed statement.
-Jedd Rosche and Dan Merica, CNN
Cruz's sermon: Reagan, Clinton and miracles
2:15 p.m. - Sen. Ted Cruz is hoping his kind of conservatism could "bring
back the miracle that is America."
"America is in jeopardy and we are met totday in a great battlefield. The
men and women who are gathered here today are gathered to fight for
freedom in our country," Cruz told his CPAC audience Thursday.
Cruz, who has often set himself up at odds with the Republican leadership
in Congress, said voters will need to "differentiate" between true
conservatives and, essentially, posers.
No one will say "'I'm a squishy moderate that stands for nothing,'" Cruz
joked before quoting Scripture: "You shall know them by their fruits."
"Demand action, not talk," Cruz urged the audience of activists. "If a
candidate tells you they oppose the debt and debt ceiling that are crushing
our kids. Terrific. What if you stood up and fought against it."
As he has in past speeches, Cruz rallied the crowd by painting a stark
contrast between Washington and what "the people want" and used it as an
opportunity to take a shot at former former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, whom he said embodies Washington.
Cruz's speech was also full of one-liners slamming Obama and his
healthcare law and attacks against Democrats, some of whom plan to
boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress
next week.
"There's not a single Democrat here. It's almost like CPAC invited Benjamin
Netanyahu to speak," Cruz joked.
Cruz also likened himself to the car service app Uber: "What I'm trying to
do more than anything else is bring a disruptive app to politics."
And in a lighting round with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Cruz gave his
top priorities for his first day in office if he were to be elected president,
which included abolishing the IRS, repealing Obamacare and defending
"our constitutional rights."
-Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Carly Fiorina attacks Hillary Clinton's record

1:45 p.m. -- Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard executive who could
be the only woman to enter the Republican race, took a series of shots at
Hillary Clinton -- who she challenged to "please name an accomplishment."
"Like Mrs. Clinton, I too have traveled the globe. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, I know
that flying is an activity, not an accomplishment," she said.
Fiorina lambasted Clinton's handling of the attack on the U.S. embassy in
Benghazi, Libya, and her "conflict of interest" when the Clinton Foundation
reportedly accepted gifts from foreign governments during her tenure as
President Barack Obama's secretary of state.
"She tweets about women's rights in this country and takes money from
governments that deny women the most basic human rights. She tweets
about equal pay for women but will not answer basic questions about her
own offices' pay standards -- and neither will our President," Fiorina said.
"Hillary may like hashtags. But she doesn't know what leadership means."
Fiorina also name-dropped the woman many liberals hope will challenge
Clinton in the Democratic primary: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
She channeled Warren's populist appeal, saying she'd diagnosed similar
problems but had a dramatically different take on the solutions.
"Elizabeth Warren is right: crony capitalism is alive and well," Fiorina said.
"Government and government programs have grown so big, so powerful,
so costly and so complex that only the big and the powerful can prosper.
But Elizabeth Warren is dead wrong about how to end crony capitalism.
You see, whether it is Dodd-Frank, Obamacare or net neutrality, all this
government complexity means the big get bigger, the small disappear, and
the powerless are trapped."
-- Eric Bradner, CNN
Chris Christie goes after Jeb Bush
1:00 p.m. - Gov. Chris Christie sought to defend his brash style and counter
narratives that he's being outrun by Jeb Bush, saying it's too early to make
sweeping predictions.
The New Jersey Republican sat on stage with conservative radio host
Laura Ingraham, where he dropped a round of anti-media digs --- "I'm
giving up the New York Times for Lent" --- to counter recent narratives
about a slowed momentum for the potential Christie campaign.
"Is the election next week?" he asked, when pressed on his low standing in
2016 polls. "If I decide to run for president, I'm not worried what polls say
21 months before" the election.
Asked how he'll manage to outperform Bush, who's tapping into his family's
vast network to collect a massive fundraising haul, Christie said "if the elites

in Washington who make backroom deals" decide the nominee, then Bush
would be the frontrunner. But, he argued, he'll "do OK" if that decision is left
up to the people.
He also said that Bush's previous proposal about repopulating Detroit with
immigrants was "misrepresenting the priorities" and said he would focus
more on the people already living in the city.
Christie, as he's been doing in early voting states lately, embraced his
"Jersey guy" persona, saying people like to hear a direct, blunt politician.
"Sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up," he said,
defending his outburst against a heckler in the fall.
-- CNN's Ashley Killough
Ben Carson
9:00 A.M.: Ben Carson took the stage earlier than scheduled, but still found
a packed auditorium and enthusiastic audience for a relatively subdued
speech that unfolded like a laundry list of his policy priorities.
Carson urged listeners, "let's not turn our backs on Israel," said Congress
should offer an alternative to Obamacare before they repeal it, and
defended conservatives' opposition to same-sex marriage. It was a
departure from last year's speech, during which he railed with fiery rhetoric
against the "P.C. police."
"We need to move in a very different direction," Carson said, calling for the
nation to move away from big government programs.
He also, during the question-and-answer portion of his appearance, said
the government should have a "safety net" to support those in need, but
should eliminate programs that cause "dependency." And he said that
home-schoolers, in his estimation, perform better than public school
educated students.
-- Alexandra Jaffe, CNN
Carson is one of the more interesting newcomers on the national political
stage. An African American in a party desparate to make inroads with
minorities, Carson is also a neurosurgeon without the burden of a political
background. He has become a favorite in the conservative media. He's
also the only potential 2016 candidate to have a movie made about his
medical career. Cuba Gooding, Jr., played Carson. But as a fierce critic of
Obamacare, Carson has also waded into controversy. He once compared
the health care law to slavery and drawn parallels between the U.S. and
Nazi Germany.
CNN's Mark Preston made this short bio video with our digital video team
earlier this year:

Carson debated Wolf Blitzer about that Nazi Germany comment back in
December:
Meanwhile, out in the halls of the conference, some of the more interesting
characters of the conservative movement had on their American flag pants:
Carson suggests stripping the president of his golf game:

Rick Perry uses CPAC speech

to hammer Obama on ISIS,
Iran and Israel
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/rick-perry-cpac-hammers-obama-isis-iran-israelarticle-1.2131519
BY ADAM EDELMAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, February 27, 2015, 10:10 AM

!
C-SPAN

Rick Perrys speech at CPAC Friday morning focused mostly on foreign

policy issues.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry showed off some newly found foreign policy
chops in a plainspoken speech at the Conservative Political Action

Conference Friday, emphasizing pressing national security issues like ISIS,

Iran's nuclear program and the nation's relationship with Israel.
"At no time in the last 25 years has the future been more uncertain and the
world been more dangerous than it is today," Perry said, slamming
President Obama's response to ISIS and Russia as "naive, dangerous and
misguided."
"ISIS presents the biggest threat to national security since communism," he
added. "We didn't start this war, nor did we choose it, but we will have the
will to finish it."
"Here's the simple truth about our foreign policy: Our allies doubt us and
our adversaries are all too willing to test us," he said.
In a focused 15-minute speech, Perry also took aim at the White House's
ongoing negotiations with Iran over the development of its nuclear program
and reiterated his support for the state of Israel.
Perry, however, devoted the crux of his appearance to bashing Obama,
whose years in office he compared to some of the worst catastrophes to
befall the country in recent generations.
"This country's been through a lot. We went through a civil war two world
wars. We even survived Jimmy Carter," he said, prompting laughter.
"We will survive the Obama years too," he said.

Perry, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012,
appeared to use the podium at the prominent conservative summit to test
out themes for a possible 2016 bid.
And while he's barely registered in the early polls, he still took a shot
Thursday night at one of the party's front-runners, Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker, over Walker's own speech a day earlier likely to position himself
as a viable conservative alternative to Walker.
Walker, during his timeslot, appeared to compare battling terrorists to his
own fight in his home-state against public sector unions.
"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,"
Walker said.
In an interview at CPAC after Walker's speech, Perry called the remarks
"inappropriate."
"These are Americans," Perry told MSNBC. "You are talking about, in the
case of ISIS, people who are beheading individuals and committing
heinous crimes, who are the face of evil. To try to make the relationship
between them and the unions is inappropriate.

February 27, 2015, 10:10 am

Bush won't back down from

'core beliefs'
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/234096-bush-wont-back-down-fromcore-beliefs
By Jesse Byrnes

Getty Images

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday night that he wont back
down from his core beliefs, signaling he doesnt intend to change his
positions on immigration and education to court conservatives.
Bushs remarks at the Club for Growths annual retreat in Florida come
on the eve of his Friday appearance at the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC), where attendees are expected to greet
him with some skepticism.
Im not backing down from something that is a core belief, Bush told
the audience, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Are we all just supposed to cower because, at the moment, people
are upset about something? No way, no how, Bush added, according
to a separate report in the Washington Examiner.
Bush, who is exploring a 2016 run for the White House, reportedly
made a point of discussing the broken immigration system in his
speech.
It's broken because we have a president that uses authority he
doesn't have to pick and choose who gets to stay and who doesn't,
Bush said, according to the Examiner. It's broken because 40 percent
of the illegal immigrants in our country came here legally and
overstayed their time. It's broken because businesses sometimes hire
illegal immigrants, and they shouldn't do that, and there should be true
enforcement so that people know that that's the wrong thing.
Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham took to the main CPAC
stage on Friday morning to rip Bush just hours before his appearance
for an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
How many of you are skeptical of another Bush presidency?
Ingraham asked, which led many in the audience to raise their hands.
She then launched into an attack on Bush, and suggested he and
presumed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton could run on the
same ticket.

Jeb Bush doesnt back down at CPAC

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/speakers-slam-jeb-bush-and-even-his-wife-cpac
02/27/15 09:55 AMUPDATED 02/27/15 05:33 PM

By Benjy Sarlin
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland Jeb Bush refused to water down
his message for the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday,
forcefully defending his support for immigration reform and Common
Core education standards at a right-leaning event where previous
speakers bashed his politics, his policies, and even his wifes shopping
habits.
The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people, he said
during an onstage Q&A with Fox News host Sean Hannity. We should
give them a path to legal status where they work, where they dont
receive government benefits where they learn English and where they
make a contribution to our society.
Bush defended his Florida record on the issue as well, saying he had no
regrets about supporting drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants
and backing more recent legislation granting in-state tuition for
undocumented students, an issue Mitt Romney used to paint former
Texas Gov. Rick Perry as insufficiently conservative in the 2012 GOP
primaries.
The event, a showcase for Republican presidential prospects, tends to be
dominated by hard-line social conservative and libertarian activists.
About 50 attendees almost all college-aged Rand Paul fans marched
out of the ballroom as Bush took the stage, following the lead of William
Temple, a middle-aged man dressed as a revolutionary war soldier and

carrying a Tea Party Gadsen flag. Outside, the band met television
cameras and chanted, no more Bushes, no more Clintons.
Bush drew dueling boos and louder cheers at various points and told his
hecklers that Iwant to be your second choice.
The former governor has has said he wants to distinguish himself from
his presidential brother and father, but sounded a similar note to George
W. Bush at times.
When was asked whether it was possible to cut taxes in a time of rising
national debt, for example, Jeb Bush replied:You can lower taxes and
create more economic opportunity that will generate more revenue for
government than any of the most exotic tax plans that Barack Obama
has. The 43rd president famously passed a massive tax cut, which
helped turn a record surplus into significant deficits over his presidency.
Bush also hit a familiar hawkish tone on foreign policy, telling Hannity
he wanted the option of using ground troops to confront the Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria and favored lending greater support to Syrian
rebels opposed to the radical Islamist group.
He said he disagreed with the Obama administrations emphasis on
economic opportunity to combat Islamic terrorism in addition to military
action, noting that recently identified British ISIS terrorist Mohammed
Emwazi came from a wealthy family.
This total misunderstanding of what this Islamic terrorist threat is is
very dangerous, because it doesnt allow you to have the right strategy to
deal with this, Bush said.
Delving into social issues, Bush played up his consistent conservatism.
He rebutted a recent BuzzFeed report noting that Bush has hired a
number of staff supportive of LGBT rights, saying: Ibelieve in
traditional marriage. Bush said he stood by his fight as governor to keep
the late Terri Schiavo on life support against the wishes of her husband,
telling the audience that the most vulnerable in our society need to be
protected. After his own efforts failed, his brothers unsuccessful
attempt to intervene in the Schiavo case ended up becoming one of the
most unpopular moves of his presidency.

Before his CPAC appearance on Friday, Bush had largely stuck to

friendly venues more associated with the business wing of the GOP,
where hes most popular, than with the grassroots. The difference was
clear throughout the conference.
Radio host Laura Ingraham, one of the events opening speakers on
Friday, drew enthusiastic applause for an epic rant against Bush that
criticized his support for a path to legal status for undocumented
immigrants, for Common Core standards and mocked his wife Columba
Bushsjewelry bills.
I think women could actually turn out in droves for Jeb Bush,
Ingraham said. I mean what woman doesnt like a man who gives her a
blank check at Tiffanys?
Ingrahamcontinued: Theres another way of looking at this we could
dispense with this whole nomination process altogether. Its kind of
inconvenient having to run for president, we have to do this whole dog
and pony show why dont we call it quits and Jeb and Hillary can run
on the same ticket?
Ingraham said Republicans should nominate not aconservative who
comes to CPAC to check a box, but a conservative who comes to CPAC
because they are conservative.
Bushs name was also booed by the crowd, which was thick with Rand
Paul supporters waiting to see the senators delayed speech, when
Hannity mentioned him in an earlier segment and later when Donald
Trump derided him a speech.
I dont see him winning, I dont see theres any way, Trump said.
Sen. Marco Rubio who is also under fire from the right for cosponsoring a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013, spoke as
well. He has since renounced the bill.
Rubio took several questions from Hannity, who is also set to interview
Bush later Friday, on the immigration topic and said he had made a
mistake by not supporting border security legislation before looking at
citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
That was the strongest argument made against the bill and it was
proven to be true, Rubio said, citing President Obamas executive

action to temporarily protect millions of immigrants from deportation.

Rubio urged Republicans in Congress, who are debating whether to tie
measures blocking the White House moves to a Department of
Homeland Security funding bill and risk a shutdown at midnight, to
stand firm against Obama.
This is not a policy debate, this is a constitutional debate, he said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry told the crowd that any immigration debate must
begin with border security and boasted how he told Obama,if you will
not secure the border between Texas and Mexico, Texas will.
Paul, firing up the libertarian crowd that filled the theater for his speech,
urged Republicans to heed his call for a less interventionist foreign
policy a tough sell at a time when many of the biggest applause lines
of the event were for tougher action against Iran and more resources to
combat militants with the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
abroad.
As conservatives, we should not succumb to the notion that a
government inept at home will somehow become successful abroad, he
said.


Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at an event on Sept. 26, 2014 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty

Ted Cruz tries triangulation with a

twist
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/ted-cruz-tries-triangulation-twist
02/27/15 10:02 AMUPDATED 02/27/15 10:17 AM

By Steve Benen

Successful presidential candidates have often made good use of a

triangulation strategy. Different political scientists may offer
competing definitions of the phrase, but the basic idea is to exploit
public disapproval of both parties by positioning a candidate as
something altogether separate and better.

Bill Clinton was known for his embrace of triangulation, offering

himself as a third way between the left and right, though George W.
Bush dabbled in this, too. In late 1999, the then-Texas governor said of
his own partys budget plan, I dont think they ought to balance their
budget on the backs of the poor. (We were supposed to note the use of
they, instead of we.)

When both parties are unpopular, this can be a smart and effective tactic.
Many voters will gravitate towards national candidates willing to
criticize both parties, including their own. And with this in mind, it was
interesting yesterday to see Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) trya similar move
in his CPAC remarks (thanks to my colleague Nick Tuths for the headsup).
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) came out swinging against members of his
own party Thursday, telling a conference of conservative activists that
GOP leaders in Congress had sold out to Democrats on immigration and
that presidential contenders should be judged by their willingness to
stand up to the party establishment.

The biggest division we have in the country is not between Republicans

and Democrats, Mr. Cruz, a likely 2016 presidential contender, told the
Conservative Political Action Conference. It is between career
politicians in Washington and the American people.
If you have a candidate whos stood against Democrats, thats great,
the Republican senator said, quickly adding, When have you been
willing to stand up against Republicans? When have you been willing to
stand with the people?

To be sure, this is not, strictly speaking, how triangulation has

traditionally been defined Cruz isnt putting himself between the two
parties.

But its arguably triangulation with a twist. Instead of rejecting two

parties as the extremes, Cruz is saying he opposes what he sees as two
moderate parties. The Texas senator doesnt want to be above or
between Democrats and Republicans; he wants to be to their right.

For Cruz, there are two clear benefits to the strategy. The first is that
much of the Republican base often voices frustrations that their far-right
party just isnt conservative enough. Cruz is effectively telling them he
wants to be their voice.

And second, its no secret that the Texas Republican is not at all popular
with his own colleagues in his own party, with Sen. John McCain (RAriz.) even referring to him as a wacko bird at one point.
Triangulation with a twist offers Cruz a way to exploit his unpopularity
of course hes unpopular with Capitol Hill insiders, hell say, since he
stands apart from both parties.

Is there an audience for this message with Republican primary voters?

Watch this space.

Rick Perry Is Trying to Get His Groove

Back at CPAC
Once a GOP front-runner, the former Texas governor is
attempting to remake his reputation in a crowded field of
2016 contenders.
February 27, 2015

BY LAUREN FOX
http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/rick-perry-is-trying-to-get-his-groove-back-atcpac-20150227

Rick Perry is on the hunt for redemption.

The former governor of Texas presented himself as a retooled candidate at
the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, who came to
"speak plainly about the world we live in." He also played up his toughtalking Texan image, and made a promise not to back down from Iran or
ISIS if he is elected to the White House in 2016.

Perry blasted the Obama administration for sitting down at the negotiating
table with Iran, which he said shows disrespect to Israel and allows world
leaders to cross "red lines" without facing consequences.
"There are no real consequences when dictators and adversaries defy
America, and this must change," Perry said. "For the world to be safer,
America must be stronger."
While Obama has tried to define the Islamic State as an outlier in its
religious manifesto, Perry attacked the president for not calling out the
terrorist group for what he believes it is.
"To deny the fundamental religious nature of the threat and to downplay the
seriousness of it is naive," Perry said. "It is dangerous, and it is misguided.
ISIS represents the worst threat to freedom since Communism."
On the domestic front, Perry had a long list of complaints against Obama.
He made the case that as a former Texas governor, he knows more about
securing the border than the president ever could.
"They talk, and people literally die," Perry said of the slow-rolling
immigration debate in Washington. "You don't trust Washington to deal with
thisI don't trust Washington to deal with thisuntil they secure the
border. And we know how to do this. We can show them how to do it."
On economics, Perry told the audience not to believe the Obama
administration's statement that the national unemployment rate had
dropped to less than 6 percent.
"The unemployment rate is a sham," Perry shouted. "It leaves millions of
American workers uncounted. And if the Republican Party doesn't take a
stand for these uncounted Americans, who will?"
When it came to the contentious issue of climate change, Perry again
reached back in history and pulled out another one of his actions as
governor. But Perry didn't fall into the trap many GOPers have found
themselves in. Instead of talking about whether climate change exists,
Perry explained how Texas managed to reduce pollution during an
economic boom.
"The point is, you can have job creation, and you can make your
environment better," he said. "That ought to be our goal in this country, and
it all starts with energy policy. Open up the XL pipeline, create jobs.

Perry's task is unique among many other potential 2016ers who are
standing on the stage at CPAC to prove they are conservative enough to
trust. In his 2012 presidential attempt, Perry resonated with the grassroots.
But he also exhibited signs thendebate fumbles, tongue-tied speeches
that he was not ready for the rigorous demands of the presidential
campaign trail. This year at CPAC, he's looking for a second chance.
Over the past year, Perry has been traveling to early-primary states,
delivering foreign policy speeches and building his team. But Perry's
struggle since leaving the Texas Governor's Mansion has been to stay
relevant and ahead of a felony charge accusing him of misusing the power
of his office. As he weighs a potential 2016 presidential bid, he has had to
wrestle with the potential that a legal challenge could plague him well into a
presidential campaign.
While in 2012 Perry enjoyed the early perks of a front-runner on the
campaign traila conservative who was able to pull down millions of
dollars in fundraising while still firing up the base. Today, Perry is entering a
much more crowded 2016 landscape, in which Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker is occupying the space where Perry once stood.
On Thursday, Walker generated a warm reception at CPAC, and the crowd
erupted in "Run, Scott, run" chants as he walked off stage. Perry has been
quick to try to knock the Wisconsin governor from his position as an early
front-runner. During an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joeon Friday,
Perry accused Walker of overstepping his bounds at the annual
conservative conference when Walker told the audience that his fight with
unions was akin to the one the U.S. was waging against the Islamic State.
"You are talking about, in the case of ISIS, people who are beheading
individuals and committing heinous crimes, who are the face of evil," Perry
told MSNBC. "To try to make the relationship between them and the unions
is in appropriate."

Marco Rubio Calls on Conservatives to

'Imagine' a New America
The senator from Florida and likely presidential contender
looks to have regained the love of the CPAC crowd.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/marco-rubio-calls-on-conservatives-to-imagine-anew-america-20150227

February 27, 2015

BY REBECCA NELSON

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday that

largely looked beyond current problems, Marco Rubio called on
conservatives to "imagine" a new America.
After a failed 2013 bid to reform the immigration system, the senator from
Florida and likely presidential contender, once a tea-party darling, seems to
have gotten back in the good graces of the crowd at CPAC, eliciting
multiple standing ovations.

"We are one election away from triggering another American century," he
told the crowd.
Checking all the major conservative boxes, Rubio told the crowd that even
though the country is on the road to decline because of the Obama
administration's policies, "Americans know we're exceptional." "Imagine,"
he said, if America repealed and replaced Obamacare, if the country's laws
"protected human life," and if we had a commander in chief who thinks that
"the way to defeat ISIS is not to find them a job."
"The question before us in November of 2016 is what kind of country we're
going to be," he said.
Rubio continued to hit President Obama, calling him "failed" and lamenting
the administration's foreign policy that he said "treats the ayatollah in Iran
with more respect than the prime minister of Israel."
"This new century presents us with significant new challenges," he said,
"but solving them is well within our reach."
Getting quiet toward the end of his speech, Rubio recounted his family's
historyhis parents emigrated from Cuba in 1956and said that America's
journey was "deeply personal" for him. "I have a debt to America that I will
never be able to repay," he said.
With the exception of a rhetorical question"When was the last time you
heard about a boatload of American refugees arriving on the shores of
another country?"Rubio didn't mention immigration until a question-andanswer session with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Saying that he'd learned
a lot since his failed push to reform immigration, he said he had changed
his beliefs, falling more in line with what the CPAC crowd was looking for.
"It's a serious problem that has to be confronted, it does," Rubio said of
immigration. "We don't have the mechanisms in place" to enforce our
current immigration laws, and our legal system is "among the most
generous in the world."
He also threw red meat to the conservative crowd, emphasizing the prime
importance of border security, asserting that the border "needs more
fencing" and "more patrols." The need to control future illegal immigration,
he said, "is the single biggest lesson of the past few years."
Though Rubio declined to give a timeframe for when he'd announce his
decision on a presidential run, in a "lighting round" of quick questions,
Hannity asked the senator what his top five priorities would be as president.

Rattling them off at near-breakneck speed, Rubio delivered three themes:

creating a "healthy" economy through "tax reform, regulatory reform,"
repealing and replacing Obamacare, and balancing the budget; giving
people "the skills they need for the 21st century,"; and making the military
"the strongest" in the world.
On gay marriage, abortion, and marijuana legalization, Rubio took a more
classically conservative line: "Marriage should be between one man and
one woman," he said, he's pro-life, and he does not agree with Colorado's
recent marijuana legalization measure.
As for Hillary Clinton, he only had one word, wrapping up his optimistic,
forward-looking tone: "Yesterday."

In hall packed with conservatives, Marco

Rubio brings acclaim and laughter
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2015/02/in-hall-packed-withconservatives-marco-rubio-brings-acclaim-and-laughter.html
Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 at 10:06 AM
Posted by Chris Adams

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told a gathering of conservative activists

from around the country Friday morning that America doesnt owe him
anything but that he owes a debt to America that I will never be able
to repay.
Before a mostly-full ballroom at the annual Conservative Political
Action Conference outside Washington, the Republican and potential
presidential candidate recounted his personal history, one that took his
parents with little money, no connections, and limited education
from Cuba to South Florida.
Less than four decades later, all four of their children live the lives and
the dreams that my parents once had for themselves, Rubio told the
gathering. For me, America isnt just a country. Its the place that
literally changed the history of my family.
The possible path to 2016 is tricky and tight for Rubio, once a darling of
the nations conservatives but now treated skeptically by many. Despite
one of the most-conservative voting records in the U.S. Senate, Rubio
lost many of his conservative fans in 2013, when he pushed a bipartisan
overhaul of the nations immigration system that made it through the
Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives.

Many conservatives lambasted him for his role, and to this day some
hold it against him. In a potentially crowded GOP presidential field
some with conservative credentials superior to Rubios standing out
before this important constituency could be difficult.
In attendance were the heavyweights of todays GOP, as well as the
thought leaders, pundits and conservatives Rubio needs to reach and
persuade in order for him to be a viable contender in 2016. Nearly all the
potential 2016 Republican contenders have or will make appearances at
event, and the winner of a straw poll for attendees to pick their favorite
will be announced Saturday.
The first-term senator from West Miami, who emerged on the national
scene in 2010, both gave a speech to the crowd and was interviewed on
stage by a conservative who excited the crowd as much or more than
some of the candidates have: Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
In his six-minute opening, Rubio excited the crowd a dozen times,
bringing extended applause and sometimes laughter with barbs at the
Obama administration.
Addressing both foreign policy and domestic themes, Rubio riffed on
several imagine statements - conjuring what a new direction for the
nation could bring.
Imagine if we repealed and replaced ObamaCare, he said to applause.
Imagine if we had leaders that understood that the family, not
government, is the most important organization in society, he said to
more applause.
Imagine if our laws protected innocent human life, from conception to
natural death, he said to even-bigger applause.
And finally, to both applause and raucous laughter: Imagine if we had a
president who doesnt travel the world bad-mouthing America. After all,
thats the U.N.s job.

National Review: Contending For The

2016 GOP Contenders
http://nation.foxnews.com/2015/02/27/national-review-contending-2016-gop-contenders

by ELIANA JOHNSON, National Review

This week, CPAC and the Club for Growth compete for the presidential
hopefuls time.
Palm Beach Almost all the potential Republican presidential contenders
are shuttling this weekend between snowy Maryland and the beaches of
southern Florida. More precisely, between the partys young activists,
gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor,
Md., and some of the partys wealthiest donors, gathered at the Club for
Growths winter economic conference at the sprawling Breakers hotel in
Palm Beach.
For the first time this year, the Club for Growth is opening its closed-door
conference to reporters, who will be allowed partial access to the weekends
events to the keynote speeches delivered by the presidential hopefuls, but
not to the many panel sessions the organizations puts on for the 150 to 200
donors present, let alone to the one-on-one meetings it arranges between
donors and the Republican congressmen and senators who are also here for
the event.

Gov. Walker: We Have To Take ISIS

Out Entirely
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/02/27/gov-walker-we-have-to-take-isis-out-entirely/
February 27, 2015 10:02 AM
Share

OXON HILL, Md. (CBSDC/AP) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said

Thursday that his experience taking on thousands of protesters in his state
helped prepare him to take on terrorists across the world.
The likely Republican presidential contender sparked pointed criticism from
labor union leaders across the country after remarks delivered on the first
day of the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban
Washington. The annual conference features more than a dozen potential
Republican presidential contenders over three days hoping to win over
conservative activists.
Asked how he would handle the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria if elected
president, Walker said, For years Ive been concerned about that threat,
not just abroad but here on American soil.
If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,
he said.
In an interview with Fox News, Walker said that Americans are scared of
the images they are being shown of the terror group.
I think youve got to take them out entirely, Walker told Fox News. It takes
a combination of building up force in terms of the United States military,
which I think has fallen to woefully low levels here. It means standing up
with our allies like Israel. It means working with other allies around the
world, but it also means making partners even in the Arab world Jordan,
certainly Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others. Egypt, for sure, of late have seen
whats happened. They want a leader in America.
Walker is gearing up for a 2016 presidential contest in which foreign policy
figures to play prominently.
ISIS captured large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria over the last year.
They declared a self-styled caliphate on territories that are under their

control, killing members of religious minorities, driving others from their

homes, enslaving women and destroying houses of worship.
Walkers comments drew sharp reaction from union leaders.
Its disgusting that Gov. Walker would compare everyday heroes
educators to international terrorists, said Betsy Kippers, a teacher and
president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council.
Gov. Walker, I know terrorism. I know that your own states citizens
speaking up for whats right isnt terrorism, said Jim Tucciarelli, a union
representative in New York City whose office was one block away from the
9/11 attacks. Today, after hearing your words, I also know the sound of
cowardice.
Walker has limited experience with foreign policy. He recently returned from
a trip to England.
The Wisconsin governor has faced particularly aggressive protests from
labor unions over his budget policies in the four years since he took office.
He survived a recall election in 2010 and a bitter re-election test last fall.
Walker spokesman Kirsten Kukowski sought to clarify his remarks after the
speech.
Gov. Walker believes our fight against ISIS is one of the most important
issues our country faces. He was in no way comparing any American
citizen to ISIS, Kukowski said, using one acronym for the Islamic State
group. What the governor was saying was: When faced with adversity he
chooses strength and leadership.
Walker dedicated much of his remarks Thursday to the threat of radical
Islam. He said he receives regular threat assessments from the FBI and
the leader of Wisconsins National Guard.
We need a president, a leader, who will stand up and say we will take the
fight to them and not wait til they bring the fight to American soil, he said.
We need to show the world that in America you have no better ally and no
greater enemy.
Walker also shared his thoughts on immigration to Fox News, stating that
the U.S. needs to secure the border.
There should be no amnesty. You should secure the border, not just for
immigration reasons, but why would you put a fence around three sides of
your home and leave the back door open? Thats what we have when we
guard our ports. We guard our airports, Walker said. We dont guard our
borders, not just for immigrants that may come up or people come in, but
for people coming to literally do us harm. Weve got to push back on this
executive order. Beyond that, youve got to enforce the law.

Walker was briefly interrupted during his remarks with a Run Scott Run
chant.
Ive been running three times in the last four years, he said, so Im
getting pretty used to it.

Scott Walker woos CPAC by

boasting about crusade against
Wisconsin unions
Wisconsin governor appears at conservative conference to tout a new
war against unions after legislature pushes through polarising right-towork law
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/scott-walker-wisconsin-unionscpac-right-to-work
Friday 27 February 2015 09.02EST

Steven Greenhouse


Wisconsin governor Scott Walker waves while speaking during the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) in Maryland on Thursday. Photograph: Cliff Owen/AP

Seeking to wow a crowd of conservative activists on Thursday,

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker decided to trumpet what first made
him a Republican hero: his crusade against organized labor.



Scott Walker says battle with Wisconsin unions can ready

him for Isis
In what many saw as a boast that he could handle Islamic State, Walker
talked of besting labor and said: If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I
can do the same across the world.
With that red meat line at a gathering of the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC), Walker won raucous applause about the
episode that thrust him on to the national stage his success in pushing
through legislation in 2011 to curb collective bargaining by Wisconsins
public sector unions, notwithstanding huge protests by unions and their
allies. Walker argued at the time that government employee unions
needed to be weakened, saying their demands and costly benefits, like
pensions, were squeezing Wisconsin taxpayers.
On Thursday, as he vied to win what was essentially a conservative
beauty contest among potential presidential contenders, Walker boasted
about a new war with unions. This week, with his backing and sparking

new union protests, Wisconsins Republican-dominated legislature

launched a push to enact a right-to-work law.
Just breaking, Walker told the CPAC crowd in Washington, again to
enthusiastic applause. As of next week, Wisconsin will become the
25th state in America that has a right-to-work law.
Right-to-work laws prohibit unions and employers at private sector
workplaces from reaching any agreement that requires workers to pay
union fees.
Several labor leaders voiced outrage at Walkers assertion that his
success in taking on 100,000 union protesters in 2011 meant that he
could take on Isis, a radical Islamic group that controls part of Syria and
Iraq and has boasted of numerous atrocities.
Its disgusting to hear Scott Walker compare the 100,000 hardworking
men, women, senior citizens and children who came out to protest in
Wisconsin to the terrorists of Isis, said Jim Tucciarelli, president of a
New York City local of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees.
The protesters were members of the military, police officers,
firefighters, and first responders. They were librarians, teachers and
nurses. How desperate do you have to be as a politician to compare
those folks to murderous terrorists?
On Wednesday night, the Wisconsin senate approved the right-to-work
legislation, 17 to 15, in a largely party-line vote. The Republicandominated assembly is expected to approve the bill next week, and
Walker has said he will sign it.



Right-to-work bill passes Wisconsin Senate on way to

desk of Scott Walker
Read more

At the CPAC session, Walker denounced unions as special interests

and lorded it over labor protesters. You know what those voices cant
drown out the voices of millions of Americans who want us to stand
up and fight for the hardworking taxpayer, he said. With that
concluding line, Walker received a standing ovation, emerging as one of
the stars of the CPAC meeting.
Walker and other Wisconsin Republicans say they have lofty reasons to
enact right-to-work to make their state more attractive to business and
to promote employee freedom (by banning any requirement that workers
pay union fees against their will).
But labor leaders insist that there is a not-so-noble reason behind right to
work to hobble unions. There is considerable debate, however, over
how much these laws hurt unions and their treasuries.

A study by David Ellwood, the dean of Harvards Kennedy School of

Government, and Glenn Fine, a former Justice Department official,
found that in the five years after right-to-work legislation was passed,
the number of organizing drives fell by 28% and in the following five
years by an additional 12%. And total organizing victories dropped by
46% in the first five years after passage and by 30% the next five.
The study found that right-to-work laws, after putting aside other
factors, caused union membership to fall between 5% and 10%.
Labor experts say right-to-work often discourages unions from
undertaking organizing drives because union officials recognizing that
such laws generally mean fewer employees paying union fees might
decide that it is not a smart financial bet to sink tens or hundreds of
thousands of dollars into an organizing drive.
Right-to-work is definitely about hurting unions, said Barry Hirsch, a
labor economist at Georgia State University.
Nonetheless, Hirsch said that if enacted, a Wisconsin right-to-work law
was unlikely to have nearly as big an effect on reducing union
membership as the 2011 law that Walker pushed through. As a result of
that law, various public employee unions lost 30% to 60% of their
members.
The 2011 law barred all government employee unions (except police and
firefighters) from bargaining about pensions, health, seniority, tenure,
safety and schedules only wages can be bargained over. That law also
requires an annual recertification vote, allowing unions to be ousted
unless a majority of workers in the bargaining unit votes to keep them
something that many decide is not worthwhile because unions have been
so crippled in what they can do.
Michigan enacted a right-to-work law in 2012, and according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics union membership there fell to 585,000 in
2014, down 48,000 from a year earlier. In contrast, after Indiana enacted
its right-to-work law in 2012, union membership climbed by 50,000,
to 299,000 in 2014, from 249,000 in 2013.
Labor experts attributed that rise to increased employment in Indianas
auto plants and public works projects although some say mis-

measurement may have played a role in the large year-to-year changes in

the two states.


Pointing to the increase in Indiana, Vincent Vernuccio, the director of
labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a conservative
research group that supports right-to-work laws, said: Right to work
can be seen as good for unions and can encourage strong unions and
encourage them to serve members better.
But union officials say right-to-work laws almost always hurt unions,
encouraging some workers at unionized employers to become free riders
and stop paying union fees while the union remains legally required to
continue representing them.
Right to work isnt designed to be a hammer, said Jeff Harris,
communications director for the Indiana State AFL-CIO. Its much
more a long-term drain on unions. We havent felt the full effect of it
yet.
On Thursday, Friends of Scott Walker, the governors political operation,
sent out an email that sought to capitalize on the anticipated victory over
labor on right to work.

Governor Scott Walker will sign legislation to make Wisconsin a right

to work state, the email said. Its the right thing to do for job creators
and employees alike. But you know how it is: it threatens the power the
Big Government Labor Bosses crave and they are going to come after
him with everything theyve got.

Marco Rubio tells CPAC he

doesnt want to be in politics
his 'whole life
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/rubio-tells-cpac-doesn-politicsarticle-1.2131490
BY CELESTE KATZ

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, February 27, 2015, 9:53 AM

!
C-SPAN

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told an audience at CPAC that he hasnt decided
whether hell run for President in 2016.

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD.Sen. Marco Rubio hasn't decided whether he'll

make a play for the White House, but even if he does, he already knows it
won't be his last stop.
"I don't want to be in politics my whole life," the Florida Republican said at
the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C.
Friday morning.
"I want to serve my country and do other things," such as own an NFL
team, Rubio kidded.
On two more serious notes, the Sunshine State senator seemed in his
comfort zone as he made his pitch to the right-leaning crowd at CPAC, the
nation's biggest gathering of grassroots conservative activists.

Rubio, in traditional and deeply personal style, used his Cuban family's
immigrant success story as an example of American opportunity.
Pivoting to a martial tone, Rubio turned his focus to a condemnation of
White House performance on combating terrorism.
"Imagine if we had a commander-in-chief that understood the way to defeat
ISIS is not to find them a job," he snarked.

Asked about how to eradicate terrorists on their home soil, "If we wanted to
defeat them militarily we could do it," Rubio said, but the President "doesn't
want to upset Iran."
"They need to be defeated on the ground by a Sunni military force with air
support from the United States," the senator said.
Put together a regional military coalition with extensive U.S. intelligence
backup, "and you will wipe ISIS out."
Rubio finished up with Fox News host Sean Hannity doing a lightning round
of word associations.
Hillary Clinton? "Yesterday."
Bill Clinton? "What's the next one? Really yesterday."
Barack Obama? Failed."

Marco Rubio: Hillary is

'yesterday'
Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY 9:48 a.m. EST February 27, 2015
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/27/marco-rubio-hillary-is-yesterday/
24111469/

!
(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USAT)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the most focused
on national security of the potential 2016 field, said Friday that the
administration's "Obama-Clinton" foreign policy means "our allies no longer
trust us and our enemies no longer fear us.''
Rubio said it was his fifth appearance at the Conservative Political Action
Conference, but his first as a potential presidential candidate.
At 43, he's the youngest of the potential presidential candidate. Asked what
the words "Hillary Clinton" meant to him, he replied, "Yesterday."
Rubio advocated a ground war against the Islamic State fought by a
"coalition" of nations including U.S. special operation forces and U.S. air
support.
"If we wanted to defeat them militarily, we would do it," Rubio said, but
President Obama "doesn't want to upset Iran."
Rubio drew criticism from his own party when he advocated immigration
reform that would allow a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the
U.S. illegally. He has since changed his position.
"It wasn't very popular, I don't know if you know that from people here," he
joked before the CPAC audience. "What I've learned is that you can't even
have a conversation about that until people believe" that future illegal
immigration will be controlled.
"Americans know we're exceptional, and most of all, the world knows.
When was the last time you heard of a boatload of American refugees
arriving on the shores of another country?

Perry At CPAC: We
Survived Jimmy Carter,
'We Can Survive The
Obama Years!'

"
ByBRENDAN JAMES
PublishedFEBRUARY 27, 2015, 9:38 AM EST
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cpac-rick-perry-survive-obamayears

Glasses on and fists flying, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Friday
belted out an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference
that wandered throughout but landed a few big applause lines.
Perry at once warned that less people believe in the American Dream
"than any time in the past 50 years," but at the same time said
"America's best days lie in front of us."
The Texan railed against the "corporate tax code," government
regulations, and declared that "the unemployment rate is a sham."
Perry's solution to an America in decline: "The answer is not to grow
the welfare state, it's to build the freedom state."
On this prospect, he was optimistic.
We had a civil war, two World Wars, a depression. We even survived
Jimmy Carter!" he shouted to applause. "We will survive the Obama
years too!
By the Q&A section, Perry was panting. He scored one more big cheer
after he demanded that the government "open up the Keystone XL
pipeline.

February 27, 2015, 09:28 am

Rubio: I've learned lesson on

immigration
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/234088-rubio-to-cpac-ive-learnedon-immigration
By Cameron Joseph

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told the Conservative Political Action

Conference (CPAC) that he's learned he was wrong on his approach
to immigration reform.
Rubio, a onetime Tea Party favorite whose support for a
comprehensive immigration reform package hurt him with the GOP
base, told the conservative crowd that he now understands U.S.
borders must be secured before anything else can be done.
"It wasn't very popular, I don't know if you know that from some of the
folks here," Rubio said with a smile, earning laughs from the crowd,
when asked about his earlier support for the bill by Fox News host
Sean Hannity.
"You have 10 or 12 million people in this country, many of whom have
lived here for longer than a decade, have not otherwise violated our
law other than immigration laws, I get all that," Rubio said. "But what
I've learned is you can't even have a conversation about that until
people believe and know, not just believe but it's proven to them that
future illegal immigration will be controlled."
That tone is a big change from his support for the 2013 bipartisan
comprehensive immigration reform bill that badly wounded him with
the GOP base, though it's a return to the views he held before he
joined the bipartisan group.

Rubio said recent border issues had proven his earlier approach was
wrong, calling a border security first approach "the only way forward."
"You can't just tell people you're going to secure the border, we're
going to do E-Verify. You have to do that, they have to see it, they
have to see it working, and then they're going to have a reasonable
conversation with you about the other parts, but they're not going to
even want to talk about that until that's done first. And what's
happened over the last two years, the migratory crisis this summer,
the two executive orders, that's even more true than it's been."
Rubio's shift on the issue is the latest sign he's leaning toward a
presidential run, as he looks to repair relations with conservatives. It's
also a marked split from his former mentor and likely opponent, former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who has doubled down on his support for
immigration reform.
Rubio's speech itself focused on his two core messages: American
exceptionalism and a need to help the working class get ahead with
Rubio's personal anecdotes getting the strongest response.
"For me America isn't just a country, it's a place that literally changed
the history of my family," he said as the audience nodded along
attentively. "America doesn't owe me anything, but I have a debt to
America that I will never be able to repay."
Rubio kept his speech very short, using just over six minutes of the 12
he was allowed and leaving the rest for questions. The CPAC hall was
mostly full, despite his early speaking time, though the final few rows
filled in with bleary-eyed college students a few minutes after he took
the stage.
The audience's response was a bit muted compared to the one some
Thursday speakers received. That's likely more because Rubio had
less red-meat applause lines built into the speech and because the
crowd was dragging a bit after a likely party-filled night.
Hannity joked about how many in attendance "weren't feeling well this
morning, you were up late drinking," earning laughs from the crowd
and pointing out he had his own water bottle with him.
Rubio also got strong cheers for slamming Democrats' foreign policy.
"Because of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy, our allies no longer
trust us, and our enemies no longer fear us," he said to applause
before ripping "a foreign policy that treats the ayatollah of Iran with
more respect than the prime minister of Israel.

The Evolution of Chris

Christie
By: JOHN DICKERSONCBS NEWS
February 27, 2015, 9:16 AM
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-evolution-of-chris-christie/

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivers his state of the state address at the New
Jersey State House in Trenton, New Jersey, January 13, 2015. REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR

Two years ago Chris Christie wasn't invited to address the

Conservative Political Action Conference. The New Jersey
governor was considered too moderate and a member of the
Republican establishment. This year he addressed the
gathering of conservative activists and raised his profile by
attacking the establishment candidate. "If the elites in
Washington who make backroom deals decide who the next
president is going to be, then he's definitely going to be the
front-runner," Christie said, referring to Jeb Bush.
Which Republican has the most to prove at CPAC 2015?
He was responding to a question posed by talk-radio host
Laura Ingraham who hasn't always been a Christie fan. When
Christie collaborated with President Obama on disaster relief
after Hurricane Sandy, she said he was swooning so much it
was likely he would become a Democrat. But Ingraham is also
no fan of Jeb Bush, so she set up the tee and placed the ball
waist high in a Thursday question-and-answer session for
Christie in front of the CPAC crowd.
It's more evidence of just how much difference an election
cycle can make. During the 2012 campaign, it was Christie
who was invited to private meetings at exclusive
establishment enclaves where prominent Republicans pleaded
with him to save the party from what they thought would be a
disastrous Mitt Romney campaign. Now establishment donors
and wise men are showering Bush with affection and
campaign contributions.
On Thursday, Christie pitched himself repeatedly as a man of
the people, someone who was willing to stand up for regular
folks and fight for them. He turned a question on immigration
into an opportunity to praise "hardworking people" struggling
in America. In response to a question about Bush's
immigration remarks in which he had praised immigrants for

their entrepreneurial character, Christie accused politicians of

caring too much about what "they say on the editorial page of
the New York Times and Washington Post."
Free of the burden of being the establishment's darling,
Christie also sought to exorcise his White House ties. Asked
about the time he told a constituent to "sit down and shut up,"
Christie didn't shy away, saying some people needed to hear
just that advice. When the audience reacted positively, he said
the Obama White House needed to hear that order. The
audience reacted favorably.
Christie's media strategy also seems to have evolved. For
much of his early career as governor, Christie had a good
relationship with the press. He was a favorite Republican of
New York producers and editors in much the way Rudy
Giuliani was after 9/11. When that relationship started to spoil
during the fracas over the George Washington Bridge delays,
Christie blamed the liberal press. He worked that theme again
Thursday, echoing a strategy that Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker has put to great effect recently. Walker has repeatedly
leaned into the press corps for posing gotcha questions that
reveal nothing. Ahead of CPAC, Walker penned an op-ed in
USA Today saying he wasn't going to take the media's bait.
Many of the candidates appearing on the first day of CPAC
brought a rhetorical straw man on stage they could wallop
repeatedly. Carly Fiorina slammed Hillary Clinton again and
again. Sen. Ted Cruz did a few flying kicks into the Republican
establishment dummy. Christie brought a giant New York
Times punching bag.
Asked about the bad press he had received--most recently
over a state judge's ruling that he had broken a law by cutting
$1.57 billion from a promised payment to the pension system
for public employees--Christie used the paper as a foil. "When

you do things like I've done in New Jersey--take on special

interests," he said, "they just want to kill you." At the end,
when asked what he'd given up for Lent, the governor said
he'd told his priest that he'd given up the New York Times.
But his priest replied that didn't count, because you have to
give up something you'll actually miss.

Laura Ingraham: Jeb Bush and Hillary

Clinton Should Run on the Same Ticket
The conservative radio host threw considerable shade at
Bush ahead of his CPAC speech.
BY EMMA ROLLER
February 27, 2015
http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/laura-ingraham-jeb-bushand-hillary-clinton-should-run-on-the-same-ticket-20150227

Jeb Bush will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference this
afternoon. But Laura Ingraham wasn't going to let him have an easy
welcome.
In her speech Friday morning, the conservative talk-show host opened with
a warning shot at Bush, asking attendees to raise their hands if they were
skeptical of another Bush presidency. The crowd applauded.

"Jeb and Hillary could run on the same ticket," Ingraham continued. "The
idea that we should conduct any kind of coronation ... because 50 rich
families decide who will best decide their interests? No way, Jose."
She went on to jab at Bush for a recent Washington Post story
documenting the plush spending habits of his wife, Columba Bush.
Ingraham joked that Bush's marriage could help him appeal to women
voters. "What woman doesn't love a man who gives her a blank check at
Tiffany's?" Ingraham said.
She also criticized Bush for thinking "the American worker is lazy" and that
"we should repopulate Detroit with foreign workers."
In this way, Ingraham expertly set the tone for the day at this large
gathering of conservatives. That bore out later Friday morning, when the
crowdlargely made up of Rand Paul supporters ahead of his appearance
loudly booed when Fox News' Sean Hannity asked who in the crowd
supported Bush. During her speech, Ingraham appealed to the crowd while
starkly reminding Bush that he won't be able to simply show up and gain
support from the Republican base.
"We don't need a conservative who comes to CPAC to check a box," she
said, saying that people come because "they are conservatives."
Ingraham also used her speech to bash media outlets that criticized Gov.
Scott Walker's remarks at CPAC on Thursday, in which he suggested that
taking on thousands of pro-union protesters in Wisconsin would prepare
him for taking on ISIS. Ingraham said his critics don't have a sense of
humor.
Overall, Ingraham gave perhaps the most full-throated defense of the
conservative movement at CPAC so far.
"For a moment, don't forget where this movement came from. It came from
men and women who were told that conservatism was yesterday's news,"
Ingraham said. "Conservatism is not dour or gloomy. We are an optimistic
people. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Rubio: 'Hypocrisy' that GOP

would get shutdown blame
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/234086-rubio-gop-would-be-blamed-for-shutdown
February 27, 2015, 09:13 am
By David McCabe

Greg Nash

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that Republicans would be unfairly

blamed for a partial government shutdown over the immigration
executive action at the Conservative Political Action Conference on
Friday.

He was asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity why there was a fear
of Republicans being blamed if Congress allows the government to
shut down.
"Because we are, they do," he said. "That's the hypocrisy of this,
right? So when we're in the minority and we filibuster ObamaCare
we want to repeal or at least get a vote on it we're shutting down
the government. When they're in the minority, and their filibustering
getting rid of this executive order, we're shutting down the
government, too. Any way you look at it, that's how they're going to
portray it."
His comments come as congressional Republicans look to avert a
shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security over President
Obamas executive action on immigration.
House Republicans will vote Friday on a continuing resolution to fund
the Department through mid-March. Rubio and his colleagues in the
Senate are expected to follow suit, though they will also vote on a
longer-term funding bill.
Some conservatives having taken issue with the short term measure
because it does not block the executive action.
Rubio said the immigration executive order was an issue worth taking
a stand on.
This latest issue that we face, on the executive order that the
president issued in December, it is not a policy issue per se alone, it is
a constitutional issue, he said, to approval from the crowd.
Rubio noted that the president had said in the years before issuing the
order that he had limited authority to stop deportations.
"As far as I can tell, in the last four years the Constitution has not been
amended, so I don't know where he suddenly found the constitutional
power to do this, he said.

Sarah Palins CPAC Speech Shows She

Hasnt Lost It
http://www.newsweek.com/sarah-palins-cpac-speech-shows-she-hasnt-lostit-310072
BY MATTHEW COOPER 2/27/15 AT 9:14 AM

!
Former Republican Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin speaks at the 42nd annual Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland February 26, 2015. JOSHUA
ROBERTS/REUTERS

To use the famous phrase, Sarah Palin has always

seemed to have an uneasy relationship with the
English language. This includes her famous
seeing-Russia-from-her-house interview with
Katie Couric in 2008 and an odd talk she gave in
Iowa earlier this winter when her words seemed
unmoored from the rules of grammar. No ones
ever doubted that shes charismatic and that her
short tenure as Alaska governor was productive
and included accomplishments that liberals and
conservatives can praise. But her words always
seemed more salad than structured.
So there was some surprise on Thursday when
Palin addressed the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) with a speech that was
coherent, witty and mercifully sparing of the
applause lines that a slew of presidential
candidates toss to the audience in an effort to
show their conservative bona fides. She delivered
it confidently.
Her address dealt with the plight of veterans,
delicately weaving in the her own role as the
mother of a soldier and tacitly digging at the bevy

of GOP presidential candidates, none of whom has

served in the military save Rick Perry.
America hands over her sons and her daughters
in service with the promise that theyre going to
be taken care of. Our troops are promisedthat a
grateful nation will spare no expense to patch
them up and bring them back to health when
wounded, Palin said. Well we, their mothers and
their fathers and their husbands and their wives,
were here to collect on the promises made.
She noted the lack of services for veterans and
said the best way to honor them is by helping
them. She floated a policy idea--using the skills
veterans have learned in the military, say
computer programming, and sparing them the
requirement to get some kind of certification
when, in fact, they already have the necessary
skills. She discussed making veterans benefits
permanent and less subject to the whims of
Congress.
Its not that she failed to jab. One barb got a lot of
attention--her riposte to an Obama spokesperson
who said the U.S. couldnt kill its way to victory
in the Mideast. "Oh, the naive Obama State

Department. They say we can't kill our way out of

war. Really? Tell that to the Nazis. Oh wait, you
can't. They're dead. We killed 'em," Palin said.
She also pointedly noted: Did we actually win in
Iraq and Afghanistan before we waved the white
flag? The jury is still out.
No one thinks that Palin is about to jump into the
presidential race. She left office early in 2009 and
declined to run in 2012 and has skipped seeking
Alaskas U.S. seats in the meantime. But she
remains an important figure in conservative
politics--especially in 2010, when she backed
conservative insurgents in Republican primaries
who went on to win, such as Ted Cruz. Like any
political figure, elected or unelected, she cant be
off of her game for too long.
Of course, Palin is still Palin. At one point she
said, The Middle East is a tinderbox, and it is
coming apart at the seams, which isnt wrong but
is a slightly convoluted way of thinking about how
those Old Tyme boxes actually worked.

Gingrich: Clintons are influenced

by foreign money donations
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/234083-gingrich-clintonsinfluenced-by-foreign-money
February 27, 2015, 08:52 am
By Jonathan Easley

Greg Nash

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich warned on Friday that the threat of

radical Islam has crept into U.S. society through soft money funding
the nations universities, think tanks and political commentators.
In the first speech of the day at the Conservative Political Action
Conference on Friday, Gingrich urged Congress to hold hearings on
the threat of radical Islam, and to expand its focus beyond violent
jihadis.
Some of our greatest universities now accept millions from dictators
whose values are fundamentally alien to uspeople who show up on
talk shows, do they tell you who's paying them? Gingrich said.
The former Speaker strongly implied that the Clintons have been
improperly influenced by large donors from the Middle East
contributing to their foundation.
Im very uncomfortablethey sit in a room with a dictator to get $10
or 15 million and we have no idea what they discussed, Gingrich said.
It shouldnt shock anybody, Bill for one of his first acts, raised money
from Saudis for an Arkansas school.
The Clinton foundation is going to have to say in actual dollars every
foreign money theyve gotten, period, he continued. That includes
travel, yachts, mansionall of it ought to be public and we ought to
know about it.
Gingrich blasted President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry
for being unprepared to deal with the threat of terrorism.
The president and Secretary of State have no concept what planet
their on and no idea what universe theyre in, Gingrich said. When
Joe Biden is confused you just know its Joe Biden, when Obama and
Kerry are confused its because you know they live in a different world
with a different value system.
This is a matter of national security, Gingrich said. This is not an
issue just of politics, it raises a very core question about the ability of
foreigners to put cash into the U.S. for the purpose of reshaping public
policy.

Newt Gingrich At CPAC: I

Hope Obama's 'Farewell
Address' Comes ASAP
w

"
ByBRENDAN JAMES
PublishedFEBRUARY 27, 2015, 8:54 AM EST
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/newt-gingrich-cpac-obamafarewell-address

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) told the audience at the
Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday morning that he
wanted to have a "bold conversation."
The former presidential hopeful's idea of "bold" was to come out in
support of the First Amendment and America's veterans, while
focusing his criticism on President Obama and his longtime nemeses,
the Clintons.
"We have a President and a secretary of state that clearly have no
concept what planet theyre on," he told a roomful of enthusiastic
conservatives. "No idea what universe theyre in."
He slammed Secretary of State John Kerry for criticizing Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly Kerry's recent dig at the
leader's ardent support of the 2003 Iraq War.
How can you be an American secretary of state and criticize a foreign
leader for supporting the United States unless youre confused about
who you should be supporting as secretary of state?" Gingrich asked to
cheers.
"They live in a different world with a different value system and they
literally dont get any of the facts," he concluded.
During the Q&A section, Gingrich was asked what for him was a tricky
question.
"If you could give the President one compliment, what would it be?"
the questioner asked. Gingrich asked her to repeat the question, to
laughs from the crowd.
After a pause, he answered: Um, I hope his farewell address comes as
soon as possible." He did not explain how this was meant as a
compliment.

Laura Ingraham Rips Apart

Entire Bush Family Hours
Before Jebs Big Speech
Feb. 27, 2015 8:53am
By: Zach Noble
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/02/27/laura-ingraham-rips-apart-entirebush-family-hours-before-jebs-big-speech/

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. One of Americas most prominent

conservative commentators took the stage at a massive gathering of
Republican voters and used the platform to tear down a GOP
frontrunner.
How many of you guys are skeptical of another Bush term? Laura
Ingraham asked the crowd at the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference Friday morning, eliciting cheers from her audience.
She spent the next 20 minutes tearing apart the elites that she said have
propelled former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to the forefront of the Republicans
2016 presidential pool.

8:34 AM - 27 Feb 2015

Why dont we just call it quits, Jeb and Hillary [Clinton] can run on the
same ticket, Ingraham said, rattling off the similarities between the
Democratic frontrunner and Bush.
Saying the candidates agree on everything from Common Core to
widespread surveillance,
Ingraham proposed a slogan for the bipartisan ticket: Clush 2016: What
difference does it make?
Ingraham decried the fact that Republicans joined the Democrats at the
altar of big government and that 50 rich families have taken control of the
Republican nomination process.
She included a number of barbs at the Bush family, lamenting the failures
of compassionate conservatism (a term closely associated with George
W. Bush) and mocking The elites [who] said thered be no new taxes and
that we could read their lips, and they were wrong (a swipe at George H.
W. Bush).

CPAC should not be a coronation for any candidate, Ingraham said.

Ingrahams jabs came hours before Jeb Bush was scheduled to address
the gathering of conservative activists and as rumors swirled that Tea
Party members would lead a massive walk-out when Bush takes the stage.

Bobby Jindal To
Republicans In Congress:
'Grow A Spine' On DHS
Funding
Posted: 02/27/2015 8:33 am EST Updated: 02/27/2015 8:59 am EST

"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/bobby-jindal-cpac_n_6756742.html

Entry Text
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday
had a tough message for fellow Republicans who were wrestling with
how to fund the Homeland Security Department: "Grow a spine."
Jindal spoke as House Republicans were considering a short-term
funding fix to prevent a partial agency shutdown. To party activists
huddled near Washington at the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference, Jindal lashed out at a potential reversal of campaign
pledges to derail President Barack Obama's immigration overhaul.

"We elected these Republicans. They told us that if we gave them the
Senate majority, they would stand up to this unconstitutional and
illegal act," said Jindal, who is considering a bid for the Republican
presidential nomination.
Jindal suggested Republicans who kept control of the House and
captured the majority in the Senate last November's elections were
caving to Obama.
"It is time for our Republican leaders in Congress to grow a spine," he
said. "It's time for them to do the job we elected them to do."
Republicans initially demanded that no money be approved for the
Homeland Security Department as long as Obama's immigration
directives remained in place. With directives issued in 2012 and earlier
this year, Obama largely eliminated the threat of deportation for more
than 4 million immigrants who entered the country illegally, including
some brought to the U.S. as youngsters.
But without legislation signed into law by the weekend, an estimated
30,000 Homeland Security employees would be furloughed beginning
Monday. Another 200,000 would be expected to work without pay.
Under an emerging proposal, the agency would receive funds with no
strings attached for perhaps three weeks. The House would also
approve a separate measure to allow normal agency operations
through the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, but only in exchange
for immigration-related concessions from the White House.
"The Republicans are about to wave the white flag of surrender on
amnesty," Jindal said. "We have to tell them that we won't stand for
that.

Scott Walker tells CPAC that

facing protesters prepares
him for Islamic State
Feb 27, 2015, 7:32am CST

Milwaukee Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/morning_roundup/2015/02/scott-walker-tellscpac-that-facing-protesters.html

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sought to clarify his comments Thursday

after he told thousands of conservative activists that his experience
standing up to 100,000 protesters in 2011 in Madison has prepared him to
face the threat posed by Islamic State terrorists.

"I want a commander in chief who will do everything in their power to

ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on
American soil," said Walker, who is expected to run for the Republican
presidential nomination. "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the
same across the world."

Walker made the remark at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

For CPAC Straw Poll

Winner, Good News
Comes With a Caveat
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/cpac-straw-poll-winner-president/
2015/02/27/id/627243/\
Friday, 27 Feb 2015 08:13 AM
By Drew MacKenzie

Presidential hopefuls will probably not be waiting with bated breath to

find out if they have come out on top in the straw poll this weekend at
the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
In fact, it might be better news if they lose. Thats because in CPACs
41-year history only three winners have gone to become the
Republican nominee in the next presidential election.
According to the National Journal, the straw polls are usually not a
reliable indicator of who will nab the next GOP nomination. In fact,
theres only a 15 percent chance of a CPAC winner going on to become
the nominee.
Ronald Reagan was a CPAC straw poll winner in 1976 and
again in 1980, when he went on to become the GOP nominee and then
be elected president. He also was the winner in 1984 before winning
his second term in the White House.

George W. Bush won the straw poll in 2000, and then went on to get
the partys nod that year before being elected president.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won in 2007 and again in
2008, beating Arizona Sen. John McCain into second place. But that
same year he lost the partys nomination to McCain, who was
defeated by President Barack Obama in the general election.
Romney also won in 2009 and again in 2012, when he went on to
become the Republican nominee before also losing to Obama.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has won the past two years, following in the
footsteps of his libertarian father Ron Paul, who won in 2010 and
2011.
The annual CPAC straw poll traditionally serves as a barometer of how
conservatives feel about rising Republicans and presidential hopefuls.
And the fact that the winners of CPAC poll usually do not become the
GOP nominee is likely to be good news for former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, who has angered conservatives with his support of immigration
and Common Core education standards.
In fact, one tea party member, William Temple, called for a bathroom
boycott when Bush takes part in a 20-minute, question-andanswer session Friday with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The other potential Republican candidates for 2016 attending CPAC
include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,
retired surgeon Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Louisiana Gov.
Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former HewlettPackard CEO Carly Fiorina, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick
Santorum.

What You Missed and

Whats Coming Up At
CPAC
Like

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2015/02/what-you-missed-and-whatscoming-up-at-cpac-the-note/
By Michael

Falcone

Feb 27, 2015 8:11am

BOBBY JINDAL PITCHES HIMSELF AS A FULL SPECTRUM

CONSERVATIVE: Louisiana governor and likely 2016 candidate Bobby
Jindal says voters are looking for the next Republican presidential nominee
to be a fighter. And though he has yet to formally announce his candidacy,
Jindal described himself as someone who is unafraid to tell the truth even
if hes attacked for doing it. I gave a speech in London about the threat of
radical Islamic terrorism I was called racist, an anti-Muslim, its not true
but I think people are looking for a fighter, Jindal said during an interview
with ABC News on the sidelines of CPAC yesterday. In looking ahead to the
future of the party, Jindal said the GOP needs to work on expanding its
appeal to people across all socio-economic and age groups, ABCs RICK
KLEIN and JORDYN PHELPS report. We need to be party of everybody,
Jindal said. We need to fight for a 100 percent of the votes. WATCH:
http://abcn.ws/1DfjhxY

HAPPENING TODAY: Featured speakers on day two of CPAC include: Jeb

Bush, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Donald
Trump. WATCH LIVE: http://abcnews.go.com/live FULL COVERAGE:
http://abcnews.go.com/politics
WHY BEN CARSON THINKS ITS IMPORTANT FOR A BLACK MAN
TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has
captivated the conservative community and thrown himself into the pool of
potential 2016 presidential contenders, told ABC News on Thursday that
when it comes to politics, his race and upbringing give him a great deal of
perspective. ABCs RICK KLEIN goes one-on-one with Carson: http://
abcn.ws/1AOPSwc Grover Norquist: http://abcn.ws/17BOYZB Gary
Johnson: http://abcn.ws/18qXoEa and Rep. Mia Love: http://abcn.ws/
1BicneE
CHRIS CHRISTIE TURNS TO MEDIA BASHING: New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie continued to bash the media yesterday at CPAC, playing into a
popular topic among the activists in the crowd. As New Jersey Governor,
Christie told radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham in a question-and-answer
session he has reporters from The New York Times covering him every day
and accused journalists of taking sides on issues he has stood up against,
ABCs SHUSHANNAH WALSHE notes. When you do things like Ive
done in New Jersey, take on a lot of these special interests that they support
they just want to kill youheres the bad news for them, here I am and Im
still standing. http://abcn.ws/17CnHGq THE FIRST THING THAT
COMES TO SEN. TED CRUZS MIND WHEN HE HEARS BILL
CLINTON: https://vine.co/v/O2JdKzdxiTL
ANALYSIS FROM ABCS SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: The first day of
CPAC is done. It was filled with cheers, hyperbole, a dose of media bashing,
some costumes, plenty of foreign policy talk (even without the specifics) and
a serious sizing up of the first round of potential GOP 2016 presidential
candidates. Today, brings the most anticipated speaker: former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush. In his question and answer session with Fox News Sean Hannity
he will try to woo the conservative activists gathered and ease many of their
fears that he is a squishy moderate. He will also have to answer questions on
his Common Core and immigration positions, no doubt. It may not be easy,
reports say theres a walk out planned. Bush is likely to be prepare for it
since its been publicized, but it may still be embarrassing. Well be

watching. And if you missed the first day of speakers at CPAC, get caught up
with a wrap featuring Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina and more
from this morning ABCs World News Now:http://abcn.ws/1FDAELn
ELSEWHERE ON THE TRAIL: Mike Huckabee skipped CPAC altogether
this year and today holds a round table in the key primary state of South
Carolina and headlines a fundraiser for the South Carolina Attorney General,
according to ABCs ALI WEINBERG. Chris Christie will spend today and
tomorrow fundraising in California. Ted Cruz, who spoke at CPAC
yesterday, is reportedly addressing the Club for Growth private event in
Florida today.

THISWEEKON THISWEEK:Sunday on This Week, the powerhouse

roundtable debates all theweeks politics, with ABC News political analyst
Matthew Dowd, ESPN senior writer and CNN contributor LZ Granderson,
syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham, and ABC News Cokie Roberts. Check the
This Week page for full guest listings.Be sure to use #ThisWeek when you tweet
about the program.TUNE IN SUNDAY:http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek

WHATS HAPPENING ON THE HILL?

WITH JUST HOURS REMAINING UNTIL FUNDING EXPIRES FOR THE
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, the House and Senate remain at an
impasse, ABCs JEFF ZELENY reports, but appear to be heading toward a shortterm solution. The House is set to vote on a three-week funding bill this morning
rather than pass a bill to keep the department running through September. Some
mainstream Republicans believe this is a wrong-headed approach, because it
simply delays the inevitable and kicks the can down the proverbial road all in
defiance of President Obamas immigration action. And some ardent conservative
immigration opponents believe their Republican leaders are caving in. Call it a
compromise or another episode of governing-by-crisis, but the Senate is likely to
grudgingly go along with the Band-Aid approach, so they dont have a security
shutdown on their hands. It sets the stage for an incredibly divisive March for
Republican leaders, who have only delayed the inevitable with this temporary fix.

THE BUZZ
with ABCs VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

MORE FROM CPAC: CARLY FIORINA CRITICIZES HILLARY CLINTON.

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO, is positioning herself as the antiHillary Clinton candidate, going after the likely Democratic presidential candidate
in her speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, hitting her
for accepting donations from foreign countries to her foundation, ABCs
SHUSHANNAH WALSHE notes. In her address, Fiorina called on Clinton to
please explain why we should accept that the millions and millions of dollars that
have flowed into the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments doesnt
represent a conflict of interest. The Washington Post reported last week that the
Clinton Foundation began taking foreign donations after Clinton finished her time
as Secretary of State, but it reported Wednesday that the group also accepted
millions of dollars from seven foreign governments during her tenure as head of
the State Department. http://abcn.ws/1GxYt8l
THAT TIME SEN. JIM INHOFE THREW A SNOWBALL ON THE SENATE
FLOOR. This may be a congressional first. Sen. Jim Inhofe, a devoted climate
change denier, tossed a snowball at someone on the Senate floor Thursday as he
tried to debunk climate change. In case we had forgotten because we keep hearing
that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair: You know what this
is? Its a snowball and that just from outside here so its very, very cold out. Very
unseasonal, he said. So, Mr. President, catch this, Inhofe, R-Okla., said on the
Senate floor, tossing the snowball to someone off-screen as he tried to suppress a
smile, ABCs ARLETTE SAENZ writes. We hear the perpetual headline that
2014 has been the warmest year on record but now the script has flipped and I
think its important since we hear it over and over and over, Inhofe, 80, said. As
we can see with the snowball out there, this is today. This is reality. http://
abcn.ws/1LOd7v9
NANCY PELOSI SPORTS SUNGLASSES IN SOLIDARITY WITH HARRY
REID AFTER EYE INJURY. Wearing sunglasses indoors may be the new craze on
Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi walked into a news conference
on DHS funding yesterday morning and threw on some sunglasses in solidarity
with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. I brought my glasses to be with Harry
but he switched on me, Pelosi said to laughs from reporters. I tricked her, Reid
answered. Earlier this week, Reid debuted some dark sunglasses to cover up an
injury sustained to his right eye while exercising earlier this year, ABCs
ARLETTE SAENZ notes. But Thursday, Reid went with a different set of specs

dark rimmed glasses with a shaded lens covering his right eye. Reid has undergone
two surgeries to help restore vision in his right eye. http://abcn.ws/1Fyhd6G

WHAT WERE WATCHING

HOW THE REAL-LIFE FRANK UNDERWOOD IS STARING DOWN THE
DHS SHOWDOWN. What would Frank Underwood do? As the House of
Representatives majority whip a role famously depicted in the Netflix hit series
House of Cards its a question Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., ponders as Capitol
Hill faces a showdown over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security. I
think hed storm over to the Senate chamber and just start maybe voting some
peoples machines yes to get the bill brought up, Scalise joked of the fictional
character played by Kevin Spacey. Hed take matters into his own hands over in
the Senate. Scalise, who didnt start watching House of Cards until after he
became majority whip in August, said the fictional Washington depicted in the
show bears only a limited semblance to reality. They depict the Capitol and the
hectic schedule. I mean everybody is running around from meeting to meeting and
votes, he said in an interview with ABCs JEFF ZELENY, host of The Fine
Print. But when it comes to the interaction between members, its a lot more
collegial than I think is depicted there. WATCH: http://yhoo.it/1LPni0J

Christie sells himself to

conservatives at CPAC
By Matthew White

February 27, 2015 8:10 AM

http://nj1015.com/christie-sells-himself-to-conservatives-at-cpac/

During the conference on Thursday, Gov. Chris Christie had strong words about his
2016 presidential chances and for his potential GOP rivals.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Christie has faced several recent media firestorms, a formidable fundraising challenge
from Jeb Bush, and a batch of negative polls.

Still though, the governor remains confident and steadfast in his White House
prospects.

Ill take my chances on me, he said. Ive done pretty well so far.

Christie also went at Jeb Bush directly while touting his own conservative credentials,
claiming he has a unique appeal to voters.

If the elites in Washington who make back-room deals decide who the presidents
going to be, then hes definitely the front-runner, he argued. If the people of the
United States decide to pick the next president of the United States and they want
someone who looks them into the eye, connects with them and is one of them, Ill do
OK if I run.

Youth Outreach': Cruz Takes Swipe At

Clinton-Lewinsky Affair At CPAC
February 27, 2015 8:02 AM

Share
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/02/27/youth-outreach-cruz-takes-swipe-at-clintonlewinsky-aair-at-cpac/

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) on Feb. 26, 2015 in National Harbor, Md. (credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

OXON HILL, Md. (CBSDC/AP) Republicans must not let themselves be

tricked into picking a moderate presidential nominee in 2016, by
demanding their hopefuls have a demonstrated commitment to
conservatism, Sen. Ted Cruz told an enthusiastic audience Thursday.
Cruz, himself a likely presidential candidate, warned activists gathered at
the Conservative Political Action Conference! near Washington that voters
who pick the GOP nominee are likely to hear a similar pitch: You betcha.

Who-diddley. Im as conservative as all get out. But, without naming

names, he suggested that many of those likely candidates lacked the
record to back it up.
Cruz offered his record of standing in opposition to President! Barack
Obamas efforts on health care, immigration and foreign policy as well as
his own partys leadership in the Senate at times.
If a candidate tells you that they oppose Obamacare fantastic! When
have you stood up and fought against it? he asked of his potential rivals,
many of them slated to address! the audience.
Actions speak far, far louder than words. We need to look to people who
walk the walk, he added.
The Texas senator got a rousing ovation when he told the crowd he wanted
to abolish the IRS.
Cruz also used his turn before a packed room of conservative activists to
jab at the Democratic favorite possible presidential contender Hillary
Rodham Clinton and the fees she collects for speeches: We could have
had Hillary here. But we couldnt find a foreign nation to foot the bill.
He also took a swipe at her husband! , former President Bill Clinton, and
his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Asked by Fox News
Sean Hannity for the first thing that came to mind when he heard Bill
Clintons name, Cruz replied, Youth outreach.

Cruz: Make candidates who

claim conservatism prove it
By Associated Press
February 27, 2015 6:55 am
http://www.gopusa.com/news/2015/02/27/cruz-make-candidates-whoclaim-conservatism-prove-it/

OXON HILL, Md. Republicans must not let themselves be tricked

into picking a moderate presidential nominee in 2016, by demanding
their hopefuls have a demonstrated commitment to conservatism,
Sen. Ted Cruz told an enthusiastic audience Thursday.
Cruz, himself a likely presidential candidate, warned activists gathered
at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington that
voters who pick the GOP nominee are likely to hear a similar pitch:
"You betcha. Who-diddley. I'm as conservative as all get out." But,
without naming names, he suggested that many of those likely
candidates lacked the record to back it up.
Cruz offered his record of standing in opposition to President Barack
Obama's efforts on health care, immigration and foreign policy as
well as his own party's leadership in the Senate at times.
"If a candidate tells you that they oppose Obamacare fantastic!
When have you stood up and fought against it?" he asked of his
potential rivals, many of them slated to address the audience.
"Actions speak far, far louder than words. We need to look to people
who walk the walk," he added.
Cruz also used his turn before a packed room of conservative activists
to jab at the Democratic favorite possible presidential contender
Hillary Rodham Clinton and the fees she collects for speeches: "We
could have had Hillary here. But we couldn't find a foreign nation to
foot the bill."
He also took a swipe at her husband, former President Bill Clinton,
and his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Asked by Fox
News' Sean Hannity for the first thing that came to mind when he
heard Bill Clinton's name, Cruz replied, "Youth outreach."
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Inhofe uses snowball to mock Obama

on climate change
http://news.morningstar.com/all/market-watch/TDJNMW2015022777/inhofe-uses-snowballto-mock-obama-on-climate-change.aspx
2-27-15 7:41 AM EST

By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
"Mr. President, catch this," Sen. James Inhofe said Thursday on the
Senate floor.
Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who leads the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee, then tossed a snowball during a speech
expressing skepticism about climate change (http://
www.nationaljournal.com/energy/watch-jim-inhofe-throw-a-snowballon-the-senate-floor-20150226). It was caught by a page, National
Journal wrote. "We hear the perpetual headline that 2014 has been the
warmest year on record, but now the script has flipped," the senator
said. He then blasted the Obama administration for focusing on global
warming instead of terrorism. Here's a shot of Inhofe pre-snowball
toss:
(https://twitter.com/thehill/status/571175506974003200)
And here's a tweet from a parody account, Snow Ball.
(https://twitter.com/InhofesSnowBall/status/571068038847574016)
Short-term DHS fix: The House is expected to vote Friday on a bill
funding the sprawling Department of Homeland Security (http://
www.marketwatch.com/story/house-republicans-discuss-short-termfix-on-homeland-security-funding-2015-02-27)for three weeks. With
department funding running out at midnight, and a battle over
immigration still unresolved, House Republican leaders unveiled the

short-term plan late Thursday. If approved by the House, The Wall

Street Journal writes, the short-term measure would likely clear the
Senate on Friday as well. Republican leaders were forced to turn to the
stopgap bill after the House and Senate hit an impasse over how to
resolve a battle over immigration, which DHS oversees.
Obama pushes trade deal: With negotiations intensifying on a 12nation Pacific trade agreement, President Barack Obama told a Seattle
television news station the deal should be done to counter a rising
China. "If we don't do this trade deal, China will be writing the rules,
and they'll reinforce rules that are already disadvantaging us today,"
Obama told KOMO (http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Obamatalks-Jihadi-John-trade-oil-trains-with-KOMO-News-EricJohnson-294301201.html). "We can't have that." Some lawmakers,
like Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan (http://www.marketwatch.com/
story/us-must-face-up-and-include-currency-in-trade-deal-levinsays-2015-02-26), are insisting that currency-manipulation language
be added to the agreement, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But
the Obama administration is against including that provision.
Warren vs. Obama on trade: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
(http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/elizabeth-warren-targettrans-pacific-trade-deals-115561.html?hp=t1_r)is gearing up for
another big fight with the Obama administration -- this time on the
very trade deal President Obama is promoting. Warren, a Democrat, is
stepping up her criticism of the proposed TPP, saying it could allow
multinational corporations to gut U.S. regulations and win big
settlements funded by U.S. taxpayers but decided by an international
tribunal. That's according to Politico, which interviewed Warren about
her reservations.
Conservative contempt: Jeb Bush (http://www.bloomberg.com/
politics/articles/2015-02-27/the-conservative-contempt-awaiting-jebbush-at-cpac) won't get a warm welcome Friday when he speaks to
the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference, Bloomberg writes.
"He might help with the Hispanic vote, but there are four or five other
conservatives I'd cast a ballot for," one activist attending the
conference told Bloomberg. Bloomberg collected other, similar
comments, and writes conservatives' dislike of Bush's policies includes
scorn for his support for Common Core educational standards.

For Jeb Bush, the Q&A is the message

http://news.gnom.es/news/for-jeb-bush-the-qa-is-the-message

By Jon Ward
Gnomes National News Service

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Jeb Bushs communication style is the message.

He hasnt formally declared his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination or
rolled out a policy agenda, but the former Florida governor is already setting a
tone thats distinguishing him from the rest of his likely opponents.
Dating back to his time in the statehouse, Bush has a track record of robust
engagement with regular citizens and the press over email. Hes continued that
since re-emerging on the political scene, emailing national political reporters
directly himself an almost unheard-of move in conservative circles more likely
to bash the New York Times than engage with it. In his media appearances so
far, hes appeared to prefer question-and-answer sessions to the speeches that
precede them. And he has hired communications staffers who are among the
most well-liked by and friendly with the press in all of politics.
On Friday afternoon, Bush will make his first appearance at the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference and test his more open, interactive
approach before an audience of hard-core conservative organizers and activists.
Bush aides asked CPAC organizers over a month ago if Bush could dispense
with the traditional stump speech from a podium and instead do a question-andanswer interview, one aide told Yahoo News. Bush saw little point in giving a
traditional address, because he wanted to confront and answer questions about
his potential candidacy and his credentials as a conservative. The result is that
he will be interviewed onstage by Fox News Sean Hannity for 20 minutes,
instead of giving the sort of rousing, red-meat speech CPAC speakers often seek
to do.
Its intended to signal hes interested in a two-way conversation with the base,
rather than showcasing a top-down, take-it-or-leave it style. In that respect, it
matches up well with an emerging narrative among conservative thinkers: that
they are the ones most in sync with the Internet age, while liberals emphasis on
central planning is an old-fashioned political philosophy out of step with an era of
disruption and locally driven solutions to problems.

Bushs appearance at CPAC has also attracted extra attention because he has
established himself as the leader in the early 2016 running, and will be facing his
first real test as a presumptive candidate, in an encounter with an audience
predisposed to dislike him.
But his more informal approach is also a much safer route for a political figure
viewed with suspicion by many conservatives, given that he would probably not
win many standing ovations during a traditional speech. The tactic also sends a
message, in and of itself, that Bush is working against one of his biggest
weaknesses: his status as scion of a political dynasty, the son of a former
president and the brother of another. The Q&A format suggests that Bush is
interested in putting himself at the level of his audience and engaging with them,
rather than talking at down at them or lecturing them, the Bush aide said.
Bushs decision to use a Q&A format created something of a scramble among
the other 2016 hopefuls. One CPAC organizer said that conference planners this
year had decided to require every likely Republican presidential candidate to take
questions from either a moderator or the audience. Numerous aides to likely
2016 candidates said that CPAC organizers offered them the choice of doing a
20-minute Q&A interview or speaking for 12 minutes and then taking questions
for 8 minutes.
But an aide to another Republican presidential hopeful said that it was Bushs
decision to do an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity, in particular, that set off
a chain reaction among the other 2016 hopefuls, leading some of them to take
the same approach as Bush and use the same format.
However the Q&A requirement came about, one of the prospective presidential
candidates was not enthusiastic about the decision. We fought it, said an aide
to that potential 2016 candidate, who believed it was an attempt by CPAC
organizers and by American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp in
particular to help Bush.
[Schlapp] doesnt want Jeb to get a bad reception, because he thinks that would
make the conference look bad, and hes trying to ease Jeb into things, said the
aide. Its kind of a downer. This is a CPAC rally. You want to go pump people up.
It ruins the momentum, in my mind.
ACU spokesman Ian Walters said the point of the Q&A was to allow the grassroots activists to have a voice in questioning the candidates.
Weve gone out of our way to make sure the way we treat the candidates is
evenhanded, he said. And in practice, the requirement to take questions hardly
cramped the style of those 2016 hopefuls who preferred to give a stemwinder
rallying the conservative faithful. On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal all gave traditional

stump speeches, and followed them by taking a few short questions from the
audience that they answered while standing. However, in a major departure from
previous years, these speakers did not stand behind a lectern, but instead strode
back and forth across a stage in front of the lectern.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie chose to do a full 20-minute Q&A session
with conservative talk radio show host Laura Ingraham, who asked
Christie a series of pointed questions.
An aide to Rand Paul said CPAC told the staff for the senator from Kentucky that
he had to take questions when he appears on Friday morning. Paul will give a
speech like Cruz, Walker and Jindal and then take a few questions. Sen.
Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who speaks first on Friday morning, is doing a full 20
minutes of questions and answers with Hannity, just like Bush.
Pauls communication style certainly includes a healthy dose of stump speeches,
but of all the likely 2016 candidates, he has been probably the most accessible to
the press. He has also experimented with new technologies like SnapChat,
conducting an interview with CNN over the social message service. (Even if it
was a publicity stunt, it was experimental and boundary-pushing.)
Bushs taste for public engagement goes back to his time as governor of Florida
from 1999 to 2007. He gave out his email address publicly and was often glued
to his Blackberry, responding robustly over email to messages from Floridians of
all stripes. The emails were public record under Florida law, and in December,
Bush took the proactive step of releasing all of them online (this of course also
violated some writers privacy, thanks to a lack of redactions).
Bush told conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that if he
were to run a presidential campaign, it would need to embrace technologies in
ways that allow you to have two-way communication with potential voters.
More recently, Bushs three major speeches in 2015 have attracted attention for
the degree to which he appeared uninterested in the normal conventions of
giving a speech. He has rushed through his prepared remarks, dispensing with
the traditional pauses for generating applause, and other rhetorical flourishes.
Each speech was followed by a Q&A session in which Bush appeared more
relaxed and engaged. Part of his comfort level with the format might be attributed
to his personality: Bush has called himself an introvert, and so a traditional
speech to him may feel more like a sales pitch, whereas responding to questions
does not.
In two of the speeches, Bush took questions only from a moderator. After his
Feb. 4 speech to the Detroit Economic Club, he took questions from the
audience.

Being open to Q&A sessions is hardly unique to Bush. Former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, the most likely 2016 Democratic presidential nominee if she
decides to run, did just such a session with Re/codes Kara Swisher earlier this
week, after a speech in San Francisco. And Clinton has done a number of Q&As
after paid speeches over the past few years.
Christie made sure to emphasize during his interview with Ingraham that he has
done 128 town hall meetings in New Jersey during his more than five years as
governor.
We dont do things with cards, where you have to fill out cards, and then people
screen them for you and decide which questions that Id like to answer. I sit in a
room like this. We had 500 people yesterday in Moorestown, N.J. I speak, and
then I took my coat off, and I took questions for an hour. Raise your hand, I call
on you, and I take your question, and I answer it. And thats what elected officials
owe their constituents, Christie said.
Ingraham asked Christie if this was a veiled reference to Jeb Bush.
There have been a few events I know where we write pre-screened questions. Is
that what youre talking about, that the other Republican candidates, or at least
the frontrunners, havent been as transparent? Ingraham said.
What Im saying, Laura, is that everyone who aspires to high positions of
leadership in their states or in their country should be willing to take unscreened,
unrehearsed questions from the people who pay their salary, Christie said. It is
not only informative. It is also good theater.

Rubio to CPAC: I Have a Debt

to America I Will Never be Able
to Repay
By: Bridget Johnson
February 27, 2015 - 6:48 am
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/02/27/rubio-to-cpac-i-have-a-debt-toamerica-i-will-never-be-able-to-repay/

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) indicated at this mornings Conservative Political

Action Conference that if he decides to run for president hell focus squarely
on that instead of a backup plan to stay in the Senate.
But he demurred on where he is in the decision-making process, refusing to
answer Sean Hannitys question on where that decision is on a scale of
1-100.
The senator did stress why he would run for the highest office in the land.
America doesnt owe me anything, but I have a debt to America that I will
never be able to repay, Rubio told the CPAC crowd, elaborating on the
history of his parents immigration from Cuba. For me, America isnt just a
country, its the place that literally changed the history of my family.
Now, he asked, What kind of country we are going to be?

Sometimes you wouldnt know were an exceptional nation by listening to

the left by listening to the president, Rubio said. When was the last time
you heard about a boatload of American refugees arriving on the shores of
another country?
God is still blessing America, he said, but our allies no longer trust us and
our enemies no longer fear us as President Obama treats the ayatollah in
Iran with more respect than the prime minister of Israel.
Today our nation is on the road to decline, but we are one election away
from triggering another American century.
Rubio stressed the need for regulatory reform, repealing and replacing
Obamacare, and placing a focus not just on college but vocational training.
We shouldnt be stigmatizing those vocational careers, he said. Not
everyone should be forced to get a four-year degree in order to find a job.
He advocated a Sunni force including Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and other
nations in the region to take the fight to the Islamic State, and you will
wipe ISIS out.
Imagine if we had a president who understood that the way to defeat ISIS
is not to find them a job, the senator said.
On President Obamas immigration executive actions, Rubio stressed that its
not a question of policy but of constitutional authority. Noting that he wants
to cut taxes but wouldnt approve of doing it unilaterally, he said, I dont
know where [Obama] suddenly found the constitutional power to do this.
Rubio also addressed critics of his participation in the Senate Group of Eight
that forged an immigration reform compromise.
It wasnt very popular; I dont know if you know that from some of the folks
here, he quipped.
He said the comprehensive agreement addressed problems that must by
tackled, including visa overstays, more fencing needed along the border, and
an immigration system that cant continue to be based on family alone but
brings in more highly skilled workers.
Rubio said he learned from the process. What Ive learned is you cant even
have a conversation about legalizing those currently in the country illegally
until future immigration is brought under control.
The only way people will agree to a step-by-step immigration reform is if the
government follows through on the first steps, he said. The only way
forward you cant just tell people were going to secure the border, were
going to get e-Verify, you have to do it.
Asked about how the GOP caucus is performing in the Senate, Rubio cited a
dispute between those who think the job is about managing the
government rather than improving the system.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has addressed the
conference in past years, is not a speaker at this CPAC.

On 2016, Rubio said he hasnt made that decision yet and must decide
through careful prayer. He added I dont want to be in politics my whole
life quipping hed like to do other things like maybe own an NFL team.
The senator even got in his standard water joke, a self-deprecating
reference to his notorious sip in his 2013 State of the Union response.
Hannity noted that some of the sleepy morning crowd may have stayed up
too late last night drinking. Theres nothing wrong with drinking, Sean,
Rubio said as he took a swig of water.
Rubio faced a lightning round for his quick reaction to a few names:
Hillary Clinton? Yesterday.
Bill Clinton? Really yesterday.
Obama? Failed.

Gov. Pence to be among

potential prez candidates at
CPAC
!

Maureen Groppe, Star Washington Bureau

10:18 a.m. EST February 26, 2015
http://www.indystar.com/story/behind-closed-doors/2015/02/26/gov-pence-to-be-amongpotential-prez-candidates-at-cpac/24051367/

!
(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)

When Mike Pence addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference

in 2010, he joked about his 11 a.m. speaking slot which happened to
coincide with Tiger Woods' public apology for "irresponsible and selfish"
behavior.
"There is hope," Pence told the gathering of conservative activists.
"Somebody beyond you good people in this room might see this speech. I
mean, I've got a Facebook page. And YouTube springs eternal."
Pence's remarks at this year's gathering should get more attention.
A frequent attendee at the conference when he served in the House, Pence
has been given a prime speaking slot as governor. He'll deliver the keynote
address at a Friday evening dinner honoring Ronald Reagan during the
four-day gathering at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center just
outside Washington.
Put on by the American Conservative Union and held annually since 1973,
CPAC as it's referred to is the nation's largest conservative gathering.
And it's an early testing ground for presidential hopefuls.
Pence has said he will announce whether he'll seek the 2016 GOP
nomination after the 2015 legislative session wraps up at the end of April.
Other potential 2016 candidates who are speaking at CPAC include former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former Pennsylvania
Sen. Rick Santorum.
The convention includes a presidential straw poll that has been won the
past two years by Rand Paul.
When former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was considering a 2012
presidential bid, he gave the keynote address at CPAC's 2011 Ronald
Reagan dinner. (That earned the group criticism by some on the right
because Daniels had ignited a firestorm by previously saying the next U.S.
president would "have to call a truce on the so-called social issues" to
focus on the more urgent matters of the federal debt and national security.)
Other recent speakers at the dinner include Walker, George Will, scholar
Arthur Brooks and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Asked about Pence's invitation to give the Reagan address this year, CPAC
spokesman Ian Walters said the spot is traditionally reserved for "leading
conservative figures."
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, told USA
TODAY that after losing the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections,
conservatives really want to win the White House in 2016. Schlapp referred

to conservative commentator William F. Buckley's rule to pick the most

conservative candidate who can also win.
"And I think that's the mindset of conservatives today," Schlapp said.

CP POLITICS
Ben Carson: Homeschool, School
Choice Benefit All Americans,
Common Core Doesn't
http://www.christianpost.com/news/ben-carson-homeschool-school-choice-benefit-allamericans-common-core-doesnt-134782/

BY MICHAEL GRYBOSKI , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER

February 26, 2015|10:01 am

(PHOTO: REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE)

Ben Carson speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National

Harbor, Maryland, February 26, 2015.

Author and accomplished surgeon Dr. Ben Carson has expressed his
support for homeschooling and school choice and opposition to Common
Core at a conservative conference in Maryland.
At the main stage of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at
National Harbor, just outside Washington, D.C., Dr. Carson told those
gathered on Thursday morning that "I am ready for school choice."
Carson argued that "school choice," or allowing parents to homeschool
their children or send their children to private schools with government aid,
was a benefit for all Americans.
education is the great liberator in our country. No one has to be a
victim," said Carson to loud cheers and applause.
"The best education is the education that is closest to home and I've found
that for instance homeschoolers do the best, private schoolers next best,
charter schoolers next best, and public schoolers worst."
During the question and answer segment following his speech, Carson was
asked a question regarding his views on Common Core.

(Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Ben Carson speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National
Harbor in Maryland February 26, 2015.

"Common Core is not school choice. I do believe in standards, but those

standards obviously are set by parents and people who do homeschooling
or they wouldn't be doing so well," said Carson.
"Our public schools need to learn how to compete with that, but they don't
need some central government telling them how to do it."
An accomplished neurosurgeon, Carson made headlines for his speech at
the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton in the Nation's
Capital.

With President Barack Obama seated nearby, Carson argued for socially
and economically conservative solutions for America's woes.
Since then, a movement to get Carson to run for the Republican
nomination for president has been growing.
Carson's remarks came as he was part of the American Conservative
Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
Held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, CPAC is a
gathering of many conservative public figures, pundits, and groups.
It is common for individuals planning to run for the Republican ticket to give
remarks before those gathered at CPAC.
Other scheduled speakers include former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin,
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum,
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and Fox News pundit Sean Hannity.
During his remarks, Carson also talked about various other issues,
including standing by Israel, creating a fair tax system, and looking after the
poor sans government bureaucracy.
"I am ready for a country that puts our Constitution on the top shelf every
part of it. And for those who have any doubt that includes the Second
Amendment," said Carson.
"I am for a country where we develop our natural energy resources. We
have been blessed with them. Let's not make that a curse that's a
wonderful thing."
Carson answered questions from social media following his speech on
issues including foreign policy and political civility.
"It seems like each time I am here, we are getting closer to critical time
periods in our country," said Carson about CPAC, adding that the country
needs "to change course.

At national conservative
gathering, Walker faces
higher expectations
February 26, 2015 9:00 am MATTHEW DeFOUR Wisconsin State Journal

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/state-and-regional/at-nationalconservative-gathering-walker-faces-higher-expectations/
article_af1dcc4e-9ca6-5fcb-aa44-1b75c561d8e6.html

Walker

DES MOINES Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is looking more and more like the man
to beat in Iowas 2016 first-in-the-nation caucuses. Read more

WASHINGTON The next challenge in what is becoming an almost

weekly test of Gov. Scott Walkers presidential mettle takes place
Thursday at an annual gathering of conservative activists just outside the
nations capital.

Walker joins a dozen other potential Republican presidential candidates

scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or
CPAC. Hell participate in two events Thursday afternoon and Friday
morning, and his performance in the annual straw poll on Saturday could
serve as another indicator of his momentum.

Walker has spoken at the conference twice before, in 2012 as he faced a

recall election after largely eliminating collective bargaining for most public
employees, and in 2013 after becoming the first governor in U.S. history to
survive a recall.

David Keene, who was chairman of the American Conservative Union,

which runs CPAC, from 1984 until 2011, said Walkers 2013 speech was
graded by attendees as the best at the conference. But like his recent
speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit, he may have benefited from lower
expectations, Keene said.

Unfortunately for him (the expectations are) rising now and its going to be
a little tougher to surprise people than before he got a national spotlight in
Iowa, said Keene, a UW-Madison and UW Law School graduate who
grew up in Fort Atkinson and is now opinion editor for the Washington
Times.

Walkers 2013 CPAC address included many themes that have become
fixtures in his recent speeches.

Nows the time to push forward, and tell all of America one state after
another until we take our message to Washington that true reform comes
with anoptimistic and a relevant message, and most importantly a
courageous message that says in America we believe in the people and
not in the government, Walker said in closing his 2013 speech.

Becky Norton Dunlop, vice president for external relations at the

conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, a CPAC sponsor, said

attendees at this years event in National Harbor, Maryland, are very

eager to hear from Walker.

This audience is looking for a candidates ability to communicate great

ideas, she said, emphasizing that the focus is on ideas rather than
rhetoric.

CPAC is the first major gathering of prospective GOP candidates since the
Freedom Summit in Des Moines last month. Walkers performance at that
event catapulted him into the top tier of presidential contenders and hes
been under the glare of the national media spotlight ever since.

Numerous polls in Iowa and other early primary states have him leading or
in the top two or three.

Some setbacksp:BC BCK Body Copy Breaker

Since the Iowa speech, Walker has taken heat for refusing to answer
questions about evolution and President Barack Obamas faith and love of
country. His biennial state budget proposal, which cuts $300 million from
the University of Wisconsin System, has also come under fire for
scrubbing the search for truth from the universitys mission statement,
known as the Wisconsin Idea.p:BC BCJ Body Copy Justified

One could argue that he wishes Iowa hadnt taken place for another six
months or three months, Keene said, referring to the Freedom Summit.
You can peak too soon, but its better than not peaking at all.

Walkers advantagep:BC BCK Body Copy Breaker

Keene added that Walker has an advantage over all of the other
contenders in that he already appeals to each of the major conservative
camps.

Establishment Republicans like him, tea party people like him, his father
was a minister and hes an economic conservative, Keene said. The last
Republican who could do that nationally was Reagan.

Former President Ronald Reagan serves as a sort of godfather of CPAC,

which began in 1974. Reagan helped put the event on the map as
California governor, speaking 12 times over the years, and winning the first
three straw polls held in 1976, 1980 and 1984.

Growth of event:BC BCK Body Copy Breaker

CPAC has grown from a small cadre of anti-tax, free-market, limited

government activists into a conference that attracts as many as 10,000
participants from across the country, many of them college students. C-

SPANs decision to broadcast the event live in the 1980s helped expand its
reach.

Historically, its been a place where candidates could come and show
that wing of the party what they had to oer, especially for candidates that
had been looked at as too moderate or suspect in terms of conservative
credentials, Marquette Law School political science professor Charles
Franklin said.

The event is still dominated by the younger, more libertarian wing of the
Republican Party, as evidenced by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his
father Ron Paul, winning four of the last eight straw polls. Some observers
say Paul, a potential 2016 candidate, is likely to win again this year.

But the establishment wing of the party also considers it a must-attend

event.

Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee who won the other four straw polls
the last eight times it was held, formally withdrew from the 2008
presidential race at CPAC. And in 2012, he tried to appeal to grassroots
conservatives at CPAC by describing himself as a severely conservative
governor.

Walker has less to prove than Romney, said Matt Dallek, an assistant
professor of political management at George Washington University who
has studied the conservative movement.

Walkers record as governor kind of speaks for itself, whereas Romneys

record in Massachusetts did not. He will go in there with a lot of
support, Dallek said.

Walker is scheduled to address the conference at 4 p.m. CST Thursday for

about 15 minutes. He also is scheduled to appear at a coee reception
Friday at 8:30 a.m. CST sponsored by the group Citizens United, which
also sponsored the Iowa Freedom Summit.

A spokeswoman for his political nonprofit Our American Revival said

Walker will be talking about his history of reforms in Wisconsin and how
the mission of his organization is to promote an issues platform that
highlights these kinds of bold reforms.

Other scheduled presenters from Wisconsin include:

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who is

speaking at 11:15 a.m. Friday.

David Clarke, the Milwaukee County sheri and a conservative

Democrat, who is part of a Friday afternoon panel titled Intelligence
Community: The Alphabet Soup Agencies and What They Do.

STARKEHAUS: CPAC
2015 THURSDAY LINEUP

By Irene Starkehaus
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2015/02/cpac-2015-thursdaylineup.html
Today's CPAC 2015 agenda rolls out a lineup of GOP presidential hopefuls
angling for conservative support in 2016. Thursday's company of speakers
includes Ben Carson, Senator Mike Lee (UT), Governor Chris Christie (NJ),
Senator Ted Cruz (TX), Governor Scott Walker (WI), Governor Bobby Jindal (LA),
and Governor Sarah Palin.

The whispered question that can be heard throughout America's largest

conservative convention is whether any of these potential candidates will reach
out to the traditionalist audience with an authentic conservative message that
will satisfy requirements rather than pay lip service to them.
In addition to the who's who of Republican politics that will be heard
throughout the day at the convention, there will also be workshops and training
seminars being offered by the American Conservative Union meant to educate
and motivate the conservative base for the presidential election. There is a
noteworthy emphasis on preparing Millennials as the next wave of
conservatives, which can be seen as a good sign for the health and vitality of
the conservative movement.
To follow the events on Twitter, check out #CPAC2015 throughout the weekend.
And follow @IreneStarkehaus, on the scene at CPAC 2015. C-SPAN will also be
covering throughout the day.

Crunch Time for Rand Paul at U.S.

Conservative Event
http://www.charismanews.com/politics/48490-crunch-time-for-rand-paul-at-u-sconservative-event
8:45AM EST 2/26/2015

Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan/Reuters

Share Tweet Email More


U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks during a working meeting on
Capitol Hill. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

With Republican rivals like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush off to a strong
start in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, Rand Paul will seek his own
breakout moment at an annual gathering where hopefuls go to burnish
their conservative credentials.
Of all the potential candidates speaking at the meeting of the
Conservative Political Action Conference, the Kentucky senator should
feel most at home. He won the event's presidential straw poll the last two
years, buoyed by support from young libertarian-leaning conservatives
who plan to turn out in force again this year.
The 52-year-old Paul, famous for his non-interventionist approach to
world affairs, could find himself at odds with a growing hawkishness
among other Republican hopefuls mustering support with their calls for
more aggressive action against Russia and Islamic State militants.
"He's got a challenge to overcome," said Al Cardenas, former chairman
of the American Conservative Union which organizes the event known
by its acronym, CPAC.
Due to speakon Friday, Paul can nonetheless count on a generational
divide of sorts between the party's traditional foreign-policy hawks and
younger activists who have come of age during 13 years of nonstop U.S.
engagement in wars.
"We've grown up in war in Afghanistan and Iraq and we all have friends
who have gone overseas and either have not come back or have come
back mentally scarred. There's a toll that's been taken on young people in
this war," said Jeff Frazee, executive director of Young Americans for
Liberty, a libertarian group that has had a heavy presence at recent
CPAC gatherings.
The influence of libertarians can be seen this year on panels that will
tackle criminal-justice reform and marijuana legalization, as well as
more traditional topics such as abortion and President Barack Obama's
signature healthcare act.
SHARED SPOTLIGHT
With 20 months to go before the election, Walker, 47, and Bush, 62, will
each have a moment in the CPAC spotlight.

Walker, the Wisconsin governor, is riding a surge of conservative

support from a warmly received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit
last month but came under fire this week when he demurred on whether
he believed Obama was a Christian.
Bush, the former Florida governor seen as the establishment favorite,
has sought to crowd out rivals with an intensive fundraising push.
HisFridayappearance will test his appeal to conservatives who oppose
his support for Common Core education standards and immigration
reform.
CPAC can be risky terrain for an establishment candidate. Former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney drew widespread derision on his
way to capturing the Republican nomination in 2012 when he argued he
had governed the liberal-leaning state in a "severely conservative"
fashion.
The father and brother of former presidents, who has been out of office
since 2007, Bush will share the stage with a new generation of
conservatives forged by the Tea Party movement.
Paul's family name has goodwill attached due to the multiple
presidential campaigns run by his father, former Texas Congressman
Ron Paul, whose isolationist positions had a narrow yet noteworthy
appeal in a segment of the Republican Party.
Paul defenders say Paul has been clear about his support for action
against Islamic State. "He wants to make sure it's done in a targeted,
smart way with a clear plan for victory," said Jesse Benton, a Paul friend
and former aide.
Republican strategist Ron Kaufman said Paul's objective is twofold: To
retain his father's rabid base of support but make clear he is not in
lockstep with him. "It's a fine line he has to walk," Kaufman said.
The straw poll result will be announcedon Saturday.

CPAC 2015: things to watch

http://www.speroforum.com/a/DLGACQXUQM0/75611-CPAC-2015-things-towatch#.VQmGUYuIdG4
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
BY MARTINBARILLAS

The annual conference of the American Conservative Union, or

CPAC, gets into gear on February 26 and promises to allow
voters to take a look at Republican presidential hopefuls as they
make appeals to conservative activists. Among the personalities
slated to appear at the event at National Harbor near Washington
DC are Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Scott Walker, Senator Rand Paul,
Gov. Chris Christie, and former governor Jeb Bush. For Bush, it
will aord him the first opportunity to engage with the grassroots

of the conservative movement and test the water for potential

supporters for a possible presidential run.

The movement has taken on a more libertarian caste of late,

thereby giving Sen. Paul a more solid platform. A highlight of the
conference will be the contention between the libertarian urges of
politicos such as Paul, and middle of the road Republicans such
as Bush. In recent days, activist and author Phyllis Schlafly who
has been a conservative stalwart for decades ever since Barry
Goldwater ran for president in the early 1960s bashed
kingmakers and Washington political consultants for virtually
crowning former governor Bush. The founder of the influential
Eagle Forum recently wrote, Do you get the message that the
media buildup for Jeb Bush has begun and that the 2016
Republican National Convention may simply nominate for
president another Establishment loser candidate? Schlafly has
long argued that conservatives should serve to influence the
Republican party rather than mirror it. Such dierences will be
aired at CPAC on several issues.

1) Immigration

Jeb Bush has alienated many conservatives because of his

stance on immigration. Recently, he has shown support for a
path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. In 2014, he drew the ire
of conservatives when he said immigrants who enter the US
illegally do so as an act of love. Gov. Chris Christie has refused
to pin down his own views on immigration, even while he signed
legislation in 2014 that permits in-state tuition for illegal
immigrants studying at New Jersey colleges. Christie has lost
some key donors to Bush. Conservative radio and TV personality
Laura Ingraham is slated to interview Christie on stage at CPAC,
thus aording him an opportunity to define himself on the issue.
Ingraham is largely credited with the downfall of former House

Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia district ahead of the

2014 primary that saw him stumble.

2) Ted Cruz vs. Rand Paul

Sen. Paul, who garnered 31 percent in the 2014 CPAC straw poll,
got triple the votes won by Sen. Cruz. In 2014, Cruz got an early
morning speaking slot on the opening day of CPAC. But this year,
he will speak at 1:40 p.m. on Feb. 27. If Cruz cannot rally the
CPAC crowd and thus increase his straw poll votes, he may be
seen as less-than-presidential timber. Cruz will field questions
from Fox News personality Sean Hannity.

3) Peanut gallery

This year, CPAC organizers are requiring each presidential

hopeful to submit to at least six minutes of questions as part of
the 20 minutes they are on stage. Unscripted answers and pithy
quotes, such as former governor Mitch Romney's severely
conservative gae, are expected.In the case of Bush and Sen.
Marco Rubio, both will use the 20 minutes at their disposal to
answer questions lofted by Sean Hannity.CPAC is also accepting
questions for the candidates from Twitter.

4) The CPAC straw poll

Presidential contenders have turned out supporters in years past

to vote for them at previous CPAC straw polls. Romney bused
students to CPAC in 2012, and bought tickets for others to
ensure a favorable showing. But it was Rand Paul who won the
straw poll the past two years.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush bombed a CPAC speech in

2013, and skipped the 2014 confab. If Bush is able to work the
crowd he may get a favorable showing in the poll. He is good on

his feet when answering questions, rather than working from a

teleprompter.

5) Social conservatives

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is a notable social

conservative who will be absent at this years CPAC: which has
been taken as evidence of the increasingly libertarian caste of the
ACU. Some social conservatives feel marginalized at CPAC. For
example, the president of Log Cabin Republicans which
supports same-sex marriage will be featured at a CPAC panel.

Huckabee signaled his presidential ambitions by resigning from

his Fox News show. His 2014 speech at CPAC did not light a fire
among activists. He garnered only 2 percent in the CPAC straw
poll that year. This year, he will be visiting South Carolina and
Tennessee instead.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum is not expected to emphasize social

issues such as abortion at CPAC. Evangelical Christians were a
major support for the Catholic Pennsylvanian who was a
firebrand for moral issues. But this year he will focus on foreign
policy in his speech.

Bill Donohue - who leads the Catholic League - denounced

CPAC for having extended an invitation to David Silverman of
American Atheists to speak in 2014. Calling it a "disgrace,"
Donohue said in a statement last year "There is more than
incompetence at work here. CPAC is a disgrace. They should
have learned by now that big tents have a way of collapsing in
the middle."

6) Breakout stars

Failed Senate candidate Carly Fiorina will take a coveted time

slot between Christie and Cruz, thus ensuring a large audience.
Having recently taken swipes at former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO has emboldened those
who are looking for a woman to contend with the Clinton
candidacy. This means she will have a huge audience. She is
expected to deliver remarks about foreign policy and the US
response to Russia. Since she is on the board of the American
Conservative Union, the sponsor of CPAC, she is considered a
favorite.

Other breakout stars will have a chance at CPAC. The initial

speaker on Feb. 26 is neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Also on hand is
Rick Perry, who speaks on Feb. 27 after Sen. Rubio. Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal will also have a opportunity to gain lost
ground since his disastrous 2009 Republican response to
Obamas State of the Union address. He will be sandwiched
between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin.

Jeb Bush Skips CPAC

Speech in Favor of Q&A
With Sean Hannity


(Brian Kersey/UPI/Landov; Mike Segar/Reuters/Landov)
Thursday, 26 Feb 2015 08:31 AM
By Drew MacKenzie

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/jeb-bush-sean-hannity-cpacconservatives/2015/02/26/id/626990/

In a calculated bid to make his case as the GOP's next presidential

nominee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush faces a grilling from Fox News
host Sean Hannity at the Conservative Political Action Conference this
week.
Bush has opted to field tough questions from Hannity at CPAC rather
than taking his chances with the traditional speech in front of a
potentially hostile audience at the annual forum, as he gambles that it
will give him a better shot at explaining his views on conservative
issues, according to Politico.
"His brand of moderate conservatism is an awkward fit with CPAC's
ideologically strident audience," wrote the website's Alex Isenstadt.
"His political lineage is a sore spot for many attendees, particularly the
younger and more libertarian-oriented."
Isenstadt added: "Then there's Bush immigration reform efforts and
support for Common Core education standards: Both are dealbreakers."
Bush has angered conservatives with his support of immigration
reform and the Common Core State Standards Initiative, both of
which could hurt his presidential chances.
Grover Norquist, an anti-tax advocate who is set to speak at CPAC in
Maryland's National Harbor, said, "he needs to talk in a way that
shows he understands this is a different Republican Party. That's what
I think his challenge is. Somehow he's got to show that he's up to
speed."
Norquist was referring to the fact Bush has not served in public office
since 2007, and therefore, unlike other possible Republican
contenders for the 2016 nomination, cannot prove his "conservative
credentials" with his recent political policies.
"It's more of a challenge to lay out an agenda because he's been out of
office longer than others," said Tim Phillips, the president of

Americans for Prosperity, a leading conservative group largely funded

by the billionaire donors Charles and David Koch.
Bush will have a 20-minute question and answer session with
Hannity, a prominent conservative who has interviewed Bush several
times on his television show, Politico reported.
Al Cardenas, a Bush adviser and a former chairman of the American
Conservative Union, the organization that sponsors CPAC, told the
political news website that Bush planned to "speak from the heart,"
adding, "He chose a format purposely that allows all the audience to
spend the most time with him."
Most other White House hopefuls, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, will give speeches lasting 14 minutes,
followed by question-and- answer sessions of six minutes, Politico
said.
"Bush's CPAC strategy isn't without risks," wrote Isenstadt. "In not
giving a speech in a high-profile conservative arena, he is ceding the
stage to other candidates whose addresses will be crafted for the
purpose of exciting the CPAC faithful.
"Increasingly viewed as the front-runner thanks to his prolific
fundraising and high name ID, Bush may even find himself under
attack from his potential rivals.
"While his opponents are unlikely to call out the former governor by
name, their advisers say, they plan to highlight their strident
opposition to Common Core."

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

5 facts about consistent

conservatives
BY DREW DESILVER
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/26/5-facts-about-consistent-conservatives/

The annual Conservative Political Action Conferencebegins this

week, a three-day event hosted by the American Conservative
Unionwhere activists, officeholders, campaign consultants and
others will hear from a dozen or sopotential Republican
presidential candidates among themJeb Bush, Scott Walker,
Rand Paul, Chris Christie and Ted Cruz.
Last years series of Pew Research Center reports on political
polarizationused a 10-item scale of ideological consistency to
place Americans into five categories: consistently conservative or
liberal, mostly conservative or liberal, and mixed. By that metric,
9% of the public overall is consistently conservative, including
20% of Republicans and Republican leaners; most of the
remaining Republicans and leaners were mostly
conservative (33%) or had a mixture of liberal and conservative
views (37%).
Here are five facts drawn from our package of reports about
consistent conservatives:

"

1
Consistent conservatives participate in politics at higher rates
than most other ideological groups. Political engagement tends to
be highest among the most consistent conservatives and liberals,
the Pew Research survey found. Half ofconsistent conservatives,
for example, said they had contacted an elected official within the
past two years the highest level of any of our five groups. (The
corresponding figure for all Americans, by the way, was 28%.)
Consistent conservatives also ranked high on other measurements
of political engagement, such as donatingmoney (26%), attending
campaign events (24%) and volunteering on a campaign (12%).

2
Conservatives had outsize influence in the November midterm
elections.Although consistent conservatives make up only about

"

9% of the total adult population, they vote at higher rates than

people elsewhere on the ideological spectrum: 78% said they
always vote, compared with 49% of the general public.
Consequently, areportwe published a few weeks before the 2014
midterms estimated that consistent conservatives would make up
17% of the November 2014 electorate.

3
Conservativeswould rather live in small towns or rural areas
than anywhere else.Ourresearchfound an overwhelming

"

preference among the most conservative Americans for nonurban

lifestyles: 41% of consistent conservatives said they would live in a
rural area if they could live anywhere in the U.S., and 35% picked
a small town; just 4% said theyd prefer a city.
Similarly, three-quarters of consistent conservatives said theyd
rather live in a place wherethe houses are larger and farther
apart, but schools, stores and restaurants are several miles away,
and just 22% said theyd choose to live where the houses are
smaller and closer to each other, but schools, stores and
restaurants are within walking distance.

4
When it comes to raising children, conservatives prioritize
responsibility, faith and hard work.When we asked our American

"

Trends Panel about the three most important traits to teach

children, 61% of consistent conservatives cited being
responsible, and about as many (59%) identified religious faith
as particularly important; hard work was chosen by 44%. While
responsibility led among all five ideological groups, and hard
work was among the top three for all but consistent liberals,
religious faith was chosen by significantly more consistent
conservatives than all other groups.

5
Conservatives gravitate towardFox News. A separate Pew
Research report on polarization and media habits found that 47%
of consistent conservatives (and 31% of people with mostly
conservative views) cited Fox News as their main source for news
about government and politics; no other news source came close.
And88% ofconsistent conservatives said they trusted Fox News
by far the highest level of trust by any ideological group of any
single news source among the 36 we asked about.

Six Stories to Watch at

CPAC
published February 26th 2015, 9:14 am

BYCHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY AND CARRIE DANN

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/six-stories-watch-cpac-n313246

Another year, another CPAC -- the annual conservative political

conference/carnival held in the Washington, DC area. And while
you should always take what happens at CPAC with a grain of
salt (see the past winners of the straw poll below), the three-day
conference that kicks off in earnest today comes as the 2016
presidential race is now underway, and as the Department of
Homeland Security is set to run out of funding tomorrow. So
here are the six storylines we'll be watching:

1 Does Scott Walker continue to stand out? No other

Republican 2016er has stood out more in the past month
than the Wisconsin governor -- whether it was his
performance at that Iowa cattle call or his position in the
early polls. Does that continue when addresses CPAC at
5:00 pm ET tonight? An additional thing to consider about

Walker: During Giuliani-gate, we saw lots of conservatives

rally to his side, suggesting that he's getting the benefit of
the doubt from these folks. And that's a powerful thing in
presidential politics.
2 How does Jeb Bush fare? Let's be honest, CPAC isn't
exactly Bush's kind of crowd. (That designation probably
goes to Rand Paul, who's won the last two CPAC straw
polls). So it will be interesting how the former Florida
governor is received. Keep this in mind: Unlike past
presidential-candidate remarks at CPAC, Jeb's 20-minute
remarks will be a Q&A with Fox's Sean Hannity. As
National Review has reported, "all of the prospective 2016
presidential candidates who take the stage at CPAC this
year have the option of delivering a speech and then taking
questions, which will be culled from Twitter, or forgoing
the speech entirely and participating in a 20-minute
question-and-answer session instead." Hmmmm. Jeb's
relationship with past American Conservative Union chair
Al Cardenas doesn't hurt here.
3 Does a second-tier candidate emerge? Someone else is
likely to break through today or tomorrow at CPAC. Is it
Ben Carson? Bobby Jindal? Rick Santorum? Carly Fiorina?
Rick Perry?
4 How do the speakers react to the looming DHS shutdown?
The clock is ticking the battle over DHS funding and
immigration. And with the ball now in the court of House
Republicans (more on that below), do the speakers urge the
House GOPers to fight the good fight?

5 What's the bigger applause line -- immigration or Common

Core? Speaking of immigration, we noticed at Rep. Steve
King's cattle call in Iowa last month that Common Core,
not immigration, was the bigger rallying cry among
speakers. Indeed, CPAC this morning is hosting a panel
entitled "Common Core: Rotten to the Core?" Given this
opposition, it's not surprising that conservative defenders of
Common Core chatted with reporters to push back against
this kind of opposition.
6 Finally, how big of a focus is foreign policy? At past
CPACs (especially from 2009 to 2012), the issues of the
economy and the deficit/debt were the biggest critiques of
the Obama administration. But with the economy
continuing to improve and with the deficit falling, we've
got to figure that foreign policy will be a bigger focus than
in years past. As the New York Times recently wrote,
"Gruesome killings by the Islamic State, terrorist attacks in
Europe and tensions with President Vladimir V. Putin of
Russia are reshaping the early Republican presidential race,
creating anxiety among party voters and sending potential
candidates scrambling to outmuscle one another on foreign
policy."
Thursday's CPAC schedule
8:40 am ET: Ben Carson
1:00 pm: Chris Christie
1:20 pm: Carly Fiorina
1:40 pm: Ted Cruz

5:00 pm: Scott Walker

5:20 pm: Bobby Jindal
Friday's CPAC schedule
8:40 am ET: Marco Rubio
9:00 am: Rick Perry
10:20 am: Rand Paul
12:20 pm: Rick Santorum
1:40 pm: Jeb Bush
4:20 pm: John Bolton

The past CPAC straw poll winners

On Saturday at 5:10 pm ET, the results from the CPAC straw
poll will be announced, but here's a friendly reminder: The straw
poll winner hasn't always been the best measure of who will win
the party's presidential nomination. Here are the past winners:
2014: Rand Paul
2013: Rand Paul
2012: Mitt Romney
2011: Ron Paul
2010: Ron Paul
2009: Mitt Romney
2008: Mitt Romney
2007: Mitt Romney
2006: George Allen

2005: Rudy Giuliani

The DHS ball is in Boehner's court -- and the timing with CPAC
couldn't be worse for him
With the Senate easily advancing a "clean" bill to fund the
Department of Homeland Security, the ball is now in House
Speaker Boehner's court. And the timing couldn't be more
problematic for him: The conservatives assembling at CPAC
probably aren't going to appreciate House Republicans caving in
their fight against the Obama administration. It's dj vu for
Boehner: He's caught between trying to help his caucus out of
tricky situations, and looking over his shoulder for conservatives
who want his head on a platter if he caves to Democrats. What
we haven't been able to understand: Why haven't Boehner and
Republicans been able to make their success (so far) in the
courts against Obama's executive action an asset here?

Another problematic headline for Clinton Inc.

Finally, here's another problematic headline for the Clintons,
courtesy of the Washington Post: "The Clinton Foundation
accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments
during Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as secretary of state,
including one donation that violated its ethics agreement with
the Obama administration, foundation officials disclosed
Wednesday In one instance, foundation officials
acknowledged they should have sought approval in 2010 from
the State Department ethics office, as required by the agreement

for new government donors, before accepting a $500,000

donation from the Algerian government." In response to the
story, we received this statement from the Clinton Foundation:
"Immediately following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on
January 12, 2010, the Embassy of Algeria made an unsolicited
donation of $500K to Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief fund. As
the Clinton Foundation did with all donations it received for
earthquake relief, the entire amount of Algeria's contribution
was distributed as aid in Haiti. This donation was disclosed
publicly on our website, however, the State Department should
have also been formally informed. This was a one-time, specific
donation to help Haiti and Algeria had not donated to the
Clinton Foundation before and has not since."
But will voters ultimately care?
While this story is outraging columnists and editorial boards, are
voters going to care much about this story, especially since the
money went to Haiti? As we've written before, the Clinton
Foundation taking money for governments -- when either
Clinton was secretary of state, or when she is currently pursuing
a presidential bid -- is a conflict of interest. But when it comes to
these kinds of stories, voters usually yawn, unless the money is
being used for personal gain.

At national conservative
gathering, Scott Walker faces
higher expectations
February 26, 2015 8:50 am

By Matthew DeFour | Wisconsin State Journal

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/at-nationalconservative-gathering-scott-walker-faces-higher-expectations/
article_c0e30360-c346-51ec-989b-1d1ea2e54d04.html

CLIFF OWEN Associated Press

Gov. Scott Walker, shown here speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., last week,
will get another opportunity to win support from influential Republicans on Thursday at
the Conservative Political Action Conference.

WASHINGTON The next challenge in what is becoming an almost

weekly test of Gov. Scott Walkers presidential mettle takes place
Thursday at an annual gathering of conservative activists just outside the
nations capital.

Walker joins a dozen other potential Republican presidential candidates

scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or
CPAC. Hell participate in two events Thursday afternoon and Friday
morning, and his performance in the annual straw poll on Saturday could
serve as another indicator of his momentum.

Walker has spoken at the conference twice before, in 2012 as he faced a

recall election after largely eliminating collective bargaining for most public
employees, and in 2013 after becoming the first governor in U.S. history to
survive a recall.

David Keene, who was chairman of the American Conservative Union,

which runs CPAC, from 1984 until 2011, said Walkers 2013 speech was
graded by attendees as the best at the conference. But like his recent
speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit, he may have benefited from lower
expectations, Keene said.

Unfortunately for him (the expectations are) rising now and its going to be
a little tougher to surprise people than before he got a national spotlight in
Iowa, said Keene, a UW-Madison and UW Law School graduate who
grew up in Fort Atkinson and is now opinion editor for the Washington
Times.

Walkers 2013 CPAC address included many themes that have become
fixtures in his recent speeches.

Nows the time to push forward, and tell all of America one state after
another until we take our message to Washington that true reform comes
with anoptimistic and a relevant message, and most importantly a
courageous message that says in America we believe in the people and
not in the government, Walker said in closing his 2013 speech.

Becky Norton Dunlop, vice president for external relations at the

conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, a CPAC sponsor, said
attendees at this years event in National Harbor, Maryland, are very
eager to hear from Walker.

This audience is looking for a candidates ability to communicate great

ideas, she said, emphasizing that the focus is on ideas rather than
rhetoric.

CPAC is the first major gathering of prospective GOP candidates since the
Freedom Summit in Des Moines last month. Walkers performance at that

event catapulted him into the top tier of presidential contenders and hes
been under the glare of the national media spotlight ever since.

Numerous polls in Iowa and other early primary states have him leading or
in the top two or three.p:BC BCJ Body Copy Justified

Some setbacks

Since the Iowa speech, Walker has taken heat for refusing to answer
questions about evolution and President Barack Obamas faith and love of
country. His biennial state budget proposal, which cuts $300 million from
the University of Wisconsin System, has also come under fire for
scrubbing the search for truth from the universitys mission statement,
known as the Wisconsin Idea.p:BC BCJ Body Copy Justified

One could argue that he wishes Iowa hadnt taken place for another six
months or three months, Keene said, referring to the Freedom Summit.
You can peak too soon, but its better than not peaking at all.p:BC BCJ
Body Copy Justified

Walkers advantage

Keene added that Walker has an advantage over all of the other
contenders in that he already appeals to each of the major conservative
camps.

Establishment Republicans like him, tea party people like him, his father
was a minister and hes an economic conservative, Keene said. The last
Republican who could do that nationally was Reagan.

Former President Ronald Reagan serves as a sort of godfather of CPAC,

which began in 1974. Reagan helped put the event on the map as
California governor, speaking 12 times over the years, and winning the first
three straw polls held in 1976, 1980 and 1984.p:BC BCJ Body Copy
Justified

Growth of event

CPAC has grown from a small cadre of anti-tax, free-market, limited

government activists into a conference that attracts as many as 10,000
participants from across the country, many of them college students. C-

SPANs decision to broadcast the event live in the 1980s helped expand its
reach.

Historically, its been a place where candidates could come and show
that wing of the party what they had to oer, especially for candidates that
had been looked at as too moderate or suspect in terms of conservative
credentials, Marquette Law School political science professor Charles
Franklin said.

The event is still dominated by the younger, more libertarian wing of the
Republican Party, as evidenced by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his
father Ron Paul, winning four of the last eight straw polls. Some observers
say Paul, a potential 2016 candidate, is likely to win again this year.

But the establishment wing of the party also considers it a must-attend

event.

Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee who won the other four straw polls
the last eight times it was held, formally withdrew from the 2008
presidential race at CPAC. And in 2012, he tried to appeal to grassroots
conservatives at CPAC by describing himself as a severely conservative
governor.

Walker has less to prove than Romney, said Matt Dallek, an assistant
professor of political management at George Washington University who
has studied the conservative movement.

Walkers record as governor kind of speaks for itself, whereas Romneys

record in Massachusetts did not. He will go in there with a lot of
support, Dallek said.

Walker is scheduled to address the conference at 4 p.m. CST Thursday for

about 15 minutes. He also is scheduled to appear at a coee reception
Friday at 8:30 a.m. CST sponsored by the group Citizens United, which
also sponsored the Iowa Freedom Summit.

A spokeswoman for his political nonprofit Our American Revival said

Walker will be talking about his history of reforms in Wisconsin and how
the mission of his organization is to promote an issues platform that
highlights these kinds of bold reforms.

Other scheduled presenters from Wisconsin include:

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who is

speaking at 11:15 a.m. Friday.

David Clarke, the Milwaukee County sheri and a conservative

Democrat, who is part of a Friday afternoon panel titled Intelligence
Community: The Alphabet Soup Agencies and What They Do.

Christie addressing conservatives at

CPAC today
http://blogs.app.com/capitolquickies/2015/02/26/christie-addressing-conservatives-atcpac-today/
Posted on February 26, 2015

By Michael Symons

!
Gov. Chris Christie addresses the CPAC conference outside of Chicago in 2012. (Getty
Images)

Gov. Chris Christie joins a parade of potential Republican presidential candidates at an

American Conservative Union conference today just outside of Washington.
Christie will speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, at
the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Hell
talk on stage with radio talk show host and author Laura Ingraham for 20 minutes at 1
p.m.
Heres video from Christies 2014 speech at CPAC:
Christie wasnt invited to speak at CPAC in 2013. This was widely interpreted as a snub
designed to telegraph conservatives anger at Christie for his praise of President Barack
Obama in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, just before the 2012 election. (They still
complain about a mythical election-eve hug that didnt happen. This is not a hug. And
this was from a visit in 2011, not for Sandy. Your big hint: Hes not wearing the fleece.) If
it was a snub, it was a useful one for Christie, as it came in his re-election year in a
Democratic-leaning state.
Heres video from Christie at CPAC in 2012 which includes, around the 8-minute
mark, Christie saying that leadership matters, a phrase thats now part of the
leadership PAC he created as a step toward a potential run for president:
Todays CPAC speakers also include Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz,
Gov. Scott Walker and Gov. Bobby Jindal. Tomorrows speakers include U.S. Sen.
Marco Rubio, former Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, former U.S. Sen. Rick
Santorum and former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Finally, heres the rest of todays New Jersey political calendar:

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is acting governor. She and Corrections Commissioner
Gary Lanigan attend the graduation ceremony for the 233rd class of corrections
officers, 10 a.m. at the Trenton War Memorial.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is among the participants at Opportunity Nations

Opportunity Summit, aimed at expanding youth employment opportunities, 9:10
a.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington.

Representatives from chapters of the New Jersey State FFA, an agricultural

science-focused youth organization, are in Trenton for an advocacy day. The
events include meetings with state lawmakers and Agriculture Secretary Douglas
Fisher.

The state judiciarys Essex Vicinage holds its annual Spirit Program for Black
History Month, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Essex County Historic Courthouse in
Newark.

Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority meets, 7 p.m. in Oceanport.

Housing & Mortgage Finance Agency meets, 10 a.m. in Trenton.

Health Care Facilities Financing Authority meets, 10 a.m. in Trenton.

State Agriculture Development Committee meets, 9 a.m. in Trenton.

State Board of Examiners of Master Plumbers meets, 9 a.m. in Newark.

Todays birthdays: Gov. James Fielder, who served as New Jerseys 35th
governor between 1913 and 1917, was born on this date in 1867. U.S. Attorney
Paul Fishman, 58. Cape May County Freeholder Leonard Desiderio, 58.

Walker under the microscope

at CPAC

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233903-under-the-microscope
By Cameron Joseph
02/26/15 06:00 AM EST

Scott Walker is looking to cement his status as the rising GOP star to
watch at this years Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
The Wisconsin governor has vaulted ahead of most of his potential
presidential competitors in recent polls to become former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush's (R) biggest early threat, helped by a raved-about speech
in Iowa last month and his new moves to smash private sector unions
in his home state.

Walkers strengths play better among the red-meat CPAC crowd than
Bushs, and a strong performance could even put him ahead of the
usual conference straw poll favorite, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
The piece you want is people writing is that he's cemented himself as
one of the top candidates or first among equals, said Americans for
Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, who sits on the board of the
American Conservative Union (ACU), which sponsors the event.
[People] need to be able to walk out of that room and repeat 'here's
the Wisconsin success story,' [and list] three or four things that hes
accomplished, Norquist added.
Conservatives have rallied around Walker following a skirmish with the
media for ducking what he called "gotcha" questions about President
Obamas faith and patriotism. The fight has knocked him off message
for the last few days, but it hasnt hurt him in new polls. How he
handles the fight during his Thursday evening appearance will be
telling.
Blaming the media is a great applause line at CPAC, but it's not a
strategy for becoming the next president of the United States, said
GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway, who also sits on the ACU board.
Walkers CPAC speech and the following question-and-answer
session give him an opportunity talk about his Wisconsin record and
attempt to prove to Republican activists and kingmakers that he can
sustain his momentum.
It's a good time to refocus, said Walker ally and Wisconsin-based
GOP lobbyist Brandon Scholz.
A Walker aide says the governor plans to focus on his history of
reforms in Wisconsin including the union fight, education reform and
tax cuts, and hold his record up as an example of how a full spectrum
conservative can win huge battles in a purple state as a guide for
Republicans across the country.
The aide didnt respond to questions about whether hell bring up the
recent media fight or whether hell highlight efforts in the state to pass
right to work legislation that would gut private sector unions, a push
Walker had previously said would be a distraction.
Walker will be at CPAC both Thursday and Friday, holding meetings
with donors and activists, and giving interviews to conservative media
outlets.

The events annual straw poll results on Saturday evening will provide
an early glimpse on how hes doing at solidifying his conservative
support. The poll can be a momentum-builder, though its far from a
perfect test of a candidates true strength. The events audience tends
to skew a lot younger and more libertarian than the GOP as a whole,
and participants routinely spend heavily to bus people in and pay for
CPACs expensive tickets.
Those who win the straw poll traditionally have delivered a strong
performance at CPAC but also fill the room with people who believe in
them, said Conway, who is running the straw poll. You can convert or
persuade some in the audience, but it's also the legwork that's been
done up to that moment in filling a room with your supporters.
At this early point in the 2016 cycle, Walker is doing well where it
counts most: He has led three of the last four polls of Iowa voters, two
of the last four in New Hampshire, both early-voting states, and he is
running neck-and-neck with Bush nationally.
Those numbers mean heightened expectations for Walker as he takes
the stage Thursday.
He's exceeded expectations and forced people to do a double take
and say maybe this Iowa speech wasn't a fluke. There was a process
to capitalize on it, said Scholz. Moving through into CPAC, there is
some pressure on him, now the expectations are there. He's under
the microscope now.

Which Republican has the

most to prove at CPAC 2015?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/which-2016-republican-has-the-most-toprove-at-cpac-2015/
By: JAKE MILLERCBS NEWS
February 26, 2015, 5:56 AM

The 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)

kicks off in Maryland Thursday, and a number of potential
Republican presidential candidates are descending on the
three-day event to woo the people whose votes they might
need next year.
First held in 1973, CPAC has emerged as a marquee annual
event for the American right wing: an opportunity for leading
lights and rising stars to consult with one another and
appraise the political figures who could stake a claim to their
allegiance. The organizers bill the event as the "nation's
largest gathering of conservatives."
"This really is the first chance that these folks will have to say
before such a large audience, 'This is who I am, this is what I
believe in,'" said Ross Hemminger, a spokesman for the
American Conservative Union, which spearheads CPAC.
The conference takes on an added sense of urgency in the year
before a presidential race, as battle lines are drawn and the
jockeying among potential GOP primary rivals intensifies.

That's especially true this year, with a wide-open race for the
Republican nomination and no fewer than a dozen potential
candidates scheduled to speak.
The speeches will provide an early look each candidate's
strategy for courting the conservative base. And the potential
payoff could be huge. The rapid rise of Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker in the wake of his well-received speech at the Iowa
Freedom Summit last month illustrates how quickly a rousing
appearance at a conservative confab can alter the early
primary landscape.
With that in mind, here's a look at the pressures and
expectations some potential candidates face when they take
the stage over the next three days.

Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush's signal last December that he's planning to run for
president dramatically reorganized the GOP landscape
heading into 2016, and the former Florida governor is already
assembling formidable a team of operatives and fundraisers.
Bush is expected to post a strong showing among the GOP's
donor class and its more moderate, business-friendly wing.
But his speech at CPAC could demonstrate how Bush will
court the party's base, which views him with suspicion due to
his heterodox views on immigration and education.
"In some ways, Jeb Bush has the most to prove of anyone,"
said GOP pollster and strategist Frank Luntz, a CBS News
contributor. "His record as governor is unassailable, but his
more recent positions on immigration reform and education
are problematic with the conservative base. He doesn't have to
change their minds on those issues, but he does have to

convince them that these issues should not disqualify him

from consideration."
Rick Wilson, a Florida-based GOP strategist, said Bush "ought
to show them the kind of conservative leader he was in
Florida. He needs to reacquaint them with his record and his
philosophy."
"He also has to show some passion," Luntz added. "His
speeches in recent days have lacked the intensity and fire that
crowds like the one at CPAC expect."

Chris Christie
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, once considered a top
contender for the 2016 GOP nomination, has slipped out of
the conversation recently. His appeal among the GOP's
establishment wing has been corroded by the arrival of Jeb
Bush, and he faces problems at home in New Jersey, including
record low approval ratings and a still-simmering traffic
scandal involving the George Washington Bridge.
And while his bombastic style helped make him a national
figure, there is ample concern about how well it would wear
over the course of a long presidential campaign.
"I think Christie has a high hill to climb at CPAC," said
Wilson. "He may be trying for a reboot to show people the
kind of spark and energy that he used to have is still
something he can bring to a discussion."
Some aren't counting Christie out just yet, though. "Not only
do I think he's still viable, I think he's one of the top three.
There just needs to be a mute button added to the Christie
repertoire," said Luntz. "Christie has only one volume: loud.
And that pays off for this audience, but it's not enough. He

needs to use CPAC to lay out a more comprehensive, positive

agenda."

Scott Walker
As noted before, Walker's speech at the Iowa Freedom
Summit last month catapulted him into the top tier of
potential GOP contenders - juicing his early poll numbers and
adding a healthy dose of name recognition. Since then,
though, Walker has stumbled over questions about evolution,
his lack of a college degree, and President Obama's Christian
faith.
With his speech at CPAC, Walker will look to prove that he's
not just the flavor of the month, but a viable candidate for the
Republican nomination who can weather a rough news cycle
or two (and punch back, if need be). He'll likely nod at his
effort to curtail the power of public employee unions in his
state - a push that earned him an unsuccessful recall election
and plenty of goodwill among the GOP base.
"Walker has replaced Chris Christie as the number-two
candidate for Republicans in 2016," said Luntz.
"Conservatives know what he did on unions, now they need to
know what he would do on other issues - it's much more
informational. They are predisposed to like him. He has to
turn that like into love."
"Scott Walker needs to show he's not just a flash in the pan,"
said Wilson. "He also needs to remind these guys that he...has
been up against every single thing the Democratic hate
machine can throw at him, and not only has he survived it,
he's crushed them."

Rand Paul
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won the last two CPAC straw polls,
and his supporters will be out in force at this year's
conference. His libertarian leanings have endeared him to
parts of the Republican base on economic policy and
government surveillance issues, but they've also distinguished
him from his party at times, particularly on foreign policy.
GOP security hawks have been very critical of Paul, saying his
aversion to foreign entanglements is simply dangerous.
At CPAC, look for Paul to emphasize those issues on which he
and the conservative base align, while alleviating any doubts
on issues on which they disagree.
"Rand Paul is one of the best GOP spokespeople right now,"
said Luntz. "When he speaks, people listen, and for the most
part people like what they hear. The challenge is a single
issue: foreign policy. And foreign policy does matter to the
conservative faithful. Paul's position on foreign policy is not
the mainstream of conservative Republicans right now. So it's
an interesting challenge for him: Does he try to change them,
or does he accept that the issue will always be an Achilles heel
for him?"
"Rand Paul needs to show, in an era in which ISIS is rising
and the loss of America's foreign status is starting to hurt us
so much, that he's not just going to offer isolationism," said
Wilson. "He's done some good work on that in the last two
years, but not perhaps enough for people to swallow their
objections."

Ted Cruz
The Republican base loves Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The party's
old bulls, though, are wary of the freshman senator, who's
repeatedly clashed with GOP congressional leaders on policy
and legislative strategy over the last several years. Cruz will
likely bask in the adulation of a friendly crowd at CPAC, but
he may also use his speech to extend an olive branch to the
party establishment.
"This will be a party atmosphere for Cruz - it will be like a
coronation," said Luntz. "He's got these people in his corner
already, and he'll celebrate with them. But these people alone
do not win the Republican primary. He needs to be able to
reach people who don't attend CPAC and aren't as
conservative as those in the room."
"It's good to have fluency with the conservative base, and Cruz
certainly has that," added Wilson. "That said, the election isn't
CPAC, and CPAC isn't the election."

Marco Rubio
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is not the firebrand that Ted Cruz or
even Rand Paul can be, and he doesn't have the some level of
establishment support as someone like Jeb Bush. But he's
young, articulate, and well-liked by a broad spectrum of
conservative voters. He also speaks about foreign policy more
fluently than many potential GOP candidates, thanks to his

work on foreign affairs in the Senate. Expect him to try to

solidify those strengths during his CPAC speech.
Luntz said Rubio "consistently does the best" of any potential
GOP candidate in focus group dial testing. "In terms of simple
messaging, Rubio's is the most positive of all the candidates,"
Luntz said. "He may appear young to some, but the more they
hear from him, the more they like him."
Wilson predicted Rubio would "surprise the hell" out of the
CPAC audience, despite his support for comprehensive
immigration reform, which has earned him brickbats from
conservatives.
"When people see Marco talking about his life story, his family
history, his view of American exceptionalism, they're going to
come out of their chairs," Wilson said. "They're going to be
blown away. He's got a Reaganesque vision of optimism that I
think will surprise some folks at CPAC who have only seen
Marco Rubio in recent years through the filter of talk radio."

Rick Perry
During twelve-plus years as governor of Texas, Rick Perry
amassed a conservative record that could serve him well in a
GOP primary. But when he ran in 2012, his record took a
backseat to his often unusual performance on the campaign
trail, including a painful moment at one primary debate when
he offered an "oops" after failing to remember the third
federal department he'd proposed shuttering. If he hopes to
succeed in 2016, he'll need to remind GOP voters about his
record in Texas while assuaging any doubts sown by his illfated 2012 bid.

"Rick Perry is much more animated, much more passionate,

and much more focused today than he was three years ago,
and when people hear his record, they do give him a second
look," said Luntz. "The question is whether he can erase
perceptions of 2012 over the next year."
"Rick Perry has been born again hard," added Wilson. "He
recognized what went off the rails in 2012, he's out telling the
Texas story, and he needs to keep telling the Texas story. He
needs to show the folks at CPAC that the Saturday Night Live
clich version of Rick Perry was an exception to his actual
story."

Ben Carson
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and conservative activist,
burst onto the scene in 2013 by condemning Obamacare at the
National Prayer Breakfast as the president looked on. He's
earned a passionate core of disciples, some of whom have
even set up an effort to draft him into the presidential race.
But if he hopes to have a real shot at the GOP nomination in
2016, he'll need to broaden his focus, sharpen his message,
and demonstrate the kind of political aptitude expected of a
presidential candidate.
Some aren't sure he can rise to that level.
"I'm not convinced that he and his team are prepared to
mount a serious national campaign," said Wilson. "There's a
bit of rising concern that Ben Carson is a fundraising effort by
a few consultants and not a national campaign."
"Ben Carson has to prove that he deserves more than just a
second look," added Luntz. "He has to prove that someone

who's never run before is worthy of a primary or caucus vote

when there are so many other more qualified candidates."

Carly Fiorina
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's last political
foray - a 2010 California Senate bid - fell short. But she's
earning some early buzz as a potential dark horse presidential
candidate for the GOP in 2016. Hemminger, the ACU
spokesman, tagged Fiorina as one to watch.
"Every campaign cycle, people are looking for something
different," he said. "Her experience is so broad, and so vast, I
really think she is that something special. I think you're going
to see a lot more from her. I wouldn't be surprised to see a
groundswell of support for her, particularly here at CPAC."
The fact that she's among the only women in the GOP's 2016
bullpen could help set her apart, but she will need to address
concerns that someone with her nonpolitical background is
prepared to carry a national party through a presidential
election.
Luntz said Fiorina's business experience could be a selling
point for her among conservatives, "but that alone isn't
enough. She has to prove that someone without any political
experience whatsoever not only knows the policies but also
knows how to get elected."
"She's got some dark horse potential," Wilson added. "She
needs to work on that and make sure people view her as
someone who can play in the national space.

IS SEN. TED CRUZ MOVING CLOSER TO

2016 BID?


Sen. Ted Cruz talked with ABC-13 about his presidential ambitions and the debate over funding
the Department of Homeland Security

By Tom Abrahams
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
http://abc13.com/politics/is-ted-cruz-moving-closer-to-2016-bid/534885/

The night before a key speech before members of the American

Conservative Union's CPAC gathering in National Harbor, Maryland,
Texas Senator Ted Cruz talked with Eyewitness News Anchor Tom
Abrahams about his address, his presidential ambitions and the debate
over funding the federal Department of Homeland Security.
In his Capitol Hill office, a portrait of former President Ronald Reagan
over his shoulder as he spoke, Cruz said he expected Republicans to join
Democrats in funding DHS without further fighting President Barack
Obama's executive order on immigration.
"Leadership has given in to the Democrats," he said. "I think that was a
mistake. What we ought to do is straight forward. We should honorthe
commitments we made to the men and women who elected us. We
should fund the Department of Homeland Security. We need to protect
this nation. But at the same time we should stand together and defund
President Obama's illegal and unconstituional amnesty."
A federal court order, in a case filed by then Texas Attorney General
(now Governor) Greg Abbott,, has delayed the applications for
undocumented immigrants hoping to stay in the country legally under
expanded provisions for DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
and also give parents of citizens the opportunity to seek employment
wavers for up to three years.
Democrats have filibustered to prevent the Republican majority from
including an immigration provision in the funding bill which would stop
the exectuive action.
Immigration, as political an issue as it has become, could play an
important role in the next election cycle as Hispanics play an everincreasing role at the ballot box. Cruz said he believes it is not the only
issues for Hispanics when they cast their votes.

Cruz tests the waters again Thursday with an afternoon speech in front
of a conservative crowd in a ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort
across the Potomac River from Capitol Hill.
He said he's grateful to have the opportunity to speak to them and will
talk about "reigniting the miracle of America". "This next election, the
2016 election, I believe it is now or never," he said. "It is a decision,
right now, do we continue on the path that just isn't working? Or do we
get back to the common sense principles this country was built on."
He sounds every bit the candidate as he talks about 2016, as will other
Republican hopeful when they each get their twenty minutes on stage.
From Dr. Ben Carson and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to
Wisconsin Govenor Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush,
former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Former GOP VP nominee Sarah
Palin, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator Rand Paul of
Kentucky, and businessman Donald Trump, each will try to make a pitch
for themselves as the party's standard bearer moving forward.
Cruz said he is moving much closer to a decision about his own run for
the White House, "Well," he explained, "I'm looking very seriously at
the 2016 election. And I tell you I've been very encouraged. number one
the grass roots support we're seeing is incredible Texans all over our
great state have encouraged me to run. We're seeing energy and
enthusiasm and excitement, particularly in the early primary states."
He also says he's getting encouragement from potential financial backers
and influential people within the party.
He won't put a date on a decision, but says he knows the field of
candidates will form by summer. He says the key for Republicans is
finding a candidate to energizes and mobilizes voters.

Bush looks to woo reluctant

conservatives at CPAC
LEDYARD KING, THE NEWS-PRESS Washington bureau
10:52 p.m. EST February 25, 2015

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/25/bushlooks-woo-reluctant-conservatives-cpac/24035215/

!
(Photo: Paul Sancya)

WASHINGTON Jeb Bush has to convince the GOPs right wing he can
be trusted if he wants to win the partys presidential nomination in
2016.
Hell get an early chance Friday when he addresses the Conservative
Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of the nations most
influential Republicans. The former Florida governor is one of about a
dozen potential presidential candidates giving speeches at the four-day
conference.
Bush, expected to officially enter the race in the coming weeks, has
angered the far right by supporting comprehensive immigration reform and
backing uniform academic standards for public schools, known as Common
Core.
Tea party conservatives also are wary of a third Bush in the White House,
believing that the federal government grew too much under Bushs father,
George H.W. Bush, and brother, George W. Bush.
If Jeb Bush is jammed down our throats, we will not only not vote for Jeb
Bush (but) we will make sure the Democrat wins, said Tom Zawistowski, a
tea party activist from the Cleveland area and president of the Ohio
Citizens Political Action Committee, which supports fiscally conservative
candidates in the state.
Some say, how can you do that? But were sick of being played for fools,
he said. When you come to me and say Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton, my
question is, whats the difference?
The conservative group ForAmerica recently produced a short video calling
Bush unelectable because, as chairman of the National Constitution
Center in 2013, he presented Clinton with a public service award for her
advocacy of global womens rights.
The video expresses outrage that the ceremony took place on the eve of
the anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya,
that killed U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other embassy
workers. Many Republicans blame Clinton, then secretary of state, for
ignoring requests for additional security at the consulate.
ForAmericas chairman, L. Brent Bozell III, will speak to the CPAC audience
on Friday, about four hours before Bush.
In the top tier
Despite the right wings misgivings, Bush has emerged as an early
frontrunner for the nomination, largely as the establishment candidate. Hes
raised millions and his courtship of large donors has squeezed potential
rivals, such as Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio.

But its not clear how much it will matter to win the money race in key early
voting states that boast large blocs of conservative voters. That includes
Iowa, which holds the nations first presidential caucus.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday of 623 likely Iowa caucus
voters found that just as many respondents view Bush unfavorably (40
percent) as favorably (41 percent). Only New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
had worse numbers.
Bush has tried to emphasize his conservative credentials. Hes pro-life, free
trade, and pro-gun rights. And hes tried to redefine his support of Common
Core, saying he still supports the state-led effort to create national
standards but disapproves of the Obama administrations attempts to push
states to adopt them.
Immigration reform might be a tougher sell to right-wing Republicans. But
its not impossible, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union, which sponsors CPAC.
For conservatives, if you can show the economic need for immigration, I
think they can be convinced that there are steps that need to be taken,
Schlapp told USA Today. Nobodys endorsing the way it works now, but
give a real economic reason for the need to pass something. Theyll be
open to listening to that.
But even some tea party conservatives who think Bush was a good
governor arent ready to support him for president.
Kathy Jones, president of the Lee County Patriots in Southwest Florida,
would prefer a nominee whos further to the right. She named Indiana Gov.
Mike Pence, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
as possibilities.
She fears nominating Bush would depress turnout among conservatives in
the general election and help Democrats, just as in 2012 when former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the GOP nominee.
People will stay home because the Republicans refuse to mount
candidates that embrace conservative principles, she said. There are a lot
of good conservatives out there. Thats why its so baffling that were still
talking about these moderates.

Wary conservatives await Jeb

Bushs pitch
Uneasy history with the family behind the
skepticism

"

MATTHEW CAVANAUGH/EPA

President George W. Bush, center, with his father former President George
H.W. Bush, left, and his brother Jeb Bush, then governor of Florida, are
seen in a photo from Oct. 7, 2006, following a christening ceremony the
aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush.

byline section
By Matt Viser
GLOBE STAFF FEBRUARY 26, 2015
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/02/26/jeb-bush-burdenedmoderate-views-family-baggage-faces-conference-skeptical-conservatives/
emYSewEgCdDzvx9itnvaIP/story.html

WASHINGTON Jeb Bush plans to address a crowd of skeptical

conservatives in Washington this week, a challenge complicated
by his more moderate views on immigration and education and on
the historically awkward relationship between the Bush family
and the GOPs right wing.
The presumed front-runner in the early field of potential
Republican presidential primary candidates is scheduled to speak
Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual
event that will feature a lineup of national competitors jockeying
for attention.
Bushs appearance carries the most suspense. He will be wrestling
with lingering conservative distrust from previous Bush
presidencies while trying to paint a vision broad enough to
straddle factions of the Republican Party which is even more
polarized than when his father and brother occupied the White
House.
Bush is planning to tout his conservative record during his eight
years as Florida governor, according to those who have spoken to
him recently, while not shying away from positions that give many
conservatives pause: his moderate position on immigration and
his advocacy of Common Core education standards.
The governor is aware there are some conservatives who have
questions about where he stands, said Jim Towey, a longtime
confidant of the Bush family. The good thing for Jeb is he has a
record. Its easy to change words and make pronouncements and
sound like a conservative. But governing like a conservative is a
real challenge.
Republican politics over the past quarter-century, the Bushes
have not always enjoyed widespread support of conservatives.
During the 1980 presidential primary campaign, George H.W.
Bush derided Ronald Reagans proposals to cut taxes for the

wealthy as voodoo economics. Later, after serving eight years as

Reagans vice president, Bush pledged at the 1988 Republican
National Convention: Read my lips, no new taxes. Two years
later, he enraged conservatives when he agreed to raise taxes as
part of a budget deal with Democrats.
The elder Bush also had to fight back against the idea that he
wasnt tough enough a notion that Newsweek memorably put
on its cover in 1987 with the headline, Fighting the Wimp
Factor.
When George W. Bush was laying the groundwork for his own
presidential campaign, he was pilloried by conservatives who were
gathering at CPAC in 1999. Senator Lamar Alexander said George
W. Bush was using weasel words, while Steve Forbes warned the
party not to be seduced by the siren song of these mushy
moderates.
George W. Bush eventually won over many conservatives, partly
through a focus on his born-again Christianity that helped him
make inroads with the evangelical right. But Tea Party activists
have grown upset about his government spending, and his
willingness to bail out large financial institutions during the 2008
economic collapse.
While many view Jeb Bush as more conservative than his brother
or his father, he still faces an uphill battle.
Jeb Bush, I think, thinks its owed to him, its the Bush dynasty,
said Jane Aitken, the founder of the New Hampshire Tea Party
Coalition. But the grass roots is like, Nooo. I dont know of
anybody who says, Oh yeah, Ill vote for Jeb Bush.
Bush and his allies argue that he governed conservatively in
Florida from 1999 to 2007. They cite lowering taxes, fighting for
school vouchers, and privatizing state jobs. But his last day in
office was eight years ago, and fresher in the minds of many
conservatives are his support of granting legal status to many
illegal immigrants, and pushing for national education standards.

When Jeb left Tallahassee, he left as a conservative former

governor, said David Keene, who has led the American
Conservative Union and the National Rifle Association and is now
opinion editor at the Washington Times. Now hes the former
conservative governor. And theres a big difference.
And just as Bushs father was caricatured as a wimp, some
conservatives worry that Jeb Bush doesnt have the fire and
passion it will take to go up against the presumed Democratic
front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and her familys brand of
cut-throat politics.
What he often does ... is he comes to an event and lectures the
Republican Party or lectures conservatives about their tone, about
how they can attract different kinds of voters, said Gary Bauer, a
conservative activist and onetime presidential candidate who is
president of American Values. The grass roots wants evidence
you are tough enough, direct enough, to confront what the left is
doing.
Bush so far has eschewed the harsh tone that often dominates
todays politics. Last week, for example, many conservatives
cheered when Rudy Giuliani said President Obama does not love
America, he wasnt brought up the way you were brought up and
I was brought up.
While other possible presidential contenders declined to
repudiate the comment, Bush voiced his disapproval with the
former mayor of New York. Governor Bush doesnt question
President Obamas motives. He does question President Obamas
disastrous policies, Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said in
response.
The problems that Bush faces with the conservative base are
similar to the ones that Mitt Romney faced during the 2008 and
2012 Republican primary races.
Despite makeover efforts including calling himself severely
conservative at CPAC in 2012 Romney had trouble attracting

activists on the right, in large part because of his health care plan
in Massachusetts.
CPAC is a three-day conservative gathering that has the feel of a
trade show, carnival, and political convention all wrapped into
one. It is one of the largest, most high-profile gatherings of
conservatives, and its a key stopping point this year for
presidential hopefuls.
On Thursday and Friday, many of the potential candidates will
speak before the crowd. Bush is forgoing the typical speech and
instead will participate in a 20-minute question and answer
session that is being moderated by Fox News host Sean Hannity.
It would be very easy for him not going to CPAC. Conventional
wisdom says if you want to have a nice day, dont go to CPAC,
said Chip Felkel, a veteran South Carolina political consultant
who is unaffiliated with any of the candidates.
But its good for him to go. He needs to go. Thats a constituency
people dont expect him to spend a lot of time with, Felkel said.
Hes willing to go and have a conversation with people. Hes not
going to run away from people he disagrees with.
The calculation for Bush also seems to be that its better to
address than ignore a skeptical constituency. And while he has
skipped other gatherings of conservatives, Bush is planning to
travel next week to Iowa, his first trip to court caucus-goers in a
state where conservatives have great sway.
I think theyre putting together an impressive campaign. Theyve
got a lot of familiar faces and names, said Craig Robinson, a
former political director of the Iowa Republican Party who now
runs the influential website the Iowa Republican. But I feel like
theyre a little behind the 8 ball. Theyve got a lot of work to do
here.

With 2016 on the

Horizon, Conservatives
Rallying at CPAC
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/CPAC-conservatives-RepublicansWhite-House/2015/02/25/id/626946/
Wednesday, 25 Feb 2015 09:46 PM

Thousands of American conservatives will gather just outside

Washington beginning Thursday with a thinly veiled mission: Vet the
Republican politicians who might soon announce bids for the White
House.
This week's annual CPAC convention will see the right wing rallying
around core principles it hopes will shape the 2016 presidential
election.
But it is the politicians themselves and how they will be received by
the faithful that will take the spotlight.
The Conservative Political Action Conference is hard to put a label on.
But it is part Comic-Con industry trade show, and part Daytona 500,
but with the eccentricity and creative ambition of experimental event
Burning Man.
While it appeals to young ideological conservatives converging on
Washington in the heart of winter -- the Potomac River, adjacent to
the event's National Harbor setting in Maryland, is nearly frozen over
-- CPAC attracts seasoned Republican A-listers who are virtually
assured of a warm reception.
Scheduled speakers include former Florida governor Jeb Bush, son
and brother of two presidents, as well as Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul

and Marco Rubio, all of whom have made no secret of their White
House interests.
Also committed are former Texas governor Rick Perry, Louisiana
Governor Bobby Jindal, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie,
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Hewlett-Packard chief
executive Carly Fiorina.
Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential nominee and ever-present
conservative provocateur who has toyed this year with a potential
White House run, is a regular at CPAC, where she has taken pot shots
at "Obamacare" and the policies of potential Democratic frontrunner
Hillary Clinton.
Real estate mogul Donald Trump, ever the political flirt, will be on
hand, too.
The GOP faithful will have closer access to their heroes this week
compared with last year, as organizers promise a more intimate stage
setting and Q&A sessions with headliners like Bush.
"We have to be able to reach [regular Americans] where they are and
explain to them why conservative policies matter," Matt Schlapp, who
heads the American Conservative Union (ACU) which hosts CPAC,
said on its website.
"In the last presidential campaign, that connection did not happen,"
he added, in a not-so-veiled dig at 2012 Republican nominee Mitt
Romney.
"They want a strong conservative who can convince people that
conservative ideas will fix these problems that the country faces."
Several potential candidates are expected to host meet-and-greets,
part of an effort to make the case that their policies shine most
brightly.
Along with the headliners, CPAC has lined up breakout sessions, with
names like "Can Islam and Democracy Co-exist?" and "Lies Told to
You by Liberals."
And a straw poll will see CPAC attendees pick their 2016 presidential
favorite. Paul won last year with 31 percent of the vote, trouncing
second-place finisher Cruz.
The lawmakers' appearances may be brief: Congress is currently
playing political chicken over President Barack Obama's immigration
reform plan and the funding of the Department of Homeland Security.

The two Republicans who control Congress, Senate Majority Leader

Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, are seeking a way
out of the impasse by Friday, and are unlikely to appear at CPAC.
Conservative groups often highlight family values at CPAC, including
traditional marriage, and gay Republicans have not been particularly
welcome.
But inclusion-focused organizers made a point this year of burying
that tradition.
ACU announced Monday that the head of the Log Cabin Republicans,
a gay rights group, will appear on a panel Saturday addressing
aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Can Jeb Bush make it right with

the right?
http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/02/25/4396887_can-jeb-bush-make-it-right-with.html?
rh=1
February 25, 2015

By: Lesley Clark

Now hes heading to a face-to-face meeting with conservatives, many of
whom think hes anything but one of them, and who would pose the biggest
hurdle to him winning the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
Bush will appear Friday before thousands of influential activists at the
annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, a
high-stakes appearance that could allow him to start winning their hearts
or underscore a tough road ahead.
One Florida activist predicted he'll win them over. Others forecast a cool
response.
Complaints about Bush date to his father, George H.W. Bush, who
infuriated the right by breaking a pledge not to raise taxes. They had
different complaints about his brother George W. Bush.
And although Jeb Bush pledges to be his own man and in two terms as
Floridas governor slashed taxes, staunchly opposed abortion and took on
teachers unions, activists remain unconvinced. They point to his support
for Common Core education standards, immigration and the Bush family
record as stumbling blocks.
I dont know of any other potential candidate who is advocating for growing
the government or for giving more power and responsibility to the federal
government, Taylor Budowich, executive director of the Tea Party Express,
said of Jeb Bush. Hes unique in that regard.
For starters, conservative critics say, Bush has remained largely supportive
of education standards that outline what students should know at each

grade level, even after the benchmarks became a target for conservatives
leery of the federal government.
They'll be looking for Bush to explain why the federal government has a
better means of handling education and why it shouldnt be left to the
states, Budowich said. Its going to be a tough sell.
Bush, since announcing in December that he was considering a
presidential run, has amassed a formidable array of well-heeled donors
across the country and secured impressive hires in key primary states.
But conservative activists play an outsize role in many of those early states,
and many months out, polls point to trouble. Just 4 percent of Iowa
Republicans who described themselves as very conservative said theyd
support Bush, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released
Wednesday. Asked to name a candidate they would definitely not support,
they named Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the top of the
enemies list.
Bush is not ceding the right.
Before his Friday appearance at CPAC, he'll address the influential Club for
Growth on Thursday night in Florida. Next week, he heads to Des Moines
for the 2015 Iowa Ag Summit, and hes planned a trip next month to South
Carolina, which, like Iowa, is an early test of conservative sentiment that
can make or break a candidacy.
Bush addressed CPAC in 2013 and considers it a great opportunity to
engage with the crowd, said spokeswoman Kristy Campbell. She said the
event provided Bush with an opportunity to talk about his strong record of
conservative leadership.
Al Cardenas, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and of
the American Conservative Union, which started the annual conference,
said he was confident that the room at CPAC will end up being on the
governors side.
He noted that Bush has elected to take questions from Fox News Sean
Hannity rather than deliver prepared remarks, giving activists a better
chance to take his measure.
Cardenas said an inside the Beltway crowd had distorted Bushs record
as governor and that once activists learned more about Bush, their
concerns would be allayed.
I worked with him as close as anyone and always believed he was one of
the most conservative governors in America, Cardenas said. Those of us
from Florida, sometimes we take it for granted what we know, and thats not
yet the case.

But the divide between the party establishment and its right flank may be
harder than ever to bridge, particularly after the past two Republican
nominees who were perceived as moderates won the nomination and lost
the presidency, said Craig Shirley, an author and conservative activist. He
noted that talk radio a potent force among activists is staunchly
opposed to a Bush candidacy.
Conservatives remain irate with Bushs father over his broken tax pledge
and in open revolt with George W. Bush over his record on the Iraq War,
the expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs and the growth of
the federal government under his watch, Shirley said.
And Jeb Bush has no ready cultural connection with conservatives, Shirley
said. They see him as former governor; thats all they know about him.
They know hes a Bush, and they dont like that, and they know hes for
Common Core and open borders, and they really dont like that.
Bush will get some credit for appearing at the conservative confab, Shirley
said, but I doubt they will be standing on the tables for him.
Is there anything Bush can do to convince conservatives hes their
candidate?
He can go back in time to 1990 and convince his father not to break his
pledge on taxes and go back in time and convince his brother not to invade
Iraq, Shirley suggests.
One conservative group, ForAmerica, has released a video declaring Bush
unelectable thanks to his participation at a 2013 ceremony honoring
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
ForAmerica Chairman Brent Bozell acknowledged that Bush has name
identification and Chamber of Commerce money but said that might not
be enough as he noted the primary defeat last year of former Rep. Eric
Cantor, R-Va., and the election of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who defeated
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a Senate David vs. Goliath primary battle.
As weve seen time and time again, money doesnt necessarily buy you a
thing, Bozell said. If that were the case, Eric Cantor would be majority
leader and Ted Cruz wouldnt be in Congress.

U.Va. professor to receive

academic freedom award at
CPAC for defending due
process
BY ASHE SCHOW | FEBRUARY 25, 2015 | 5:07 PM

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/u.va.-professor-to-receive-academic-freedom-award-at-cpac-fordefending-due-process/article/2560721

A student walks past a building under construction on the University of Virginia campus on...

James W. Ceaser, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, will

be honored at the Conservative Political Action Conference for his defense
of due process in the wake of a Rolling Stone article telling the nowdiscredited story of a brutal gang rape at the school.

Ceaser, in an article for the Weekly Standard, defended due process by

calling out his own employer for the way it handled the Rolling Stone
debacle.

Even on the level of future policy changes, this problem can only be
properly addressed if it is presented in an unbiased way, not in terms of a
preconceived framework, Ceaser wrote. The moral dimension of
disregarding the truth also cannot be forgotten.

Ceaser argued that the truth never mattered in the Rolling Stone article,
because even when the story was abandoned by the magazine, it was
used by activists to further their agenda.

But Ceasers refusal to condemn his university for an imaginary crime or

give in to mob justice has earned him the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Award
for Academic Freedom, presented by the American Conservative Union
Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

These times require a thoughtful and courageous voice on college

campuses, and Professor Ceaser has been such a voice, Michael W.
Grebe, president of the Bradley Foundation, said in a press release. A
man of intellectual rigor, principle, and moral clarity, James Ceaser is a
beacon for all academia.

The award comes with a $10,000 stipend and will be presented Friday
night during the Reagan Reagan banquet at the annual conservative
gathering.

Vulnerable GOP Senators Steer Clear

of CPAC
http://atr.rollcall.com/vulnerable-gop-senators-steer-clear-of-cpac/?dcz=
By Emily Cahn
Posted at 3:45 p.m. on Feb. 25

Toomey is a Pennsylvania Republican. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

As conservative operatives and activists gather this week for the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference, a handfulof notable GOP
senatorsareabsent from the speaking lineup.
Severalvulnerable Senate Republicans seeking re-election in 2016 will
skip the confab,which serves as a national stage for politicians and

conservative media stars. Threeof them addressed the conference in past

years.
Sens. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire
and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin all of whom are top Democratic targets
in2016 will notaddress the conference this year, according to a public
CPAC agenda.
Toomey, aformer Club for Growth president, addressed the crowd fromthe
main stage in 2013 and 2014. Ayotte gave the conferences keynote
address in 2013 and Johnson spoke in 2012.
Another top target for Democrats, Sen. Mark S. Kirk, has not spoken atthe
event during hisSenate career, according to a search of conference
agendas from previous years.Though he is not on CPACs official
schedule, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is speaking Thursday afternoon on a
breakout panel about cybersecurity. Portmanserves onthe Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
In 2016, these senatorsface voters in states that have historically picked
Democrats on the presidential ticket. Its unlikely thatspeaking at a partisan
event filled with far right conservatives willhelp their quests for re-election.
Every senator in both parties who [is] facing re-election are focused 100
percent on their states, and in communicating first and foremost with their
constituents, said Brian J. Walsh, a GOP operative.
A source close to Toomey said the senator wanted to speak, but he had
scheduling conflicts during the proposed times.Ayotte told CQ Roll Call
Tuesday she was unsure whether she had been invited, but acknowledged
she has spoken in the past. A Johnson spokeswoman did not return a
request for comment by deadline.
I have no idea if they asked me to speak, Ayotte said. Ive been really
busy so I dont think they did. Ive had a lot of invitations I couldnt take
recently.
A number of other GOP senators are speaking and attending the
conference, including newly elected Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Ben Sasse of
Nebraska and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
We created a dozen different committees of policy experts from numerous
organizations around the country. These experts met for weeks to develop
potential topics and identify possible speakers, said Dan Schneider, the
executive director of the American Conservative Union, which

sponsorsCPAC each year. Well over 80 percent of the agenda owes to

the great work of these committees.
Organizers did not respond to a follow-up question about whether they had
invitedToomey, Ayotte or Johnson to address the crowd again this year.
But for this cycles most vulnerable senators, theres not much to gain by
addressing national conservatives.
In the past, senators facing credible GOP primary opponents from the tea
party-backed candidates have spoken at CPAC as a means of appealing to
the partys base.
Last year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promisedto promote a
conservative agenda if Republicans won control of the Senate. At the time,
McConnellfaced a primary from Matt Bevin, who had support from groups
such as the Senate Conservatives Fund.
But noneof the vulnerable GOP senators up in 2016 currently find
themselves with a credible GOP primary opponent, leaving them to focus
on the general election. Instead, a partisanCPAC speech might only
provide fodder for theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committees future
advertisements.
But anothertop Democratic target is slated to speak at the four-day
conference.Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will take the stage Friday morning.
Rubio is also considering a run for president in 2016, and will speak this
year along with a number of other Republicans mulling presidential bids. All
are hoping to appeal to the conservative base a key constituency in
what is likely to be a crowded primary for the GOP nomination.

CPAC 2015: 5 things you

should know about the rightwing conference

"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/
cpac-2015-5-things-you-should-know-about-the-rightwingconference-10070538.html
PAYTON GUION
Wednesday 25 February 2015

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) kicks off

tomorrow near Washington DC and many prominent Republicans
including several who have been mentioned as possible
presidential candidates will take the stage.
Conference guests also will be privy to panel discussions on
conservative issues, policy debate, organisation strategy and a socalled activism boot camp.
CPAC likely will see the future Republican presidential nominee
deliver a speech , though it is still very murky who that person will
be. Below are five things you should know about CPAC. Be sure to
follow The Independents coverage of the conference over the next
couple of days.
READ MORE: THE 19 REPUBLICANS WHO WANT TO BE PRESIDENT

What is CPAC?
CPAC is an annual conference put on by the American
Conservative Union that gives Republican politicians a chance to
stump for conservatives and libertarians. The conference is an
opportunity for Republican politicians to measure their
conservative credentials against those of fellow politicians.
Ronald Reagan attended CPAC almost every year of his
presidency and in his book said These were my people, the
people who had laboured for the conservative cause when it
seemed like a hopeless endeavour.... They were the people who
persevered, and I can't tell you how much I admire them for their
tenacity and their hope.
Which prominent politicians will speak?
Nearly all the names that have been mentioned in the same breath
with the Republican presidential nomination are on the agenda to
speak at CPAC. Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Scott Walker and Marco
Rubio will speak, as will Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Rick
Perry, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum.
Other popular yet long-shot names on the agenda are Carly
Fiorina, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump. Mike Huckabee, who

topped a recent CNN poll on Republican candidates, has said he

will not attend.
What other speeches I should pay attention to?
Executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle
Association Wayne LaPierre will speak on Friday. His comments
usually are worth following.
On Thursday evening, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK
Independence Party, will address the conference. Ukip is the UKs
right-wing political party and it will be interesting to hear how far
right Mr Farage will go.
What issues will be discussed at CPAC?
The conference will run the gamut of conservative issues over its
three days, but some of the standout topics are education,
Obamacare, fracking, immigration, cyber-security and foreign
policy.
The ongoing debate over President Barack Obamas executive
order on immigration and the looming threat of Isis surely will be
on the tip of many tongues during the conference.
Why is this important for the presidential hopefuls?
As mentioned above, CPAC is a litmus test for the politicians
conservative credentials. Attendees of the conference generally
are on the far-right side of American politics and they will be
judging each potential presidential candidate on their politics.
At CPAC 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney
was roasted for his appearance at the conference in which he
made the mistake of calling himself severely conservative during
his time as governor of Massachusetts. The adjective did not go
over well with many conservatives who were already concerned
that Mr Romney was not conservative enough.
Mr Bush faces many of the same questions about his politics
ahead of CPAC 2015. He has a chance to solidify support from the
right with a speech appealing to conservatives, but risks alienating
them with the slightest misstep.

New format adds twist to CPAC

expectations for GOP hopefuls



Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a prospective presidential candidate, has

emerged as one of the frontrunners in the race for the Republican nomination,
topping several polls. (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency)

By Dan Balz
Posted: February 25, 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-format-adds-twist-to-cpacexpectations/2015/02/25/46bc52ee-bd18-11e4-bdfab8e8f594e6ee_story.html

The annual gathering known as CPAC (Conservative

Political Action Conference) is a ritual of the political
calendar, a multi-day speechathon, a forum for budding
presidential candidates and a winter carnival all rolled into
one.
Hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) and
sponsored by a whos who of conservative organizations,
CPAC has grown steadily over the decades. It is a testing
ground, if not always a proving ground, for rising
politicians. This year will be no different.
Coming at the start of the 2016 presidential cycle, at a
moment when the campaign seems to have hit warp speed
(perhaps only temporarily), what happens at CPAC will
reverberate widely and instantly through conservative and
other circles. What proves lasting is another matter.
Conservatives are hungry to find a standard-bearer, but
theyre open to who it is, said Matt Schlapp, the new
chairman of the ACU. Theyre actually shopping right
now. ... How [the candidates] execute will have a huge
impact on where the race goes next.
The contest for the Republican nomination has been
changing constantly almost from the day the 2012 election
ended. Various Republicans have enjoyed a moment in the
early spotlight. Strategists for prospective candidates at
least some of those buried in the early polls hope and
believe that pattern will continue.
Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) was seen as the partys savior two
years ago, when his leadership on immigration reform
drew national attention. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

was seen by some as the one to beat in the aftermath of his

reelection victory in November 2013. The ebb and flow has
produced moments for others. Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and
Rand Paul (Ky. ) both have excited audiences of activists
and risen in prominence.
But right now the focus is elsewhere. Former Florida
governor Jeb Bush, who stepped out earlier than expected,
has been a winter favorite, especially of the GOP
establishment and donor network. Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker has ridden a booster rocket over the past month to
the top of many polls and become an instant star
nationally.
The party is fractured, as the debate on Capitol Hill this
week over funding the Department of Homeland Security
underscores. On the presidential front, many
conservatives are still frustrated by the results of the past
two GOP nomination campaigns. Those contests gave the
party Arizonas Sen. John McCain in 2008 and former
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in 2012 neither of
whom was seen as truly or authentically conservative to
many in the GOP base.
Conservatives havent loved John McCain or Mitt
Romney, Schlapp said. But eight years of President
Obama is a real unifier, and they want to win [in 2016].
They want to pick some justices for the Supreme Court.
They want to control the regulatory process. The spirit of
2015 is lets find a horse who can win.

CPAC will conduct a straw poll, as it has done for many

years, with results to be announced on Saturday as the
event is ending. The balloting has been a poor indicator of
general Republican Party sentiment.
Reflecting the strong libertarian bent of many of the
conference attendees, someone with the last name of Paul
has led the field in four of the past five years. Rand Paul
won in both 2013 and 2014. His father, former Texas
congressman Ron Paul, won in both 2010 and 2011.
Romney won in 2012 in the heat of the nomination
contest.
The past three years have produced three different secondplace finishers: Cruz in 2014, Rubio in 2013 and former
House speaker Newt Gingrich in 2012. Romney was the
runner-up in 2010 and 2011.
Schlapp said he expects coverage of the straw poll to
highlight who popped or did better than expected.
Candidates who dont do well will dismiss the poll as not
reflective of the electorate that will choose the nominee in
2016.
Schlapp and the others helping to organize this years
conference have made changes in the format. This year,
speakers will take questions rather than just deliver
speeches. Each of the prospective 2016 candidates will be
allotted 20 minutes. They will speak for roughly 12
minutes and take questions for the rest. Bush, whose
stump speaking style has been criticized as flat, has opted
to do his entire appearance in a question-and-answer
format, where he has done better in recent appearances.
Fox News host Sean Hannity will do the questioning.

Schlapp said the organizers are aware that attending the

conference is not a cheap ticket for most of the people who
fill the hotel ballroom. Most pay their own air fare and
hotel bill. We want to make sure they get the absolute
best interaction with the speakers, he said.
Performance is the key to CPAC: who lights up the room
and who doesnt. Its going to be about the execution and
how do they think on their feet when they get questions,
Schlapp said.
Expectations will vary depending on each candidates
place along the spectrum. Those candidates who are
considered crowd favorites of conservative activists are
going to have to perform well, he said. Those candidates
who are not considered that type of candidate, the bar is
probably lower.
He did not elaborate on that, but his answer suggests that
the bar is lower for Bush or Christie than for, say, Cruz or
Paul. Others see the event as vitally important for Bush as
he seeks to overcome skepticism among conservatives that
he is too moderate.
This year, the speakers have been encouraged to do more
than simply deliver a series of applause lines. What
organizers hope is that the speakers will not just arrive
with canned attacks on the president or Obamacare
designed to rouse the audience but instead will offer
something thematic and topical in their prepared remarks.
Schlapp also believes the question sessions could be the
most interesting. The Q-and-A gives them a chance to be
spontaneous and to make news not in a negative way

but in a positive way, he said. I think it makes them

nervous that the format has changed. It could be high-risk,
but it could also be very high-reward.

'American Idol' for Political

Nerds Is Coming to DC This
Week
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/american-idol-political-nerds-coming-dc-week/story?
id=29225691
Feb 25, 2015, 4:00 PM ET
By ERIN DOOLEY


Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin during the 2013 Conservative Political Action
Conference at the Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center at National Harbor,
Md., March 16, 2013.
Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
clear
clear

OK, political junkies, its time to switch on C-SPAN: Theres a three-daylong reality show just getting started outside Washington, D.C., today.
CPAC, an annual conference sponsored by the American Conservative
Union, will draw almost all of the Republican Partys likely presidential
contenders, who are given 20 minutes each to pitch their vision for America.
At the end, the conference attendees, conservatives from all over the U.S.,
will crown the winner of the CPAC straw poll.
Basically, its "American Idol" for political nerds.
Sure, the contestants are a little older, the conference center venue a little
blander, and the dulcet tones of Adam Lambert noticeably absent. But with
the White House in play, the stakes are a whole lot higher.

The Contestants
Like "Idol," CPAC is essentially a big casting call, a chance for the
Republican base to preview candidates stump speeches before the 2016 cycle
officially begins.
This years headliners include almost all of the 2016 contenders, including
Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum. (Real estate mogul Donald
Trump, who always seems to be eyeing the White House, will also speak, as
will Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and NRA
CEO Wayne LaPierre.)
The highest-profile CPAC speakers will meet a fan base almost as vociferous
as Carrie Underwoods following -- and the CPAC fans often dress in
costume. From now through Saturday, the Gaylord Convention Center will
play host to a cadre of Uncle Sams, George Washingtons and Ronald Reagans
-- plus a hoard of college kids wearing elephant ties and kissing cardboard
cutouts of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.


Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images bg

PHOTO: An audience with conservative ideals listens and cheer for Herman Cain at the
39th Annual CPAC Conference in Washington, Feb. 9, 2012.

Of course, not every presidential wannabe makes it to the glitchy WiFi -ahem, glitz and glamour -- of CPAC. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee,
thought to be mulling a 2016 bid, is skipping the conference, heading instead
to Tennessee and South Carolina.
Other party bigwigs -- most notably House Speaker John Boehner and Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell -- are also opting out. Both offices cite
scheduling conflicts.

The Judges
Remember watching "Idol" contestants squirm under Simon Cowells
skeptical eye?

Thats basically the feeling youll get when you see Fox News Sean Hannity
question former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush about common core curriculum
standards onstage at CPAC.
Bush, whose recent speeches in Chicago and Detroit fell decidedly flat, has
decided to forgo the formal speech entirely, opting instead for a 20-minute
Q&A. Hes excelled at the format in the past -- but pundits are waiting to see
how hell do when confronted with controversial issues, like his support for
common core and immigration, at CPAC.

And The Winner Is ...

You cant text in your vote (the ACU isnt quite as hip as Ryan Seacrest) but
just as at "Idol," audience participation is encouraged at CPAC.
The grand finale is the straw poll reveal Saturday evening -- the results of an
informal ballot asking attendees who theyd vote for to be president.
Last year, Sen. Rand Paul won handily, garnering 31 percent of the vote, a
full 20 points ahead of the first runner-up, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
The straw poll doesnt necessarily mean much -- only a few CPAC straw poll
winners have gone on to become the partys nominee -- but it can help
demonstrate momentum and attract bundlers, crucial in the early stages of
campaign fundraising.
Spoiler: The straw poll winner doesnt sing a victory song -- though wed like
to hear Chris Christie belt out a Springsteen tune or two.

Conservatives to vet GOP

2016 hopefuls at CPAC
Martha T. Moore and Catalina Camia, USA TODAY
3:21 p.m. CST February 25, 2015
http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/02/25/cpac-2016presidential-race-republicans/23942653/

!
(Photo: AP)

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the

Log Cabin Republicans previous participation in the conference.
A gaggle of potential Republican presidential candidates will pitch their
2016 credentials this week at the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference, but they'll find a new wrinkle at the best-known of GOP cattle
calls.
Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie and others will for the
first time have to answer questions from the audience, made up of the
GOP's most conservative and libertarian activists.
CPAC organizers are trying to make this command performance for
presidential hopefuls a tougher vetting process than just doing well in the
annual straw poll a kind of informal job interview for undeclared
candidates
"I do believe this is when the gun goes off'' for the Republican nomination
contest, says Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union,
which runs CPAC. "They all want the conservative mantle and part of this
conference is going to be hearing their pitch.'' The conference convenes
Wednesday in a Washington, D.C., suburb, with headline speeches
beginning Thursday morning.
The CPAC audience is young and with a libertarian skew: Kentucky Sen.
Rand Paul has won the straw poll two years in a row and his father, former
congressman Ron Paul, won in 2010 and 2011.
"If you really are going for the White House, understand that these folks
need to be with you. You need to connect with them,'' says Keith Appell, a
communications strategist and veteran of campaigns for Steve Forbes,
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey.
The Republican Party is making efforts to limit the amount of intra-party
savaging by limiting the number of presidential primary debates and
holding its convention a month earlier.
"There are lots of people who want (Republicans) to settle on the (leading)
candidate sooner,'' compared to the flavor-of-the-month approach of the
2012 primaries, Schlapp says. His concern: "important and influential
Republicans would settle on a nominee too soon, and there wouldn't be
enough time for voters to see how they react when they're asked
questions.''
In the rivalry between grass-roots and establishment Republicans, CPAC is
where the grass-roots gets a shot. "If a front-runner emerges, let's make
sure that front-runner has had to run the gauntlet of CPAC,'' Schlapp says.

That should be fun for Jeb Bush, who supports a comprehensive

immigration overhaul and Common Core educational standards, two issues
on which the GOP is increasingly divided. Similarly, Christie has also
supported Common Core and expanded Medicaid in New Jersey after the
Affordable Care Act was passed, not to mention his brief bromance with
President Obama in 2012 after Superstorm Sandy.
On divisive issues like immigration and Common Core, "Republicans have
to stop acting like pregnant teenagers who say,'I'm just going to ignore it
and it will go away,' " says Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway. "You
might as well confront it while you have an open mike in front of
thousands of activists.''
Conway, who is on the board of the American Conservative Union that
sponsors CPAC, says Bush and Christie should jump in with both feet. "If
Jeb Bush says, 'here's what I meant when I said illegal immigration is an
"act of love" ' and says 'here's my four-point plan on what I would do as
president,' you will hear a pin drop."
Bush will take questions from Sean Hannity of Fox News, and will not
deliver prepared remarks like other 2016 candidates.
"Jeb will do fine,'' says Ana Navarro, the GOP consultant who is a Bush
supporter. "The crowd will see that he answers questions directly and
truthfully. We've seen in his recent question-and-answer session that he's
authentic and keeps it real. I think the CPAC crowd will appreciate that.''
Be specific, says Jenny Beth Martin, a Tea Party leader and regular CPAC
speaker, "What we want to hear ... is not just them saying they support the
values that we share or the issues we want,'' she says. "If they're thinking
about running for president they should have a plan for how to address
these problems. These problems aren't new. We've had six years.''
And be real, Appel says. In 2012, Mitt Romney told the CPAC audience he
was "severely conservative.'' He struggled for the rest of the campaign to
persuade grass-roots voters that was true.
"He was never able to overcome the subtext of a lack of authenticity,'' Appel
says. "It never sold and it was a harbinger of things to come."
Not only candidates will be vetted at CPAC. Gregory T. Angelo of the group
Log Cabin Republicans will appear on a panel to discuss Russian leader
Vladimir Putin.
Appearing on the panel is a chance for the Log Cabin group to show it is
engaged in "the full spectrum of Republican issues,'' Angelo says, before
activists "who are perhaps dubious of our own conservative bona fides or
are suspicious of us as the 'gay marriage Republicans.' ''

He sees little appetite for a discussion of same-sex marriage at CPAC this

year. "I don't know who will say what at CPAC but I think there is at least a
consensus among Republicans that when we lost in 2012 it was because
there was an inordinate focus on social issues.'

At a conservative gathering,
Jeb Bush hopes to change
some minds



At the CPAC conference at National Harbor in Maryland on Thursday.

(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-a-conservative-gathering-jeb-bush-hopesto-change-some-minds/2015/02/25/43d769b0-bc-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html

By Robert Costa
February 26

The last time Jeb Bush spoke at the Conservative Political

Action Conference, he delivered blunt talk an unwelcome

lecture, in the view of many about the problems with the

Republican Party.
All too often were associated with being anti everything,
Bush said in 2013. Way too many people believe Republicans
are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, antiworker, and the list goes on.
Bush will return to the conservative gathering Friday as one of
his partys leading possible presidential candidates but one
who still needs to find the right way to connect with the
conservative activists who have not joined establishment
donors in an early rush to back him.
At CPAC, conservatives will be looking for Bush to ease their
concerns about his stances on education, immigration and
taxes. They will want to be reassured that he wouldnt be like
his father or brother, whose presidencies disappointed them.
And they are eager to see whether he would be comfortable as
a champion of their cause.
The timing is critical for Bush, 62, whose all-but-certain
candidacy has attracted legions of financiers and supporters
this winter. Despite his fast start, Bush is not outpacing the
rest of the GOP field, and some potential rivals particularly
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are gaining traction among
conservatives as they begin to travel and raise money ahead of
the nominating contest.
Walker is beloved among conservatives for his aggressive
approach in blue Wisconsin. Many have rallied around him in
recent weeks as he has refused to answer questions from the
media about evolution and whether President Obama is a
Christian.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed
Walker leading among Republicans in Iowa, with Sen. Rand

Paul (Ky.), Maryland neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former

Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee all placing ahead of Bush.
Rather than mingling with friendly donors at receptions, as
Bush has for the past couple of months, he will be asked
Friday to address students and conservative hard-liners who
have been known to boo speakers associated with the
Republican Partys elite.

You give him credit for facing his critics and getting out of
the bubble of fundraisers and policy speeches, said Kellyanne
Conway, who is managing CPACs straw poll. I dont think
hes necessarily entering hostile territory, but its a less
natural habitat for him.
Carefully watching will be handicappers in the Republican
donor and consultant communities who will measure just how
far Bush goes to ingratiate himself with conservatives, and
whether he is still willing, as he said months ago, to lose the
primary to win the general.
A lot of the more centrist speakers are going to face some
pretty tough questions, said Brett ODonnell, one of the
GOPs top debate coaches. But folks who consider themselves
introverts usually are more comfortable and perform better
when theyre carrying on a conversation with the crowd.
To try to give himself an edge, Bush has decided against giving
a conventional speech from a lectern, a format that has
produced slightly rushed and bland presentations from him in
recent weeks.
Instead, he will field questions and engage with the audience
in a 20-minute session that is shaping up to be part Charlie
Rose, part Rush Limbaugh and part town-hall meeting. Sean

Hannity, the Fox News personality, will moderate the

discussion.
Conservative leaders and GOP power brokers say Bushs stop
presents him with a powerful platform to directly address his
skeptics.
If you could turn political season into baseball season, people
starting their political-action committees would be spring
training and CPAC would be opening day, said Peter G.
Flaherty, who was an adviser to former presidential nominee
Mitt Romney.
I think its smart, Flaherty said of Bushs decision to forgo a
lectern and take questions. Everybody does well when you
play to your strengths.
Still, hurdles loom. At CPAC in 2012, Romney stumbled when
he described himself as a severely conservative Republican
governor in his speech a comment that was derided as an
overly earnest attempt to win over conservatives who were
leery of him.
Bush allies say he has a dual mission: gently shifting
rightward his not-yet-calcified persona by walking the partys
base through his views; and sparking a connection by
speaking vividly about his record in Florida on social and
economic issues.
This is the first time Jebs at CPAC as a potential national
candidate. He hasnt been in elected office in almost 10 years.
He needs to reintroduce himself to the conservative base,
Bush confidant Ana Navarro wrote in an e-mail. Many of
them are not familiar with or have forgotten his record. He
needs to offer a refresher course.
John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy
Council, said he thinks it is unfair to group Bush with other

moderate Republicans, but Stemberger acknowledged that

conservatives with whom he works continue to have
suspicions about Bush.
A lot of people are comparing Jeb Bush to Mitt Romney or to
John McCain and Bob Dole. Hes not in that category at all. If
they think thats who he is, theyre wrong. Hes in another
class. He is a principled conservative who is also a
pragmatist, Stemberger said.
Perhaps an even more important task, many Bush associates
privately say, will simply be to escape CPAC without angering
conservatives. Multitudes on the right are already wary of
Bushs support for bipartisan immigration reform, his refusal
to take an anti-tax pledge, and his enthusiasm for Common
Core, a national education curriculum that tea party leaders
vehemently oppose.
Reiterating that he is his own man, as Bush did in a speech
last week in Chicago on foreign affairs, is another priority,
especially at a conclave of conservatives who soured on his
father, George H.W. Bush, and brother George W. Bush, and
are fatigued by the prospect of nominating another member of
the family.
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said: Dad said hed never
raise taxes and did. Unlike his brother, Jeb has declined to
take the pledge and done little to make conservatives
confident he wouldnt. I find that approach oddly aristocratic.
Hell have to explain himself.
Bush, who on Thursday will speak at the Breakers Hotel in
Palm Beach, Fla., for a donor conference held by the Club for
Growth, also will be assessed as a retail politician, with CPAC
attendees monitoring his willingness to shake hands and

schmooze with rank-and-file conservatives before and after

his appearance.
Working the hallways at CPAC has become a rite of passage
for politicians looking to bolster their national profiles. How
Bush navigates the autograph requests, talk-radio invitations
and hovering television cameras will be a test for a man who
has spoken repeatedly about his desire to run joyfully amid
the vortex of modern politics.
CPAC, now a four-day event, has been a long-standing policy
forum and annual celebration for conservatives. It opened
Wednesday afternoon with boot camps for people interested
in becoming political organizers.
Blending aspects of a party convention, a College Republican
mixer, and a trade show for conservative media companies
and advocacy groups, CPAC has slowly gained political capital
in Republican circles since Ronald Reagan began appearing
there before smaller crowds in the 1970s.
Fridays symposium with Bush will be held in a cavernous
ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention
Center on the lip of the Potomac River in Prince Georges
County. Hell take the stage shortly after separate appearances
by crowd favorites Donald Trump who said Wednesday that
he is serious about a potential presidential run and Wayne
LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle
Association.
Also slated to appear at the conference are Sens. Ted Cruz
(Tex.), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Paul; Carson; Govs. Chris
Christie of New Jersey and Walker, as well as other
contenders considering campaigns for the White House.
Daniel Schneider, executive director of the American
Conservative Union, which hosts the confab, said Bush will
speak from a stage that is only two feet off the ground and

designed to no longer look like youre listening to an imperial

dictator a break from CPACs recent custom of having a
huge stage and beaming spotlights.
CPAC was originally designed to be a grass-roots conference
of conservatives, and it still is, he said. Were getting back to
that by making speakers get up close and personal with
attendees.
Being able to feel the heat of the youthful and packed-in
crowd may ultimately be to Bushs benefit, Norquist said. He
predicted the setting would force Bush to deal with voters who
are not hurrying to embrace him in the same way prominent
GOP donors do at fundraisers.
When Jeb spoke at CPAC in 2013 over dinner, it was flat, and
he opened high up on stage chastising the audience for talking
over the introduction, he said. It was like he didnt want to
be there and it showed.

Huckabee, Graham wont join

potential 16 GOP hopefuls at
CPAC
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/25/3664362_huckabee-graham-wont-joinpotential.html?rh=1
February 25, 2015
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

When the potential Republican presidential candidates take turns speaking

at the big conservative conference Thursday and Friday, two prominent
names wont be there: Mike Huckabee and Lindsey Graham.
Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is a longtime favorite of the
activists wholl be attending the Conservative Political Action Conference.
He won the 2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucus and was a hit at
CPAC last year.
But hes heading Thursday instead to the National Religious Broadcasters
Association, a friendly crowd, since Huckabee is both a minister and, until
recently, a television show host.
Friday, Huckabee plans to host a roundtable discussion at the Commerce
Club in Greenville, South Carolina.
He had strong criticism for CPAC five years ago, saying CPAC has
become increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last
years.
Graham, a U.S. senator from South Carolina, is a recent addition to the
roster of potential presidential candidates. Hes got big votes coming up in
the Senate later this week.
His office sent a statement to the Charleston Post and Courier, saying
Sen. Graham is disappointed to miss this years gathering but Im sure he
will be spending a great deal of time with conservative activists in South
Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming months.
Matt Schlapp, American Conservative Union chairman, said We would
have loved to have had Huckabee. He noted Grahams recent interest in a
possible bid and said, I assume we would have been open to inviting him.
The ACU organizes the conference.

Carly Fiorina Is Getting a

CPAC Upgrade
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/25/carly-fiorina-is-getting-a-cpac-upgrade.html

02.25.15
Jackie Kucinich

A prime speaking slot, a straw poll spot, a new super PAC

the former HP CEO is set to make a big splash at the GOP
confab, and, if everything goes right, take on Hillary Clinton.
The annual presidential audition known as the Conservative
Political Action Conference has long been a place where a
candidate can go from who? to oh, right, that person.

And if all goes according to plan, that person at the 2015 event
will be likely Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina.
The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard has a prime speaking slot, a
spot on the straw poll, and a brand new super PAC promoting her
potential candidacy. Shes also the chair of the American
Conservative Union Foundation, the group that puts on CPAC
every year.
Something of an unknown on the national political scene, Fiorina,
who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2010, is using CPAC to
showcase her intellect, policy chops, and know-how in hopes of
jump-starting a long shot bid for the 2016 nomination. And
instead of being a footnote at the end of the conference, shes
speaking on the first day between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
and conservative favorite Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, which should
ensure a large audience.
This is far cry from last years conference when, despite being a
co-chairwoman of CPAC, she spoke in a not-quite-full ballroom
on the last day between Heritage Foundation chief Jim DeMint
and professional trollette Ann Coulter.
Not only did Fiorinas speech-placement get a serious upgrade,
the panels shes on are designed to show off her expertise in areas
like foreign policy, which could bolster the case that shes
prepared to take on former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Some supporters say Clinton is actually copying Fiorina from afar,
pointing to their weirdly similar book covers and titles.
And then theres the line from Clintons speech this week about
unlocking potentialthe name of Fiorinas leadership PAC.
Coincidence? Probably, but its getting Team Fiorina some free
press.

Like Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled

hundreds of thousands of miles around the

globe. But unlike her, I have actually

accomplished something.
Fiorina started Unlock Your Potential PAC in 2014 to help the
GOP better appeal to women voters. The group spent $512,394 in
Senate races last cycle. Shell no doubt be discussing this effort on
a CPAC panel called Lies Told to You by Liberals and
Countering the War on Women Lie.
The two additional panels shes speaking on might as well be
called Why Carly Fiorina Is Better Than Hillary Clinton. One is
called Intelligence Community: The Alphabet Soup Agencies and
What They Do. The other is Putins Russia: A New Cold War?
So what does Fiorina, who is perhaps best known politically for a
series of hilariously over-the-top ads during her California Senate
campaign, know about the intelligence community or Russia?
Well, supporters note that shes served on several relevant boards,
including the first ever External Advisory Board for the Central
Intelligence Agency, which was created in 2007 by then-director
Michael Hayden.
Fiorina has been talking up her Kremlin bona fides for the last
year and referenced her meeting with Vladimir Putin at a 2001
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in China in a wellreceived speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit last month. Like
Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of
miles around the globe, Fiorina said in Iowa. But unlike her, I
have actually accomplished something. Mrs. Clinton, flying is not
an accomplishment, its an activity. I have met Vladimir Putin and
know that it will take more to halt his ambitions than a gimmicky
red Reset button.
The audio of that speech, which also name-checks Benjamin
Netanyahu, is the focal point of a gauzy, highly produced video
released this week by Carly for America, a new super PAC founded
to lay the groundwork for a Fiorina presidential run.

Still, whether Fiorina could survive the glare of a real presidential

campaign remains to be seen. Shell have to answer questions
about her failed tenure at HP, including laying off thousands, and
her mediocre Senate campaign, which sometimes devolved into
mean-girl insults.
But thats at least a week down the line. For now, its all about
CPAC, and Fiorinas big moment.

Rand Paul bashes Jeb Bush as

both court conservative
activists
http://www.centredaily.com/2015/02/26/4622153_rand-paul-bashes-jeb-bush-asboth.html?rh=1
BY SEAN COCKERHAM
February 26, 2015

WASHINGTON Sen. Rand Paul slammed Jeb Bush for "hypocrisy" as

both prepare to make the case that conservatives should support their
presidential aspirations.
Paul, R-Kentucky, noted that Bush opposes legalizing medical marijuana
despite admitting that he smoked marijuana as a prep student at the elite
Phillips Academy.
"When Jeb was a very wealthy kid at a very elite school, he used marijuana
but didnt get caught, didnt have to go to prison." Paul said in a
Wednesday night interview on the Fox News show, "The Kelly File." "I think
it shows some hypocrisy thats going to be difficult for young people to
understand why wed put a 65-year-old guy in jail for medical marijuana."
"What Im talking about is not the hypocrisy of wealth, its the hypocrisy of
evading the law, because the law seems to target and seems to go after
poor people, often people of color," Paul added. "Whats hypocritical is if
youre very wealthy, youre able to escape the long arm of the law (and)
then to really want to throw the long sentences, 15 years, 20 years, 50
years in prison for marijuana at people, and so I think thats where the
hypocrisy comes in."
Both Paul and Bush, the former governor of Florida, will speak to
thousands of conservative activists Friday at the Conservative Political
Action Conference outside Washington.

Paul, who plans to announce his presidential plans this spring said hell do
better with the conservative group than Bush.
"We think there will be a lot of friendly faces for us, there is definitely a
place for moderates but there may not be quite the same level of
enthusiasm for moderates at this conference," he said.
Paul has been a star at the annual conference in the past, easily winning its
straw poll the past two years. His father, former presidential candidate Ron
Paul, won the straw poll in 2010 and 2011.

Dr. Carson: Outlining All The Failures

Of Obama Administration Would Be
Too Depressing
February 26, 2015 10:48 AM

Share
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/02/26/dr-carson-outlining-all-the-failures-of-obamaadministration-would-be-too-depressing/

Dr. Ben Carson addresses the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at
National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. on Feb. 26, 2015. (credit: NICHOLAS
KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson criticized

purveyors of division and said the country needs to move in a new
direction as he kicked off the annual Conservative Political Action
Conference better known as CPAC on Thursday.
Carson was the first featured speaker at the annual event at the Gaylord
National Resort & Convention Center, just outside of Washington, which will
feature a parade of more than a dozen potential Republican presidential
contenders hoping to win over conservative activists.
Carson, who has built a loyal following of fans who were highly visible on
Thursday, steered clear of heated rhetoric and criticizing President Barack
Obama in his speech, saying that outlining all the failures of the current
administration would be too depressing.
Instead, he touted the benefits of health savings accounts and home
schooling, and criticized the current welfare system, arguing that it has only
exacerbated the problems it was supposed to fix and made poor people
dependent.
We need to move in a very different direction, he said.
In a question-and-answer session following his brief remarks, Carson was
asked what he would do to combat the Islamic State group of extremists.
We have two choices: We can wait and see what theyre going to do and
react to it. Or we can destroy them first, he told the crowd. The mission
that I would give our military is to destroy them first.

Santorum is ready for a

comeback. Who knew?
http://www.arcamax.com/currentnews/newsheadlines/s-1621192?fs
Feb 26, 2015
By: David Hawkings
WASHINGTON -- He's looking a little tan, sounding rested and
signaling he's ready. He's a former senator from a big swing state who
was a senior member of the congressional leadership. He was even the
runner-up for his party's presidential nomination last cycle.
So where is Rick Santorum these days? Not only has he not cleared
the 2016 field, he isn't even close to cracking the top ranks of potential
Republican candidates.
Myriad events -- some readily apparent, others currently unimaginable
-- will shift the shape of the jumbled and sprawling GOP field many
times before the actual voting starts almost a year from now. One of
the set pieces is the annual Conservative Political Action Conference,
which lasts through Saturday.
Santorum is among 15 potential candidates scheduled to speak -- he's
got 20 minutes starting at noon Friday, sandwiched between Donald
Trump and Jeb Bush -- and how he's received by the party's most
conservative and libertarian activists will offer a decent clue about
whether his comeback bid stands a chance.
For now, the numbers suggest Santorum is as much of a long shot as
he appeared to be four years ago, when he was running for president
the first time. His support among GOP voters, based on an average of
the past four national surveys by Real Clear Politics, stands at 2.3
percent -- tied for 10th place with Bobby Jindal, the governor and
former House member from Louisiana.

Probably more concerning for Santorum is the fact that he has

averaged 5 percent in the last quartet of polls of potential Iowa caucus
attendees, leaving him in eighth place. But it was his late surge from
obscurity to a victory in Iowa three years ago (he edged Mitt Romney
by a miniscule 34 votes) that propelled him into that year's top tier.
Before dropping out in April, he had won 10 additional states, 3.9
million primary or caucus votes and 234 pledged convention delegates.
It's not unreasonable to assume that, if he's going to be a real
contender next year, he'll have to begin by making lightning strike
twice in the opening contest, where his type of social conservatism has
particular resonance among caucus-goers. He's spent more than 10
days this year in Iowa -- still sporting his trademark sweater vest -and has also made a couple of visits to gauge support in South
Carolina, home of the other early contest next year where the culture
wars especially resonate.
In recent appearances and interviews, Santorum is signaling that his
strategy assumes the conservative GOP base remembers his social
views, allowing him to downplay his opposition to abortion and gay
rights while concentrating on selling his conservative economic
populism: Too many immigrants, legal and illegal, and too much
federal regulation in areas from education to the environment, are
holding back economic advancement for the middle class.
"We have to be not just the pro-growth, but the pro-worker party," he
said on Fox News last month, reprising a 2012 theme he hopes has
more currency in the current electoral climate, where there's
bipartisan frustration with income inequality. "We need to target
policies that make sure everybody, low-income folks in all income
groups and ethnicities, has a shot at the American dream."
He's also said his grounding for the presidency is superior to others
hoping to be the candidate of evangelicals and other social
conservatives, namely former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.
To those who spend their lives on Capitol Hill, Santorum's
congressional resume sounds tough to beat, delivering a breadth and
depth of both foreign and domestic policy experience few 2016 rivals
can match. He was on Ways and Means while representing the
Pittsburgh suburbs for four years in the House, and during the
following dozen years as a Pennsylvania senator he not only was
chairman of subcommittees on Finance, Armed Services and
Agriculture, but also spent six years heading the GOP conference --

the No. 3 elected party leadership job, which put him in charge of
shaping the messaging for his caucus.
(To be sure, the bottom line on that resume also includes one of the
most lopsided defeats of an incumbent senator in modern times. He
took an 18-point, 708,000-vote drubbing from Democrat Bob Casey in
2006, at least in part because Santorum made a vigorous and often
adversarial social conservatism a hallmark of his tenure representing
an ideologically mixed state.)
Since his last presidential campaign, Santorum has taken the helm of
a Christian film production and distribution company, EchoLight
Studios, and worked to expand the reach of Patriot Voices, the grassroots advocacy group he created using lists of small-money donors
and volunteers from 2012. (Its political action committee raised and
spent $2 million during the midterm cycle. Its most recent project was
a petition drive to protest President Barack Obama's executive actions
on immigration.)
Last year he published "Blue Collar Conservatives," a manifesto for his
putative campaign. And last week, he and his wife, Karen, published
"Bella's Gift," about rearing the youngest of their seven children,
Isabella, who has a usually fatal genetic disorder and whose medical
challenges pulled Santorum off the trail several times in 2012.
Perhaps as important as all that, Foster Friess, a mutual fund mogul
who donated more than $2 million to a Santorum super PAC last time,
has promised to help bankroll him again and to rally financial support
from other conservative millionaires.
Santorum's party has a deep history of giving their presidential nod to
the "guy next in line." Six of the seven non-incumbent Republican
nominees in the past half century had finished second in a previous
national campaign. (Starting with Richard M. Nixon in 1968, the only
exception is George W. Bush in 2000.)
From the outside, anyway, it looks as though Santorum has been doing
all the groundwork necessary to keep that amazing streak intact. All
that remains now is getting the Republican base to start noticing.

Gov. Pence to be among

potential prez candidates at
CPAC
Maureen Groppe
10:18 a.m. EST February 26, 2015

http://www.indystar.com/story/behind-closed-doors/2015/02/26/gov-pence-to-be-amongpotential-prez-candidates-at-cpac/24051367/

(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)

When Mike Pence addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2010, he joked
about his 11 a.m. speaking slot which happened to coincide with Tiger Woods' public apology
for "irresponsible and selfish" behavior.
"There is hope," Pence told the gathering of conservative activists. "Somebody beyond you
good people in this room might see this speech. I mean, I've got a Facebook page. And
YouTube springs eternal."
Pence's remarks at this year's gathering should get more attention.
A frequent attendee at the conference when he served in the House, Pence has been given a
prime speaking slot as governor. He'll deliver the keynote address at a Friday evening dinner
honoring Ronald Reagan during the four-day gathering at the Gaylord National Resort &
Convention Center just outside Washington.
Put on by the American Conservative Union and held annually since 1973, CPAC as it's
referred to is the nation's largest conservative gathering. And it's an early testing ground for
presidential hopefuls.
Pence has said he will announce whether he'll seek the 2016 GOP nomination after the 2015
legislative session wraps up at the end of April.
Other potential 2016 candidates who are speaking at CPAC include former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul,
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The convention includes a presidential straw poll that has been won the past two years by Rand
Paul.
When former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was considering a 2012 presidential bid, he gave the
keynote address at CPAC's 2011 Ronald Reagan dinner. (That earned the group criticism by
some on the right because Daniels had ignited a firestorm by previously saying the next U.S.
president would "have to call a truce on the so-called social issues" to focus on the more urgent
matters of the federal debt and national security.)
Other recent speakers at the dinner include Walker, George Will, scholar Arthur Brooks and
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Asked about Pence's invitation to give the Reagan address this year, CPAC spokesman Ian
Walters said the spot is traditionally reserved for "leading conservative figures."
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, told USA TODAY that after losing
the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, conservatives really want to win the White House in
2016. Schlapp referred to conservative commentator William F. Buckley's rule to pick the most
conservative candidate who can also win.
"And I think that's the mindset of conservatives today," Schlapp said.


Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, MD on
Feb. 26, 2015. Photo by Melissa Golden/Redux for MSNBC

Sparks fly among GOP 2016ers on day

one of CPAC
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cpac-tests-gop-2016-field
02/26/15 09:38 AM

By Benjy Sarlin
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland Republican 2016 hopefuls lobbed
bombs at President Obama, Hillary Clinton, union protesters and
sometimes each other, on day one of theConservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC), a traditional showcase event for GOP presidential
candidates.
Likely White House contenders speaking from the main stage on
Thursday included Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,New Jersey Gov. Chris

Christie, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Louisiana

Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former HP executive Carly Fiorina. Friday will
feature former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and former
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The audience at CPAC tends to skew right and libertarian Rand Paul
won its last two presidential straw polls, Ron Paul two of the three years
before him with many college activists making the trek to see their
favorite politicians up close and do some networking.
A big question will be how Bush fares on Friday. While the former
governor has moved into the front-runner role by rapidly accumulating
elite support and donors, many conservatives are suspicious of his
support for immigration reform and Common Core education standards,
as well as his overall establishment ties. Rather than delivering a speech,
Bush will participate in a question-and-answer session onstage with Fox
News host Sean Hannity.


THE RUNDOWN WITH JOSE DIAZ-BALART, 2/26/15, 10:19 AM ET

2016 GOP hopefuls step onto CPAC audition stage

Chris Christie threw a direct shot Bushs way in an onstage interview

with radio host Laura Ingraham.
If what happens is the elites in Washington who make backroom deals
decide who the president is going to be, then hes definitely the frontrunner, Christie said. If the people of the United States decide to pick
the next president of the United States, and they want someone who
looks them in the eye, is one of them, and connects with them, Ill do
okay if I run.
Ingraham pushed Christie hard in her interview, bringing up his low poll
numbers and asking whether his famously combative temperament
would turn off voters.
Sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up, Christie
said, saying his confrontations with New Jersey voters at public events
showed he was passionate.
Without naming Bush, Cruz described himself in a speech as a
Republican willing to take on others in his party for growing too close to
its establishment wing.
The biggest divide we have in this country is between career politicians
and Washington and the American people, he said to applause.
Common Core came up repeatedly, including in a panel discussion that
featured several critics of the policy. In the first 2016er appearance of the
day on Thursday, Carson decried Common Core as not school
choice.Jindal, a former Common Core supporter, also criticized the
standards extensively in his own speech.


Senator Ted Cruz speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 26, 2015. Photo
by Photo by Melissa Golden/Redux for MSNBC

Bushs biggest concern may be Walker, who has surged to a lead in

national polls of GOP voters after a strong speech at the conservative
Iowa Freedom Summit last month. The Wisconsin governor spoke to a
packed ballroom on Thursday and kept his fire focused firmly on
Obama, who Walker said measures success by government by how
many people are dependent on the government.
As a governor, Walkers portfolio has been light on foreign policy
compared to the senators in the race, and he offered little in specifics
when asked how hed confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria while
generally pledging to protect America from attacks. But he did suggest
that his battles with unions over collective bargaining rights might help
prepare him for the job.
If I can take on 100,000protesters, I can do the same across the world,
he said.

That line drew a swift response from Democratic National Committee

spokesmanMo Elleithee.
If Scott Walker thinks that its appropriate to compare working people
speaking up for their rights to brutal terrorists, then he is even less
qualified to be president than I thought, Elleithee said. Maybe he
should go back to punting.
Foreign policy wasnt the only area where Walker seemed
uncomfortable getting into the weeds. Asked whether he opposed new
net neutrality rules governing Internet, he declined to give a clear take
beyond sayingthe guiding principle should be freedom on the issue.


Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb.
26, 2015. Photo by Photo by Melissa Golden/Redux for MSNBC

Like Walker, Jindals speech was heavy on barbs at Obamas foreign

policy, which he complained did not target Islamic terrorism
aggressively enough.

President Obama has disqualified himself, Jindal said. He has shown

himself incapable of being our Commander-in-Chief.
CPAC comes amid a week of scrutiny focused on Hillary Clinton.
Critics slammed the as-of-yetundeclared Democratic front-runnerfor
foreign donations to her familys Clinton Global Initiative, and foreign
speeches by husband Bill Clinton that raised ethics concerns. Cruz and
Fiorina each referenced the story in their remarks, with the former
joking that CPAC could have paid Clinton to speak at the event,but we
couldnt find a foreign nation to foot the bill.
Mrs. Clinton please name an accomplishment, Fiorina said. And in
the meantime, please explain why we should accept that the millions
and millions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation
from foreign governments do not represents a conflict of interest.
Fiorina was one of the most well received speakers of the day, rousing
the crowd with a speech directed at Clinton.
If Hillary Clinton had to face me on the debate stage at the very least
she would have a hitch in her swing, she boasted in the Q&A portion of
her appearance.

Walker draws standing ovation in CPAC

address

By Joseph Weber

Published February 27, 2015

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/27/likely-presidential-candidates-wooconservative-base-at-cpac/

OXON HILL, Md. Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker rolled up

his sleeves Thursday and picked up where he left o last month
in Iowa -- trying to win over his partys conservative base on the
way to a potential 2016 White House run.

Walker made his impassioned case this time at the Conservative

Political Action Conference, the annual gathering of many of the
countrys most conservative voters, telling them if we can do it
in Wisconsin, theres no doubt we can do it across America.

As he did in January at the Iowa Freedom Summit, Walker relied

again on his four-year record as governor -- touting a drop in
unemployment, lower taxes and improved student test scores
since ending union-backed teacher tenure.

Because of reform, our state is a better than the one that (I)
grew up in, he said in a roughly 13-minute speech that drew
several standing ovations.

Walker at one point raised eyebrows, after being asked about

how he'd respond to threats like ISIS.

"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the
world," he said, while also discussing more severe security
threats he's confronted in the Midwest.

Walker spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski later clarified that the

governor was "in no way comparing any American citizen to
ISIS." She said: "What the governor was saying was when faced
with adversity he chooses strength and leadership. Those are the
qualities we need to fix the leadership void this White House has
created."

Walker arrived at the three-day event in suburban Maryland, just

outside of Washington, riding a wave of popularity that ignited in
Iowa and that has put him near or atop most polls, with Election
Day roughly 21 months away and all of the major candidates yet
to ocially declare a candidacy.

He will compete this weekend for the conservative vote with

essentially every other major potential GOP candidate -- all
scheduled to give a speech and participate in a question-andanswer session at the event.

Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, New Jersey Gov. Chris

Christie, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also spoke Thursday.
Scheduled to speak Friday are Libertarian-minded Kentucky Sen.
Rand Paul, immensely popular among younger voters -- and who
won the CPAC straw poll the past two years -- and former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush, now the presumptive GOP frontrunner and a
fundraising powerhouse.

In a speech critical of President Obama and Washington in

general, Walker said success should be measured not by how
many people rely on government but by how many people dont
rely on it.

He pointedly criticized Obama for declaring U.S. diplomatic

eorts in Yemen, still a haven for terror networks, a success,
and the Islamic State a JV team.

We need a leader who stands up and says radical Islamic

terrorism is a threat to the whole world, he said. We need to
take the fight to them, not wait until they show up on American
soil.

Meanwhile, Cruz called the president a lawless leader in his

own blistering broadside, the kind of red meat conservatism
that's made him a Tea Party stalwart and top-tier potential
presidential candidate.

Cruz said he bears the "battle scars" of the conservative fight

and urged the audience to beware of candidates who just talk
and dont act.

"You have to stand and fight," Cruz said to an overflow

auditorium and loud applause. "Actions speak louder than
words."

"When candidates say they oppose Common Core, fantastic," he

continued. "But when have you stood up and fought against it?"

As for Obama, Cruz railed against the president's policies.

"Repeal every bit of ObamaCare," said Cruz, who angered some

in the Republican establishment in 2013 over his eorts to target
the health law, which fueled the partial government shutdown.

Cruz also called the president's reluctance to describe the

Islamic State as radical Islam "bizarre Orwellian double speak."

Perhaps gearing up for the 2016 battle, he also called Hillary

Rodham Clinton, the presumptive Democratic frontrunner in the
race, "the embodiment of the corruption of Washington."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and neurosurgeon Ben Carson

spoke earlier.

Christie, amid some skepticism over his standing among national

Republican voters, sought Thursday to convince the party faithful
he has the bona fides -- and temperament -- to be presidential
material in 2016.

He touted his pro-life stance, arguing that he was elected in 2009

on a pro-life platform and that he vetoed Planned Parenthood

funding from the state budget five times. And he dismissed

speculation that his drop in early polls and the fundraising
potential of now-presumptive GOP front-runner Jeb Bush is too
much to overcome to win the 2016 nomination.

"I'm not worried about what the polls say 21 months out,"
Christie said. "I will run a hard campaign. ... I like my chances."

Carson, a neurosurgeon who has emerged as a widely popular

conservative voice, earlier kicked o the conference with a call to
"change course."

"We need to move in a very dierent direction," said Carson,

considered a likely 2016 candidate.

Carson, who is black, on Thursday accused liberals of "making

people dependent" on an American welfare system.

"We need to reach out to people who think that maybe being
dependent is reasonable as long as they feel safe. And it isn't,"
he said. "The great societies of the sixties figured that if we just
threw money at the problem we could fix it. ... Everything these
programs tried to fix have gotten worse."

The conference, considered the first big test of which candidates

can connect to the partys conservative base on a national stage,
ends on Saturday with the straw poll.

Ben Carson Tells CPAC Crowd

He Wants to Get Rid of
Dependency, Not Welfare
Programs
Ken McIntyre / @KenMac55 / February 26, 2015 /
http://dailysignal.com/2015/02/26/ben-carson-tells-cpac-crowdwants-get-rid-dependency-not-welfare-programs/

Dr. Ben Carson (Photo: Jerry Mennenga/Newscom)

Ben Carson, the celebrated neurosurgeon who has excited

many grassroots conservatives, said today that if he were
president he would not be an enemy of welfare programs but
of dependency on government.
Im not interested in getting rid of the safety net; Im
interested in getting rid of dependency, said Carson, the leado prospective candidate for president to speak at the
Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, as it
entered the second of four days just outside Washington, D.C.
Carsons comment came in response to a question about how
he would attract minorities as a Republican candidate should
he decide to run. He said he would tell them the truth.
Spreading a message about cultivating opportunity rather
than dependency, the retired Maryland surgeon said, will
attract struggling Americans, including African-Americans, to
the Republican Party and not to a Democratic Party that only
wants to cultivate their votes.
Dont have time to read the Washington Post or New York
Times?
Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the
days most important political news, conservative commentary
and original reporting from a team committed to following the
truth no matter where it leads.

Carson was greeted by standing ovations both after a brief

speech and after he answered three other questions from a
moderator.
Other GOP presidential hopefuls will also answer questions
during their 20-minute slots today and tomorrow at CPAC,
which continues through Saturday at the Gaylord Resort and
Convention Center across the Potomac River from Washington
in National Harbor, Md.
In his other responses, he said of the ISIS terrorist group that
he would destroy them first and not tie the militarys hands
in doing so.
On the home front, Carson said he and other conservatives
have to call out those he described as purveyors of
division, no matter where they are.

Ben Carson begins to address a packed room of supporters after his speech to the
main CPAC crowd at Gaylord Resort and Convention Center. (Photo: Ken McIntyre/
The Daily Signal)

Conservatives, he said, dont pick and choose favorites

among enterprises and interest groups.
He also said he opposes Common Core education standards
because they dont represent school choice for parents.
Parents and teachers, Carson said, dont need some central
government telling them how to set up and enforce
standards of excellence.

Tea Party favorite defects

from DHS funding
compromise
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/233925-tea-party-favorite-defects-from-dhsfunding-compromise
February 26, 2015, 09:42 am
By Ben Kamisar

Getty Images

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) will not vote for a Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) appropriations bill, because it funds President
Obamas controversial immigration actions, he told the crowd at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday.
Our laws dont authorize this action, so if its carried out, if its
implemented, this action will have the effect of undoing something that
Congress has done and doing so in a way that circumvents the
Constitution, he said.
We have to use the power of the purse; we have to withhold funding
when the president does that.
Senate Democrats have repeatedly filibustered to block a funding
measure that would halt Obamas immigration actions, so Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) decided to hold two votes
one on defunding those actions, and the other on a clean bill that
funds the agency in its entirely.
But some conservative lawmakers are pushing back against that
plan, and Heritage Action, the prominent conservative group, said it
will score a clean bill as an affirmative vote for immigration
amnesty.
If the question is whether I will vote to fund the presidents executive
amnesty program, no I will not, and Id ask my colleagues to stand
with me, Lee said at CPAC.

Ben Carson: If youre black

and oppose progressive
agenda, youre crazy


Ben Carson. (By Rod Lamkey Jr./Special to The Washington Times)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/26/ben-carson-labels-if-youre-blackand-oppose-progre/?page=all
By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times
Thursday, February 26, 2015

Kicking off a slate of speakers at the annual Conservative Political

Action Conference (CPAC), retired neurologist Ben Carson alluded to

his recently being added and removed from an extremist watch list
in criticizing what he called the lefts propensity to relabel and name
things.
For instance, if youre pro-life, then youre anti-woman, he said at the
Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. If youre protraditional family, then youre a homophobe. If youre white and you
oppose a progressive black person, youre a racist. If youre black and
you oppose the progressive agenda, youre crazy.
And if youre black and you oppose the progressive agenda, and youre
pro-life, and youre pro-family, they dont even know what to call you,
he continued. I mean, you end up on some kind of watch list for
extremists.
Amid significant criticism, the Southern Poverty Law Center recently
apologized and removed an Extremist File it had posted in the fall on
Mr. Carson.
Mr. Carson has been near the top of recent polling on potential GOP
presidential contenders in 2016, and has recently secured several
commitments for staffers who would handle finances on his would-be
presidential campaign.
He rose to prominence in some conservative circles after criticizing
President Obamas health care overhaul in front of Mr. Obama at the
National Prayer Breakfast in 2013. He later said he declined a
suggestion from one of the organizers that he apologize.
It really is not compassion to pat people on the head and say, There,
there, poor little thing, Im going to take care [of] all your needs your
health care and your food and your housing, dont you worry about
anything, he said Thursday. Thats not compassion, thats the opposite
of compassion. That is making people dependent.
What real compassion is is using our intellect to find ways to allow
those people to climb out of dependency and realize the American
dream, he continued. Its about investing in our fellow human beings
it is our responsibility to take care of the indigent it is not the
governments responsibility.

He called for Congress to pass a health care alternative for Obamacare

and praised health savings accounts, which many Republicans have
offered as one part of a fix.
Im ready for a country that puts our Constitution on the top shelf, he
said to applause. And to those who have any doubt, that includes the
Second Amendment.
Mr. Carson went on to call for taking restraints off the U.S. economy,
developing natural energy resources, leadership on the world stage,
school choice, a balanced budget and a fair taxation system that allows
[us] to get rid of the IRS.
He also called for a strong military and taking care of the countrys
veterans.
We shouldnt submit to the PC police and to people who are trying to
control us by intimidation and by IRS audits and by messing with your
job, he added. The only reason they can do that is because we sit
silently by thats what they want us to do.
Freedom is not free it must be fought for, he said.

Ben Carson: Government

dependency is 'opposite of
compassion'
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/233923-carson-government-dependency-is-oppositeof-compassion
February 26, 2015, 09:36 am
By Ben Kamisar

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson opened the Conservative Political Action

Conference Thursday morning with a professorial speech that
slammed liberal government programs and policies, previewing
themes of a potential 2016 presidential bid.
It really is not compassionate to pat people on the head and say,
There there, you poor little thing. Im going to take care of all of your
needs, he told the crowd.
Thats not compassion, thats the opposite of compassion. It's making
people dependent. What real compassion is, is using our intellect to
find ways to allow those people to climb out of dependency and
realize the American dream.
Carson added during the segments brief question-and-answer period
that hes not interested in getting rid of the safety net, but instead
interested in getting rid of dependency.

The former neurosurgeon ticked off a laundry list of conservative ideas

including abolishing the IRS, protecting gun rights, and limiting
governments involvement in healthcare and education, with each
getting increasing applause from the friendly crowd.
Im not ready for Hillary, but what am I ready for? he asked, chiding
assumed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Im ready for a country that puts our Constitution on the top shelf,
every part of it.
He also spoke about his healthcare expertise, warning that
Republicans need to come up with a strong alternative to the
Affordable Care Act before the party works to repeal it. And he also
showed support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead
of his controversial speech to Congress next week.
While Carson has never held elected office, he rose to prominence
within the conservative movement with a passionate speech at the
National Prayer Breakfast in 2013. Hes performed well in national
polling of a hypothetical 2016 field a Real Clear Politics average of
those polls has Carson in fourth place.
His CPAC speech is the first in the annual three-day event filled with
speeches from conservative politicians and potential presidential
hopefuls. The event is seen as an important launching point for likely
presidential candidates looking to make inroads with the party's base.

Rand Paul at CPAC: The

government can quite frankly
get lost!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/02/26/rand-paul-atcpac-the-government-can-quite-frankly-get-lost/

By Katie Zezima
February 26



Will Paul's message again work at CPAC?(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,

File)

Rand Paul has always been somewhat of a rock star at the

Conservative Political Action Conference which, in past
years, has shown a decided libertarian bent.
This year, Paul is hoping for more of the same. The
Republican senator from Kentucky will address the
conference Friday, laying out more of his signature
message of small government and personal freedom.
"We must remember that our rights are unlimited, unenumerated, and given to us by God," Paul will say,
according to excerpts of his speech. "Your rights are who
you are. Your rights are what you are. Your rights are in
your DNA and the government can -- quite frankly - get
lost!"
The potential 2016 presidential candidate has been widely
embraced at the conference, bringing in throngs of
supporters wearing "Stand with Rand" gear and handily
winning its straw poll for the past two years. The
conference has been a family affair of sorts; Paul's father,
former Texas congressman Ron Paul, won the straw poll in
2010 and 2011.
Rand Paul cited familial ties on Fox News on Wednesday but not his own. Instead, he took aim at former Florida
governor Jeb Bush, a rival who will be looking to solidify
his standing among the Republican base at the event.
Paul said that Bush's having a father and brother who were
both president "tends to draw some attention," but he
believes that Bush may have some issues at CPAC.
"We think there will be a lot of friendly faces for us.
There's definitely a place for moderates, but it may not be

the same level of enthusiasm for moderates at this

conference," Paul said on "The Kelly File."
Paul has made clear that one of the core audiences he is
trying to attract both at the conference and beyond is
young people. Paul said that he can't predict the poll but
that he has spent a "lot of time going to universities,
talking to young people" about how the "government
ought to stay out of their lives." It's a message, he said,
that resonates with them.
Referring to another potential GOP presidential candidate.
Paul said he did not know much about Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker, but he continued to hit Bush, saying that
young people are "not very tolerant of hypocrisy." The idea
that Bush admitted that he smoked marijuana while "in an
elite prep school" but is "willing to put somebody in jail for
medical marijuana," Paul said, won't play well among
young people.

At CPAC, Ben Carson Lambasts

'Purveyors of Division
The surgeon-turned-likely-presidential-hopeful opened the
conference Thursday morning.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/at-cpac-ben-carsonlambasts-purveyors-of-division-20150226
February 26, 2015

BY EMMA ROLLER
If the White House had not invited the neurosurgeon-turned-conservative
star to the National Prayer Breakfast at Johns Hopkins, Carson would not
have had his chance to call out the president while standing five feet away
from hima speech that lit a fire in many conservatives who saw it, and led
Carson to the national stage.
Carson regained that stage on Thursday, when he gave the opening
address in the Gaylord Nelson Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.,
the annual pilgrimage site for Republican activists attending the
Conservative Political Action Conference.

In his speeches, Carson is known for harsh rhetoricsuch ascomparing

the United States to Nazi Germanydelivered in the tone of a
neuroscience lecture, or a lullaby. His delivery is reassured, but never
histrionic. The CPAC crowd loved it.
"If you're pro-traditional marriage, then you're a homophobe. ... If you're
black and you oppose the progressive agenda, then you're crazy. If you're
black and you oppose a progressive agenda, and you're pro-life, and you're
pro-family, they don't even know what to call you," Carson said Thursday.
"You end up on some sort of watch list for extremists."
That last bit drew from Carson's personal experience. The Southern
Poverty Law Center, a civil-rights advocacy group, added Carson to
its"extremist watch list" for being "anti-gay." After drawing outrage from
Carson's supporters, the SPLC removed Carson from the list and
apologized.
But aside from a few jabs at the "purveyors of division"a recurring theme
in recent speechesCarson's CPAC speech was fairly rhetoric-free. He
expounded on the benefits of health savings accounts, and insisted that
Republicans must first put forward their own health care legislation before
repealing the Affordable Care Act.
"They need to grasp a health care alternative before they remove
Obamacare if they really want to gain some traction," Carson said.
He also used his speech to riff on the true meaning of "compassion,"
saying that the welfare system often verges on condescension with a tone
of, "There, there, poor little thing, I'm going to take care of all your needs."
"That's not compassion. That is the opposite of compassion. That is making
people dependent," Carson said. "It is our responsibility to take care of the
indigent. It is not the government's responsibility."
He even cribbed from one of Obama's oft-repeated lines on the campaign
trail, calling on attendees to contact "Cousin Pookie sitting at home on the
couch" and tell him to vote. In Carson's version, Cousin Pookie became
"our uncle who hasn't voted in 20 years" and a grandmother who is "an
invalid," but the message of reaching out to less politically active family
members was the same.

In a question-and-answer session after his speecha new feature at this

year's conferenceCarson pivoted to talking points on terrorism and
education.
On Israel: "Let's not turn our backs on Netanyahu. Let's listen to what he
has to say."
On managing the threat against ISIS: "We have two choices: We can wait
and see what they're going to do and react to it, or we can destroy them
first."
On making America less divided: "We have a nation now where we have
people in the highest levels who exacerbate the division. They've created a
war on women, race wars, income wars. ... You name it, there's a war on
it," Carson said. "The real enemies are the people who are the purveyors of
division ... and I think we have to call them out on that."
On Common Core: Carson claimed that children who are homeschooled
perform the best, followed by those educated in private schools and charter
schools, with public school students performing the worst. "That's why we
need school choice. Common Core is not school choice," Carson said.
"Our public schools need to learn how to compete with that, but they don't
need some central government telling them how to do it."
On reaching out to minority communities: "I'm not interested in getting rid of
the safety net. I'm interested in getting rid of dependency. And I want us to
find a way to allow people to excel in our society, and as more and more
people hear that message, they will know who is truly on their side, and
who is trying to keep them repressed and cultivate their votes."
Carson has said he will decide about a run for president by May 1.

Ben Carson Tells CPAC

Crowd: We Need To 'Get
Rid Of The IRS'

"
AP Photo / Carolyn Kaster

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-cpac-get-rid-irs
ByBRENDAN JAMES
Published: FEBRUARY 26, 2015, 9:18 AM EST

Conservative darling and potential 2016 presidential contender Dr.

Ben Carson on Thursday told the audience at the Conservative
Political Action Conference that the nation should find a way to "get
rid of the IRS."
Carson kicked off his speech with a joke acknowledging that he'd
recently been placed on, then taken off, the Southern Poverty Law
Center's list of anti-gay "extremists."
"If you're black, and you oppose the progressive agenda, and you're
pro-life, and you're pro-family, they don't know what to call you," he
said, "you end up on some kind of watch list for extremists."
The former neurosurgeon then turned to politics proper, asking, "How
do we use the incredible brains God gave to recognize when things
dont work?"
Without delving into many specifics, Carson described his vision of a
country that "puts our Constitution on the top shelf and for those
who have any doubt, that includes the Second Amendment."
He ticked off his support for a list of conservative causes, from
balancing the budget to "school choice" to combating "radical Islamic
terror" and needled Democrats for raising issues with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled address to Congress next
month.
After saying that Iran, currently in nuclear negotiations with the U.S.,
is possibly an even graver threat than the Islamic State terror group,
he noted, "we have friends over there."
"Let's not turn our back on Israel," he said. "Let's listen to Netanyahu."
The audience offered Carson big applause when he envisioned a fair
taxation system that allows us to get rid of the IRS.
Carson also echoed President Barack Obama when he said that
conservatives needed to shake their families out of complacency and
get out the vote in 2016.
"We need to talk to our uncle that hasnt voted in 20 years," Carson
said.
During his 2008 campaign, Obama regularly delivered a similar line
about a "Cousin Pookie."
"If Cousin Pookie would vote, if Uncle Jethro would get off the couch
and stop watching SportsCenter and go register some folks and go to
the polls, we might have a different kind of politics," then-Sen. Obama
said.

CPAC 2015: Ben Carson kicks

off summit with speech
pushing getting rid of
dependency in America
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ben-carson-kicks-cpac-2015-anti-obamacare-speecharticle-1.2130015
BY ADAM EDELMAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, February 26, 2015, 9:15 AM

!
BLOOMBERG

Dr. Ben Carson was the first speaker at this years Conservative Political
Action Conference in Washington.

Tea Party favorite and potential 2016 presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson
kicked off the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, telling

an attentive audience that the next President must get rid of dependency
that some Americans might have on the U.S. government.
We need to understand what true compassion is to reach out to individuals
who think that being dependent is reasonable as long as they feel safe,
said Carson, the first speaker to address this years annual keynote
conservative conference. Its not compassion to pat them on the head and
say, There, there, Im going to take care of all your needs, your health
care, your food.' Thats the opposite of compassion.
Im not interested in getting rid of a safety net, Im interested in getting rid
of dependency, Carson said, prompting one in a series of raucous rounds
of applause.
The 63-year-old Carson, a former pediatric neurosurgeon, has gained favor
among Tea Party supporters in recent years with his preference for limited
government and came in third place in last years closely watched CPAC
Straw Poll, which always closes the yearly conference.
This year, Carson spent much of his 12-minute address ripping President
Obamas Affordable Care Act as well as other federal entitlement programs,
telling the crowd that Obamacare is about restriction and control.
Everything that these programs were supposed to fix has gotten worse,
he said.
Carson went on to briefly touch on a series of ideas that are typically wellreceived among conservatives, including trimming the national debt and
reducing the size of government.
One of the things that is going to destroy us as a nation is our debt, he
said, as several members of the audience yelled yes in support. The size
of our government needs to be going down and the debt needs to be going
down.
Carson also fielded a few questions during the question-and-answer
session about his views on foreign affairs, saying that the U.S. must take a
stronger leadership role in the world.
Im ready for leadership on the world stage and not just sitting around and
waiting to see what other people do, he said.
The four-day CPAC is commonly regarded by conservatives as a testing
ground for likely presidential candidates. Carson hasnt said whether he will
run.

POLITICS

Ben Carsons Not Ready for Hillary

but Is He Ready to Run Himself?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/02/26/ben-carsons-not-ready-for-hillarybut-is-he-ready-to-run-himself/
Feb. 26, 2015 9:13am
By: Zach Noble

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Hes still not committed to a run but

conservatives sure seem to want him to.
Dr. Ben Carson, the famed neurosurgeon who has been hinting at a 2016
presidential run for years, addressed the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference on Thursday morning, calling for school choice, the end of
Obamacare and enabling Americans to climb out of dependency and
realize the American Dream.

!
Ben Carson, possible 2016 presidential candidate, speaks during the Conservative
Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015.
(Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Before he spoke, a healthy contingent of Carson supporters waited in the

halls outside the ballroom, wearing Run Ben Run T-shirts.

The Ben Carson supporters are out in force today

But Carson was careful to say, If I decide to run you have to say those
things, when asked about his presidential ambitions.
He marveled at the lefts relabeling of things.
If youre pro-life, youre anti-woman. If youre pro-traditional family, youre
a homophobe. If youre white, and you oppose a progressive black person,
youre racist. If youre black and you oppose a progressive agenda, youre
crazy. And if youre black and youre pro-life and youre pro-traditional
family, they dont even know what to call you. You end up on some kind of
watch list for extremists! he said.
Citing the rise in the use of food stamps, broken families and out-ofwedlock births since the 1960s, Carson declared that government

programs aimed at ending poverty had failed, and said that individuals
should shoulder the responsibility for taking care of the downtrodden.
It is our responsibility to take care of the indigent, it is not the governments
responsibility, he said.
Carson also touted his alternative to Obamacare, saying that the Affordable
Care Act is about redistribution and control.
The things Carson said destroy us as a nation: our debt and radical
Islamic terrorists, all over the world.
He also cautioned against focusing exclusively on the Islamic State.
The Shia in Iran are every bit as dangerous, perhaps even more
dangerous [than the Islamic State], he said.
When asked about his views on Common Core, Carson called for school
choice, saying that hes found that, Homeschoolers do the best, private
schoolers next best, charter schoolers next best and public schoolers do
the worst.
He may not be ready to commit to a presidential run but what is Carson
ready for?
Im not ready for Hillary. Im ready for a country that puts our Constitution
on the top shelf. And for those that have any doubt, that includes the
Second Amendment. Im for a country where we take the restraints off the
most dynamic economy the world has ever known, he said.
He also called for the development of natural resources while looking for
alternative energy sources and caring for the environment.
God gave us these fancy brains so we can do more than one thing at a
time, Carson said.
Carson received standing ovations both when he took and left the stage
but the biggest cheers came when Carson praised veterans and called for
a fair tax system that allows us to get rid of the IRS.

Carson Urges GOP to Propose

Alternative Before Obamacare Repeal
Efforts
Islamic militancy threatens to destroy the United States, he
contends.
By: Phil Mattingly
Feb 26, 2015 9:24 AM EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-26/carson-urges-gop-to-proposealternative-before-obamacare-repeal-efforts

Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has been lighting up

conservative crowds across the country, called for the country to move
in a "new direction" Thursday while pressingRepublican lawmakers to
propose a viable alternative to the Affordable Care Act before trying to
repeal President Barack Obama's cornerstone domestic policy
achievement.
"They need to grasp a healthcare alternative before they try and remove
Obamacare if they really want to gain some traction," Carson told the
crowd at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in
National Harbor, Md. Carson has proposed a system of health savings
accounts to cover most individual health care needs.
Carson, who has been hiring senior staff for a potential presidential run,
ticked through a series of critiques of the current administration on
domestic and foreign policy. He said radical Islam "threatens to destroy"
the U.S., though he pointed to "the Shia in Iran" as "every bit as
dangerous if not more dangerous" than the Islamic State.

The first speaking slot of the event is never ideal, with the traditionally
boisterous crowd trickling in over the course of the remarks, and the
ballroom was only half-full for his appearance. Still, Carson, who is
polling higher than top potential establishment candidates Jeb Bush, the
former Florida governor, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, in
surveys of potential Iowa Republican caucus-goers, received a standing
ovation on his introduction.
Raised in poverty in Detroit and Boston, Carson rose to become one of
the world's premier neurosurgeons, the first to successfully separate
twins conjoined at the back of the head. He was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, has more than 60
honorary doctorate degrees, and serves on the boards of Kellogg Co. and
Costco Wholesale Corp. His foundation, Carson Scholars Fund, is
operating in all 50 states and has pledged nearly $6 million in
scholarships to students for academic and humanitarian achievement.
That background, along with his blunt breakdowns ofthe perceived
failings of the country under Obama, has helped make him a regular in
the top tiers of polls throughout early Republican primary states. (What
they need to do is defund everything,including his golf, he said at a
separate CPAC event on Thursday.)
His remarks Thursday tracked closely with a stump speech that has been
refined in events in as many as four or five states per week over the past
year. Carson attacked Democrats for social welfare programs and chided
Republicans who declined to speak out about their beliefs.
"We have to stop sitting silently by and express ourselves," Carson said.

CPAC 2015: things to watch

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
BY MARTINBARILLAS
http://www.speroforum.com/a/DLGACQXUQM0/75611-CPAC-2015-things-towatch#.VQnYrIuIdG4

The annual conference of the American Conservative Union, or

CPAC, gets into gear on February 26 and promises to allow
voters to take a look at Republican presidential hopefuls as they
make appeals to conservative activists. Among the personalities
slated to appear at the event at National Harbor near Washington
DC are Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Scott Walker, Senator Rand Paul,
Gov. Chris Christie, and former governor Jeb Bush. For Bush, it
will aord him the first opportunity to engage with the grassroots

of the conservative movement and test the water for potential

supporters for a possible presidential run.

The movement has taken on a more libertarian caste of late,

thereby giving Sen. Paul a more solid platform. A highlight of the
conference will be the contention between the libertarian urges of
politicos such as Paul, and middle of the road Republicans such
as Bush. In recent days, activist and author Phyllis Schlafly who
has been a conservative stalwart for decades ever since Barry
Goldwater ran for president in the early 1960s bashed
kingmakers and Washington political consultants for virtually
crowning former governor Bush. The founder of the influential
Eagle Forum recently wrote, Do you get the message that the
media buildup for Jeb Bush has begun and that the 2016
Republican National Convention may simply nominate for
president another Establishment loser candidate? Schlafly has
long argued that conservatives should serve to influence the
Republican party rather than mirror it. Such dierences will be
aired at CPAC on several issues.

1) Immigration

Jeb Bush has alienated many conservatives because of his

stance on immigration. Recently, he has shown support for a
path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. In 2014, he drew the ire
of conservatives when he said immigrants who enter the US
illegally do so as an act of love. Gov. Chris Christie has refused
to pin down his own views on immigration, even while he signed
legislation in 2014 that permits in-state tuition for illegal
immigrants studying at New Jersey colleges. Christie has lost
some key donors to Bush. Conservative radio and TV personality
Laura Ingraham is slated to interview Christie on stage at CPAC,
thus aording him an opportunity to define himself on the issue.
Ingraham is largely credited with the downfall of former House

Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia district ahead of the

2014 primary that saw him stumble.

2) Ted Cruz vs. Rand Paul

Sen. Paul, who garnered 31 percent in the 2014 CPAC straw poll,
got triple the votes won by Sen. Cruz. In 2014, Cruz got an early
morning speaking slot on the opening day of CPAC. But this year,
he will speak at 1:40 p.m. on Feb. 27. If Cruz cannot rally the
CPAC crowd and thus increase his straw poll votes, he may be
seen as less-than-presidential timber. Cruz will field questions
from Fox News personality Sean Hannity.

3) Peanut gallery

This year, CPAC organizers are requiring each presidential

hopeful to submit to at least six minutes of questions as part of
the 20 minutes they are on stage. Unscripted answers and pithy
quotes, such as former governor Mitch Romney's severely
conservative gae, are expected.In the case of Bush and Sen.
Marco Rubio, both will use the 20 minutes at their disposal to
answer questions lofted by Sean Hannity.CPAC is also accepting
questions for the candidates from Twitter.

4) The CPAC straw poll

Presidential contenders have turned out supporters in years past

to vote for them at previous CPAC straw polls. Romney bused
students to CPAC in 2012, and bought tickets for others to
ensure a favorable showing. But it was Rand Paul who won the
straw poll the past two years.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush bombed a CPAC speech in

2013, and skipped the 2014 confab. If Bush is able to work the
crowd he may get a favorable showing in the poll. He is good on

his feet when answering questions, rather than working from a

teleprompter.

5) Social conservatives

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is a notable social

conservative who will be absent at this years CPAC: which has
been taken as evidence of the increasingly libertarian caste of the
ACU. Some social conservatives feel marginalized at CPAC. For
example, the president of Log Cabin Republicans which
supports same-sex marriage will be featured at a CPAC panel.

Huckabee signaled his presidential ambitions by resigning from

his Fox News show. His 2014 speech at CPAC did not light a fire
among activists. He garnered only 2 percent in the CPAC straw
poll that year. This year, he will be visiting South Carolina and
Tennessee instead.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum is not expected to emphasize social

issues such as abortion at CPAC. Evangelical Christians were a
major support for the Catholic Pennsylvanian who was a
firebrand for moral issues. But this year he will focus on foreign
policy in his speech.

Bill Donohue - who leads the Catholic League - denounced

CPAC for having extended an invitation to David Silverman of
American Atheists to speak in 2014. Calling it a "disgrace,"
Donohue said in a statement last year "There is more than
incompetence at work here. CPAC is a disgrace. They should
have learned by now that big tents have a way of collapsing in
the middle."

6) Breakout stars

Failed Senate candidate Carly Fiorina will take a coveted time

slot between Christie and Cruz, thus ensuring a large audience.
Having recently taken swipes at former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO has emboldened those
who are looking for a woman to contend with the Clinton
candidacy. This means she will have a huge audience. She is
expected to deliver remarks about foreign policy and the US
response to Russia. Since she is on the board of the American
Conservative Union, the sponsor of CPAC, she is considered a
favorite.

Other breakout stars will have a chance at CPAC. The initial

speaker on Feb. 26 is neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Also on hand is
Rick Perry, who speaks on Feb. 27 after Sen. Rubio. Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal will also have a opportunity to gain lost
ground since his disastrous 2009 Republican response to
Obamas State of the Union address. He will be sandwiched
between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin.

MIKE LEE TO CPAC: DEMAND

GOOD CONSERVATIVE
CANDIDATES

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/26/mike-lee-to-cpacdemand-good-conservative-candidates/
By: DAN RIEHL
26 Feb 2015

In his 2016 CPAC address, Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) told his
audienceonly a serious principled, positive, proven conservative
candidate can win the general election.
Principled means being conservative every single day, not just
during the campaign, said Lee, adding that a principled
conservative doesnt hide behind talking points. At one point,
Lee invoked Reagans call for a robust debate, yet also seemed to
split with the former president. Lee made the point that the right
conservative candidate for 2016 will engage moderates. In 1975,
Reagan notably said at CPAC,let them go their way.
In terms of being positive, said Lee, its not enough to fight
against whats in front of you. Its about the kind of country we
do want, not about the kind of government we dont, he said.
As for being proven, Lee called for a candidate who has both won
elections and demonstrated they deserved to win after being in
office. As for moderates, Lee said the right candidate can attract
both conservatives and moderates, without alienating either.
Finally, Lee said, in terms of the Republican party selecting the
right candidate to win in 2016, its more about what we do now
as individuals, as opposed to any candidate. candidates take their
cues from voters, said Lee, calling on individuals to expect more
from our leaders and ourselves, while not falling for just a guy
who can shout freedom the loudest.
Bad candidates are notmedias fault, or the establishments
fault, said Lee, its our fault. Finally, he said, we need to
demand them to be good candidates.
In a brief question and answer exchange, asked about voting for
funding for the Department of Homeland Security given the
ongoing debate in Congress, Lee said he would not vote to fund
DHS given Barack Obamas unconstitutional executive amnesty.

Republican centrists look to Jeb

Bush
2-26-15 6:39 AM EST

By Beth Reinhard and Reid J. Epstein

http://news.morningstar.com/all/market-watch/TDJNMW2015022661/
republican-centrists-look-to-jeb-bush.aspx
But the policy positions of some backers could complicate his outreach
to conservative voters
Jeb Bush is drawing contributions from Republicans who favor gay
marriage and other causes at odds with the GOP base, signaling his
potential appeal across a large swath of his party's ideological
spectrum but also potential challenges to winning his party's
presidential nomination.
Last week, the hosts of a Chicago fundraiser for Bush's super PAC
included supporters of citizenship for illegal immigrants and of gay
marriage, a former gubernatorial candidate who has backed abortion
rights, and a major Republican donor who had given money to thenSen. Barack Obama as a rejection of the GOP's right wing.
Backing from centrist Republicans is helping Bush, who pursued a
sharply conservative agenda as Florida governor, dominate the
national polls and fundraising circuit. But it may complicate his
outreach to conservatives who play pivotal roles in the GOP
nominating process.
An early test looms Friday at the Conservative Political Action
Conference in Washington, where Bush will make his first appearance
before an audience of conservative activists since he began preparing
for a 2016 campaign in December.

Trump says he is serious about

2016 bid, is hiring staff and
delaying TV gig
http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/nation-world-news/trump-says-heserious-about-2016-bid-hiring-staff-and-delaying-tv-gig
February 26, 2015 - 1:01am
By Robert Costa
This time, Donald Trump says, he really means it.
The billionaire real-estate mogul long amounting to a one-man circus
sideshow in GOP presidential politics said in an interview Wednesday that he
is more serious than ever about pursuing a run for the White House in 2016.
In recent days, Trump said, he has hired staffers in key primary states, retained
an election attorney and delayed signing on for another season as host of NBCs
Celebrity Apprentice because of his political projects.
Everybody feels Im doing this just to have fun or because its good for the
brand, Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post. Well, its not fun.
Im not doing this for enjoyment. Im doing this because the country is in serious
trouble.
The moves are the most significant steps yet by Trump, 68, toward a bona fide
presidential bid, which he considered briefly and flamboyantly in 2011 before
deciding against a run.
The looming question, however, is whether he can convince Republicans that he
is more than a celebrity bomb-thrower and instead is sincere in his consideration
of a campaign. Trump is slated to appear ahead of former Florida governor Jeb
Bush on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual
gathering of conservatives near Washington.
Trump in recent years has served largely as a provocateur and carnival barker on
the sidelines of Republican politics, flirting with birtherism and making other
remarks casting doubt on President Barack Obamas credentials and love of
country. GOP nominee Mitt Romney frequently shared the stage with Trump in

often awkward appearances during the 2012 campaign, providing ample fodder
for Democratic attack ads.
At a meeting Monday in New York with Reince Priebus, the chairman of the
Republican National Committee, Trump said he was actively mulling a
presidential run and acknowledged the necessity of formalizing his interest,
according to people familiar with the conversation. Priebus, who will remain
neutral in the 2016 primaries, took the meeting because of Trumps status as a
prominent donor to the RNC.
For the moment, Trumps just-tapped consultants will be employed by his
personal office, but they are likely to transition over to a new political group in the
coming weeks. Donald McGahn, a partner at Jones Day, is counseling the
businessman as he takes further steps.
Corey Lewandowski, a former director of voter registration at Americans for
Prosperity, a group backed by conservative industrialists Charles and David
Koch, has been asked by Trump to serve as his senior political adviser and
manager for the campaign-in-waiting.
Alan Cobb, a former political adviser at Koch Industries, is another Republican
who has signed on with Trump and is assisting with recruitment.
Based in New Hampshire, Lewandowski will direct Trumps efforts in the first
presidential primary and nationally if Trump jumps into the race later this year.
Lewandowski, in an interview Wednesday, said he was hired by Trump in
January and has since been quietly working with him to map out a strategy for
the 2016 primaries that would enable Trump to run as a political outsider with a
coalition of disaffected conservatives.
The dysfunction of Washington and politics as usual drew me away from other
candidates and toward someone whos gotten something done in the business
world, Lewandowski said. To doubters, he said, Wait and see. Mr. Trump is
going to reintroduce himself to the American public. This is going to be a real
contest and no one wants to see a coronation.
On the television front, Trump said he is keeping his options open and holding off
on signing on for another season as host of Celebrity Apprentice, which NBC
renewed earlier this month for a 15th season.
Nunberg said while Trump is open to doing the show, he has told NBC he cannot
commit to hosting it.
Trump said his pitch is straightforward and meant to reach voters who are fed up
with the political system, mixing conservative populism and a blunt message
about leadership.
People around the world are laughing at us, he said. Look at China, theyre
killing us, taking our jobs. We have weakness in the Middle East and with ISIS.
We have incompetent people running the country and Im tired of it.

Walker under the

microscope at CPAC

By Cameron Joseph
02/26/15 06:00 AM EST
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233903-under-the-microscope

Scott Walker is looking to cement his status as the rising GOP star to
watch at this years Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
The Wisconsin governor has vaulted ahead of most of his potential
presidential competitors in recent polls to become former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush's (R) biggest early threat, helped by a raved-about speech

in Iowa last month and his new moves to smash private sector unions
in his home state.
Walkers strengths play better among the red-meat CPAC crowd than
Bushs, and a strong performance could even put him ahead of the
usual conference straw poll favorite, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
The piece you want is people writing is that he's cemented himself as
one of the top candidates or first among equals, said Americans for
Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, who sits on the board of the
American Conservative Union (ACU), which sponsors the event.
[People] need to be able to walk out of that room and repeat 'here's
the Wisconsin success story,' [and list] three or four things that hes
accomplished, Norquist added.
Conservatives have rallied around Walker following a skirmish with the
media for ducking what he called "gotcha" questions about President
Obamas faith and patriotism. The fight has knocked him off message
for the last few days, but it hasnt hurt him in new polls. How he
handles the fight during his Thursday evening appearance will be
telling.
Blaming the media is a great applause line at CPAC, but it's not a
strategy for becoming the next president of the United States, said
GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway, who also sits on the ACU board.
Walkers CPAC speech and the following question-and-answer
session give him an opportunity talk about his Wisconsin record and
attempt to prove to Republican activists and kingmakers that he can
sustain his momentum.
It's a good time to refocus, said Walker ally and Wisconsin-based
GOP lobbyist Brandon Scholz.
A Walker aide says the governor plans to focus on his history of
reforms in Wisconsin including the union fight, education reform and
tax cuts, and hold his record up as an example of how a full spectrum
conservative can win huge battles in a purple state as a guide for
Republicans across the country.
The aide didnt respond to questions about whether hell bring up the
recent media fight or whether hell highlight efforts in the state to pass
right to work legislation that would gut private sector unions, a push
Walker had previously said would be a distraction.

Walker will be at CPAC both Thursday and Friday, holding meetings

with donors and activists, and giving interviews to conservative media
outlets.
The events annual straw poll results on Saturday evening will provide
an early glimpse on how hes doing at solidifying his conservative
support. The poll can be a momentum-builder, though its far from a
perfect test of a candidates true strength. The events audience tends
to skew a lot younger and more libertarian than the GOP as a whole,
and participants routinely spend heavily to bus people in and pay for
CPACs expensive tickets.
Those who win the straw poll traditionally have delivered a strong
performance at CPAC but also fill the room with people who believe in
them, said Conway, who is running the straw poll. You can convert or
persuade some in the audience, but it's also the legwork that's been
done up to that moment in filling a room with your supporters.
At this early point in the 2016 cycle, Walker is doing well where it
counts most: He has led three of the last four polls of Iowa voters, two
of the last four in New Hampshire, both early-voting states, and he is
running neck-and-neck with Bush nationally.
Those numbers mean heightened expectations for Walker as he takes
the stage Thursday.
He's exceeded expectations and forced people to do a double take
and say maybe this Iowa speech wasn't a fluke. There was a process
to capitalize on it, said Scholz. Moving through into CPAC, there is
some pressure on him, now the expectations are there. He's under
the microscope now.

CPAC could make or break

Rubio
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/233902-cpac-could-make-or-breakrubio
February 26, 2015, 06:00 am
By Jessica Taylor

Marco Rubio has a lot to prove at this years Conservative Political

Action Conference (CPAC).
The right soured on the onetime conservative movement darling, after
he backed the 2013 Senate immigration reform bill, and he finished a
disappointing seventh in last years CPAC straw poll of potential GOP
presidential candidates.

Two years later, the Republican senator from Florida is eyeing a 2016
White House run and working hard to mend fences with the GOPs
base. How he fares when he takes the stage Friday morning will go a
long way toward showing whether he can be successful.
Rubio has rebounded recently within the party, in part because of his
expertise on foreign policy.
After President Obama announced his decision to ease relations with
Cuba, Rubio became the leading GOP voice of opposition.
Amid growing threats from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS),
Rubio has pointed to his own past warnings about the threats of
Islamic extremism.
In contrast to the more isolationist-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a
favorite in this years straw poll, Rubio has advocated for military
action against ISIS and tougher sanctions on Iran.
When those differences were put on display at a forum last month at
the Iowa Freedom Summit backed by conservative donors Charles
and David Koch the contrast was widely seen as helping Rubio.
Instead of delivering a red-meat speech, Rubio will participate in an
interview with Fox Newss Sean Hannity. Immigration is certain to
come up, given Hannitys interest in the issue and the debate among
Republicans about tying legislation that would overturn President
Obamas immigration actions to funding for the Department of
Homeland Security.
Immigration questions have dogged Rubio in media appearances
promoting the release of his new book, American Dreams: Restoring
the Land of Opportunity, both from conservatives unhappy with his
initial work on the comprehensive reform bill and other pro-reform
advocates frustrated that Rubio, who they saw as one of them,
abandoned them.
Rubio has been unafraid to defy the political odds in pursuing a
presidential run over reelection to the Senate, and CPAC gives him a
chance to contrast his candidacy not only with Paul, but with two other
rivals.
The first is his onetime mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose
decision to explore a campaign is a huge challenge for Rubio because
they come from the same state.

The two will speak on the same day at CPAC, and theres some
reason to think the crowd could respond more positively to Rubio than
Bush.
While the senator has backed off his support for comprehensive
immigration reform, Bush has been full-throated in calling for changes
including giving legal status to illegal immigrants. On the right, Bushs
statement from last year that many illegal immigrants come to the
country as an act of love went over poorly.
Rubio also skipped the Iowa Freedom Summit last month, where Gov.
Scott Walker (R-Wis.) made a substantial splash.
That appearance helped Walker, who will also speak at CPAC,
emerge as a top contender for the GOP presidential nomination; he is
attractive to both grassroots conservatives and establishment
Republicans. He could be a major rival to Rubio if the Floridian hopes
to get traction in next years primaries.
Notably, the politicians different strategies in responding to former
New York City Mayor Rudy Giulianis comments that President Obama
doesnt love America received a ton of attention last week. Walker at
first doubled down, while Rubio said he wouldnt question the
presidents patriotism but did disagree with his policies.
Something Rubio might be more interested in highlighting is his
foreign policy experience compared to Walkers.
Rubio burst onto the national stage during the advent of the Tea Party,
forcing then-Gov. Charlie Crist out of the Florida GOP Senate primary
and eventually defeating Crist, when he ran as an Independent.
When he arrived in Washington, the freshman senator was hailed as a
young face the party badly needed. A February 2013 Time magazine
cover proclaimed him The Republican Savior.
Since then, hes become more of an establishment figure, something
that has made powerful donors such as the Koch brothers take notice.
To win in 2016, Rubio must win over the GOP establishment and parts
of the grass roots that give the Republican Party its energy.
The efforts to fully rehabilitate himself with the base and prove why
hes a top-tier candidate will start Friday at CPAC.

A Former Senior Senate GOP Leader Is

Ready for a Comeback. Who Knew?
By David Hawkings
Posted at 5 a.m. on Feb. 26
http://blogs.rollcall.com/hawkings/a-former-senior-senate-gop-leaders-ready-for-acomeback-who-knew/

!
(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Hes looking a little tan, sounding rested and signaling hes ready. Hes a
former senator from a big swing state who was a senior member of the
congressional leadership. He was even the runner-up for his partys
presidential nomination last cycle.

So where is Rick Santorum these days? Not only has he not cleared the
2016 field, he isnt even close to cracking the top ranks of potential
Republican candidates.
Myriad events some readily apparent, others currently unimaginable
will shift the shape of the jumbled and sprawling GOP field many times
before the actual voting starts almost a year from now. One of the set
pieces is the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which lasts
through Saturday.
Santorum is among 15 potential candidates scheduled to speak hes got
20 minutes starting at noon Friday, sandwiched between Donald Trump
and Jeb Bush and how hes received by the partys most conservative
and libertarian activists will offer a decent clue about whether his comeback
bid stands a chance.
For now, the numbers suggest Santorum is as much of a long shot as he
appeared to be four years ago, when he was running for president the first
time. His support among GOP voters, based on an average of the past four
national surveys by Real Clear Politics, stands at 2.3 percent tied for
10th place with Bobby Jindal, the governor and former House member from
Louisiana.
Probably more concerning for Santorum is the fact hes averaged 5 percent
in the last quartet of polls of potential Iowa caucus attendees, leaving him
in eighth place. But it was his late surge from obscurity to a victory in Iowa
three years ago (he edged Mitt Romney by a miniscule 34 votes) that
propelled him into that years top tier. Before dropping out in April, he had
won 10 additional states, 3.9 million primary or caucus votes and 234
pledged convention delegates.
Its not unreasonable to assume that, if hes going to be a real contender
next year, hell have to begin by making lightning strike twice in the opening
contest, where his type of social conservatism has particular resonance
among caucus-goers. Hes spent more than 10 days this year in Iowa
still sporting his trademark sweater vest and has also made a couple of
visits to gauge support in South Carolina, home of the other early contest
next year where the culture wars especially resonate.
In recent appearances and interviews, Santorum is signaling that his
strategy assumes the conservative GOP base remembers his social views,
allowing him to downplay his opposition to abortion and gay rights while
concentrating on selling his conservative economic populism: Too many
immigrants, legal and illegal, and too much federal regulation in areas from
education to the environment, are holding back economic advancement for
the middle class.

We have to be not just the pro-growth, but the pro-worker party, he said
on Fox News last month, reprising a 2012 theme he hopes has more
currency in the current electoral climate, where theres bipartisan frustration
with income inequality. We need to target policies that make sure
everybody, low-income folks in all income groups and ethnicities, has a
shot at the American dream.
Hes also said his grounding for the presidency is superior to others hoping
to be the candidate of evangelicals and other social conservatives, namely
former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.
To those who spend their lives on Capitol Hill, Santorums congressional
rsum sounds tough to beat, delivering a breadth and depth of both
foreign and domestic policy experience few 2016 rivals can match. He was
on Ways and Means while representing the Pittsburgh suburbs for four
years in the House, and during the following dozen years as a
Pennsylvania senator he not only was chairman of subcommittees on
Finance, Armed Services and Agriculture, but also spent six years heading
the GOP conference the No. 3 elected party leadership job, which put
him in charge of shaping the messaging for his caucus.
(To be sure, the bottom line on that rsum also includes one of the most
lopsided defeats of an incumbent senator in modern times. He took an 18point, 708,000-vote drubbing from Democrat Bob Casey in 2006, at least in
part because Santorum made a vigorous and often adversarial social
conservatism a hallmark of his tenure representing an ideologically mixed
state.)
Since his last presidential campaign, Santorum has taken the helm of a
Christian film production and distribution company, EchoLight Studios, and
worked to expand the reach of Patriot Voices, the grass-roots advocacy
group he created using lists of small-money donors and volunteers from
2012. (Its political action committee raised and spent $2 million during the
midterm cycle. Its most recent project was a petition drive to protest
President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration.)
Last year he published Blue Collar Conservatives, a manifesto for his
putative campaign. And last week, he and his wife, Karen, published
Bellas Gift, about rearing the youngest of their seven children, Isabella,
who has a usually fatal genetic disorder and whose medical challenges
pulled Santorum off the trail several times in 2012.
Perhaps as important as all that, Foster Friess, a mutual fund mogul who
donated more than $2 million to a Santorum super PAC last time, has
promised to help bankroll him again and to rally financial support from other
conservative millionaires.

Santorums party has a deep history of giving their presidential nod to the
guy next in line. Six of the seven non-incumbent Republican nominees in
the past half century had finished second in a previous national campaign.
(Starting with Richard M. Nixon in 1968, the only exception is George W.
Bush in 2000.)
From the outside, anyway, it looks as though Santorum has been doing all
the groundwork necessary to keep that amazing streak intact. All that
remains now is getting the Republican base to start noticing.

You're hired! Donald

Trump recruits campaign
staff for presidential bid
Republican businessman is said to have hired political strategists ahead of
potential 2016 presidential run.
PUBLISHED : February 26
http://www.metro.us/news/you-re-hired-donald-trump-recruits-campaign-staff-for-presidential-bid/
zsJobz---vzPLZODj9ImA/

BusinessmanDonaldTrumpspeaks at the Freedom Summit inDes Moines,Iowa, January 24,

2015.
Photo:REUTERS/Jim Young

Reuters Businessman Donald Trump is ramping up efforts for a 2016

presidential run, adding to a growing pool of potential Republican
candidates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Trump, whose wealth includes a huge real estate portfolio, several hotels
and the TV show "The Apprentice," has toyed with the possibility of running
for president before, but never actually entered the race.
The Post quoted Trump as saying in a telephone interview that he was
serious about running for the presidency in 2016 and that he would delay
his television plans for next year.
Trump joins a crowded group of Republicans who are considering a White
House run, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Arkansas
Governor Mike Huckabee and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
"Everybody feels I'm doing this just to have fun or because its good for the
brand, Trump, 68, told the Post. "Well, it's not fun. I'm not doing this for
enjoyment. I'm doing this because the country is in serious trouble."
According to recent news reports, Trump has hired well-known political
advisers, including Chuck Laudner, an Iowa conservative who helped Rick
Santorum in the latter's 2012 White House bid, Alan Cobb, a former
political adviser at Koch Industries, and Corey Lewandowski, a former
director of voter registration at Americans for Prosperity.
Trump has ruffled feathers with his persistent questioning of President
Barack Obama's place of birth, education and patriotism, and with his
sharp-tongued tweets.
Trump is expected to speak this week at the country's largest gathering of
conservatives, the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.

With 2016 on horizon, US

conservatives rally at CPAC
By Michael Mathes

February 26, 2015 1:51 AM

https://news.yahoo.com/2016-horizon-us-conservatives-rally-cpac-065112234.html

Washington (AFP) - Thousands of American conservatives will gather

just outside Washington beginning Thursday with a thinly-veiled
mission: vet the Republican politicians who might soon announce
bids for the White House.

This week's annual CPAC convention will see the right wing rallying
around core principles it hopes will shape the 2016 presidential
election.

But it is the politicians themselves -- and how they will be received by

the faithful -- that will take the spotlight.

The Conservative Political Action Conference is hard to put a label

on. But it is part Comic-Con industry trade show, and part Daytona
500, but with the eccentricity and creative ambition of experimental
event Burning Man.

While it appeals to young ideological conservatives converging on

Washington in the heart of winter -- the Potomac River, adjacent to
the event's National Harbor setting in Maryland, is nearly frozen over

-- CPAC attracts seasoned Republican A-listers who are virtually

assured of a warm reception.

Scheduled speakers include former Florida governor Jeb Bush, son

and brother of two presidents, as well as Senators Ted Cruz, Rand
Paul and Marco Rubio, all of whom have made no secret of their
White House interests.

View gallery

Senator Ted Cruz is one of the scheduled speakers at the Conservative Political Action
Conference Na

Also committed are former Texas governor Rick Perry, Louisiana

Governor Bobby Jindal, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie,
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Hewlett-Packard chief
executive Carly Fiorina.

Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential nominee and ever-present

conservative provocateur who has toyed this year with a potential
White House run, is a regular at CPAC, where she has taken pot shots
at "Obamacare" and the policies of potential Democratic frontrunner
Hillary Clinton.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump, ever the political flirt, will be on
hand too.

- 'Conservative policies matter' -

The GOP faithful will have closer access to their heroes this week
compared with last year, as organizers promise a more intimate stage
setting and Q&A sessions with headliners like Bush.

View gallery

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush speaks during the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in
Washington, DC

"We have to be able to reach (regular Americans) where they are and
explain to them why conservative policies matter," Matt Schlapp, who
heads the American Conservative Union (ACU) which hosts CPAC,
said on its website.

"In the last presidential campaign, that connection did not happen,"
he added, in a not-so-veiled dig at 2012 Republican nominee Mitt
Romney.

"They want a strong conservative who can convince people that

conservative ideas will fix these problems that the country faces."

Several potential candidates are expected to host meet-and-greets,

part of an eort to make the case that their policies shine most
brightly.

Along with the headliners, CPAC has lined up breakout sessions, with
names like "Can Islam and Democracy Co-exist?" and "Lies Told To
You By Liberals."

View gallery

Former Texas governor Rick Perry speaks at the American Principles Projects Red, White and
Blue Gala

And a straw poll will see CPAC attendees pick their 2016 presidential
favorite. Paul won last year with 31 percent of the vote, trouncing
second-place finisher Cruz.

The lawmakers' appearances may be brief: Congress is currently

playing political chicken over President Barack Obama's immigration
reform plan and the funding of the Department of Homeland Security.

The two Republicans who control Congress, Senate Majority Leader

Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, are seeking a
way out of the impasse by Friday, and are unlikely to appear at CPAC.

Conservative groups often highlight family values at CPAC, including

traditional marriage, and gay Republicans have not been particularly
welcome.

But inclusion-focused organizers made a point this year of burying

that tradition.

ACU announced Monday that the head of the Log Cabin

Republicans, a gay rights group, will appear on a panel Saturday
addressing aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Farage To Get Hero's Welcome

From US Group
The UKIP leader will share a stage with high-profile US
conservatives including Sarah Palin and NRA gun
lobbyists.
http://news.sky.com/story/1434350/farage-to-get-heros-welcome-from-usgroup
11:01, UK, Thursday 26 February 2015

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

Farage On Multiculturalism

UKIP leader Nigel Farage is expected to get a celebrity

reception in Washington when he addresses America's most
high-profile right-wing conference this week.
Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush and the National Rifle
Association (NRA) gun lobby will be sharing a stage with the
British politician after he was invited to address the
Conservative Political Action Committee in the US capital.
Aides told Sky News his philosophy has much in common with
his republican hosts, who also focus on "the battle for smaller
government and lower taxes and how an insurgent party can
become bigger".
That will go down a storm with much of his audience at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which
appeals to the right wing of the Republican party.
Tea party activists claim to have been fighting the same battle in
the US.
Aides say he has also been asked to share his expertise in
international relations, in particular his thoughts on Ukraine, the
Greek economic crisis and the possibility of Greece exiting the
eurozone.


Mr Farage's speech will take place after an address from Sarah Palin

The UKIP leader has reportedly built a loyal following in the US

as a regular guest on the right-of-centre cable channel Fox
News. He can expect a warm welcome.
In hyperbolic publicity released by CPAC ahead of his speech
on Thursday evening, he was described as a "political tour de
force" who has "emerged as a serious and viable candidate who
can run England in the near future".
The annual event offers a platform for mainstream politicians,
this year including presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, and the more
extreme fringe of America's fractious conservative movement.

Mr Farage's appearance is wedged between a speech from failed

vice-presidential contender Sarah Palin and what's been billed as
a "Good Guys' Reception", hosted by the all-powerful NRA.
On the way to the US, he said he hoped to find common ground
with his hosts.
"In Britain, we are fighting against the creation of a client-state,
against rampant corporatism, against a career political class that
services vested interests," he said.
He will find plenty of the above in both of America's massively
funded political parties, but CPAC aims to be more grassroots.
The rise of the Islamic State is likely to be on the agenda at the
conference, and Mr Farage spoke against any military
intervention during an interview with Fox News - something
that might put him at odds with some of his fellow speakers.
"We can provide expertise, we can provide help, but it's not
British and American boots that are going to beat this," he said.
"Weve got to work with all those Arab and African states
together."
Mr Farage cited Libya as a recent example in which he said
military intervention made things worse.
"We've now made Libya a country in which it's impossible to
live as a Christian. Let's think carefully before we get involved
in complicated military and social issues.
"This ISIS threat across the whole region - it is a real, genuine
evil, it won't be beaten by conventional warfare in a short space
of time."
The floors of the conference offer an eclectic mix. Tea Party
supporters in eighteenth century costume stride its halls.

Libertarians offer questionnaires testing delegates' political

purity. Anti-abortion groups hand round plastic foetuses and
there are activists opposed to greater gay rights.
Mr Farage's speech is followed by hors d'oeuvres, wine and
beer.
He may have to forego indulging his weakness for the latter if he
wants to catch his plane in time to fly home for his party's
annual conference in Margate on Friday.

Bush looks to woo reluctant

conservatives at CPAC
LEDYARD KING, THE NEWS-PRESS Washington bureau 10:52 p.m. EST February
25, 2015

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/25/bushlooks-woo-reluctant-conservatives-cpac/24035215/

!
(Photo: Paul Sancya)

WASHINGTON Jeb Bush has to convince the GOPs right wing he can
be trusted if he wants to win the partys presidential nomination in
2016.
Hell get an early chance Friday when he addresses the Conservative
Political Action Conference, an annual gathering of the nations most
influential Republicans. The former Florida governor is one of about a
dozen potential presidential candidates giving speeches at the four-day
conference.
Bush, expected to officially enter the race in the coming weeks, has
angered the far right by supporting comprehensive immigration reform and
backing uniform academic standards for public schools, known as Common
Core.
Tea party conservatives also are wary of a third Bush in the White House,
believing that the federal government grew too much under Bushs father,
George H.W. Bush, and brother, George W. Bush.
If Jeb Bush is jammed down our throats, we will not only not vote for Jeb
Bush (but) we will make sure the Democrat wins, said Tom Zawistowski, a
tea party activist from the Cleveland area and president of the Ohio
Citizens Political Action Committee, which supports fiscally conservative
candidates in the state.
Some say, how can you do that? But were sick of being played for fools,
he said. When you come to me and say Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton, my
question is, whats the difference?
The conservative group ForAmerica recently produced a short video calling
Bush unelectable because, as chairman of the National Constitution
Center in 2013, he presented Clinton with a public service award for her
advocacy of global womens rights.
The video expresses outrage that the ceremony took place on the eve of
the anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya,
that killed U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other embassy
workers. Many Republicans blame Clinton, then secretary of state, for
ignoring requests for additional security at the consulate.
ForAmericas chairman, L. Brent Bozell III, will speak to the CPAC audience
on Friday, about four hours before Bush.
In the top tier
Despite the right wings misgivings, Bush has emerged as an early
frontrunner for the nomination, largely as the establishment candidate. Hes
raised millions and his courtship of large donors has squeezed potential
rivals, such as Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio.

But its not clear how much it will matter to win the money race in key early
voting states that boast large blocs of conservative voters. That includes
Iowa, which holds the nations first presidential caucus.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday of 623 likely Iowa caucus
voters found that just as many respondents view Bush unfavorably (40
percent) as favorably (41 percent). Only New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
had worse numbers.
Bush has tried to emphasize his conservative credentials. Hes pro-life, free
trade, and pro-gun rights. And hes tried to redefine his support of Common
Core, saying he still supports the state-led effort to create national
standards but disapproves of the Obama administrations attempts to push
states to adopt them.
Immigration reform might be a tougher sell to right-wing Republicans. But
its not impossible, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union, which sponsors CPAC.
For conservatives, if you can show the economic need for immigration, I
think they can be convinced that there are steps that need to be taken,
Schlapp told USA Today. Nobodys endorsing the way it works now, but
give a real economic reason for the need to pass something. Theyll be
open to listening to that.
But even some tea party conservatives who think Bush was a good
governor arent ready to support him for president.
Kathy Jones, president of the Lee County Patriots in Southwest Florida,
would prefer a nominee whos further to the right. She named Indiana Gov.
Mike Pence, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
as possibilities.
She fears nominating Bush would depress turnout among conservatives in
the general election and help Democrats, just as in 2012 when former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the GOP nominee.
People will stay home because the Republicans refuse to mount
candidates that embrace conservative principles, she said. There are a lot
of good conservatives out there. Thats why its so baffling that were still
talking about these moderates.

Rand Paul: CPAC May

Not Be as Friendly to
'Moderate' Jeb Bush
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/rand-paul-jeb-bush-moderate-cpac/2015/02/25/
id/626950/
Wednesday, 25 Feb 2015 10:39 PM
By Greg Richter

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are both set to speech
at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting, but Paul
says he thinks his message will be better received than Bush's.

During an appearance Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "The Kelly

File," Paul noted that CPAC draws a more conservative crowd. He
stressed the word "conservative," which the first "C" in CPAC stands
for.
"There's definitely a place for moderates, but it may not be quite the
same level of enthusiasm for moderates at this conference," Paul said.
Paul has won the last two presidential straw polls at CPAC, but
wouldn't predict whether he would win a third time.
He said he has been taking his message to college campuses, and
CPAC draws a younger demographic.
Paul said young people won't like Bush because he is hypocritical on
marijuana legalization.

"I think if you talk to young people they're not very tolerant of
hypocrisy," Paul said. "And the fact that Jeb admits that when he was
in an elite prep school he smoked pot, but is still willing to put
somebody in jail for medical marijuana in Florida...."
Paul said he isn't critical of Bush for his wealth, but for not having
compassion on those facing drug charges who are not. Paul said most
people who go to jail for drugs are poor minorities, not wealthy white
people like Bush who got away with it.

Family's war record won't dictate his,

Jeb Bush says
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 at 10:24 PM

By: LESLEY CLARK, McClatchy Washington Bureau

http://service.meltwaternews.com/mnews/redirect.html?
docId=3895332003&userId=2980165&cId=93155&agentId=6320743&t
ype=1&s=99206&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmiamiherald.typepad.com
%2Fnakedpolitics%2F2015%2F02%2Ffamilys-war-record-wontdictate-his-jeb-bush-says.html

Jeb Bush said Wednesday his father and brothers decisions to declare
war in Iraq do not mean hed seek to avoid -- or to start -- another war.
Asked by radio talk show hostHugh Hewittin a wide ranging interview
whether or not hed be overly cautious to use military force for fear of
sparking a third Bush war, the former Florida governor said he
welcomed the question.
It wouldnt, Bush said, noting if he wins the Republican presidential
nomination and the presidency then I would have a duty to protect the
United States. And there are circumstances where a commander-in-chief,
the president of the United States has to make tough decisions.
He said he wouldnt be conflicted by any legacy issues of my family,
adding that hes quite comfortable being George Bushs son and George
Bushs brother.
Its something that gives me a lot of comfort on a personal level, and it
certainly wouldnt compel me to act one way or the other based on the

strategies that we would be implementing and the conditions that our

country would be facing, Bush said.
The interview with the conservative talk show host came as Bush
prepares tocourt conservativeswary of his record at the the
annualConservative Political Action Conferenceoutside Washington, a
high-stakes appearance that could allow him to start winning their hearts
or underscore a tough road ahead.
In the interview, Bush criticized President Obama for ruling out ground
troops in his request for military strikes against the Islamic State
terrorists, saying that by putting all these preconditions, the president
has really weakened our hand.
But he stopped short of calling for ground troops, saying he couldnt
speculate about the size of a commitment.
It may not be necessary, he said, but he added that Obama is currently
building up some military support in Iraq and suggested it may actually
get back to the level that had he kept the 10,000 there, we wouldnt have
had the mess to begin with.
The bilingual Bush also put in a boost for speaking two languages,
saying it was a help politically.
He said hes looked at the research and found the Obama campaign in
2012 turned Obamacare into a positive in the Hispanic community, and
there was no response back. And then Mitt got demonized, and started
late because of all the circumstances of having to run a primary, I
guess.

Four Things to Watch for at CPAC This Year

By: Zeke J Miller & Alex Altman
Feb. 25, 2015
http://time.com/3723315/cpac-conservative-political-action/
SHARE

"
Mark PetersonRedux for TIME

A reporters asks CPAC attendees to pick their favorite candidate, in National Harbor, Md.
on Feb. 26, 2015.

The annual confab offers a good look at the grassroots zeitgeist

The conservative grassroots will gather by the thousands

just outside of Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the
annual ritual known as the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC). Part political rally, part marketing
bonanza and part youth bacchanal, the event is one of the
few in which the far-flung factions of the party come
together for a three-day blitz of speeches, panels and
policy sessions.
For movement outsiders and American voters, the
conference offers a compressed glimpse of the
conservative zeitgeist, and a platform for the partys
presidential candidates to rouse the faithful in the coming
campaign. Here are four story lines to watch as the event
kicks off:
How will Chris Christie and Jeb Bush be received?
The partys two establishment-backed candidates have
been warmly received at CPAC before, but the knives may
come out now that their all-but-certain presidential
campaigns have attracted the money and muscle of the
Acela corridor elites that the grassroots distrusts.
Both candidates will be interviewed by conservative
broadcast personalities Bush by Fox News Sean
Hannity, and Christie by radio host Laura Ingraham. Bush
is out to show that the moderate moniker hes been
tagged with by opponents is inaccurate, and will try to
steer the conversation to the conservative record he
compiled as the two-term governor of Florida. Christie,
meanwhile, will have to defuse questions over his
temperament while addressing his complicated fiscal
record in his state.

How has the media onslaught affected Scott

Walker?
In recent weeks, the Wisconsin governor has been
embroiled in a controversy over President Obamas
patriotism and faith, but the media-driven debate may
only have bolstered his standing with the conservative
grassroots. Walkers well-received speech at the Iowa
Freedom Summit in January propelled him to the top of
the (largely meaningless) early primary polls. Can he
summon the same magic far from the heartland? Another
strong showing would help shore up Walkers support as
he battles establishment competitors in the race to vacuum
up the partys top bundlers and operatives. A weak
showing would reinforce the emerging narrative that the
Wisconsinite may not be ready for gauntlet of a national
campaign.
Where is the party on foreign policy?
The GOPs isolationist and neocon wings will share the
same stage this weekend, as Congress debates a war
resolution against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater
Syria (ISIS) as well as President Obamas rapprochement
with Cuba. A public spat between the White House and
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before his
visit to Capitol Hill next week is likely to be a topic that
plenty of speakers touch upon.
Who will win the straw poll?
The conference is capped by a candidate straw poll, which
for two years running has been captured by Kentucky
Senator and presumptive presidential candidate Rand

Paul, who tends to play well among younger activists. The

results have never augured much, given that candidates
can stack the halls with their supporters by hawking
discount tickets (which are required to vote) and swag
giveaways. But even if imperfect, its still a measure for
gauging whos rallying the right.

Donald Trump 'serious'

about 2016 presidential bid
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20150225/NEWS02/150229391/Donald-Trump-seriousabout-2016-presidential-bid
Published: Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 5:55 p.m.

This time, DonaldTrump says, he really means it.

The billionaire real-estate mogul long amounting to a one-man circus
sideshow in GOP presidential politics said in an interview Wednesday
that he is "more serious" than ever about pursuing a run for the White
House in 2016.
In recent days, Trump said, he has hired staffers in key primary states,
retained an election attorney and delayed signing on for another season as
host of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" because of his political projects.
"Everybody feels I'm doing this just to have fun or because it's good for the
brand," Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post. "Well, it's
not fun. I'm not doing this for enjoyment. I'm doing this because the
country is in serious trouble."
The moves are the most significant steps yet by Trump, 68, toward a bona
fide presidential bid, which he considered briefly and flamboyantly in 2011
before deciding against a run.
The looming question, however, is whether he can convince Republicans
that he is more than a celebrity bomb-thrower and instead is sincere in his
consideration of a campaign. Trump is slated to appear ahead of former

Florida governor Jeb Bush on Friday at the Conservative Political Action

Conference, an annual gathering of conservatives near Washington.
Trump in recent years has served largely as a provocateur and carnival
barker on the sidelines of Republican politics, flirting with "birtherism" and
making other remarks casting doubt on President Barack Obama's
credentials and love of country. GOP nominee Mitt Romney frequently
shared the stage with Trump in often awkward appearances during the
2012 campaign, providing ample fodder for Democratic attack ads.
At a meeting Monday in New York with Reince Priebus, the chairman of the
Republican National Committee, Trump said he was actively mulling a
presidential run and acknowledged the necessity of formalizing his interest,
according to people familiar with the conversation. Priebus, who will
remain neutral in the 2016 primaries, took the meeting because of Trump's
status as a prominent donor to the RNC.
For the moment, Trump's just-tapped consultants will be employed by his
personal office, but they are likely to transition over to a new political group
in the coming weeks. Donald McGahn, a partner at Jones Day, is counseling
the businessman as he takes further steps.
Corey Lewandowski, a former director of voter registration at Americans
for Prosperity, a group backed by conservative industrialists Charles and
David Koch, has been asked by Trump to serve as his senior political
adviser and manager for the campaign-in-waiting.
Alan Cobb, a former political adviser at Koch Industries, is another
Republican who has signed on with Trump and is assisting with
recruitment.
Based in New Hampshire, Lewandowski will direct Trump's efforts in the
first presidential primary and nationally if Trump jumps into the race later
this year.
Lewandowski, in an interview Wednesday, said he was hired by Trump in
January and has since been quietly working with him to map out a strategy
for the 2016 primaries that would enable Trump to run as a political
outsider with a coalition of disaffected conservatives.

"The dysfunction of Washington and politics as usual drew me away from

other candidates and toward someone who's gotten something done in the
business world," Lewandowski said. To doubters, he said, "Wait and see.
Mr. Trump is going to reintroduce himself to the American public. This is
going to be a real contest and no one wants to see a coronation."
Chuck Laudner, who advised former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum's
2012 victory in the Iowa presidential caucuses, will lead Trump's expected
campaign there. Laudner's hire was first reported Tuesday by the
conservative Breitbart news website.
And in South Carolina, Ed McMullen, a political operative who assisted
Arizona Sen. John McCain's previous presidential campaigns, has agreed to
serve as Trump's state chairman and political adviser. Also on board is state
Rep. James Merrill.
Advising Trump on communications is Sam Nunberg, a political operative
who is an associate of Roger Stone, the famed New York-based GOP
opposition researcher.
Trump would face steep challenges entering a field that is almost certain to
include Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, among a dozen others,
including many conservative hopefuls who have built their own networks.
The billionaire's entry would infuse the field with a large and colorful
personality, as well as a national following and media coverage, forcing
others to respond to him and his views.
Trump was in Charleston, S.C., on Sunday, for a speech at the Citadel.
While he was there, he met with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a rising political
player in the early primary state.
Last month, Trump was in Des Moines for a conservative summit hosted by
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, where he made headlines by bashing both
Romney and Bush. "The last thing we need is another Bush," Trump said.
Laudner, who was also being courted by Santorum and Gov. Bobby Jindal,
R-La., said he signed on after driving through the state with Trump during
that visit, when he said he became convinced that Trump was not leading
him on.

In March, Trump will travel to Iowa once again for an agriculture summit
and to New Hampshire.
"I am more serious about this than I've ever been before," Trump said in
the interview. "I made the deal with Chuck and Corey and some more we'll
be announcing soon because I'm serious and I want to focus on connecting
with people. I don't need to be out there raising money."
On the television front, Trump said he is keeping his options open and
holding off on signing on for another season as host of "Celebrity
Apprentice," which NBC renewed earlier this month for a 15th season.
Nunberg said while Trump is open to doing the show, he has told NBC he
cannot commit to hosting it.
Trump said his pitch is straightforward and meant to reach voters who are
fed up with the political system, mixing conservative populism and a blunt
message about leadership.
"People around the world are laughing at us," he said. "Look at China,
they're killing us, taking our jobs. We have weakness in the Middle East and
with ISIS. We have incompetent people running the country and I'm tired
of it.

GOP hopefuls considering

2016 White House bid will
pitch at Conservative Political
Action Conference
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gop-hopefuls-thinking-2016-bid-pitch-cpacarticle-1.2129551
BY CELESTE KATZ

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 7:48 PM

!
JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will take the mic Thursday, fresh off a
Quinnipiac poll that showed him trouncing the potential competition in the
early voting state of Iowa.

They haven't even made their presidential bids official yet, but the top likely
2016 Republican hopefuls are making their pitches to a young,
conservative crowd this week.
The Conservative Political Action Conference will draw nearly every GOP
leader who's even hinted at a run for the White House to the rite-ofpassage event, which is being held just outside Washington, D.C.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will take the mic Thursday, fresh off a
Quinnipiac poll that showed him trouncing the potential competition in the
early voting state of Iowa.

!
MEL EVANS/AP

Walker will address the CPAC crowd the same day as New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie (pictured), who's been the subject of Oval Office buzz for
years, but has been buffeted by fallout from the Bridgegate scandal.

"Walker is the guy who the grassroots love because of what he did in
Wisconsin and how he took on public-sector unions," but he's not known for

his rhetorical flair, noted the Manhattan Institute's Avik Roy -- meaning it
remains to be seen whether he can "light a fire" under the crowd.
Walker will address the CPAC crowd the same day as New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie, who's been the subject of Oval Office buzz for years, but has
been buffeted by fallout from the Bridgegate scandal and just took a hit with
a court ruling that found he violated his own state's laws on the funding of
public pensions.

!
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the man long considered the establishment
frontrunner -- and a magnet for donors placing new bets after 2012
nominee Mitt Romney decided against another run -- appears Friday.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the man long considered the establishment
frontrunner -- and a magnet for donors placing new bets after 2012
nominee Mitt Romney decided against another run -- appears Friday.
Instead of giving a short speech like the other potential candidates, the
audience will hear from Bush in an interview format, with Fox News host
Sean Hannity serving up the questions.

!
CLIFF OWEN/AP

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is also set to speak at the conference.

Roy noted while Christie is known for his rhetorical swagger, he's viewed
as a more moderate candidate and will have to work to connect with the
conservative base.
Bush, Roy added, is at odds with the right flank of the party on hot-button
issues including the Common Core education standards, meaning he, too,
will have some bridge-building to do among the conservative faction of the
GOP.

!
MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES

Donald Trump will also be speaking at the conference.

Other Republicans making their cases during CPAC, which also includes
training sessions for conservative activists, include Sens. Ted Cruz of
Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida, as well as
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
Others taking the stage include Dr. Ben Carson, former Hewlett-Packard
exec Carly Fiorina, real estate magnate Donald Trump, and former Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin.
The conference will conclude with a traditional straw poll.

Why Ronald Reagan Is Such a Big Deal at

CPAC
http://time.com/3722734/ronald-reagan-cpac-history/
Lily Rothman @lilyrothman
Feb. 25, 2015
SHARE

"
Cynthia JohnsonThe LIFE Images Collection/Getty

President Ronald Reagan speaking at CPAC conference in 1986

The special relationship goes back to the conference's

beginnings
Its no secret that the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) loves Ronald Reagan. The agenda for
this years event, which takes place this week, includes a
screening of Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny,
the Ronald Reagan Reception and the Ronald Reagan
Dinner.
Sure, the late president was conservative and CPAC is a
conservative conference, but their connection goes deeper
than that: not only did Reagan speak at the first ever CPAC
in 1974, he also provided part of the impetus for its
creation.
The key to the special relationship between the event and
the politician is timing. When the first CPAC took place,
Reagans position among conservatives was not the
established spot on a pedestal that he occupies today.
Rather, he was the subject of severe regret for many. And
the reason for that regret was obvious: Richard Nixon.
As TIME explained later that spring, then-President Nixon
had seemed like a safe bet, and proved to be anything but:
The alliance between Richard Nixon and the nations
conservative ideologues has never been automatic or
assured. His 1960 campaign, in which he compromised
with New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller on matters
like civil rights and medical care for the aged, caused many
conservatives to worry that he was far too willing to
sacrifice philosophical principles for the sake of votes.
They backed him for the Republican nomination in 1968

largely because he seemed more likely to win than their

preferred candidate, California Governor Ronald Reagan.
Explains Texas Senator John Tower: Having gone
through the debacle of 1964 with Barry Goldwater, we
were not going to be lemmings again. Moreover,
according to Tower, we received certain assurances from
Nixon. So we felt that his inclination would be in our
direction, even though he was never really regarded as one
of us.
Now, more and more conservatives are uneasy about the
President. They were pleased by some of his actions, such
as his move to end the antipoverty program, his stance
against busing, his Supreme Court appointments, his
efforts to scale down the Federal Governments activity
and return revenues to the local levels. But they were
dismayed by many of his other moves, including the wageprice controls that he imposed and the rapprochement
with Peking. Says Frank Donatelli, executive director of
the Young Americans for Freedom: He certainly is not a
conservative President so far as we are concerned. We do
not see how his health-care program is much better than
[Senator Edward] Kennedys. His conception of detente is
riding roughshod over our friends, ruining our defense
posture and ignoring the basic human rights of people
within the Soviet Union.
In the months that followed, Watergate would prove that
distrust of Nixon well-founded, but it was already there
when CPAC was heldand, in fact, much of that first
conference was devoted to that very point. As the New
York Times noted in its coverage, the message was

Richard Nixon has done us dirt and a prominent political

consultant added that a substantial majority [of
attendees] wishes the President would just go away.
Meanwhile, the decision not to back Reagan seemed more
and more of a mistake. He was chosen as a speaker at the
very first CPAC, receiving what the Times called a
rousing, placard-waving welcome. Reagan has been, as
long as CPAC has existed, a symbol of the idea that
compromising on conservatism is a mistake. After all,
choosing the more liberal, electable candidate over him
had resulted in the worst presidential disaster in American
history.
In the years that followed, the relationship between
Reagan and CPAC, established even before that very first
meeting, grew. Reagan assumed the presidency and CPAC
became a major force in conservative politics, each helping
the other along. As TIME put it in 1986, Speakers and
delegates alike credited Reagan with having permanently
changed the national agenda to make the conservative
voice not just relevant but dominant.

Trump, Considering
Presidential Bid, Says US
'In Serious Trouble'
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Trump-White-HouseObama-2016/2015/02/25/id/626905/
Wednesday, 25 Feb 2015 05:19 PM

Businessman Donald Trump is ramping up efforts for a 2016

presidential run, adding to a growing pool of potential Republican
candidates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Trump, whose wealth includes a huge real estate portfolio, several
hotels and the TV show "The Apprentice," has toyed with the
possibility of running for president before, but never actually entered
the race.
The Post quoted Trump as saying in a telephone interview that he was
serious about running for the presidency in 2016 and that he would
delay his television plans for next year.
Trump joins a crowded group of Republicans who are considering a
White House run, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie.
"Everybody feels I'm doing this just to have fun or because it's good for
the brand," Trump, 68, told the Post. "Well, it's not fun. I'm not doing
this for enjoyment. I'm doing this because the country is in serious
trouble."
According to recent news reports, Trump has hired well-known
political advisers, including Chuck Laudner, an Iowa conservative who

helped Rick Santorum in the latter's 2012 White House bid; Alan
Cobb, a former political adviser at Koch Industries, and Corey
Lewandowski, a former director of voter registration at Americans for
Prosperity.
Trump has ruffled feathers with his persistent questioning of
President Barack Obama's place of birth, education and patriotism,
and with his sharp-tongued tweets.
Trump is expected to speak this week at the country's largest gathering
of conservatives, the Conservative Political Action Conference in
Maryland.

Dem group sending trackers

to CPAC
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/233855-dem-group-sendingtrackers-to-cpac
February 25, 2015, 04:31 pm
By Cameron Joseph

The Democratic opposition group American Bridge is taking aim at the

Conservative Political Action Conference, sending video trackers to
keep an eye on the conservative confab and releasing a new memo
and web video blasting the presidential candidates who will speak
there.
The organization has bought tickets for five staffers to head in and
record CPAC's panels and track down the presidential candidates as
they mix among the crowd.
"We've tracked the event before, but this is definitely the most
sophisticated CPAC operation we've run. Having five trackers at the
conference to hit all those smaller panels and giving live briefs back to
the office is going to allow us engage in rapid response on a totally
different scale than previous years," said Bridge spokesman Jesse
Lehrich.
The group isn't waiting for CPAC to start to begin taking potshots at
the likely Republican presidential contenders.

"If the last couple months have shown us anything, it's how wildly
unprepared for primetime this cast of presidential hopefuls truly are,"
American Bridge President Brad Woodhouse says in the memo, first
shared with The Hill.
The group is also pushing out a video featuring clips of television
anchors criticizing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie (R), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Sens.
Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and highlighting their
recent stumbles.
"While CPAC offers a potential lifeboat for a slew of floundering
candidates, navigating the waters will be dicey. It's no secret that the
Tea Party has dragged the GOP sharply to the right. These days,
having appeal with the grassroots Republican base and appeal with
the general electorate are mutually exclusive," Woodhouse concludes.
"So how will these stumbling candidates manage to persuade CPAC's
red meat crowd and more broadly, Republican primary voters of
their conservative bona fides, without signing their own general
election death warrants? Here's my simple answer: They cant."

Phyllis Schlafly applauded as elegant

conservative: Ben Carson

"
Dr. Ben Carson addresses the Republican National Committee luncheon Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, in San Diego. The
former neurosurgeon and conservative favorite addressed the Republican National Committee's winter meeting. (AP
Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

By The Republican Editorials

on February 25, 2015 at 4:30 PM, updated February 25, 2015 at 4:31 PM

http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/02/
phyllis_schlafly_applauded_as.html

By Ben Carson
Creators Syndicate
Recently, I was temporarily placed on the Southern Poverty Law
Center's watch list for extremism simply because I vocally support
traditional marriage. I remember thinking: When did advocating
for lifelong love between one man and one woman become a hate
crime? Fortunately, the group saw the folly of its ways and
apologized, removing me from the list.
It was a small battle, a blip in the daily life of someone who has
entered the political arena. And I enjoyed the support of many
who rallied in the conservative media to my cause to help reverse
such a silly distinction. But it wasn't that long ago when liberal
extremism tried to suffocate traditional values, and there were few
media voices to come to the rescue.
There was one, though, so powerful and elegant, persistent yet
graceful. Her name is Phyllis Schlafly. And for the past 90 years
she has been a tireless advocate for the nuclear family, for
traditional marriage and for common-sense conservatism that
resists injecting government into every aspect of our lives. On
Wednesday night, she will be honored at the Paul Weyrich Awards
dinner that precedes the start of the annual Conservative Political
Action Conference.

Through good and bad economic times, and the ebb and
flow of conservative activism, Phyllis Schlafly has
remained a steady voice for common sense and traditional
values.
Schlafly fought battles most lacked the courage to fight, and time
and again she won. She has been credited for single-handedly
stopping the Equal Rights Amendment, which in the 1970s was

racing on a media freight train toward ratification. Schlafly

stopped it dead in its tracks. It was not because she didn't believe
women deserve rights, but rather because she rightfully
recognized the ERA was skewed toward favoring young
professional women, and that it would punish middle-aged and
older women who chose to stay at home and raise their families by
taking away "dependent wife" benefits under Social Security and
alimony.
In those days, it took courage and lots of hard work to roll back
what a liberal media had started in motion. But Schlafly
succeeded because she was intellectually honest, impassioned and
skilled in not only communicating the fight, but also in waging it.
Likewise, she has relentlessly fought for life, recognizing early on
that the Roe v. Wade decision would be one of the Supreme
Court's worst decisions.
Through good and bad economic times, and the ebb and flow of
conservative activism, Phyllis Schlafly has remained a steady voice
for common sense and traditional values. Her speeches, books, TV
appearances and radio commentaries blazed the way for modern
conservatism while also protecting the rights of traditional
families from the onslaught of Hollywood's culture wars.

"

Phyllis Schlafly, chairman of the Republican National Coalition for Life, and a former
Missouri delegate, is seen at Sea World Tuesday, Aug. 13, 1996 as the coalition held a
celebration before the evening session of the 1996 GOP convention in San Diego. (AP
Photo/Bob Galbraith)

Associated Press

Her voice is as relevant and strong today as it was more than a

half-century ago when she made the famous case for Barry
Goldwater's conservatism in her great book "A Choice, Not An
Echo." In her 2014 book "Who Killed the American Family?" she
eloquently touched my heart with her keen insights on how
President Obama's agenda and decades of prior liberal tax-code
changes and court interference have substituted government
intervention for parenting and federal dependency for selfreliance.
Like she has for most of 90 years on this planet, Schlafly cut right
to the chase in diagnosing the problem with America today. In

plain, simple and compelling language, she rightfully declared

that "the government is making ordinary decisions about what the
kid does that ought to be made by the mothers and fathers." So
simple a declaration, and yet so true.
For those who believe this battle is already lost or isn't worth
fighting anymore because the cards are stacked against
conservatives, I implore you to step back and examine the
extraordinary life of Phyllis Schlafly. She has proved that what
seemed impossible can be achieved. She has lived a life of virtue
and has never been tempted to compromise. And she has made
the most compelling case that the family unit must be preserved
in order for America's greatness to extend into future generations.
For that extraordinary contribution, I salute her on this special
day.

Bobby Jindal is scheduled to speak

in Washington D.C. the night before
the state budget is presented

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/bobby_jindal_is_scheduled_to_s.html

By Julia O'Donoghue, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

on February 25, 2015 at 1:33 PM, updated February 25, 2015 at 5:19 PM

Gov. Bobby Jindalwill be speaking at a national gathering of

conservatives in Washington D.C. Thursday evening (Feb. 25), the
night before his administration presents a highly anticipated plan
to close a $1.6 billion shortfall in Louisiana's budget next
year.
Jindal does not typically present the plan himself and isn't usually
in the room for its release. Instead, the governor's chief budget
officer, Kristy Nichols, walks legislators through the budget
proposal on behalf of the governor. So he doesn't necessarily need
to be in Baton Rouge on Friday morning.
Still, Jindal's staff says the governor will be back inside the state
when Nichols starts talking about the budget. Louisiana's
financial crisis has made national news recently and it might
reflect poorly on the governor to be elsewhere when the budget is
first released to the public.
Jindal's staff would not say when he is leaving for Washington
D.C. or returning to Louisiana yet. Typically, his staff sends out a
note to media directly before he leaves the state, or sometimes
while he is already in the air on his way out of town.
(Update: Jindal's staff revealed a couple of hours after this post
was published that he is leaving for Washington D.C. Wednesday
afternoon and returning Thursday night, a few hours before the
budget presentation.)
Jindal will have to catch a late flight from Washington to be home
for Nichols presentation that starts around 9 a.m. Friday
morning. The Conservative Political Action Conference has Jindal
scheduled to speak to the crowd in a D.C. hotel at 5:20 EST.
Jindal addresses the CPAC audience directly after Gov. Scott
Walker, but before former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin,
according to a schedule on the CPAC website.
Jindal is also reportedly speaking at an event in West Palm
Beach some time between Thursday and Saturday. (Again,
Louisiana's budget comes out Friday morning.)

The gathering is being sponsored by the Club for Growth, a

conservative group focused on economic policy. Jindal's office has
declined to comment on when he is leaving for California.

CPAC Will Be All

About That Base
By Damon Marx
Feb. 25, 2015 - 1:31 PM
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowldc/cpac-will-beall-about-that-base/141382
In honor of this weeks 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) here in Washington,Bloomberg
Politics has provided us with alovelytribute to last years
conference in the video below.
Heres complete rundown of BPsscheduled coverage:
Starting Thursday at 8am ET, BloombergPolitics.com will
livestream the conferences key events.Mark HalperinandJohn
Heilemannwill be on the ground at CPAC to anchor livestreamed
coverage of the days top speakers, includingChris
Christie,Carly FiorinaandTed Cruz.
On Friday starting at 8am ET, BloombergPolitics.com will again
livestream the conference all day long.Mark HalperinandPhil
Mattinglywill join the livestream for anchored coverage of

Fridays speakers, includingRick Perry, Rand Paul, Donald

Trump, Rick SantorumandJeb Bush.
The livestream coverage will be joined throughout withanalysis
from politicians, journalists and activists.
David Weigel, Jennifer Epstein, Michael C. Bender, Arit John,
Margaret Talev, Lisa LererandBen Brodywill all be onsite
through CPAC to contribute video and stories for
BloombergPolitics.com.
Both Thursday and Friday,With All Due Respectwill broadcast
special editions out of CPAC at 5pm ET/PT, livestreaming on
BloombergPolitics.com and airing on Bloomberg TV.

Carly Fiorina Moves

Closer to 2016 Bid With
Launch of Super PAC


(Jim Young/Reuters/Landov)
Wednesday, 25 Feb 2015 07:30 AM
By Elliot Jager
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Carly-Fiorina-carly-for-america-superPAC-2016/2015/02/25/id/626741/

The 2016 presidential aspirations of Carly Fiorina, the former

Hewlett-Packard CEO, are being advanced by her backers with the
creation of a super PAC, Carly For America, The Washington Post
reported.
Steve DeMaura, the PAC's executive director, said the goal was to
"build conservative support and help lay the groundwork for a
potential presidential candidacy." He described Fiorina as someone
who can deliver "transformational change," The Wall Street
Journal reported.
Fiorina is scheduled to address the Conservative Political Action
Conference later this week in Maryland. She is the chairwoman of the
American Conservative Union Foundation, which sponsors the annual
conference.
Greg Mueller comes on board as president of the Carly For America.
He previously worked for Pat Buchanan and Steve Forbes. William
Canfield, will serve as general counsel, the Post reported.
Fiorina is not expected to announce whether she will run at least until
the release of her book, "Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership
Journey."
Carly For America released a short video that tells the "only in
America" story of how Fiorina started out as a secretary in a small real
estate office and rose to become the head of Hewlett-Packard.

Moments that will be

awkward: Right-wing
lunatics gun for Jeb at
nutty confab
Instead of just giving boring speeches, prez hopefuls like Jeb will now
have to field crazy questions. Like these!
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/25/coming_to_this_weeks_cpac_carnival_awkward_qa_sessions/
WEDNESDAY, FEB 25, 2015 06:29 AM EST



By: JIM NEWELL

Sean Hannity, Jeb Bush (Credit: Fox News/Reuters/David Manning)

The frigid Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is going to get a blast of hot
air this week as theannual Conservative Political Action Conference begins.
This is the big one, where every conservative entertainer/politician descends
on the fake shopping town of National Harbor, Maryland, to give the same
speech about how Barack Obama sucks. Hundreds and hundreds of pathetic
political reporters, myself included, inexplicably make the choice to go cover
it year after year instead of just watching it on CSPAN, because sometimes
there are weird parties afterward. On the last day there is a straw poll that
Rand Paul wins.
Over three days, 75 or a million or so jokers all get up and give the exact
same speech. They open with the same joke. Some years its about
teleprompters, because Barack Obama frequently uses teleprompters during
his speeches. One year it was about how the White House was cutting back
on public tours, because that three-day news cycle happened to overlap with
the conference; another time it was something about how the IRS was
auditing conservatives in attendance. This year Im guessing The Joke will
incorporate as source material Barack Obamas reluctance to use the term
Islamic terrorism. The rest of the speech will also be about Barack
Obamas reluctance to use the term Islamic terrorism. This is the speech
that everyone will give.
It gets repetitive. Usually my day at CPAC involves checking in at about 8
a.m. and going straight to the bar. I watch two to three speeches and then exit
the conference center and walk into oncoming traffic. The hospitalization gets
me out of about four hours of work and then I wheel myself back to the bar
and then go home, go to bed, get up and do it all over again.
The American Conservative Union, which puts on the event, may have finally
recognized the tedium of an uninterrupted procession of repetitive red-meat
speeches. So, bless them, theyve added some spice to the mix this year to
make things more worthwhile for the paying customers. (Its true: Outside of
the media, there are real-life humans who pay actual American dollars to go
to this thing. They travelfor it. It is their vacation!)

CPAC: For Conservatives, Its Burning

Man Meets the Super Bowl
BY MATTHEW COOPER
2/24/15 AT 6:10 PM
http://www.newsweek.com/cpac-republicans-309209?piano_d=1

Volunteers wait for guests to be photographed with a Rand Paul

cardboard cutout at the Conservative Political Action Conference in
Oxon Hill, Maryland, on March 6, 2014. MIKE THEILER/REUTERS

FILED UNDER: U.S.

Its an industry trade show like Comic-Con, but

also a feel-good festival la Burning Man. Its got
Super Bowlesque hoopla, and for activists on the
right, the annual meeting is the get-together in
Washington. Thousands of conservatives will
gather Wednesday for the weeklong Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC), where
presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Ted
Cruz and others will try to woo their base in the
lead-up to 2016.
The event, long held at Washingtons Omni
Shoreham Hotel, was moved by organizers to the
recently built Gaylord National Resort and
Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland
a Democratic stronghold, but whos counting?
Located near the capital, the hotel boasts a
London-style Ferris wheel overlooking the
Potomac River.
From the get-go, registrants will hone their
organizing skills with panels about The Power of
Properly Applied Opposition Research and
forums with such titles as How to Bring
Conservative Speakers to Campus and So
Youre a Libertarian. Who Cares? The first day

of the conference will be all about activism

training. Later, there will be more traditional
sessions, such as Common Core, Rotten to the
Core? and Theres No I in Teamsters: Obamas
Bow to Big Labor Bosses.
Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week
Later in the week, broadcasters Sean Hannity,
Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin take the stage.
And this year, theyll be closer to the audience.
Organizers designed the podium to give the
conference a more intimate feel.
The speakers almost always get a warm embrace.
Aside from Bush, Paul and Cruz, this years roster
includes likely presidential candidates such as
Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina, as
well as former House speaker Newt Gingrich and
neurosurgeon and author Ben Carson.
Some of the biggest names wont be announced
until the conference begins. Sarah Palin regularly
speaks and is a good bet to show this year. But
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell wont attend, even
though theyve spoken at previous events . (Last
year McConnell held a rifle over his head to

demonstrate, in case you missed it, his support for

gun rights.)
Theres usually an electric vibe in the audience,
like a rock concert, only instead of guitarist
smashing his instrument, you have, say, Palin
denouncing Obamacare. Unlike concerts, theres
also free merch. Attendees will get PowerPoints
and action kits about how to turn the speakers
ideas into reality. The only tension is whether
some pols who deviate from the CPAC consensus
for instance, Jeb Bushs support of Common
Core curriculum standardswill get booed.
The recrafted conference is largely the brainchild
of Matt Schlapp, the new head of the American
Conservative Union, which sponsors CPAC. The
political director in the Bush White House,
Schlapp is one of the most respected strategic
thinkers in conservative politics, combining a
familiarity with navigating Washington with an
innate understanding of the partys activist base.
But like anyone dealing with grassroots activists,
Schlapp knows that spirits can run high and
disappointment can follow. Conservatives who
were fired up about the Tea Partys 2010

congressional sweep were crestfallen two years

later when President Barack Obama was reelected.
Many thought Mitt Romney failed to present a
full-throated defense of conservative values and
ideas. Now, in the wake of last years GOP
takeover of Congress, conservatives hope that the
right will stay fired up through 2016and that
CPAC will keep their enthusiasm burning.

Conservative Conference Begins This Week

http://www.citizenlink.com/2015/02/24/conservative-conference-begins-this-week/
February 24, 2015
by CitizenLink Team

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) begins

Thursday, Feb. 26 and runs through Saturday, Feb. 28.
Speakers include KT McFarland of Fox News, Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson,
Sen. Ted Cruz, Mark Levine, Sen. Marco Rubio and many more.
In a recent interview with Fox News Dana Perino, Matt Schlapp of the
American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC, offered his views on the
current presidency and this years event.
2016 will be a watershed election in many ways, he said. President
Obama has governed in a way we have not seen in our lifetime. He refuses
to work with the other party; he fails to forge legislative relationships even
within his own party and rules as an imperial president, forgetting the strict
limits of his power that are outlined in the Constitution.
CPAC is in many ways a throw-back to conventions of old. However, we
will vote in the Straw Poll on tablets and a special CPAC smart phone app
will guide attendees through the hectic schedule. Social media will allow
participants to vent and give constant feedback about what they hear. But
in the end, it will be about a potential candidate connecting to an individual
in the crowd and the magic of words, which inspire and force action and
change the country.

Lindsey Graham skipping

annual gathering of
conservative activists
By: Schuyler Kropf
Feb 24 2015 3:28 pm
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150224/PC1603/150229660/1031/lindsey-grahamskipping-cpac-conference-this-week


Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. File/AP Photo

White House hopeful U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is skipping this weeks
gathering of conservatives near the nations capital, possibly to avoid a
confrontation with far-right activists after being portrayed as too liberal
in last years primary.

Grahams office said Tuesday hes not planning to attend the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the largest national
Republican assemblies of the year, regularly drawing more than 10,000
people and many presidential hopefuls. This year, that includes former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Kentucky Sen.
Rand Paul, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Texas Gov. Rick
Perry and about a half-dozen others.
Many consider it a must-do event for those in the GOP with higher
political aspirations.
Grahams office didnt say why he isnt attending the forum, which
traditionally attracts participants from the far-right wing of the party,
many from early voting states.
Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said Grahams
decision to pass on the event is probably so he can avoid a situation
where conservatives might openly confront him.
If he goes to CPAC, hes going to be in rooms of voters who wanted to
take him out and who would be hostile to him, Huffmon said.
Graham is popular with Republicans in general, Huffmon added, but
within his party, he is the least popular with the folks who go to CPAC.
Its not unprecedented to skip the event. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee also isnt going to CPAC this year; hes visiting Southern
states this week on a tour that has three Friday stops in South Carolina,
including Columbia and Greenville.
Other expected CPAC no-shows are House Speaker John Boehner, ROhio, and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Both cited priority
issues in Washington.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who had a lead-off speaking time last year,
isnt taking part this year because of a scheduling conflict, his office
said.
Other scheduled attendees include Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former Sen. Rick
Santorum, developer Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben
Carson. All have been mentioned as possible White House candidates.

Much of the thrust of this weeks convention, which runs from

Wednesday through Saturday and includes a straw poll on the
presidential candidates will be on organizing at the grass-roots level.
This is the 30th installment of the annual conference sponsored by the
American Conservative Union. It will be held this year at the Gaylord
Resort Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
Charleston County Republican Party Chairman John Steinberger, who is
attending the conference, called it a good opportunity to kick the tires
on what the potential White House field has to say, alongside what
others are saying about them.
Graham, meanwhile, will be in Washington this week and does plan to
make at least one speaking appearance. On Wednesday morning, he is
scheduled to speak at a Bloomberg-sponsored forum on global trade and
the Export-Import Bank. The gathering will draw more than 500
suppliers and manufacturers from across the country.
His office sent out a statement of regret Tuesday on missing CPAC.
Sen. Graham is disappointed to miss this years gathering but Im sure
he will be spending a great deal of time with conservative activists in
South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming months, the
statement said.

Log Cabin Leader Joins

CPAC Panel on Rights
Abuses in Russia
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/log-cabin-cpac-Gregory-TAngelohuman-rights/2015/02/24/id/626592/
Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 01:07 PM
By Andrea Billups

Image Before Text End A speaker from the Log Cabin Republicans
organization will join a Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) speaker panel to discuss Russia's poor record on human
rights, including state-sanctioned homophobia, the Daily Beast
reports.
Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo is set to join a Saturday panel at
the annual CPAC conference titled "Putin's Russia: A New Cold War?"
He will speak alongside Seth Cropsey, Carly Fiorina, Cliff May and
Amanda Brickell Bellows, Mediaite reported.
While an early flap ensued over the Log Cabin group's exclusion at the
annual conservative confab, Angelo's participation on such a panel is
timely amid growing anger against Putin's human rights abuses, the
Beast said.
"While the Russian government may have changed its communist
stripes for nationalist ones, its invasion of Ukraine, domestic
repression, and bellicose anti-Americanism have left most American

conservatives with the impression that the Russians havent changed

all that much.
"And so bashing Moscow over its 'atrocious' human rights record, in
the words of CPAC spokesman Ross Hemminger, is a cause around
which most conservatives can rally, regardless of whos making the
case," the Daily Beast wrote.
In a Feb. 19 statement, Angelo had blasted CPAC for not allowing
his group to sponsor events there. He pointed to his group's support
for conservative issues, among them tax reform, Obamacare repeal
and pro-growth budgeting.
We are just as conservative as anyone else at CPAC I dare say even
more conservative than many; the only difference is that we are gay.
Remarkably, in 2015, thats all the ACU [American Conservative
Union] needs to know to shut an organization out, Angelo said.
A follow-up statement, issued on Monday, however, noted that
deeper discussions led to his acceptance to speak on the panel.
The ACU hosts the annual CPAC event, which this year begins on
Wednesday and concludes Saturday.

Head of Log Cabin

Republicans to Speak on
CPAC Panel
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Log-Cabin-Republicans-CPAPspeak-panel/2015/02/24/id/626576/
Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 12:18 PM
By Andrea Billups

Image Before Text End The head of the Log Cabin Republicans will
participate on a speaker panel at this year's Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC), the group announced in a statement.
The organization's participation comes as Republicans seek to widen
their tent to new members and as the group, which represents gay and
lesbian conservatives, previously had been left out of CPAC's annual
meetings an issue that appears to be resolved with the acceptance of
the invitation this year.
"There has been a great deal of confusion over the last 48 hours
regarding the Log Cabin Republicans role in CPAC 2015. After some
very fruitful conversations with the leadership of The American
Conservative Union, we would like to express regret if anyone
associated with The American Conservative Union felt unfairly
maligned. That was never our intention," said Log Cabin Republicans
Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo, who calls the invitation "an
honor."

"For years, all we have wanted is for Log Cabin Republicans to be able
to provide a meaningful contribution to CPAC, be it as sponsors,
speakers or panelists. Now is not the time to make the perfect the
enemy of the good," Angelo added.
"Log Cabin Republicans will continue working toward full sponsorship
of future CPACs. In the meantime, I look forward to bringing the gay
conservative perspective to CPAC 2015 on behalf of Log Cabin
Republicans, as well as the message that when conservatives focus on
unity rather than division, we win."
Angelo is set to appear on a panel discussion "Putin's Russia: A
New Cold War?" alongside Seth Cropsey, Carly Fiorina, Cliff May and
Amanda Brickell Bellows.
Previously, the group had suggested that CPAC organizers were
"hiding behind a fig leaf stating gay people are welcome as guests,"
Mediaite reported, noting allegations by former Mitt Romney
adviser Richard Grenell, who is gay, that he'd been allegedly
"uninvited" to speak.
Grenell discussed the speaking opportunity flap on Fox News' "Red
Eye" program. CPAC organizers, according to Mediate, said they had
no record that he had been invited to speak this year.

Florida Republicans Featured at

CPAC This Week
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/florida-republicans-featured-cpac-week
By: KEVIN DERBY
Posted: February 24, 2015 11:52 AM

Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson

Hide

The American Conservative Unions (ACU) Conservative Political Action

Conference (CPAC) kicks off Thursday and a number of prominent figures
from the Sunshine State will be on center stage at the event even as
presidential candidates focus on a 2016 straw poll held on Saturday
afternoon.
Dr. Ben Carson will kick off CPAC with a speech on Thursday morning.
Carson is a neurosurgeon who retired from Johns Hopkins Hospital and
moved to South Florida. After taking aim at President Barack Obamas
federal health-care law at the National Prayer Breakfast back in 2013,
Carson has become a favorite of conservatives and is expected to run for
the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Carson will also hold a
coffee reception on Thursday morning as he continues to line up for the
presidential race.
Another potential Republican presidential candidate will be speaking on
Friday morning as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., addresses CPAC. Rubio
looks increasingly like a presidential candidate in 2016 with the New York

Times reporting on Tuesday that he is telling supporters he will opt for

running for the White House instead of a second term in the U.S. Senate.
Rubio wont be the only possible presidential candidate from Florida
speaking on Friday. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., is scheduled to address
CPAC on Friday afternoon.
While the presidential candidates will be keeping their eyes on the
presidential straw poll on Saturday afternoon, the days agenda will
showcase other Floridians in the spotlight at CPAC. On Saturday,
conservative blogger Javier Manjarres from the Shark Tank site will be
signing his new book Brown People on the growing Hispanic voting
population. Walid Phares from Florida International University will take part
in a panel discussion on The Middle East: the 30 Years War on Saturday
afternoon.

Jeb Bush to audition at CPAC

for conservatives wary of his
GOP establishment ties


GOP observers say it will be a challenge for Jeb Bush to win over the conservatives that turn out for
CPAC. (Associated Press)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/24/jeb-bush-to-audition-at-cpac-for-conservatives-war/?
page=all

By Seth McLaughlin
The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush returns this week to the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference, marking one of the earliest
chances he has had since he announced he was exploring a presidential
bid to face a major gathering of grass-roots conservative activists, many
of whom are wary of his ties to the GOP establishment.
Mr. Bush, who will take part in a 20-minute question-and-answer
session with Fox News host Sean Hannity, will also have a chance to
erase a lackluster performance from two years ago, when his education
reform speech struggled to connect with conservatives who wanted to
hear strategies for taking on President Obama.
Gov. Bush has attended CPAC in the past, said Kristy Campbell, a
Bush spokesperson. He thinks it is a great opportunity to engage with
thousands of conservatives and talk about issues that are important to
him as he considers whether to move forward with a potential run.
SEE ALSO: Boehner, McConnell to skip CPAC, underscoring tensions
between GOP leadership, grass roots
GOP observers say it will be a challenge for Mr. Bush to win over the
conservatives that turn out for this event.
I think his goal is to establish or re-establish his conservative bona fides
with an audience of conservative activists, said Charlie Gerow, a board
member of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC. I
think he can do that. I think his tougher challenge may be to convince
them that he is electable.
Mr. Gerow said Bush fatigue affects not only conservatives but the
broader electorate as well after the former governors father, George
H.W. Bush, served four tumultuous years as president, and his brother,
George W. Bush, served two terms, leaving a legacy of higher spending,
a bigger entitlement system and two controversial wars.
Jeb Bushs own record, including support for K-12 education standards
known as Common Core, and for legalizing millions of illegal
immigrants, has put a bulls-eye on his back.

Good luck trying to woo grass-roots conservatives with his positions on

amnesty and Common Core, said Cleta Mitchell, a veteran activist.
Asked about the possible blowback at CPAC on those subjects, Ms.
Campbell answered, The governor is happy to talk about any issue.
Mr. Bush is just one of the top potential GOP presidential hopefuls who
will audition at CPAC, which includes a widely watched straw poll
sponsored by The Washington Times.
The latest RealClearPolitics average of national polls shows Mr. Bush is
leading the pack ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Mr. Bush is running third in Iowa behind Gov. Scott Walker of
Wisconsin and Mr. Huckabee, and second to Mr. Walker in New
Hampshire.
He skipped the chance to address conservatives at the Iowa Freedom
Summit, which was hosted by Rep. Steve King and Citizens United.
But he has addressed the National Association of Automobile Dealers
conference in San Francisco, the Detroit Economic Club and the
Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
He also is scheduled to appear at a Club for Growth event this week.
During his last appearance at CPAC in 2013, Mr. Bush asked not to be
included on the poll, which was won by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Mr. Bushs speech that year was widely panned as too wonky, when
activists were hoping for fire-and-brimstone defenses of conservative
values and attacks on President Obama .
The former governor also opened up his address in memorable fashion,
suggesting the crowd had had too much to drink before he took to the
lectern.
Lets close the bar off so everyone in the back can stop chattering, Mr.
Bush said, drawing a mixture of polite applause, laughter and murmurs.
That is the best introduction I have gotten in a long time. I wish you all
heard it.
Ms. Mitchell recalled that the speech was pretty bad stylistically and
sounded like the same speech he was used to giving to the Chamber of
Commerce.

I was actually quite surprised, because that was the first time Id heard
him sound like a squish rather than a conservative, Ms. Mitchell said.
John Feehery, a GOP strategist, said Mr. Bush could score some points
with potential voters for just showing up.
He wont get much of [a] reception in the room but will get credit
outside the room for speaking truth to folks who probably dont want to
hear it, Mr. Feehery said. I think the trick for him is to show that he is
the credible alternative who can beat Hillary Clinton in a general
election, and to remind voters that he governed as a true-red
conservative in Florida a decade ago.
Grover Norquist, chairman of Americans for Tax Reform and an ACU
board member, said that Mr. Bush has the tough task of navigating a
political landscape that is much different from the last time he ran for
office in 2002.
There are other guys who have run several times over the last four or
five years, Mr. Norquist said. It is not being out of shape. It is the
difference between rugby and soccer.
For instance, when Mr. Bush last ran for office, Mr. Norquist said that
many within the GOP saw securing earmarks as a sign of strength.
You talk about earmarks today, and you are looked at like a shoplifter,
Mr. Norquist said.
He said the conversation among Republicans is also very different now,
post-tea party, than it was when George W. Bush was president.
They have a different thing ringing in their ear from the last election
stop spending, dramatic reforms, he said, alluding to tea party-era
candidates. Bush might be there in his own thinking, but he doesnt
have it necessarily ringing in his ear.

Exclusive: Rand Paul top

adviser soliciting money for
personal adoption
Some recipients turned off, ethics experts raise concerns
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/24/rand-paul-top-adviser-dougstafford-solicits-money/?page=all
By Ralph Z. Hallow
The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 24, 2015

As Sen. Rand Paul ramps up his 2016 presidential bid, his chief political
adviser has been soliciting money from some conservatives and political
insiders to help his own family adopt another child.
Doug Staffords email and Internet appeals seek to raise $30,000
quickly and declare that he and his wife have been called by God to
adopt a second child.
The pitches have warmed the hearts of some recipients while making
others who learned of the appeals feel uncomfortable about the ethical
implications of Mr. Pauls chief gatekeeper seeking personal money so
close to his boss expected 2016 bid.
When this was brought to my attention, I was surprised and
disappointed, said Becky Norton Dunlop, a longtime conservative
activist and vice president at the Heritage Foundation, a respected
conservative think tank. My family adopted a young boy when my

parents already had four children so I know a little about the subjects,
adoption and financial need.
Mrs. Dunlop, who serves as the American Conservative Unions
treasurer, said she doesnt know the Stafford family but it seems that if
you really want to add to your family by adoption, your family should be
able to afford to do so without a fundraising campaign.
But others said the Stafford family should be applauded for trying to
give a loving home to another child and that fund-raising to cover
adoption costs is becoming more common.
While we dont know the all the details of anyones particular situation,
the idea of community-based support for adoption is as common as the
practice itself, said Kelly Rosati, Focus on the Family vice president of
community outreach.
So whether its colleagues, friends, relatives or fellow parishioners,
there are many people who would consider it an honor to play even a
small role in the beauty of adoption, Mrs. Rosati said.
Mr. Stafford so far has raised $22,516 in personal donations from 18
persons, six of whom are connected to RAND PAC, the Kentucky
Republicans political action committee that can raise money to give to
other candidates.
Mr. Stafford serves as RAND PACs executive director. Its staff and
advisers are in effect Mr. Pauls 2016 GOP pre-campaign organization
clearing the way for his 2016 election bid.
Mr. Stafford told The Washington Times he saw nothing wrong in
seeking the financial help , noting his last adoption of a child three
years ago cost his family about $65,000.
My family believes strongly that being pro-life means taking that to
heart and in our home, he said. We join many families who have
chosen to raise funds for adoption and are pleased to have both the
prayers and the support of our family and friends in this important
event.
Until May 2013, Mr. Stafford served as Mr. Pauls chief of staff in the
Senate, where he was covered by strict ethics rules governing

solicitations, moonlighting and receipt of gifts. Now at the PAC, those

rules dont apply.
Ethics experts said Mr. Staffords actions dont violate any laws but raise
questions of about judgment since his request for money opens the door
for special interests to use a donation to the adoption effort to curry
favor or access to a soon-to-be presidential candidate.
Whenever you are dealing with a potential presidential candidate the
personal lives of staff are often very much a part of the campaign, said
Kent Cooper, the Federal Election Commissions former chief of
disclosure who now runs the nonpartisan Political Moneyline service
that studies money in politics.
Many potential donors see all these actions of the staff as requests on
behalf of the campaign, and that is what he should have known. He
should know as the candidates chief gatekeeper that anything he does
might be construed as maintaining favor with the senator, he added.
Merrill Matthews, a former ethics professor who is now a resident
scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation, agreed.
People in prominent and public positions, or who can provide access to
them, have to be especially careful about asking for donations because
others can feel they must contribute if they want to maintain that
relationship, he said. That perception exists even if there is no
connection.
Mr. Matthews added that the fact that Mr. Staffords family is disclosing
the donors on the adoption Web site at least creates transparency to his
effort.
Providing full disclosure of the donors is helpful because people trying
to hide something usually try to avoid transparency, he said. But those
who do need to be aware that perceptions are often stronger than
reality.
The timing of the appeals also surprised some.
February is a popular month for conservative events, where White
House contenders often mingle with potential donors and supporters. Mr.
Paul was the featured speaker at last weeks American Spectator dinner

and will be a main-stage draw at this weeks Conservative Political

Action Conference in Washington.
Ive never heard of such a thing before, said Council for National
Policy Executive Director Bob McEwen, a former congressman, as he
boarded a plane to visit his newest grandchild. I wonder if my
grandchilds parents have thought of doing that. Every new parent feels
the need for additional revenue. But this is an new one for me.
Mrs. Dunlop saw little humor in the situation.
One doesnt need a lot of money to be a loving family, she said. This
is creative but not particularly admirable.
She said she was also concerned that Mr. Stafford has the de facto ability
to hire and fire RAND PAC staffers, some of whom donated to his
personal cause.
Doing so in such a public manner makes it more problematic because it
appears to be pressure to give, Mrs. Dunlop said. Certainly it pressures
those who have chosen not to give in such a public way.
The Times obtained one of the letters Mr. Stafford sent to a Washington
insider that bore the subject line: Adoption request for prayers and
donations.
As you may know our family has been blessed by our youngest adopted
daughter Gracie who just turned three, Mr. Stafford wrote. We have
found ourselves in the last few months called by God to do this again.
Mr. Stafford makes no mention of his ties to Mr. Paul in the appeal and
said fund-raising for adoption has become more common.
Most couples adopting fundraise for it. We didnt last time and our
expenses in expanding our family were nearly $65,000, he wrote. Our
blessings and our callings are leading us to this. Our bank account ,
though, is not.
At least six persons who draw paychecks from or are affiliated with the
PAC that Mr. Stafford heads are listed on his adoption website https://
www.adopttogether.org/staffordfamily as contributors to Mr.
Staffords adoption appeal.
They are Steve Grubbs, a former Iowa GOP chairman and now RAND
PAC senior adviser; Sergio Gor, a former Michele Bachmann press

secretary and now RAND PAC communications director; John Yob, a

political consultant and who is now RAND PAC national political
director and its Michigan chief strategist; Vincent Harris, founder and
CEO of Harris Media LLC and now RAND PAC chief digital strategist;
Chip Englander, a former campaign manager to several GOP state office
candidates and now RAND PAC senior adviser; and Jesse Benton, a
former campaign manager for Sen. Paul, Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell and former Rep. Ron Paul.
In his letter, Mr. Stafford wrote, we try to give charitably and we tithe
even when it is difficult. We now lift our cause and our calling to God
and to our family and friends in seeking for them to be a part of this with
us.
If you think this is a cause you could assist with, we ask you to both
pray for us and if you can, contribute to our adoption via the link
below, he wrote.
Mr. Stafford points out in the letter that the entity that accepts the
donations is actually a 501c3 so it is tax deductible.
The AdoptTogether.org says on is website that it has helped 982 families
raise $4 million to date.
The adoption fund-raising page for Mr. Stafford and his wife Elizabeth
included a picture of them and their four children.
Hi there and thank you for taking a look at our familys adoption page,
the message below the family picture stated.
Ever since we were newlyweds, we knew we wanted to expand our
family through adoption, the message added. Little did we know that 5
years later, we would be blessed with a beautiful baby girl, Gracie. We
now believe that God is calling us to once again open our hearts and
home to another blessing.
The message from Doug and Elizabeth Stafford acknowledged that they
cant afford to adopt on their own.
We cant do this without the support of our family and friends, the
couple wrote. Please lift our family up in your prayers. We would ask
that you pray for peace and wisdom as we walk through this adoption
journey.

Phyllis Schlafly's Legacy

Endures
http://www.newsmax.com/BenCarson/Schlafly-conservative-mediamarriage/2015/02/25/id/626780/
Wednesday, 25 Feb 2015 09:58 AM
By Ben Carson

Recently, I was temporarily placed on the Southern Poverty Law

Center's watch list for extremism simply because I vocally support
traditional marriage. I remember thinking: When did advocating for
lifelong love between one man and one woman become a hate crime?
Fortunately, the group saw the folly of its ways and apologized,
removing me from the list.

It was a small battle, a blip in the daily life of someone who has
entered the political arena. And I enjoyed the support of many who
rallied in the conservative media to my cause to help reverse such a
silly distinction. But it wasn't that long ago when liberal extremism
tried to suffocate traditional values, and there were few media voices
to come to the rescue.

There was one, though, so powerful and elegant, persistent yet

graceful. Her name is Phyllis Schlafly. And for the past 90 years she
has been a tireless advocate for the nuclear family, for traditional
marriage, and for common-sense conservatism that resists injecting
government into every aspect of our lives. On Wednesday night, she
will be honored at the Paul Weyrich Awards dinner that precedes the
start of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

Schlafly fought battles most lacked the courage to fight, and time and
again she won. She has been credited for single-handedly stopping the
Equal Rights Amendment, which in the 1970s was racing on a media
freight train toward ratification. Schlafly stopped it dead in its tracks.

It was not because she didn't believe women deserve rights, but rather
because she rightfully recognized the ERA was skewed toward favoring
young professional women, and that it would punish middle-aged and
older women who chose to stay at home and raise their families by
taking away "dependent wife" benefits under Social Security and
alimony.

In those days, it took courage and lots of hard work to roll back what a
liberal media had started in motion. But Schlafly succeeded because
she was intellectually honest, impassioned, and skilled in not only
communicating the fight, but also in waging it. Likewise, she has
relentlessly fought for life, recognizing early on that the Roe v. Wade
decision would be one of the Supreme Court's worst decisions.

Through good and bad economic times, and the ebb and flow of
conservative activism, Phyllis Schlafly has remained a steady voice for
common sense and traditional values. Her speeches, books, TV
appearances and radio commentaries blazed the way for modern
conservatism while also protecting the rights of traditional families
from the onslaught of Hollywood's culture wars.

Her voice is as relevant and strong today as it was more than a halfcentury ago when she made the famous case for Barry Goldwater's
conservatism in her great book "A Choice, Not an Echo."

In her 2014 book "Who Killed the American Family?" she eloquently
touched my heart with her keen insights on how President Obama's
agenda and decades of prior liberal tax-code changes and court
interference have substituted government intervention for parenting
and federal dependency for self-reliance.

Like she has for most of 90 years on this planet, Schlafly cut right to
the chase in diagnosing the problem with America today. In plain,

simple, and compelling language, she rightfully declared that "the

government is making ordinary decisions about what the kid does that
ought to be made by the mothers and fathers." So simple a declaration,
and yet so true.

For those who believe this battle is already lost or isn't worth fighting
anymore because the cards are stacked against conservatives, I
implore you to step back and examine the extraordinary life of Phyllis
Schlafly.

She has proved that what seemed impossible can be achieved. She has
lived a life of virtue and has never been tempted to compromise. And
she has made the most compelling case that the family unit must be
preserved in order for America's greatness to extend into future
generations. For that extraordinary contribution, I salute her on this
special day.

CPAC/Washington Times
straw poll tests 17 GOP
presidential candidates


Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the
Gaylord Hotel, National Harbor, Md., Friday, March 7, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/25/cpacwashington-times-straw-polltests-17-gop-presi/?page=all
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times
Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Seventeen potential candidates, including current and former governors

senators and political outsiders are part of the 2015 GOP presidential
straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which
opened Wednesday and runs through Saturday just outside Washington.
The poll, sponsored by The Washington Times and conducted by the
Polling Company Inc., lists Republicans who have indicated an interest
and taken steps to plan visits to early primary states.
Thousands of conservative activists, including grass-roots leaders,
members of conservative organizations and a healthy number of
students, attend the annual convention, and the poll serves as an
influential barometer of thinking among the right-wing base that helps
power Republicans primary season.
Poll results will be announced Saturday evening.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has won the last two straw polls,
demolishing the competition in winning 31 percent of votes cast in 2014,
and nearly tripling runner-up Sen. Ted Cruzs 11 percent. Mr. Paul will
speak at CPAC and will be a strong contender for this years poll winner.
But the winner of the year-before straw poll hasnt had great success
winning the GOPs nomination. Indeed, no straw poll winner of the
year-before contest has ever won the GOPs nomination in five
iterations.
The 2011 winner was then-Rep. Ron Paul, who won in 2010, too. But he
lost the 2012 nomination to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
For his part, Mr. Romney won the straw poll in 2007, the year before the
2008 election, but didnt win the GOPs nomination that year. Mr.
Romney also won the straw poll in 2008, 2009 and 2012, for four total
wins.
In addition to Sen. Paul and Mr. Cruz, the rest of this years list includes:
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush,
retired surgeon Dr. Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen.
Ted Cruz of Texas, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Sen. Lindsey Graham
of South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Bobby
Jindal of Louisiana, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former New York
Gov. George Pataki, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, businessman and

reality TV show figure Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida,

former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker.
The straw poll also asks activists to name their second choice for
president, testing the range of candidates that are acceptable to
conservatives and potentially giving a glimpse at a successful vice
presidential pick.
Among other questions, the poll also tests the level of support among
conservatives for the National Security Agencys phone-snooping
program, legalization of marijuana, the Common Core education
standards devised by the states, and, perhaps most critically, how the
activists feel the government should handle illegal immigration.
At the Capitol, just a few miles away from the CPAC gathering in
suburban Maryland, GOP leaders are grappling with that same
immigration question, and are battling among themselves over how to
push back against President Obamas deportation amnesty.
CPAC attendees are asked whether they believe Congress should use its
power of the purse to try to halt the presidents policy a showdown
that is playing out at the Capitol, and could lead to a partial shutdown of
the Homeland Security Department if funding isnt approved by Friday.

EXCLUSIVE SCOTT WALKERS

SON MATT WALKER: THOSE ON
THE LEFT ARE AFRAID OF MY DAD

"

Darren Hauck/Getty Images/AFP

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/25/exclusive-scottwalkers-son-matt-walker-those-on-the-left-are-afraid-of-my-dad/
by MATTHEW BOYLE
25 Feb 2015

Matt Walker, son of Wisconsin Gov. Scott WalkertellsBreitbart

News in an exclusive interview that he thinks the institutional left
is afraid of his father. In addition to attending Marquette
University, Matt Walker is also currently the regional vice
chairman of the midwest division of the College Republican
National Committee (CRNC).
I think that those on the left are afraid because he has been able
to fight on behalf of the people and win, Matt Walker said in a
lengthy email interview. He stood up for what he believes in and
the people of Wisconsin stood up with him. Every time they have
gone after him, it has only made himand this reform movement
stronger.
He adds the reason theyre afraid of his father, the governor of
Wisconsin, is because the left thought its big government enclaves
in big education and big labor were untouchable. But his father
was able to enact reforms that have lasted through all the attacks
from the left.
I think that they are afraid because they were under the
impression that big government, schools, universities, etc were
too big and too difficult to reform, Matt added.But my dad has
still been able to enact commonsense policies that have made for
more efficient and effective government that can be more
accountable to the hardworking WI taxpayers.Many can talk
about these reforms, but he has actually done it.
A recent report from The Daily Caller detailed an extraordinary
level of hateful rhetoric after University of Wisconsin-Madison
College Republicans sent out a campus-wide email supporting
Gov. Walkers recent budget proposal. But liberals on the campus
responded with such vitriol and hatredrather than having a civil
discourse about the budget proposaldevolving their rhetoric into
cursing and vulgarity laced with profanity.

This is definitely not the response that the UW Madison College

Republicans were expecting to receive when they were sending
out their email to spark discussion on campus, Matt Walker told
Breitbart News when asked to comment on the hatred from the
left. The comments made in response are vulgar and tasteless
from those in opposition to the budget adjustments. For the most
part, I believe commentary like this comes from individuals who
dont really understand the issue at hand and therefore are unable
to discuss the issue at all.
Matt Walker said that during his time at Marquette, he hasnt
faced too many issues where his professors have treated him
differently than liberal students though on occasion he does find
himself fighting double standards.
It always comes down to the professor in the end, he said when
asked if hes treated fairly.
But one of the most surprising themes of my experience in college
has beenthat political bias appears less in my political courses (as
a political science and economicsdoublemajor), but more so in
classes like English,Philosophy, and other humanities.
In the beginning years of my time at Marquette, I dont think most
professors knew who I was.I dont think too many professors
treat me differently when they find out, but every now and then
Ill have a minor issue.
He said that conservatives and Republicans on college campuses
who are aiming to fight back against liberal bias by leftist
professors and academia figures should work to create bias
reporting systems to expose any double standards they face.
While I was chair of the WI College Republicans we worked to
bring in bias reporting systems where students could report bias
to a third party for review, he said.Its a step forward to make
sure students are being treated fairly.
He also said that the left act like bulliesas Breitbarts Ben
Shapiros detailed in his book titled Bullies: How The Lefts

Culture Of Fear And Intimidation Silences Americabecause

they seek to avoid having any substantive policy discussions.
In the end, I believe this is just a way for the left to avoid the
policy discussion, he said when asked why liberals act like
bullies. I wouldnt say its all of them that take this attitude to
framing the political debate, but we have definitely seen this
increase recently. One of the worst cases of this bullying came last
year when DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz made
references to domestic abuse to frame the election in WI.
Gov. Walker has recently come under attack yet again by the
mainstream media, with the Washington Post aiming to hit him
for not playing into its line of questioning about President Barack
Obamas faith. Matt Walker says while he hasnt personally faced
too many mainstream media attacks, he has been the subject of
efforts to troll him by leftist bloggers.
I dont think Ive really had too many encounters with the
mainstream media, he said. I pretty much get alot of bloggers
who like to troll me on Facebook and Twitter.
Moving forward, however, he expects it to get much worse for
him, his dad, his brother Alex and their whole family.
Im assuming it would definitely get worse, Matt Walker said
when asked if he thinks the treatment from liberals would worsen
should his dad run for president. We went through a lot during
the recall, so I think that has only helped prepare us for whatever
is next.I dont think we are doing anything to prepare. We will
continue to be who we are and let people judge us as who we
are.Lastly, we will deal with it as a family.My dad has set a good
example for my brother and I to let a lot of these crazy comments
go and to focus on more important things.
Gov. Walker is set to speak at the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) this week in National Harbor, Maryland, just
outside Washington, D.C. Matt Walker is expected to join him
there.

CPAC: For Conservatives, Its Burning

Man Meets the Super Bowl
BY MATTHEW COOPER
2/24/15 AT 6:10 PM
http://www.newsweek.com/cpac-republicans-309209?piano_d=1

Volunteers wait for guests to be photographed with a Rand Paul

cardboard cutout at the Conservative Political Action Conference in
Oxon Hill, Maryland, on March 6, 2014. MIKE THEILER/REUTERS

Its an industry trade show like Comic-Con, but

also a feel-good festival la Burning Man. Its got
Super Bowlesque hoopla, and for activists on the
right, the annual meeting is the get-together in
Washington. Thousands of conservatives will
gather Wednesday for the weeklong Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC), where
presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Ted
Cruz and others will try to woo their base in the
lead-up to 2016.
The event, long held at Washingtons Omni
Shoreham Hotel, was moved by organizers to the
recently built Gaylord National Resort and
Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland
a Democratic stronghold, but whos counting?
Located near the capital, the hotel boasts a
London-style Ferris wheel overlooking the
Potomac River.

From the get-go, registrants will hone their

organizing skills with panels about The Power of
Properly Applied Opposition Research and
forums with such titles as How to Bring

Conservative Speakers to Campus and So

Youre a Libertarian. Who Cares? The first day
of the conference will be all about activism
training. Later, there will be more traditional
sessions, such as Common Core, Rotten to the
Core? and Theres No I in Teamsters: Obamas
Bow to Big Labor Bosses.
Later in the week, broadcasters Sean Hannity,
Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin take the stage.
And this year, theyll be closer to the audience.
Organizers designed the podium to give the
conference a more intimate feel.
The speakers almost always get a warm embrace.
Aside from Bush, Paul and Cruz, this years roster
includes likely presidential candidates such as
Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina, as
well as former House speaker Newt Gingrich and
neurosurgeon and author Ben Carson.
Some of the biggest names wont be announced
until the conference begins. Sarah Palin regularly
speaks and is a good bet to show this year. But
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell wont attend, even

though theyve spoken at previous events . (Last

year McConnell held a rifle over his head to
demonstrate, in case you missed it, his support for
gun rights.)
Theres usually an electric vibe in the audience,
like a rock concert, only instead of guitarist
smashing his instrument, you have, say, Palin
denouncing Obamacare. Unlike concerts, theres
also free merch. Attendees will get PowerPoints
and action kits about how to turn the speakers
ideas into reality. The only tension is whether
some pols who deviate from the CPAC consensus
for instance, Jeb Bushs support of Common
Core curriculum standardswill get booed.
The recrafted conference is largely the brainchild
of Matt Schlapp, the new head of the American
Conservative Union, which sponsors CPAC. The
political director in the Bush White House,
Schlapp is one of the most respected strategic
thinkers in conservative politics, combining a
familiarity with navigating Washington with an
innate understanding of the partys activist base.
But like anyone dealing with grassroots activists,
Schlapp knows that spirits can run high and

disappointment can follow. Conservatives who

were fired up about the Tea Partys 2010
congressional sweep were crestfallen two years
later when President Barack Obama was reelected.
Many thought Mitt Romney failed to present a
full-throated defense of conservative values and
ideas. Now, in the wake of last years GOP
takeover of Congress, conservatives hope that the
right will stay fired up through 2016and that
CPAC will keep their enthusiasm burning.

Jindal faces down 2016 tests

with CPAC speech, budget
proposal
BY REBECCA BERG | FEBRUARY 24, 2015 | 5:35 PM

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/jindal-faces-down-2016-tests-with-cpacspeech-budget-proposal/article/2560616

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal questioned the President Obama's qualifications as commander in chief

Standing outside of the White House on Monday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby

Jindal questioned the President Obamas qualifications as commander in
chief while, implicitly, pushing his own.

The president has really disqualified himself to be our commander in

chief, Jindal said after a National Governors Association meeting there,
according to reports. There are many of us that are very concerned about
the presidents unwillingness to call out radical Islamic terrorism and the
threat that we face as a country."

Jindal echoed those remarks later in an interview with the Washington

Examiner, and that theme will be at the center of his speech Thursday to
the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, D.C., an
aide confirmed.

The CPAC stage will be one of two this week from which Jindal will try to
convince a skeptical audience of his own executive qualifications, both at
home and nationally, as he prepares to wage an underdog campaign for
president.

On Friday, Jindal will unveil his annual state budget proposal, presenting
his prescriptions to meet a $1.6 billion shortfall. Jindals ratings have
stagnated in Louisiana in part due to these budget woes, with a November
survey by the Democratic group Public Policy Polling showing Jindals
approval at just 33 percent. A survey conducted last month by Jindal's
campaign pollster found a more favorable result, with 46 percent approval.

Still, Jindal spent 165 days in 2014 outside of The Pelican State, according
to a tally by Louisiana-based publication The Advocate, preparing to ask
for a promotion in the form of a likely bid for president.

That tinder has so far failed to catch fire. In national and primary state
polling, Jindals support among Republicans has stalled in the low single
digits.

Lately, Jindal has honed in on foreign policy and national security to try to
break through the 2016 noise, beginning with a trip to London last month.
There, Jindal stirred controversy abroad and domestically for remarks
about no-go zones, where he said European countries allow Muslim law
to supercede secular laws.

But Jindal hasn't walked back the remarks, he's doubled down.

There will be some on the Left that will call you racist or anti-Muslim,
Jindal told the Examiner, dismissively. I think voters are looking for a
leader who's unafraid to say the hard truths, even when you get pushback
from the Left or the media.

Now, Jindal is focusing his attacks on the president, for not characterizing
Islamic State fighters as radical Islamists, and for ruling out ground troops
as part of the force authorization request sent to Congress.

This president is taking options o the table, when he should be leaving

all options on the table, Jindal said in an interview Monday with the
Examiner, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., in a preview of his
remarks to CPAC later this week.

Last week, Jindal refused in a statement to condemn former New York

Mayor Rudy Giuliani from taking criticism of the president a few steps
further. "I know this is a horrible thing to say, Giuliani said, but I do not
believe that the president loves America."

Of course he loves America, Jindal said Monday of the president. But,

Jindal added later of the presidents foreign policy approach, He may be

the first American president that doesn't embrace American

exceptionalism.

Remarks such as those have garnered Jindal plenty of headlines

nationally. One of the nagging problems Jindal faces as he tries to
introduce himself to Republican voters nationwide, however, is that his
popularity is faltering at home.

Jindal reasons that his approval ratings reflect some of the controversial
policies he has pushed as governor, including school vouchers and
teacher tenure reform, opposed by teachers unions, and the privatization
of public hospitals.

There are lots of politicians who like to be celebrities, Jindal said. It's
easy to be popular if you just do nothing but kiss babies and cut ribbons. I
got elected to make the big, transformational changes in my state.

You make big changes, you're going to upset the status quo and you're
going to do things that will make some people unhappy, Jindal added,
but I think our country is hungry for leaders who are willing to make the
big changes, to say, we're not just being governed by polls, we're not just
doing the easy or the popular thing.

But the states budget woes have also kept Jindal on the defensive. He
has refused to raise taxes as Louisianas revenues have fallen short of
spending, and even some Republicans in Baton Rouge have criticized
Jindal for oering only short-term solutions to the states fiscal challenges.

On Friday, Jindal said, he will present a budget that addresses the states
shortfall without raising taxes, although he did not go into further detail.

Meeting his deficit of support relative to other likely Republican candidates

for president, meanwhile, will present another challenge entirely.

When asked where he thinks he fits in among the emerging GOP field,
Jindal expressed confidence that he will find his niche.

I never worry about what other candidates are doing or what they're
thinking, and I think the good news is, we've got a deep bench this year,
Jindal said. Republican voters hopefully get to vote for something, not
just against somebody.

As he has worked to define his national brand, Jindal has zigged where
other potential candidates have zagged. Last month, as a herd of
Republican contenders converged on Iowa to speak at the Freedom
Summit, Jindal was in Louisiana, headlining a prayer rally.

But Jindals platform will also have much in common with other
contenders, particularly the other former and current governors running for
president. Like Govs. Scott Walker and Chris Christie, Jindal is optimistic
that Republican voters will value his state-level executive experience

even with his underwater approval ratings, and although other governors
records are better known nationally.

I'm biased toward governors, people who've run something, Jindal said.
We've had a president who needed all the job training for these last six
years, I don't think we can aord that again.

Tips for Politicians: How to Not

Have an Uh-Oh Moment at
CPAC
By: Beverly Hallberg
February 24, 2015
http://dailysignal.com/2015/02/24/tips-politicians-not-uh-ohmoment-cpac/

Mitt Romney at at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference March 15,
2013. (Photo: Pete Marovich/Newscom)

Its that time of year again the week when conservative

activists and politicians convene in the Washington, D.C. area
for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
Anyone who has attended CPAC knows its a feat of
endurance. Only the tried and true politico sits through hours
upon hours of speeches. And since the repetitive nature of
liberal policy bashing can wear out even the most die-hard
conservative, speakers have often resorted to props and prose
to motivate or energize the crowd.
The problem? Whether planned or ad-libbed, some attempts
have fallen short and left either the CPAC audience or the athome audience shaking their heads at the sound bite
aftermath. Here are the uh oh CPAC moments that the
mainstream media circulated and the lessons learned.
Mitt Romney Is Really, Really Conservative
Dont have time to read the Washington Post or New York
Times?
Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the
days most important political news, conservative commentary
and original reporting from a team committed to following the
truth no matter where it leads.
Mitt Romneys gift is, well, not public speaking. Before ever
uttering his infamous 47 percent sound bite, he had another
speaking blunder while addressing the CPAC crowd in 2012.

Wait. Can someone be severely conservative? No doubt he

was caught up in the moment, but his ad-lib adjective was
confusing and did little to convince us. Its kind of like hearing
a politician say, trust me. If you have to say it, theres a
problem.
The lesson learned? Stick to the script; otherwise, you might
get yourself into a severely tricky mess.
Mitch McConnell Not on Target
Speaking of mess, lets jump to last years CPAC and the
awkward moment when then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R., Ky.) presented a rifle to retiring Sen. Tom
Coburn (R., Okla.). In doing so, McConnell proved one thing:
he probably should get a lesson on how to hold a gun.

To add insult to injury, Alison Lundergan Grimes, his future

democratic opponent, showed no mercy on twitter.
Someone tell @Team_Mitch thats not the way to hold a gun. KY
women do it better. #kysen
Alison L. Grimes (@AlisonForKY) March 6, 2014
This falls into the never be something that you arent
category. Be authentic.
While some memorable moments can be labeled under
gae, others are planned. Enter two women who are no
strangers to CPAC or controversy.

Sarah Palin Talks Big

Sarah Palins one-liners often make the news, but rarely for
the right reasons. In her 2013 CPAC speech, she not only
brought a Big Gulp on stage, but she also made a joke about,
well, her rack.
While funny, the widely circulated clip did little to combat the
narrative that the Republican Party is sexist. If youre going to
make a joke, please make sure that it is funny and in good
taste.
Ann Coulter and John Edwards Arent Friends
Ann Coulter knows how to make news, and her shock-value
comment about John Edwards at the CPAC 2007 was par for
the course.
While we have free speech rights in this country, it is never
wise to call people names or assess motive. You only have to
look back to Rudy Giulianis comments last week on President
Obamas love of America, or lack thereof, to show that it is
very controversial to do so. In general, stick to attacking
policy, not people.
It will be interesting to see what CPAC sound bites circulate in
2015. Will the mistakes of the past serve as teaching tools
today? If so, well likely be left with an aha moment instead
of an uh oh.

Sean Hannity to Put Jeb Bush

on Hot Seat in CPAC Treat for
Conservatives
http://dailysignal.com/2015/02/24/sean-hannity-put-jeb-bush-hotseat-cpac-treat-conservatives/
By: Ken McIntyre
February 24, 2015

Jeb Bush, right, will field questions from conservative commentator Sean Hannity
on Friday. (Photos: Newscom)

Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush will take questions

from conservative commentator Sean Hannity in what sounds
like a must-see matchup Friday at the Conservative Political
Action Conference outside Washington, D.C., The Daily Signal
has learned.
The move by the former Florida governor to face his
conservative critics head-on through Hannity, a longtime
champion of bold color conservatism, is the biggest news
so far in the runup to CPAC, the nations largest annual
gathering of conservative activists.
Reached for comment after The Daily Signal first
reportedplans for the Bush-Hannity segment this afternoon,
Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said by email:
Governor Bush is looking forward to sitting down with Sean
Hannity to talk about a range of issues, and looking forward to
being with the crowd at CPAC. Its always an exciting event.
Hannity reaches millions of Americans, most of them
conservative, through his self-titled Fox News show as well as
a syndicated radio talk show.
A spokeswoman for Hannity downplayed the delight the BushHannityonstage meeting holds for conservatives.
The TV and radio hostplans to interview other Republican
hopefuls in some format at CPAC, among them Sen. Ted Cruz
of Texas, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Marco Rubio of

Florida and real estate magnateDonald Trump, she told The

Daily Signal.
Although each 2016 prospect with a speaking slot will be
expected to answer at least some attendees questions
moderated by CPAC oicials, spokesman Ian Walters said,
Hannity will interview Bush on his own on the main stage, in
his trademark manner.
Conservatives, including likely rivals in the 2016 race, have
questioned Bushs conservative credentials in part because of
what they consider too-liberal stands on immigration and
Common Core.
The Bush camp and CPAC oicials had been discussing a oneon-one session with Hannity for some time, a source familiar
with the talks said.
They apparently kept the agreement under wraps to provide a
jolt of excitement to conservatives headed to the nations
capital to hear Bush and other potential candidates for
president at the conference, which begins Wednesday and
runs through Saturday.
The Bush-Hannity encounter is set for 1:40 p.m. Friday.
Hannity will address the crowd in his own appearance
scheduled for 11 a.m.

Gay Republican group to

speak at CPAC panel after
years of exclusion


Daniel Daughtry picks up and places chairs together to prepare the ballroom for dinner at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Gaylord National Hotel, National Harbor,
Md., Friday, March 15, 2013. (Andrew S. Geraci/The Washington Times) **

By Jessica Chasmar
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/24/log-cabin-republicans-to-speak-at-cpacpanel-after/?page=all

The gay conservative group Log Cabin Republicans announced on

Monday that it will be able to participate in a panel discussion at this
years Conservative Political Action Conference , following years of
being excluded from the event.
For the last two years, the Log Cabin Republicans have been invited to
attend CPAC as regular guests, but not to participate in the event . Last
week members claimed the the American Conservative Union (ACU),
which organizes CPAC, again denied their request to participate.
The groups national executive director , Gregory T. Angelo, said the
ACU was hiding behind a fig leaf stating gay people are welcome as
guests, Mediaite reported.
The ACU said the group had never formally applied. Emails provided to
Politico showed that Mr. Angelo contacted ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp
and Executive Director Dan Schneider to inquire about sponsorship a
message Mr. Angelo said went unanswered.
An ACU representative would not explain why the emails went
unanswered, but said the information for sponsorship is readily available
online, Politico reported.
After days of back and forth, the Log Cabin Republicans announced in a
new statement on Monday that they are invited this year to participate in
a panel discussion at the conference on Feb. 28 following fruitful
conversations with ACU leadership.
It will be an honor to represent Log Cabin Republicans at CPAC 2015
as part of the panel Putins Russia: A New Cold War? with Seth
Cropsey, Carly Fiorina, Cliff May and Amanda Brickell Bellows, Mr.
Angelo said. For years, all we have wanted is for Log Cabin
Republicans to be able to provide a meaningful contribution to CPAC,
be it as sponsors, speakers or panelists.
Log Cabin Republicans will continue working toward full
sponsorship of future CPACs, he said.
In an email to The Hill, Mr. Angelo said he was disappointed the group
was not allowed to sponsor the event this year, but Im not going to
make the perfect the enemy of the good.

This panel is an important opportunity to show LCR is more than just

the gay marriage Republicans, and to bring a unique perspective to
CPAC not represented anywhere else during this years conference, he
said.

Senate again blocks Homeland

Security funding bill over GOP
amendments
http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/nation/senate-again-blocks-homelandsecurity-funding-bill-over-gop-amendments
Posted February 24, 2015 - 12:08pm

By Michael A. Memoli
WASHINGTON Senate Democrats on Monday again stifled a GOP attempt to
advance a Homeland Security funding bill that would undercut President Barack
Obamas immigration actions, leaving Congress new GOP majorities in need of a
new strategy ahead of a Friday deadline to avoid a department shutdown.
The 47-46 vote Monday was the fourth failed attempt by Senate Republicans to
open debate on a House-passed measure providing $39.7 billion for Homeland
Security operations on the condition that the new money not be spent to
implement Obamas immigration actions both a new program to defer
deportation for more than 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally and a 2012
program that deferred deportation for 600,000 so-called Dreamers. Sixty votes
were needed to cut off the Democratic filibuster.
Republicans had tried unsuccessfully during the Presidents Day break last week
to turn up political pressure on Senate Democrats who had expressed
reservations with Obamas newest policy.
There are times when we must reach across the aisle in defense of something
greater, when party lines dissolve, disagreements fade and what is right must
triumph, Virginias Republican members of Congress wrote to the states two
Democratic senators, Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, on Monday. The true
threat is that any future president will take this precedent and choose which laws
they wish to enforce and ignore the will of Congress and the American people.
But Democrats saw little reason to change course, and accused Republicans of
playing politics with the nations security.
I dont understand what my Republican friends are trying to do here, Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, citing a new potential threat to
American shopping malls by a Somalia-based terror group.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, during a event with agency workers,
warned Monday that 75 percent to 80 percent of his workforce would have to
come to work without pay while another 30,000 would be forced to stay home
until new funds were approved. Such a disruption, he said, would compromise
his agencys ability to stay one step ahead of groups such as Islamic State.
On behalf of the men and women up here on this stage, and for homeland
security and public safety, we need a fully funded Department of Homeland
Security, Johnson said.
In remarks to the nations governors on Monday, Obama called the standoff the
latest example of manufactured crises and self-inflicted wounds that have held
the nation back for years. A department shutdown, he warned the state leaders,
will have a direct impact on your economy, and it will have a direct impact on
Americas national security, because their hard work helps to keep us safe.
Fewer than two months into the first all-GOP Congress in eight years, the
immigration standoff is forcing party leaders into a decision that may have
negative consequences either way.
Conservatives insist on blocking the Homeland Security money unless it includes
the immigration-related provisions. If Republican leaders drop that demand and
bring up a bill that would fund the departments budget, they risk turning a restive
conservative base against them.
If they dont, they risk public anger over a partial government shutdown
something new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had vowed
would not occur.
For the GOP, the timing of the standoff is about as inauspicious as it gets, as
thousands of conservative activists are set to attend the annual Conservative
Political Action Conference just across the Anacostia River from the Capitol later
this week.
After the vote, McConnell introduced a new stand-alone measure separate
from the overall Homeland Security funding bill that would block funding for
Obamas new immigration actions and leave in place the program for dreamers.
It could be the first step in ultimately trying to pass a so-called clean funding bill
to keep the department running, at least on a short-term basis.
Its another way to get the Senate unstuck, McConnell said, giving no other
hints as to how he would proceed.
Senate Republicans will meet Tuesday to discuss the path forward, as a growing
number in the party push to let a court battle over the new policies play out
before seeking to address them legislatively.
The Justice Department filed a motion in Texas district court seeking to overturn
a preliminary injunction issued last week by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen
just as the new immigration programs were about to begin.
Whether such a plan would be acceptable to Republicans, particularly in the
House, was unclear. The House does not return to Washington until Tuesday
night.

Log Cabin Leader Joins

CPAC Panel on Rights
Abuses in Russia
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/log-cabin-cpac-Gregory-TAngelohuman-rights/2015/02/24/id/626592/
Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 01:07 PM
By Andrea Billups

Image Before Text End A speaker from the Log Cabin Republicans
organization will join a Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) speaker panel to discuss Russia's poor record on human
rights, including state-sanctioned homophobia, the Daily Beast
reports.
Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo is set to join a Saturday panel at
the annual CPAC conference titled "Putin's Russia: A New Cold War?"
He will speak alongside Seth Cropsey, Carly Fiorina, Cliff May and
Amanda Brickell Bellows, Mediaite reported.
While an early flap ensued over the Log Cabin group's exclusion at the
annual conservative confab, Angelo's participation on such a panel is
timely amid growing anger against Putin's human rights abuses, the
Beast said.

"While the Russian government may have changed its communist

stripes for nationalist ones, its invasion of Ukraine, domestic
repression, and bellicose anti-Americanism have left most American
conservatives with the impression that the Russians havent changed
all that much.
"And so bashing Moscow over its 'atrocious' human rights record, in
the words of CPAC spokesman Ross Hemminger, is a cause around
which most conservatives can rally, regardless of whos making the
case," the Daily Beast wrote.
In a Feb. 19 statement, Angelo had blasted CPAC for not allowing
his group to sponsor events there. He pointed to his group's support
for conservative issues, among them tax reform, Obamacare repeal
and pro-growth budgeting.
We are just as conservative as anyone else at CPAC I dare say even
more conservative than many; the only difference is that we are gay.
Remarkably, in 2015, thats all the ACU [American Conservative
Union] needs to know to shut an organization out, Angelo said.
A follow-up statement, issued on Monday, however, noted that
deeper discussions led to his acceptance to speak on the panel.
The ACU hosts the annual CPAC event, which this year begins on
Wednesday and concludes Saturday.

Carly Fiorina forms new

political action committee
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/02/24/carly-fiorinaforms-new-political-action-committee/

By Tom Hamburger
February 24, 2015

Supporters of former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina

announced the establishment of a new super PAC Tuesday
to support a possible GOP presidential candidacy by the
former Senate candidate from California.
The new organization, Carly For America, is designed to
"build conservative support and help lay the groundwork
for a potential presidential candidacy," said Steve
DeMaura, the PAC's executive director.
The announcement was sent via e-mail to potential
supporters Tuesday evening, two days before Fiorina is
due to address the Conservative Political Action
Conference that meets in Washington.
In the e-mail, DeMaura said that Fiorina received a strong
response to the PAC she formed in 2014 called "Unlocking
Potential," also a super PAC that could collect unlimited
donations from individuals, unions and corporations. That

super PACwas set up to galvanize women voters and boost

the Republican ground game. It provided modest support
to several GOP Senate campaigns.
"This is an entirely new effort being brought forward by
Carly's supporters because they'd like to see her run for
president," DeMaura said of Carly For America on
Tuesday evening.
An accompanying press release announced new staff for
the organization, including William B. Canfield, who will
serve as general counsel; Greg Mueller, a former senior
adviser to the presidential campaigns of Pat Buchanan and
Steve Forbes, who will serve as president.
Like other potential candidates in 2016, Fiorina is not yet
saying whether she will actually run. That decision may
coincide with the upcoming release of her second book,
"Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey."
In anew video, Fiorina touts her rise from secretary to
Silicon Valley CEO and offers viewers a look at a
determined and resolute conservative.

Nigel Farage joins Sarah Palin and

the big beasts of the US right

"

Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA gun lobby, will also appear
alongside the Ukip leader
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/nigel-farage-joins-sarah-palin-and-thebig-beasts-of-the-us-right-10068044.html
By: JAMES CUSICK
Tuesday 24 February 2015

He may be wedged between a star-turn speech by the former US

vice-presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin, and a gathering billed as
the National Rifle Associations Good Guys Reception. But when
Nigel Farage speaks tonight at a conference of hard-right
Republicans he is expected to tell them that unless they reclaim
their party they might have to do a Ukip.
The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is
regarded as a calendar highlight for Tea Party, anti-abortion, procreationist, and anti-homosexual activists.
In the ironically-named Gaylord National Resort in Maryland,
near Washington DC, the Ukip leader has been given a super-star
build-up. PR agents promoting the event have described him as a
political tour de force who has emerged as a serious and viable
candidate who can run England in the near future.
Ukips London office are being careful about what Mr Farage will
say in Washington, admitting only that he will give a personal
speech. However, those organising the CPAC event have given
him equal billing among some of their leading figures.
Farage will share the main platform with Palin, the former Alaska
governor who remains the darling of the Tea Party wing of the
GOP, despite her widely-derided role in serial Republican election
failures. The Ukip leader will also appear alongside Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker, who wants Republicans to prioritise
ending state-funded healthcare, and Wayne LaPierre, the head of
the National Rifle Association, who after one of the recent
multiple killings in the US, said: The only way to stop a bad guy
with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.
LaPierres NRA is said to have been influential in preventing
President Barack Obama in 2012 from forcing through new gun
controls.
Recent appearances on Rupert Murdochs Fox News network have
given Mr Farage a small US fan base and his conference invite
shows a growing recognition of him on the US extreme right.

Although Farage is on record stating that he intends to adopt a

relatively low-key campaign strategy ahead of Mays general
election, when he will contest the South Thanet seat, this US jaunt
is an indication that he potentially harbours international
statesmanship credentials.
Mr Farage told one CPAC organiser that he had been delighted to
receive the invitation to an event attended by freedom-loving
individuals. He is understood, however, to have been warned by
his aides to avoid the conferences more controversial topics.

Boehner, McConnell to
Skip Candidate-Heavy
CPAC Event
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/john-boehner-mitch-mcconnellcpac-2016/2015/02/24/id/626513/
Tuesday, 24 Feb 2015 08:36 AM
By Elliot Jager

Image Before Text End This year's Conservative Political Action

Conference (CPAC) will feature speeches from an array of potential
Republican presidential candidates but the party's congressional
leaders, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, plan to skip the event, citing workload and
scheduling conflicts, The Washington Times reported.
Some analysts see their absence as signaling tensions between the two
GOP leaders and some grass-roots conservatives.
Last year, McConnell sought to burnish his conservative
credentials in advance of a tough re-election campaign by appearing
on stage at CPAC holding a rifle. Boehner last addressed CPAC in 2010
after tea party activists helped to galvanize the Republican takeover of
the House, the Times reported.
A Boehner spokesman told the Times that the speaker's
responsibilities would not allow him to take part in this year's

conclave. He added that Boehner's good relationship with the

American Conservative Union had not changed.
"Neither of them are running for anything," said American
Conservative Union board member Grover Norquist, noting that the
2016 presidential race would be a main focus of this year's conference.
Among the possible presidential contenders who will be at the
gathering are Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Marco Rubio of
Florida, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Also expected are Govs. Chris
Christie of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Scott Walker of
Wisconsin.
There will be speeches, too, from former Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida
and Rick Perry of Texas, as well as Dr. Ben Carson and ex-HewlettPackard CEO Carly Fiorina.
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of Alaska and former
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum are also slated to appear.
Also attending are Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chairwoman of the
House Republican Conference, and Senate Republican Policy
Committee Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming.
Other speakers will include Fox News host Sean Hannity, conservative
radio personalities Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham, and Brent
Bozell, Media Research Center president. The Andrew Breitbart
award will be presented to "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson,
according to the Times.
The event runs Wednesday through Saturday just outside
Washington, D.C., at Maryland's Gaylord National Resort and
Convention Center.

CPAC changes aimed at gratifying

audiences
http://www.kspr.com/news/politics/cpac-changes-aimed-at-gratifyingaudiences/21051736_31442040
By Jeremy Diamond CNN
POSTED: 05:00 AM CST Feb 24, 2015
05:31 AM CST Feb 24, 2015

One of four children and now a father of five, Matt Schlapp knows that
sometimes "life's a little messy."
"Sometimes people who love each other can have deep disagreements,
and we should not shy away from it," Schlapp, first-year chairman of the
American Conservative Union, explained in an interview last week.
And that's the philosophy Schlapp is applying in his job of organizing the
Conservative Political Action Conference! , known as CPAC, that kicks off
this week.
Schlapp, a former White House political director under George W. Bush, is
flipping the script on a conference that has been meeting annually for over
40 years at a time when the conservative movement is trying to find its
bearings, define its positions on a slew of divisive issues and position itself
for maximum influence headed into 2016.
CPAC is getting a new look and feel, with changes to everything from the
aesthetics to the content matter and a 21st-century social media gloss.
But unlike a family of six or seven, sitting down to settle some squabbles,
thousands of conservatives will put their differences on display in front of
each other and before millions more during an event broadcast on TV.
At CPAC this year, instead of a series of general, red meat oriented
speeches by high-profile politicos that end at the last word on the
teleprompter, potential 2016 presidential candidates will also have to sit
down and take questions. And beyond that, CPAC 2015 aims to promote

debate by seating conservative activists, lawmakers and thinkers with

opposing views on the same panels.
"It's OK that there will be television cameras rolling when we have these
conversations," Schlapp said. "I think it's very important because otherwise
what you end up doing is putting a show on where there's so much
pressure to hide those disagreements and it's impossible."
In forums on everything from immigration to drug legalization to national
security! , Schlapp's CPAC hopes to expose -- rather than paper over -fissures in the conservative movement. And instead of quibbling about who
qualifies as a "conservative" and should get an invite, Schlapp said he
wants attendees to decide how wide the conservative label is.
In a way, Schlapp is bringing the conference back to its roots, when CPAC
was smaller, more intimate! and a venue for at-times contentious debates,
two alumni of the American Conservative Union explained.
"The conservative movement and the purpose of the conference have
never been to look like it's a bunch off people marching in lockstep to
anything," said David Keene, who chaired the American Conservative
Union for 27 years until 2011.
Keene applauded Schlapp's attempt to inject more debate and "scale back
the spectacle."
And Craig Shirley, a Ronald Reagan biographer and former ACU board
member who has attended CPAC since the 70s, said the conference has
drifted away from the panels and debates of its earlier years and "became
more just a celebrity spokesman bazaar."
"It's good to see that it's getting back to the fundamentals," he said,
pointing out that CPAC helped shape the conservative position on
everything from Cold War foreign policy to the pro-life stance on abortion.
"Too many candidates over the years -- whether it was Mitt Romney or
whoever else -- came in there and gave a speech that they thought
conservatives wanted to hear and then just walked out," Shirley said.
Attendees will also get to learn! the basics of grassroots activism on the
first day of the conference during "bootcamp" training sessions --part of
CPAC's efforts to rebrand itself as a year-round "event" that pushes will
push conservatives to remain active after they leave the convention center.
And activists will get a chance to prod potential candidates' conservative
bona fides this week more so than in years past. And it's not just because
of an invitation of more debate and inquiry, but part of Schlapp's efforts to
build the conference around CPAC attendants more so than around the
politicians.

Potential presidential candidates won't speak from a platform propped

several feet above the audience, but instead they'll address and engage
with activists from a satellite stage that reaches into the crowd and puts
them lower to the ground.
It's a move that's part political commentary, part customer service for the
thousands of conservative activists who shell out hundreds of dollars each
to attend the four-day event.
"It's really not about the speakers. It's about those folks, it's about those
activists in the audience. That was intentional," Schlapp said. "I think for too
many years the focus! was on how do you give the best possible
experience to the speaker and that's important -- we want to treat our
speakers with respect -- but it's really not about them, it's about the folks
that put the money on the table to come and hear them."
The changes weren't easy to swallow for everyone. A Q&A forum may be
where former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is at his best, but many speakers
would rather avoid muddling their message with on-the-spot questions after
a fine-tuned speech.
Schlapp said he did get pushback from "people who are just used to things
happening a certain way," but the potential for criticism didn't keep Schlapp
from making changes he had been envisioning for years as a board
member, he said.
"We have not held back because of people's feelings. We didn't feel like
that was the right guardrail," he said. "The right guardrail was could we
implement it in time."

CPAC 2015: ACU Chairman Schlapp says

Republican presidential nomination
starts here

By Dana Perino

Published February 23, 2015

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/02/23/cpac-2015-acu-chairman-schlapp-saysrepublican-presidential-nomination-starts/

Editor's note: Fox News' Dana Perino, former White House press
secretary and current co-host of "The Five" recently interviewed
Matt Schlapp, American Conservative Union chairman about this
year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The
conference runs from February 25 through February 28.

1.The American Conservative Union hosts CPAC each year

in Washington and gives potential presidential candidates the
opportunity to address grassroots conservatives. With a wide
open primary, nearly a couple of dozen candidates, and a
party that will face a well-organized and well-funded

Democrat in 2016, how important is CPAC to the 2016

hopefuls?

The American Conservative Union has an important role to play

as the Republican presidential nominating process begins at
CPAC 2015. Nearly every top-tier candidate will appear and
speak at the event. Our goal is to continue the tradition of
bringing together the leaders of the conservative movement with
activists from around the country. We want to have a meaningful
discussion about conservative policy solutions while getting the
first major look at those who would seek to lead conservatives
and Republicans. 2015 is the critical year, due in large part to the
fact that conservatives will play the largest role in picking the
next GOP nominee in key states. The field is large, interesting,
and filled with strong candidates. I believe the most important
role of ACU is to encourage a lively debate and primary process
while at the same time reminding activists that the goal is to
defeat the Democratic candidate. We want a conservative
standard bearer, balanced with the absolute necessity to win. A
Democratic win that would mirror a third Obama term would be a
catastrophe for the federal judiciary, American energy production,
the regulatory state and with the reemergence of the threat from
radical Islam. The conservative movement needs to be ready for
its close-up because the stakes are high.

2. Who do you think will get a rock star reception at CPAC

this year and can anyone go in as an underdog and
emerge as the top dog?

Playing the expectations game: there will be winners and losers

coming out of CPAC, especially since the CPAC Straw Poll will
provide an instantaneous read on where the potential GOP
candidates stand among the activists. Former Florida Governor
Jeb Bush wants to make his case and is willing to have a
conversation with his critics. U.S. Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul
and Marco Rubio are all favorites with the crowd and Paul is
always in a strong position to win the straw poll as his

organization understands the importance of packing the room

with libertarian-minded college students. Former U.S. Senator
Rick Santorum has come to CPAC for 20 years and has a
dedicated following after winning Iowa and ten other primary
states in 2012. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry and current
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal are strong contenders with a
stalwart conservative message outside of the beltway.

Finally, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is enjoying a lot of early

buzz in the press and has momentum after taking everything the
liberals could throw at him while serving as a legitimate
conservative in a blue state. Former CEO Carly Fiorina and
former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton are on the ACU board, and
Ms. Fiorina chairs the Foundation board. Fiorina is an
unconventional candidate who can electrify a crowd and certainly
has advantages in taking jabs at former Secretary Hillary Clinton.
Bolton is a conservative institution and comes into our homes on
Fox News each day explaining the horrors of President Obamas
foreign policy.

3. Senator Rand Paul won the CPAC straw poll in 2014. Will
he repeat?

Senator Rand Paul has the inside track on the Straw Poll, and he
knows the value of a robust conservative organization, which he
has inherited from his fathers long career. The best organization,
coupled with a strong appearance, could propel any candidate
into first place.

4. Youre the new chairman of the American Conservative

Union, an organization that was founded in 1964. What does
the modern day ACU look like?

ACU has a great political history and since its founding 50 years
ago we have seen the rise of many new conservative voices. I
think our future will be even more impactful than our past if we
focus on playing a key role in developing realistic conservative
solutions for the deep problems facing our country. The left is
deceiving the American people, and we will add our voices to

those holding them accountable. Our more enduring

accomplishment is to educate, persuade and develop solutions.
Im a conservative because I think our philosophy provides real
answers to people facing challenges. It is not simply about being
right; it is about improving the general state of our nation.

5. What issues will fire up conservative voters and get them

to the polls in 2016?

2016 will be a watershed election in many ways. President

Obama has governed in a way we have not seen in our lifetime.
He refuses to work with the other party; he fails to forge
legislative relationships even within his own party and rules as an
imperial president, forgetting the strict limits of his power that are
outlined in the Constitution.The president seems to be indierent
to democratic losses in o-year elections. When I reflect on my
service under President George W. Bush, the machinations of
this White House are incomprehensible. President Ronald
Reagan worked with Democrats on tax reform, Social Security
reform and human rights. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald
Ford worked so aggressively with Democrats thatregrettably
they often governed more in line with them than their own party.
President Obama is unique: he is consistently left, consistently
going at it alone, and consistently living the presidency as he
chooses.

6. How does the ACU make sure the principles it stands for
relate to voters of all ages, from Baby Boomers to Generation
X to Millennials?

CPAC will have a large sampling of young conservatives. There

is a myth that the conservative movement is full of retired
golfers, but in fact we are a diverse group of Americans who are
anxious about the state of the national political environment and
want real change and bold conservative leadership in
Washington. Look for CPAC to capture that spirit and make real
attempts to appeal to non-traditional supporters in the hall and
those watching on television or on social media. Americans will

be open to the conservative message in a way we havent seen

since 1980.

7. As the father of five daughters, how do you feel when

conservatives are accused of waging a so-called War on
Women?

My wife, Mercy and I worry about our girls, like all parents do. We
worry about their grades, their friends, their financial security and
if they will find their special role in the world. I know God has a
plan for each one of them that He authored before He created
the universe. It is so sad to me to think that instead of
encouraging young women to dream big and take on the world,
American politics encourages them to think like victims who need
the government to support their needs. I am sure my girls will
disagree with Mercy and me on many things but I hope they hold
closely to one thing: government cannot give them anything that
will make them happier than a determined fulfillment of Gods
plan for them. Governments job is to guarantee their basic
rights, not because they are women, but because they are
Americans.

8. Is there a divide between the so-called elites and the

electorate? And if there is, how can ACU bridge that gap?

What is the establishment? It is a dicult question to answer.

However, what is clear is that all the big institutions in our
society seem to work the angles well, which leaves all the little
guys disadvantaged. Big companies receive help from big
government, which passes complicated regulations that can only
be managed by big international law firms. If you go to meetings
in Washington, D.C. you will most likely enter an imposing glass
building with the name of a law firm on the outside, which
sounds vaguely familiar because they continue to grow and
merge and mutate. I think when people across the nation think of
the establishment they think of a growing group of wellconnected people who have lost the sense of fighting for policies
that will create a level playing field, and who cannot divorce their

moral sense from the financial gain of being a part of all things
big, complicated and non-transparent.

Sonny Bono sang about the beat goes on and I think many in
this country fear that the beat of big government means less
opportunity and more dependency and that it will continue.

9. What are the challenges and the advantages of technology

when it comes to delivering a message and persuading
people who might be skeptical of CPAC?

CPAC is in many ways a throw-back to conventions of old. In the

end, a politician has to be able to stand in a large hall and give
one hell of a speech. It is simply a part of democracy. However,
each attendee will have a Smartphone, which will tempt them to
turn their attention away from the speaker to check the
basketball score, answer a text from a kid in college or see what
time the bars close. We will vote in the Straw Poll on tablets and
a special CPAC smart phone app will guide attendees through
the hectic schedule. Social media will allow participants to vent
and give constant feedback about what they hear. But in the end,
it will be about a potential candidate connecting to an individual
in the crowd and the magic of words, which inspire and force
action and change the country.

10. Finally, here's a pop quiz. Whos your favorite co-host of

The Five?

I'm pleading the Fifth

Log Cabin
Republicans apologize
if they offended CPAC
with all of that
equality talk
Gay GOP group will be allowed to attend CPAC after all -- but not as
sponsors
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/23/
log_cabin_republicans_apologize_if_they_offended_cpac_with_all_of_that_equality_talk/
MONDAY, FEB 23, 2015 01:53 PM EST
By: LUKE BRINKER


Log Cabin Republicans executive director Gregory T. Angelo (Credit: RT)

Less than one week after the head of the Log Cabin Republicans
publicly assailed the organizers of the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) for prohibiting the gay conservative group from
sponsoring this years gathering, the two sides have reached a truce. The
Log Cabin Republicans still wont be permitted to sponsor the event, but
executive director Gregory T. Angelo announced Monday that he has
accepted an invitation to speak on a panel about Russia.
Angelo said in a statement that it would be an honor to represent his
group on the Saturday panel, titledPutins Russia: A New Cold War?
While the panel isnt focused on LGBT issues, it will presumably afford
Angelo an opportunity to discuss Russias crackdown on LGBT citizens.
In his statement, Angelo apologized if his group offended the American
Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC, with its demand that the
Log Cabin Republicans be recognized as a full and equal sponsor.
After some very fruitful conversations with the leadership of The
American Conservative Union, we would like to express regret if anyone
associated with The American Conservative Union felt unfairly
maligned. That was never our intention, Angelo said.
In an email to The Hill newspaper, Angelo said that while its
disappointing that the Log Cabin Republicans wont be allowed to
sponsor CPAC, Im not going to make the perfect the enemy of the
good. He added that he hoped his participation would convey that his
group is more than just the gay marriage Republicans.
Though Angelo says that his groups second-class status is satisfactory
for now, he was far more scathing in his assessment of the events
organizers last week.
The ACU is fond of hiding behind a fig leaf stating gay people are
welcome as guests, but the ability to buy a ticket to CPAC was never
what our debate was about; indeed, I will be attending CPAC, as will
hundreds of other Log Cabin Republicans members and supporters,
Angelo said in a statement on Thursday. Make no mistake: LCR is

actively being prohibited from sponsoring CPAC.For our organization,

this has always been about contributing to CPAC as sponsors or in some
recognized capacity.Time and again, when we showed the ACU that we
met their criteria for sponsorship, the reasons for our exclusion
changed.
The controversy over the Log Cabin Republicans participation in this
years event marks the latest chapter in CPACs ongoing gay-rights saga.
In 2010 and 2011, the conservative gay group GOProud co-sponsored
the event, although it was banned in 2012. While Log Cabin
Republicans had previously participated in the event, it has not been
involved in recent years.
The ACU has long noted that individual gay conservatives are permitted
to attend CPAC as paying guests, but Angelo derided that defense in a
Daily Caller op-ed last year.
At a time when state legislatures around the country are proposing,
debating and in some cases passing legislation that allows
individuals to discriminate against Americans exclusively because of
their sexual orientation, we could not in good conscience agree to a
settlement in which Log Cabin Republicans was expected to celebrate
the equivalent of not being allowed to sit at the lunch counter but still be
served food, or sitting in the back of the bus, as long as we were allowed
to ride it, he wrote.
While Angelos group wont be sponsoring CPAC, the events organizers
will honor homophobic Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson with
theAndrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award.

Gay GOP group will

participate in conservative
conference
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/233481-gay-gop-group-will-participatein-conservative-conference
February 23, 2015, 12:17 pm
By David McCabe

A group of gay Republicans will participate in the Conservative

Political Action Conference (CPAC) after accusing the conferences
organizers of excluding it.
Gregory T. Angelo, the director of the Log Cabin Republicans, will
appear on a panel entitled Putins Russia: A New Cold War?, the
group said Monday.
Obviously, not being allowed to sponsor this year's event is
disappointing, but I'm not going to make the perfect the enemy of the
good, Angelo said in an email. This panel is an important opportunity
to show LCR is more than just 'the gay marriage Republicans,' and to
bring a unique perspective to CPAC not represented anywhere else
during this years conference.

The announcement comes days after the long-simmering conflict

between the Log Cabin Republicans and the American Conservative
Union (ACU), which organizes CPAC, burst into public view.
Last week, the group accused the ACU of failing to respond to its
attempts to cosponsor the event. The ACU fired back, saying that the
Log Cabin Republicans had never formally applied for sponsorship.
The spat was a reminder of the conflict within the GOP as the party
tries to appeal to a broader group of voters while satisfying its
conservative base.
I want to make it really clear, gay conservatives should feel
comfortable to come to CPAC. Libertarians play an important role in
this coalition," ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp said in an interview this
weekend. "We don't have enough people in the center right to start
excluding people from that coalition. They all need to feel welcome.
We need to pull together on the things that we agree with."
Angelo said in a statement Monday that his group regretted if anyone
felt that they had been painted in a negative light by the public
argument.
After some very fruitful conversations with the leadership of The
American Conservative Union, we would like to express regret if
anyone associated with The American Conservative Union felt unfairly
maligned, he said. That was never our intention.

Former Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle to step back

into political spotlight with GOP elite

"
Former U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle will speak this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the
nation's largest annual gathering of conservatives. Buerkle, now a commissioner on the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission, will take part in a debate about legalizing marijuana. About 10,000 people are expected to
attend the conference and hear from top Republicans considering a run for president in 2016. (John Berry | The
Post-Standard) (John Berry / The Post-Standard)

By Mark Weiner | mweiner@syracuse.com

Follow on Twitter

on February 23, 2015 at 11:58 AM, updated February 23, 2015 at 1:48 PM

http://www.syracuse.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/
former_rep_ann_marie_buerkle_to_step_back_into_political_spotlight_with_republic.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle plans

to return to the political spotlight this week, joining the biggest

names in the Republican Party who will speak at a national

conference of conservatives.
Buerkle, who represented the Syracuse area in Congress for one
term in 2011 and 2012, has agreed to speak Thursday at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
suburban Washington, D.C.
About 10,000 people are expected to attend the nation's largest
annual gathering of conservatives, an event that will take on
added significance this year as likely Republican presidential
candidates jockey for conservative support.
Among those who will address the group this week are GOP
presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Scott Walker,
Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz.
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin also will address
the group.
Buerkle will take part in a discussion Thursday titled, "The red pill
or the blue pill? A debate on marijuana legalization." The agenda
lists her as one of two panelists with former New Mexico Gov.
Gary Johnson, who ran as a libertarian presidential candidate in
2012 and is now CEO of a company that wants to sell medicinal
and recreational marijuana.
After Buerkle's debate, thee consecutive big-name Republican
speakers will follow her on stage -- Walker, Jindal and Palin,
according to the agenda.
Buerkle, a commissioner on the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission since 2013, has stayed under the political
radar for the past two years while serving in her federallyappointed post.
Buerkle spoke at CPAC in 2013 -- before she was appointed to fill
one of the two Republican seats on the commission -- and said the
GOP must become more diverse and embrace change if it wants to
stay relevant.

"They really have to understand that the days of the good-old-boy

party, the days of the establishment party, are gone forever,"
Buerkle told the conservative gathering.
Buerkle, who sold her house on Onondaga Hill last year, has not
ruled out the possibility of returning to politics. When she was
appointed to the seven-year term on the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Buerkle said she
was keeping her political options open for the future.
In September 2013, Buerkle decided not to challenge former Rep.
Dan Maffei for a third time, but she promised supporters that
she will remain politically active. She has stayed in touch
with her supporters with regular emails and an occasional radio
show on WSYR-AM in Syracuse.
Buerkle would have to resign from her $155,000-per-year
commissioner's post in order to run for political office.
Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union
which organizes CPAC, referred to Buerkle as a "tea party
favorite" in his announcement of her participation. Buerkle has
never publicly embraced the label, and did not join the tea party
caucus in Congress.
"We are happy to announce that tea party favorite Ann Marie
Buerkle, who is principled, tough-as-nails, and a fighter for our
shared conservative values, will be at CPAC 2015," Schlapp said.
Schlapp added, "As a member of Congress she fought tough
battles. As a U.S. Consumer Product Safety commissioner she
continues to fight for free market principles and citizen-focused
government. Ann Marie is a reliable conservative voice who
understands the burdens government places on businesses
through overregulation."

CPAC 2015: ITS DO

OR DIE FOR RICK
PERRY

"

AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/02/23/cpac-2015-its-do-or-die-forrick-perry/
by SARAH RUMPF
23 Feb 2015

As former Governor Rick Perry(R-Texas)prepares to launch his

second presidential campaign, the upcoming Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC) could very wellbe a do-ordiemoment for him, as he seeks to reconnect with grassroots
conservatives who are concerned he is out-of-step with their views
on issues like immigration and border security. During the past
month, Perry has made comments that indicate he may be taking
a more moderate paththan in 2012, putting him at odds with the
traditionally conservative CPAC audience.
In Perrys final speech to the Texas Legislature back in January,
he touted his efforts at bipartisanship. There is not a single
accomplishment that occurred without bipartisan support, said
Perry. I believe we are at our best when we get beyond our
differences and attempt to seek common groundCompromise is
not a dirty word when it moves Texasforward.
The problem for Perry, of course, is thatbipartisanship has
become a dirty word in Republican primary contests. A POLITICO
article from earlier this month appropriately titled, A new,
more moderate Rick Perry added further evidence of Perrys
more moderate stance, describing how he has sought to portray
himself as a more moderate, thoughtful contenderthan he was
during his 2012 campaign, when he entered the race as a
firebrand conservative.
One major challenge for Perry as he seeks tocapture the energy
and support of conservatives in 2016is the emergence of Senator
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the national political scene. Viewed by the
grassroots as staunchly conservative, the firebrand Senator has
captured the attention of activists in not just Texas, but across the
country. Part of Perrys chatter about compromise is assumed to
be targeted at marginalizing Cruz as too abrasive and too far to
the right to be electable, but Perrywill still have to establish his
own conservative bona fides if he is to get any momentum with

Republican voters weary after nearly two terms of President

Barack Obama.
To examine whether Perry would be able to successfully satisfy
the conservative wing of the GOP, Breitbart Texasconducted
exclusive interviews withseveral top political consultants, key
reporters who covered the2012 presidential election, and
grassroots activists to get their take on what they expect to see
from Perry.
Republican strategist Rick Wilson was among those who
wereoptimisticabout how Perry would perform. I think Rick
Perry has definitely been on the comeback trail and has impressed
conservativeswith the Rick Perry everyone knew before the 2012
primary, said Wilson. I think he has a chance at CPACto
continue that streak and reintroducehimself to conservatives.
Perrys challenge, of course, is that the Rick Perry everyone knew
during the 2012 primary was a candidate who made a late but
strong entrance quickly surging to the top of the polls as
Republican primary voters embraced him as a straight-talking
conservative alternative to former Governor Mitt Romney (RMassachusetts) only then to crash back down after a series of
poor debate performances. The end was brutal after such a
promising start, culminating in the infamous Oops moment,
when Perrycould not remember one of the three federal agencies
he would like to abolish at a November 2011 debate. Perry would
officially pull the plug onhis campaign two months later.
The Oops debate may be the most memorable moment for many
from Perrys 2012 campaign, but for a number of political
observers, the real trouble started inSeptember 2011 in Florida,
when Perrys support for a statute that allowed certain illegal
immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Texas universities became a
contentious issue during the Republican primary debates.
As Breitbart Texas reported, in 2001, Perry had signed into
lawHB 1403, whichallowed undocumented immigrant students
who hadlived in Texas at least three years and hada Texas high

school diploma or GED equivalent to qualify for in-state tuition if

they signed an affidavit that they intended to apply for permanent
residency status as soon as they could.
HB 1403 passed by a substantial majority vote in both chambers
of the Texas legislature with only four dissenting votes, but has
been criticized since then as being one of the magnets that
encourages people to enter the United States illegally. Perry
defended the law six years later in an interview with the Houston
Chronicle, and has repeated his support several times since
then,including at an appearance at The Texas Tribune Festival in
September 2014.
Going back to the 2012 campaign, Romney and former Senator
Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) were among those whosharply
criticized Perry for his support of HB 1403. Perry tried to defend
the lawa debate in Orlando in September 2011, saying, if you say
that we should not educate children who have come into our state
for no other reason than theyve been brought there by no fault of
their own, I dont think you have a heart. We need to be educating
these children because they will become a drag on our society
This was a state issue. Texas voted on it. And I still support it
today. The audience booed Perry in response.
Marc Caputo, POLITICOs Florida political reporter, was in
Orlando covering that debate for the Miami Herald. Caputo
viewedthe Orlando debate and another one in Florida as the
moments that started to change the trajectory for Perry. The
substance of his responses wasnt very good, said Caputo, and
then after the I dont think you have a heart line, people booed
him.
What he said on immigration, appeared to be out of step with
conservatives, too moderate, said Caputo, and he was on
defense after that on immigration issues.
Tampa Bay Times Political EditorAdam Smithwas also in
Florida covering the 2012 election, and agreed that the September

2011 Orlando debate was where [Perry]really tanked, calling it a

horrific performance.
JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director of Grassroots America We
the People, told Breitbart Texas that Perrys position on
immigrationwasmore of an issue now than its ever beenthe
spotlight is even harsher than it was in 2012.
Fleming has been a critic of Perrys border security efforts for
some time, joiningother grassroots activists in several press
conferences at the Capitol during the past year to highlight
problems, such as the over-concentration of resources in the Rio
Grande Valley sector while other major stretches of the TexasMexico border remained neglected.
Words mean things, said Fleming, and Governor Perryis not
being honest if he tells everyone that he secured the border when
he was Governor. She much preferred the approach of Perrys
successor, Governor Greg Abbott, praising his plan for
aimingtotruly gain operational control of theentire Texas
border not merely engage in political theater,as Breitbart
Texas reported.
Fleming also slammedthe in-state tuition bill as one of the
magnets that attract people to come here illegally, along with
other parts of the social safety net, like free public education,
free health care, subsidized housing, and other welfare benefits
that are available to those who cross illegally.
The American taxpayer gets to pay for that, said Fleming. The
basic tenet of liberty is, you dont take other peoples stuffthe
American peopleare tired of having the governmentcommandeer
their assets for peoplewho are willing to break the law.
Perry may find himself at odds with the current Texas Legislature
on this issue very shortly. Several of the members are still
smarting from their support for the bill in 2001 being used against
them in the primary elections last year, and a bill that would
repeal itwas filed at the beginning of this years legislative session

by State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R-Bedford), as Breitbart Texas

reported.
Fleming also said that the grassroots activists she knows are fed
up with attitudes like Perrys you dont have a heart comment.
If Governor Perrypersists in this Jeb Bush like definitionof
compassion, I dont think hell be able to course correct from
what happened to him in 2012, she concluded.
With a contrasting view,Justin Keener, an Austin-based
conservative consultant who regularly works with grassroots and
conservative leaders, told Breitbart Texas thatPerrys personality
and his record on economic and fiscal issues could help make him
an attractive candidate to CPAC attendees.
The thing with Rick Perry, said Keener, is that when you talk
with the grassroots, everyone seems to like him, [and] they like
what he has accomplished, like cutting taxes, reducing
regulations, and the states booming economy.
Keener said that people generally had a good idea where Perry
stood on the issues, so the challenge for him now was to prove
that he is better prepared for the campaign than in 2012, to prove
that he had done his homework like he said he has.
You dont hear anyone saying, no, he wont make a good
Presidenthe has the resume and everyone recognizes that, but
can he make it through the debates? asked Keener. Its all about,
is he ready? What is he going to do in the debates? Is the media
going to pick him apart?
Of course, showing that he is ready for the debates is more than
just memorizing conservative-friendly talking points. Perry will
need to show that he can articulate his position on issues and his
vision for Americas future in a way that avoids antagonizing his
audience, as he so disastrously did back in September 2011 in
Orlando.
Perry will have his chance to convince conservatives he deserves
their support witha prime spot on this yearsCPAC agenda, 9:00
am Friday onthe main ballroom stage. The CPAC organizers, the

American Conservative Union (ACU), have added a new wrinkle

to the keynote speeches, allowing the speakers to devote part of
the time to Q & As from the audience, which may allow Perry a
chance to prove he could perform better in debates this time
around.
There are high expectations for Perrysremarks,due in no small
part to his own strong performance last year. At CPAC 2014, Perry
energized the crowd with a rousing speech, and then participated
in a criminal justice panel where he was able to showcase some of
the noteworthy criminal justice reforms passed in Texas under his
watch, as well as his own ability to participate in a substantive
policy discussion.
Notably, Perrydid not focus on immigration or border security
issues during either appearance at CPAC last year. If he chooses to
participate in Q & A, he will be unable to avoid discussingthose
topics. The hundreds of reporters, bloggers, and citizen journalists
who attend CPAC will certainly seek to ask him about those hotbutton topics. Perry is likely to face the difficult choice of either
backtracking on some of his past more moderate comments,
risking the accusation that he is a flip-flopper, or tellinga
conservative audience that he thinks they are wrong buthoping it
does not come across asharshly as he did with his you dont have
a heart comments.
Matt Mackowiak, anAustin-based Republican consultant whois
attending CPAC, thought that the new structure allowing Q & As
was a bit of a wild card, but believedPerry would be prepared.
He noted that Perrys track record at CPAC is pretty goodhes
someone who knows how to fire up a crowd and has done so in
the past.
According to the Tampa Bay Times Smith, the key for Perry is
that hes just got toshow that hes a lot stronger than he was last
time. Smith pointed out one keyadvantage Perry has: Theres
no overwhelming front-runner right nowits a fairly wide open

race. If Perry performs well at CPAC and surprises everyone, said

Smith, thats a great storyhe could gain momentum.
Smith also noted that Perry will have a much harder time making
any headway in Florida than he did in 2012, when none of the
candidates had strong ties to the Sunshine State. Now, the
political scene inFlorida is dominated by former Governor Jeb
Bush (R-Florida) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), explained
Smith.Theres almost no buzz for Rick Perryamong Republicans
in Floridaexcept by [Governor] Rick Scott, who still talks about
him all the time [but hes]not exactly an influential figure, he
continued, referring to Scotts perennially low poll numbers.
In general, Perry faces a field of competitors who overlap with his
potential support in several ways. In addition to Senator Cruz,
Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is likely to pull support from
Perry among libertarians. Dr. Ben Carson has never run for
political office but has nonetheless captured the imagination of a
number of tea partiers and activists. For the conservatives looking
for executive experience, Perry is expected to be joined
bymultiple former and current Governors: Bush, Governor Scott
Walker (R-Wisconsin), Governor Chris Christie (R-New Jersey),
and possibly others.
In Mackowiaks view, Perry is floating under the surface right
nowwhich is not necessarily a bad place to be, especially as
some other potential candidates have made minor stumbles under
the press spotlight recently.Mackowiak said that he did not think
that Perry was likely to do anything that would completely derail
hiscampaign at CPAC, but a successful performance would be
helpful and generate positive buzz.
CPAC is an opportunity to gain momentum quickly, he
continued, to get yourself on the tips of the tongues of the
activists and fundraisers, and start building support in advance
of the debates coming this fall.
Peggy Venable, the Policy Director for Americans for Prosperity
Texas, told Breitbart Texas that she will be attending CPAC and

believes that conservative activistsare looking forward to hearing

from Perry. [Note: Venable spoke to Breitbart Texas on her own
individual behalf, not for AFP.]
Texas is seen as a rock star among the states, said Venable,
describing the job creation and economic record over recent years
as setting us apart. In her view, Perry is not as appreciated in
Texas as he is in other places, and people are excited about him
being there [at CPAC]theres a real enthusiasm.
However, she added, whether that manifests itself in a successful
presidential campaign, its too early to tell.

Conservatives Want a Candidate

for President Who Can
Connect, CPAC Chief Says
Ken McIntyre / @KenMac55 / February 24, 2015 / 6 comments
http://dailysignal.com/2015/02/24/conservatives-want-candidatepresident-can-connect-cpac-chief-says/

'We have to get people where they are': Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American
Conservative Union. (Photo: Chuck Kennedy/KRT/Newscom)

By the time conservative activists leave the nations capital

this weekend after their largest annual get-together, they
should be better equipped for the 2016 campaign trail. They
also may be a little closer to uniting behind a candidate for
president who can win by addressing the concerns of
everyday Americans.
That, at least, is the goal of Matt Schlapp, who heads the team
putting on the Conservative Political Action Conference, better
known as CPAC.
We have to be able to reach [regular Americans] where they
are and explain to them why conservative policies matter,
Schlapp says in an interview with The Daily Signal. In the last
presidential campaign, that connection did not happen. I
dont want to get personal about why; it just didnt happen.
Dont have time to read the Washington Post or New York
Times?
Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the
days most important political news, conservative commentary
and original reporting from a team committed to following the
truth no matter where it leads.
In June, Schlapp assumed the chairmanship of the American
Conservative Union. Leaders in the conservative movement
founded the Washington-based umbrella group on shared

principles in 1964; a decade later, it began organizing CPAC as

a regular gathering of activists.
Beginning Wednesday, Schlapp will welcome thousands of
conservatives from across the country as they come together
for four days of speeches, panels, exhibits and other activities
at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center outside
Washington, D.C.
Besides White House hopefuls, attendees will hear from an Alist of conservative heroes. Making a long-awaited return to
CPAC on Friday morning will be Fox News and talk-radio host
Sean Hannity.
Innovations this year include a less grandiose stage that will
extend into the audience, CPACs version of a runway like one
Bono or Beyonce might prowl. Also new: repeated
opportunities for attendees to question presidential hopefuls
rather than just listen, and an afternoon devoted to preparing
activists to make a dierence back home.
Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, embraced what
Schlapp calls the up front concept. Bush, who is striving to
make inroads with conservatives who view him with some
suspicion over his immigration and education stances,
decided to devote his entire 20 minutes to a question-andanswer session.
In a move sure to impress, Bush is slated to field questions
from an unimpeachable conservative. (Update 2:30
p.m.:Hannity, who will speak earlier Friday and for yearshas
called for a true conservative candidate, will be

thatquestioner, CPAC spokesman Ian Walters confirmed

toThe Daily Signal.)
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other
potential candidates for presidenteven if they choose to
open with the traditional prepared remarkswill be expected
to answer six to eight minutes of queries filtered through CPAC
oicials.
Lets just say everybodys going to have to answer some
serious questions, Schlapp, 47, tells The Daily Signal. Were
going to be fair about those questions. Were not looking to
embarrass any of the candidates.
In a first, Wednesday from 1:30to 5:30 p.m. will be dedicated
to an activism boot camp, with additional oerings through
Friday.The idea: concentrated training for the younger
contingenttodays millennialsthat traditionally makes up a
significant bloc of CPAC attendees. The theme: Conservative
Action Starts Here.
Such changes, Schlapp says, show that he and other ACU
veterans are determined to respond to the needs of those who
will talk to family, friends and co-workers and get involved in
campaigns.
With the notable exception of former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee, who pleaded a scheduling conflict, most of the
likeliest Republican candidates have 20-minute slots on the
main stage Thursday or Friday.

Between stints as a congressional aide and a federal aairs

executive for Koch Industries, Schlapp was White House
political director during President George W. Bushs first term
through his re-election in 2004. Schlapp agrees with those
who describe the initial field of Republican 2016 hopefuls as
both big and impressive.
I think whats also fantastic, he says, is that theyre all
grabbing the mantle of Im a conservative.
CPAC attendees will be among the first to probe that claim.

Phyllis Schlafly at 90: Still

pushing conservative ideals,
battling Republican
establishment
A Choice Not an Echo author says reviving family culture only
way out of U.S. financial mess
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/23/phyllis-schlafly-still-pushing-conservativeideals/?page=all
Monday, February 23, 2015
By Cheryl Wetzstein


Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly says reviving a strong, self-sufficient family culture is the only way
out of the nations financial mess. (Associated Press) more >

Mrs. Schlafly, the author of 25 books, still writes a weekly column, radio
commentaries and a monthly newsletter, The Phyllis Schlafly Report,
on current affairs.
Asked in a recent interview what it will take to see President Ronald
Reagans morning in America again, she replies instantly with the
candor that is her hallmark: A change in the administration, for
starters.
But then there will be a lot of hard work disincentivizing welfare, reincentivizing marriage and tackling the many forces feminism, family
courts, gay rights that are undermining Americas mom-and-pop
family culture and the powerful benefits it brings, she warns.
The nuclear family i.e., mother and father, with father as provider
is an economic entity that can support itself, and did support itself and
built the greatest middle class in the history of the world, says Mrs.
Schlafly, the founder of Eagle Forum.
Reviving a strong, self-sufficient family culture is the only way out of
the nations financial mess, she says.
The social issues are the reason for the big, unbalanced budget and
enormous spending, she said, recalling one statistical estimate that
President Lyndon Baines Johnsons War on Poverty has now cost
more than all the wars our country ever fought.
When fathers arent in the home, she says, women and children look to
Big Brother Government and its costly welfare programs.
So, to cut the budget, youve got to restore the family, says Mrs.
Schlafly, who is widowed after 44 years of marriage and has six children
and 14 grandchildren.
Mrs. Schlafly famously crashed Republican boardrooms and backrooms
in 1964 when she self-published a brisk little paperback called A
Choice Not an Echo.
I sold 3.5 million copies out of my garage, she told The Washington
Times.

The book exposed and named kingmakers who were picking

Republican candidates and propelling them forward with the help of
paid political workers, media cheerleaders and propaganda blitzes that
made a credulous public believe the anointed candidate was there by
public acclaim.
The book was the major thing that invented the conservative
movement, because it showed them the game plan, inspired them to go
for a goal and to stick together afterwards, she said.
A Choice Not an Echo galvanized support for Arizona Sen. Barry
Goldwater, a conservative, free enterprise, Republican choice, not the
echo of a liberal, big-government Democrat.
Goldwater lost by a landslide to incumbent President Lyndon B.
Johnson, but the events of 1964 sowed the seeds for our reward in 1980
with the election of Ronald Reagan, Mrs. Schlafly says proudly.
Mrs. Schlafly, whose work will be honored Wednesday night at the Paul
Weyrich Awards dinner that kicks off the annual Conservative Political
Action Conference, updated her seminal book in 2014, offering her
always-succinct reviews of the political conventions since 1968, and
even some thoughts about 2016.
The kingmakers of old have given way to the Republican Establishment,
she says, but its the same thing: The big money crowd is trying to
dictate who will be the nominee and control the Republican Party.
Still, the stakes for the next presidential election have never been
higher, she adds.
What [President] Obama has done to our country is hard to believe, its
so bad. He has taken us into a different kind of country he wants to
bring us down to the level of all the other countries.
When I wrote the new [version of] A Choice Not an Echo, basically I
predicted Jeb [Bush] would be the candidate, she says, referring to the
son of the man the Establishment Republicans heavily backed over
California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1980.
One of the funniest things to watch recently was former Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romneys effort to return as a 2016
candidate, she says. That wasnt in the [Establishment] plan at all, she

chuckles. They had to get rid of him as they didnt want their people
divided.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has several fatal liabilities, she wrote in
2014, such as the Bush name and his vehement support of the Common
Core takeover of our schools.
If conservatives want to nominate a real conservative, they must get
busy now.
Now the big factor of money is making a huge difference in candidate
selection, she tells The Times.
I know that Jeb Bush is having a $100,000-a-plate dinner. That is so
much money I can hardly understand it.
Pick a favorite conservative subject activist judges, religious freedom
battles, military superiority and family breakdown and Mrs. Schlafly
has probably written a book about it.
Activist judges like those in her 2006 book, The Supremacists: The
Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It have gotten even worse, she
declares.
These judges think they can do anything, and they are trying to make
law and really run the country, and make all these important decisions,
she says. There are exceptions, like the brave judge who recently
wrote the 120-page opinion blocking Obamas crooked amnesty
program for illegal immigrants, but thats out of line with the
supremacists, she adds.
In 2012 she covered the very important religious freedom issue in her
book No Higher Power: Obamas War on Religious Freedom.
That, in turn, dovetails into the white-hot social issue of gay rights, she
says.
I have said and thought from beginning that [the] first goal of the gay
rights movement was not marriage their first goal was to shut up
everybody that disagreed with them, and accuse them of discrimination,
Mrs. Schlafly says.
Their two big arguments have been that they have been discriminated
against, and theres an inevitability to their claims, she says.

In fact, however, there hasnt been a large-scale movement of the

people to [gay marriage], Mrs. Schlafly says. Instead, in most states
with gay marriage, the changes were not adopted by the people, they
were adopted by a supremacist judge.
Mrs. Schlafly takes pride in her leadership in the 10-year battle to block
state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress in
1972, arguing it would allow women to be drafted into the military and
give federal government enormous new powers to reinterpret every law
that makes a distinction based on gender, such as those related to
marriage, divorce and alimony.
But her other major legacy is making the Republican Party pro-life.
Republicans were pro-abortion under President Richard Nixon since, in
the 1970s, people were worried that we were running out of food on the
earth and needed population control, she said. Now the party is so prolife, you can hardly run for office as a Republican without at least
saying youre pro-life, she boasts.
Mrs. Schlafly fought for pro-life positions in Republican Party
platforms, beginning with the first convention after the 1973 Roe v.
Wade ruling legalizing abortion. Since 1984 the Republican platform has
said that the unborn child, as an individual, has a fundamental right to
life.
Noting that half of the millennial generation is pro-life, she says, Id
like to think it [was due to] all our good work, but its the pictures, the
ultrasounds.
I didnt see any ultrasound when I was having babies, she says. But
today, even a 4th grader can tell thats a baby.

Can Fiorina make it to the debates?

By: Cameron Joseph, 3/3/15
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/can-fiorina-make-it-to-the-debates/arBBiaUsn
If Republicans want to go hard against likely Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016,
Carly Fiorina might be their best messenger.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO barely registers in polls, but as the lone female in the likely
GOP field, her harsh jabs at the presumptive Democratic nominee have improved her stock in, at
the very least, the vice presidential stakes.
Shes talented and articulate and speaking as a woman, she knocks down a bunch of the
nonsense we get from the other team, said Americans for Tax Reform President Grover

Norquist. She doesnt have to say Id be a great vice president; people are figuring that out for
themselves. And by the way, theres no reason to start with the silver medal.
Fiorina gave a rousing speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, ripping into the
former secretary of State to the crowds delight while outlining her own bona fides.
Unlike Mrs. Clinton, I know that flying is an activity, not an accomplishment, she said, earning
some of the events loudest cheers.
The audiences response was impressive for the little-known failed Senate candidate in
California. She drew similar accolades during an Iowa speech in January, too.
She was a winner and a standout at the Iowa Freedom Summit, and she continues to impress,
said Citizens United President David Bossie, whose group co-sponsored the Iowa event. Every
week, I see her helping herself. Shes just doing it smartly.
Many strategists are already including her on potential vice president shortlists, no matter who
wins the nomination. She is well connected throughout the GOP, willing to partly self-fund and
is showing marked improvement from her failed Senate run.
And for a Republican Party badly in need of diversity, Fiorinas gender offers her a unique
perspective to talk to voters.
Were 53 percent of the electorate and its important that our party is as diverse as the country
we want to represent, Fiorina said in an email to The Hill. If youre a single mom struggling to
raise two kids, and Republicans are talking about smaller government and less taxation, you
dont understand what that does for you. In fact, you suspect, if thats all you hear, you think that
hurts you. We dont finish the sentence for people and thats what we need to do better.
She can also deliver harsher attacks against Clinton than some of the men might be able to get
away with.
She has shown how to gracefully but forcefully and factually challenge Mrs. Clinton to a dual,
said GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway. Shes demonstrating her ability to pass one major
threshold test for Republicans in 2016 she shows no fear about challenging Mrs. Clintons
record.
Fiorina has never held office before, a potential asset in an era when voters are turning away
from career politicians. Still, shes no political neophyte.
She was a prominent surrogate for Sen. John McCains (R-Ariz.) 2008 campaign, and after
struggling badly against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on her way to a double-digit loss in 2010,
shes spent much of the past five years working hard within the GOP to build a solid network and
sharpen her rhetoric.
Shes come a long way. ... Where I think shes improved the most is the ability to connect with
people, versus saying heres my resume, said GOP strategist Ford OConnell.
Fiorina was the National Republican Senatorial Committees vice chair for fundraising in 2012,
has been a regular on the cable news and is involved with many conservative groups including
the American Conservative Union, which organized CPAC. That has helped her build upon an

already strong fundraising network and allowed her to make dozens of speeches outside the
spotlight.
Shes pitching herself as a self-made businesswoman, not a self-funding candidate this time,
said Conway.
In her CPAC speech, she also showed she was as comfortable discussing foreign policy as fiscal
issues, talking up her meetings with foreign leaders before pitching herself as a strong social
conservative who had to start from the bottom of the professional world and work her way up.
She spent the weekend networking with activists and donors, giving interviews and participating
in panels on topics as diverse as economic growth, how to handle Russia and the GOPs response
to Democrats war on women attacks.
Some other women who may attack Hillary may start to sound like one-note Donnas, but she
isnt that, said Conway. At one conference, she demonstrated her breadth of knowledge and
opinions and readiness.
Fiorina has a packed schedule ahead. Shes in Florida this week for events including one
addressing the deep-pocketed Republican Jewish Coalition, and shell be in Iowa and New
Hampshire in the next two weeks.
A big question for Fiorina and for the other lesser-known candidates is whether she can
build enough momentum for a spot in the GOP debates.
The Republican National Committee has said there will be minimum thresholds for candidates to
even get onstage.
Shes barely registering in the early states now, and came in ninth in the CPAC straw poll, but
observers think it wont be long before she can catch fire.
Shes not a gimmicky person, shes very serious, said Craig Robinson, a former political
director of the Iowa Republican Party. Its important for her to do everything she can to get on
that debate stage.

CBS News California

What determines the perfect candidate for 2016?

By: Nancy Benac, 3/2/15
http://www.cbs8.com/story/28243121/what-determines-the-perfect-candidate-for-2016

WASHINGTON (AP) Let's say, for a moment, that America has given you the job of picking the perfect candidate for
president. Good luck, Mr. or Ms. Voter, deciding what they've got to have and what they can do without.
There are all sorts of things to start the list: leadership, vision, charisma, communication skills and foreign policy cred. And
more: fundraising prowess, authenticity, empathy, a keen understanding of the presidency and maybe a little familiarity with
running for the office.
And even more: good looks are always a plus, even if people don't want to admit it. For many, being an "outsider" is a must
at a time when "Washington" is on the outs with a lot of people.

Where do you even start? For Republicans, you can't do much better than this week's Conservative Political Action
Conference. There are as many as two dozen GOP hopefuls eyeing the party's nomination in 2016, and many of them will
be offering themselves at CPAC as the perfect prom date for conservatives in search of a winning candidate.
Can anyone claim the total package? Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, sees
a strong lineup of potential candidates and says that now, "they're going to preen and strut and we're going to see a
president emerge."
But you know how schoolgirls may dream up the perfect boyfriend by imagining a mashup of the jock, the hottie and the
smart kid, with a whiff of bad boy for excitement? What if Republicans could do the same to assemble their dream candidate
to go up against the Democratic nominee, who most expect will be Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Here's a look at a few qualities they might want to pick from, and some of the candidates with something to offer.
___
LEADERSHIP
Pick a governor. Wisconsin's Scott Walker, New Jersey's Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are among at
least 10 current and former governors considering a bid. Says Walker, "Governors are the ones who get things done." One
other option: Carly Fiorina, a former tech executive, has the initials "CEO" on her resume.
___
COMMUNICATION
Grab a senator. Boy, do they know how to talk. There are at least five current and former senators considering running, and
Florida's Marco Rubio, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Texan Ted Cruz are all known for giving a good speech. Rubio has the
added benefit of a compelling back story to share on the stump: he's the son of Cuban immigrants who came to the U.S.
seeking a better life.
___
THE OUTSIDER
Walker is a Harley-riding preacher's son who's been governor since 2011 and cultivated the image of the outsideWashington upstart. He's best known for a taking on public unions, and surviving a 2012 recall election after that brouhaha.
___
UNDERSTANDING THE PRESIDENCY
Hands down, this is Bush he's the son and brother of former presidents. No one else can claim the same intimacy with
the office, says Schlapp, who calls Bush a "historical anomaly." But, then again, that whole Bush dynasty thing is a downside
to those with bad memories of presidents 41 and 43.
___
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCE
A handful of White House potentials have been here, done that. How much did they learn last time out? Former
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was the last candidate standing in opposition to Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination in
2012, a role played by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee against John McCain in 2008.
___
FOREIGN POLICY
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a member of the Armed Services Committee who has traveled extensively to Iraq,
Afghanistan, Israel and more, and serves in the U.S. Air Force Reserves at the rank of captain, has a fluency with foreign
affairs that stands out. Rubio, who serves on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, is well-versed on Latin
America.
Foreign policy is typically a weak area for governors, which may be why Christie, Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
have all trooped to London in recent weeks. In a recent speech on foreign policy, Bush stressed that he had lived in
Venezuela for a time, led 15 trade missions as Florida governor and traveled extensively since then. "I forced myself to go
visit Asia four times a year to learn about the dynamic nature of the region," he said.

___
FUNDRAISING
Bush. Most voters don't really care about campaign finance, but raking in cash is an essential skill for any successful
candidate. Veteran GOP fundraiser Fred Malek predicts Bush will raise twice as much money as any other GOP candidate,
but he says other leading candidates, including Christie and Walker, can raise enough to compete.
___
AUTHENTICITY
Paul has a reputation for candor that endears him to many, but sometimes gets him into trouble. Christie has the authenticity
factor in spades, for better or worse. His tell-it-like-it-is bravado is a plus to some and a huge turnoff to others. "The knock on
him is that he is who he is," Schlapp said. "Some people love that, and maybe some people don't."
___
GOOD LOOKS
There's no People Magazine list of the hottest candidates. But you can bet most of these candidates like what they see in
the mirror.
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/nbenac

Bloombergs Matt Negrin Binges House of Cards

with Carly Fiorina
By: Damon Marx, 3/2/15
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowldc/bloombergs-matt-negrin-binges-house-of-cardswith-carly-fiorina/141650

The season 3 release of Netflixs House of Cards on Fridayinconveniently coincided

with the finalday CPAC for manyloyal fans, including one very tired Bloomberg Politics
producer.

So, Bloombergs Matt Negrin figured hedkill two birds with one stone interviewing
a few politicos at CPAC,while simultaneously binge watching the new season. Hilarity
ensued.

Who is the most qualified Republican to take on President Underwood in 2016?

Negrin askedformer CEO ofHewlett-Packard,Carly Fiorina.

You mean Hilary Clinton..?Fiorin said with a grin.

Sorry.. Ive just been so blahhh, replied a wired Negrin. Im crazy about House of
Cards, Ive been up since 3 AM.

Healso caught up withchairman of the American Conservative Union, Matt

Schlapp.Not seriously, but somewhat seriously asking him,why would you do this on
the day this comes out?Six thousand rooms and you dont have any viewing parties set
up or anything for people who want to watch House of Cards?

Watch video,courtesy of Bloomberg Politics (produced by their in-house filmmaker

Griffin Hammond).

Scott Walker on Immigration Reform: Wisconsin Governor,

Potential GOP Candidate Flip-Flops on Immigration, Talks
Amnesty Process
By: Michael Oleaga, 3/2/15
http://www.latinpost.com/articles/40505/20150302/scott-walker-immigration-wisconsingovernor-potential-gop-candidate-admits-stance.htm

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016,

revealed on Sunday he has changed his stance on immigration.
During an interview with the Wausau Daily Herald in July 2013, Walker said he would
support comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for
undocumented immigrants if such individuals paid penalties. When asked his about
current stance on the issue, Walker admitted he has changed his opinion.

"Well, I don't believe in amnesty," said Walker during an interview for "Fox News
Sunday." "And part of the reason why I made that a firm position is I looked at the way
this president has mishandled that issue. I was one of the first governors that joined the
lawsuit that has been successful at least on this initial technicality and I hope we prevail
ultimately throughout the courts."
Walker said amnesty is not the approach to improve the U.S. immigration system, but
through enforcing laws and giving employers the tools to ensure the law is upheld.
When pressed on providing a pathway to citizenship if undocumented immigrants paid a
penalty, Walker said he "believes there's a way you can do that" but added enforcement
on the U.S. border is the first step.
"I'm not talking about amnesty (for the undocumented immigrants). And my view has
changed. I'm flat-out saying it. Candidates can say that. Sometimes they don't," said
Walker, adding he has "absolutely" changed his stance since his 2013 interview.
Walker continued, "I've looked at the problems we've experienced from the last few
years. I've talked to governors on the border, and others out there, I've talked to people
all across America. The concerns I have is that we have to secure the border. We
ultimately need to put in place a system that works, a legal immigration system that
works, and part of doing this is on employers, giving them e-verify and tools to do that,
but I don't think you do it through amnesty."
Walker's interview comes after he placed second at the American Conservative Union's
2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll this past week. Sen.
Rand Paul, R-Ky., won the straw poll for the third consecutive year with 25.7 percent of
the votes while Walker received 21.4 percent of the 3,000 votes. Sen. Ted Cruz, RTexas, placed third with 11.5 percent, narrowly ahead of retired neurologist Ben
Carson's 11.4 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush completed the top five with 8.3
percent despite mixed reception upon the utterance of his name at CPAC.
The annual four-day CPAC conference, which was held from the Gaylord National
Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, included speeches from
other potential presidential candidates including Bush, Carson, Cruz, Paul and former
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and current New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie.

What Secrets Did Potential GOP Presidential

Candidates Reveal at CPAC?
By: Sarah Schweppe, 3/3/15

http://www.cheatsheet.com/politics/heres-what-cpac-showed-us-about-potential-republican-presidentialcandidates.html/?a=viewall

!
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference served as an unofficial kick-off for the
2016 presidential race, with the prime potential candidates fighting for attention. Although Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came out on top, according to the Washington Times/CPAC presidential
preference straw poll, the much-talked-about Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) is gaining on him.
Both were well ahead of other potential Republican candidates for 2016. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-

Texas) took third place, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson came in fourth, and former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush fifth. So what did we learn about these potential presidential candidates?
According to the Atlantic, Walker received an overwhelmingly positive response from the
crowd at the conference. But one comment he made didnt go unnoticed. While discussing his
ability to respond to the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Walker made a
pretty big leap in relating his experience with political fights with labor unions to potentially
being able to thwart the militant group. I want a commander in chief who will do everything in
their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on American
soil, he said. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.
Former Texas Governor and potential competitor for the 2016 Republican nomination Rick Perry
criticized Walkers comparison in an interview after Walkers speech. These are Americans,
Perry said. You are talking about, in the case of ISIS, people who are beheading individuals and
committing heinous crimes, who are the face of evil. To try to make the relationship between
them and the unions is inappropriate. Walker later said to the Wisconsin State Journal, Im just
pointing out the closest thing I have to handling this difficult situation is the 100,000 protesters I
had to deal with.
Bush is certainly a polarizing candidate, and this was evident at CPAC, where the attendees were
probably more conservative in politics than the former Florida governor. People were not afraid
to cry for no more Bushes, and according to the Washington Times, Bush was booed by the
crowd when his name was announced in the poll results.
Despite the struggle, the Washington Post said Bush held his own at the conference. Bush was
energetic maybe due at least in part to nervousness in facing a testy crowd and informed,
the Post said. He refused to back down particularly on immigration from positions that he
knew would be unpopular with the crowd. He insisted that Republicans were good at opposing
things but bad at being for things. He was composed. He was up to the moment. He looked, in a
word, presidential.
GOP members fear that Bush is not conservative enough comes from his positions on issues like
immigration, which he addressed at the conference. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport
11 million people, he said, referencing his gubernatorial decision to grant drivers licenses to
immigrants living in Florida illegally. We should give them a path to legal status where they
work, where they dont receive government benefits where they make a contribution to our
society.
Bush might not be able to win over the most staunch conservatives, but made an attempt to
convince them that he could do the job. Im marking you down as a neutral and I want to be
your second choice if I decide to go beyond this, Bush said to a heckler during the conference.

RealClearPolitics still ranks Bush as the No. 2 pick for a Republican 2016 presidential candidate,
with 14.7% of the poll, only 0.3% behind frontrunner Walker.
This CPAC marked the third time Paul won the straw poll at the conference, but his share of the
vote did drop from 31% in 2014 to 25.7% this year. He was still very well received, according to
supporters.
You have to say that Rand Paul did what he had to do when he came here, said Charlie Gerow,
a board member of the American Conservative Union, to the Washington Times. He fired up his
passionate supporters who were out in number as they always are, and he maintained
equilibrium with them and held them solid.
Also talking about the threat of ISIL, Paul brought out the classic tough conservative rhetoric.
Without question, we must now defend ourselves and American interests, he said.
Concerning federal spending, Paul said, for me, the priority is always national defense.

Draft Carson now a fundraising,

organizing powerhouse
By: David Sherfinski, 3/2/15
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/2/draft-carson-now-a-fundraisingorganizing-powerhou/?page=all

John Philip Sousa IV, chairman of the committee and great-grandson of the famous bandleader,
said when they first started the group in August 2013, their sole objective was to convince Mr.
Carson to run for president and that they had zero idea of what this would turn into.
Mr. Sousa says he sends between 4,000 and 6,000 petitions calling on Mr. Carson to run to the
retired surgeon every week along with a personal note.

The group also spent more than $400,000 on radio ads in African-American markets in North
Carolina and Louisiana to boost Republican Senate candidates in 2014 and possibly
nudge Mr. Carson, who had said he was eyeing the results of the midterms.
Now, Carson has said from the get-go if God wants me to run I will run. Well, our people pray
an awful lot, but thats about all the control we have over that one, Mr. Sousa said. We believe
that in the next week or two, hell announce his exploratory committee, and in between May 1st
and 15th hell probably announce his formal candidacy.
For his part, Mr. Carson said Sunday he would not run if I found there really was no support
! for it but said things are looking positive for him right now.
Im seeing a very substantial amount of support across the country in red states, blue states,
north, south, east, west, he said on NBCs Meet The Press.
Mr. Carson, who writes a column for The Washington Times, delivered a well-received speech
kicking off the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference! over the weekend, and finished
fourth in The Washington Times/CPAC presidential straw poll, dropping a rung from his thirdplace finish third last year.
Hes really a beloved figure, said American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp. Im
from Kansas, and I know someone who flew out here just to hear him speak. He really motivates
conservatives and he should be proud with how he finished.
Vernon Robinson, campaign director for the Draft Carson committee, said the doctor is uniquely
positioned to broaden the Republican base in 2016, given his backstory of growing up in poverty
in Detroit before rising to become director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. He then
rose to national attention when he confronted President Obama! at the 2013 National Prayer
Breakfast.
There was a whole generation of little younger than I am a generation of kids! whose
parents wanted them to grow up to be Dr. Carson if they were boys and marry Dr. Carson if they
were girls, Mr. Robinson said.
The group is working to make sure the political neophyte will have a financial! backstop in
place if he does jump in. The $12 million in raised in 2014 outpaced similar groups for other
potential candidates.
A top priority for the group, Mr. Sousa said, will be to make sure Mr. Carson is included in
presidential debates.

And because super PACs like! his group are not allowed to coordinate with candidates, he said
theyll try to anticipate what the would-be campaign might do try to fill in the gaps around that.
Weve developed a game plan! that we dont think his campaign will take on, and that is [kind
of] stealing a page out of Obamas playbook where Obama, say, in Iowa said okay, if we go to
our base for caucus voters, that will get us x number of votes, he said. So we need to find a
way to get to x number of votes, plus.
He listed three legitimate groups not normally targeted that could make the difference on the
margins: medical professionals! , home-schoolers and Seventh day Adventists.
We believe that if the Carson people do the job we think they will do, which is go after the base,
and we bring in this other group, it will be the margin of victory, and well replicate that early
state after early state after early state, Mr. Sousa said.

What CPAC reveals about 2016

By Andrew Malcolm, 3/3/15
http://news.investors.com/politics-andrew-malcolm/030315-741659-cpac-jeb-bushrand-paul-ted-cruz-scott-walker.htm

Carolyn Kaster / AP

First of all, the Republican race will be a barroom brawl once it gets going. Right now, the numerous candidates are
organizing their teams and policy lines and maneuvering for donors. Dollars are votes for the next several months.
So, they're not going after each other yet in any but the most subtle ways.
While no one has officially announced, those claiming to be "considering" a run are trying out their arguments and
applause lines. Think of these days as spring training, despite the frigid temperatures of climate change.
With Hillary Clinton, who couldn't win the Democrat nomination in 2008, still deciding when to begin her "campaign"
for coronation as the party's 2016 nominee, Republicans once again will draw the most attention for their spirited
primaries and caucuses.

The weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference provided a peek into the personalities and themes of the
GOP's nascent struggle to avoid losing three consecutive presidential campaigns, which the party hasn't experienced
since 1940.
Themes: Moderate is out. Conservative is in. Washington is bad. Flyover country is good. Hillary will have to work
harder than she thinks to separate herself from what's-his-name on the golf course. Plus she's got some overweight
baggage of her own to check, starting with Benghazi, fomenting the ill-considered Libyan war and disastrous fallout
and, as always with the Clintons, taking in tons of money from anyone. They're not dead broke, by the way.
Polls, especially straw polls, are totally meaningless at this point, beyond name recognition. Rand Paul won the
CPAC Straw Poll again, but by considerably less than the previous two years. Scott Walker's bounce out of Iowa's
Freedom Summit took him within about four points of winning. He was followed by Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Jeb
Bush. Chris Christie was tenth behind even Carly Fiornia.
Here are some subjective impressions drawn from a few years' experience pol-watching:
It was wise for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to skip this year's sessions. They drew almost as much criticism
as Democrats for not yet going to the mat over halting Obama's illegal alien ploys.
Despite the anti-Washington, anti-Congress fervor, Senators Cruz and Paul plow ahead with their efforts. The lazy
D.C. media will go to Capitol Hill for stories much more often than Madison or Austin, skewing impressions of the
horse race.
Cruz' and Paul's fans are intense, vocal and dedicated. Cruz is a compelling speaker, strolling the stage without
notes, excoriating RINOs and calling for a clear conservative revolution.

Whos In, Whos Out: 5 Things You Can Learn From

CPAC 2015
By Robin Marty, 3/3/15
http://www.care2.com/causes/whos-in-whos-out-5-things-you-can-learn-from-cpac-2015.html

There are few things I love as much as the annual Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC)
media frenzy. Although, as a Minnesotan, Ive never been able to attend one myself, its always been
a favorite of mine to cover here at Care2, such as 2010s XPAC nod to letting women speak,
Michele Bachmanns 2011 Pinocchio speech, or the minority outreach panel almost no one attended
in 2014.
Overall, CPAC tends to give those a strong preview of the things that Republicans are ready to focus
on for the upcoming year, the party stars and the party has-beens, and of course some amazing and
completely telling quotes from movement leaders. So what have we learned from CPAC 2015? Read
on to find out.
1) Conservatives are planning to go extra hard on Planned Parenthood this year. Its no secret
that a wing of the social conservatives sees the Planned Parenthood organization as public enemy
number one. Their biggest goal is to see the group defunded, hoping that it would not only cut off
most legal abortion access, but make it that much harder for people to obtain birth control and
sexual health services, too. After all, if you wait until you are married to have sex, there will never be
any issues with STIs or unwanted pregnancy, or so they believe. But no matter how hard they push,
either with claims that abortion makes up most of Planned Parenthoods services, or that clinics are
unsafe, or even, the most laughably, that the organization is pushing BDSM to minors, Americans
like Planned Parenthood and dont want people cut off from health care.
Thats a problem that conservatives are going to put extra effort into addressing, says columnist
Michael New, writing at National Review Online. [National Right to Life's] Darla St. Martin sounded a
cautionary note polls show that a majority of Americans have a positive view of Planned
Parenthood, so it seems that pro-lifers have more work to do, warned New in his CPAC overview for
the site.

2) That California street artist is sort of a.character. But hes an exception, not a rule.
Remember when the street artist from California made headlines for his Abortion Barbie posters
prior to a Wendy Davis fundraiser in the area? Well, his art advocacy got him invited to run a panel,
and Emily Crockett at RH RealityCheck interviewed him, Islamophobic t-shirt and homophobic slurs
and all.
He was right though to tell Crockett that not all CPAC attendees are racist homophobes. As Erin
Gloria Ryan reports on her own dive into CPAC world, what the media portrays isnt always what you
see. As a group, the potential future Ronald Reagans of CPAC werent an iota as crazy, or mean, or
racist, or exclusionary as mainstream coverage of CPAC might lead the casual observer to believe
(at least, not to my face), she writes. Theyre more pro-marriage rights than their older narrativedominating counterparts, theyre pro-pot legalization, theyre pro-government-leaving-us-all-the-hellalone. In their minds, society functions best when everybody is free to pursue what they want, and
government only serves to get between people and the happiness and fulfillment they have a right to
pursue. Also, lets privatize the hell out of some stuff.
3) Theres still no real GOP front runner for the 2016 nomination. CPAC is at its best when every
candidate under the sun is essentially trying out his or her presidential campaign talking points.
However, just like all of the other events so far on the GOP primary side, the head and the heart are
leaning in opposite directions when it comes to a potential nominee. Red States Erick Erickson
sums it up when he notes the strengths and weaknesses of all of the contenders, including an
unpolished Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. If conservatives rally by December, Jeb Bush will not
be the nominee, But if conservatives fracture headed into Iowa and New Hampshire, the nominee
will be Bush. He will have the fundraising ties even without a lot of the major donors. After all, his last
name is Bush. Conservatives are on notice.
Meanwhile, Rand Paul wins the straw poll, just like he has for the last few years. Well see if that
actually gets him anywhere this time.
4) Sean Hannity is pretty creepy. So, remember that line about how, if you are nervous about
speaking in public, you should picture your audience naked? Conservative talk show host Sean
Hannity went a step further than that with the worlds creepiest joke. I can look out in the crowd
I kind of have x-ray Fox vision and I can see some of you women, you dont even know it yet, but
youre pregnant, Hannity said, according to Talking Points Memo. Its not your fault. Its not his
fault. Whos fault is it?
So what was Hannity going for there? Its really hard to understand. But it sure isnt helping the GOP
with that whole, No, really, we understand women are more than just baby-making machines,
stereotype.
5) Sharron Angles comeback is highly overrated. Remember Sharron Angle? No really,
remember her? She was the woman who was going to oust Nevada Senator Harry Reid? Then she
said rape victims should make lemonade out of their pregnancies? Well, shes making a
comebacksort of. Amid the crowd of CPAC attendees flooding the hallway of the Gaylord Hotel in
National Harbor, Md., stands Sharron Angle, a former Tea Party darling who rose to prominence in
2010 when she ranunsuccessfullyto unseat Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, writes Olivia Nuzzi at
the Daily Beast. When asked what shes doing here at CPAC, she says, in a downtrodden tone, not
much. A more accurate answer might have been that she is attempting to cling to relevance. Nuzzi
reports on Angles radio show, Angles promise that she may run for office again, and the
brusqeuness with which a CPAC attendee asks Angle to please move so they can use her chair.
I guess not everyone can be a conservative superstar. Maybe next year, Sharron Angle. Maybe next
year.

Chris Christie tumbling:

Approval rating falls to new low
By: Luke Brinker, 3/3/15
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/03/chris_christie_tumbling_approval_rating_falls_to_new_low/

Chris Christie(Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Aiming to revive his sagging presidential fortunes, Chris Christie is boasting to donorsabout his
characteristically pugnacious performance before last weeks Conservative Political Action
Conference. Of course, Christies media-bashing, faux-populist CPAC pitch didnt move voters
in the conferences presidential straw poll: He finished tenth, with just 2.8 percent of the vote.
While the New Jersey governors approval ratings havent sunk that low at home, a new poll
shows him at the lowest ebb of his five-year tenure a finding that underscores the difficulties
Christie will have as he seeks to breathe new life into his likely presidential bid.
The poll, from Farleigh Dickinson University, finds that only 35 percent of New Jersey voters
approve of Christies job performance, against 51 percent who disapprove. Its the second poll
from the university to find Christies approval rating below 40 percent; in January, Farleigh
Dickinson pegged Christies approval at 39 percent, with 47 percent disapproving.
Amid persistent budget woes, only 33 percent of voters in the latest poll said that New Jersey is
on the right track. Meanwhile, 52 percent said that the state is headed in the wrong direction.
Christie has billed himself as a turnaround artist, but assuming he runs for president, hell
confront questions about New Jerseys jobless rate, which is higher than the national average; the
states pension mess; and the eight credit downgrades that have occurred on his watch.
Asked to evaluate Christies personality and policies, New Jersey voters are more divided.
Twenty-one percent said that while they like the governor personally, they dislike his policies; 29
percent said they liked both. Eight percent indicated that while they dislike the governor, the
favor his policies, while 35 percent told Farleigh Dickinson that they dislike everything about
Christie.
Luke Brinker is Salon's deputy politics editor. Follow him on Twitter at @LukeBrinker.

John Nichols: This is what Scott

Walker has become
By: John Nichols, 3/3/15
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/state-and-regional/john-nichols-this-is-what-scott-walkerhas-become/article_3e88fbd6-480e-59ab-8f4e-e87e517091a5.html

Gov. Scott Walker jokes with board member Frayda Levin at the conclusion of his remarks Feb. 28 at the winter meeting of the free
market Club for Growth winter economic conference in Palm Beach, Fla. PHOTO BY JOE SKIPPER/ASSOCIATED PRESS

I have known Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker since he was a young state legislator. We used to talk a good
deal about our differing views on how to reform things: campaign finance rules, ethics regulations, social
welfare programs.

We seldom reached agreement. But I gave him credit for respecting the search for common ground. And
for understanding that a disagreement on a particular matter is never an excuse for ending the search
or for disregarding others who are engaged in it.
But that was long ago. Scott Walker has changed a great deal and not, I fear, for the better.
He is deep into a political career that has come to mean more and more to him. And, now, he is grasping
for a top rung on the ladder: the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2016.
On Thursday, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Walker was asked how he would respond
to ISIS, and the radical Islamic terrorism he had condemned in his speech to the group. Walker told the
crowd: If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe.
That was an unsettling statement that suggested Walker was dramatically more self-absorbed than even
his critics had imagined and less in touch with the real-world challenges facing the United States and
its presidents. Walker didnt do anything to restore confidence two days later, when he told at elite crowd
of campaign donors at the annual Club for Growth gathering in Palm Beach that the most significant
foreign policy decision in my lifetime came in August of 1981, when Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic
controllers.
The moderator of the question-and-answer session that followed the governors speech, Frayda Levin, a
member of the Club for Growths board of directors, told the governor that after he met several weeks ago
with conservative contributors in New York, they were distinctly unimpressed. To be honest, the feedback
was you were not prepared to speak about foreign policy, said Levin, who was obviously not a Walker
enthusiast.
Even conservative commentators who are inclined to praise Walker acknowledged that his suggestion
that wrangling with off-duty firefighters and police officers and their fellow public employees had prepared
him to tackle terror was a terrible response. National Reviews Jim Geraghty explained that taking on a
bunch of protesters is not comparably difficult to taking on a Caliphate with sympathizers and terrorists
around the globe, and saying so suggests Walker doesnt quite understand the complexity of the
challenge from ISIS and its allied groups.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who knows a thing or two about making mistakes on the campaign trail,
said, I think, you know, some of the statements that hes made are obviously problematic for him.
You are talking about, in the case of ISIS, people who are beheading individuals and committing heinous
crimes, who are the face of evil, Perry continued. To try to make the relationship between them and the
unions is inappropriate.
Walker tried walking back his remarks. But, mostly, he griped that the media will misconstrue his
message. Unfortunately, this is not the first time he has suggested that his experience with
Wisconsinites who disagreed with his assault on workers and public education and public services has
somehow prepared him to stand strong on the global stage.
The trouble with this calculus is that the protesters in Wisconsin were teachers and nurses and librarians.
They were the parents of ailing children. They were seniors who were worried about access to health care
and the security of their pensions. With the Republican Legislature backing him, Walker held all the cards:
He had the power to change the law and the protesters could not stop him. They did not threaten the
governor. They asked him to listen, to care, to simply respect them.
Scott Walker refused to do so in 2011. He is still refusing to do so.

This is not a mistake. This is the political path Walker has chosen. When citizens assembled and
petitioned their government for the redress of grievances in 2011, Walker chose as their governor to
disrespect and disregard them.
At times, he did so in the soft language of a political careerist, mouthing talking points prepared to soften
the blows. At times, he did so in the malicious language of the hyper-partisan, trading notes with a caller
he thought was billionaire campaign donor David Koch about deceiving legislators, thwarting prospects
for compromise, and how he and his aides thought about using what the caller described as
troublemakers to disrupt demonstrations by nursing home aides and teaching assistants and Head Start
educators. But the governors default position was invariably the same: disrespect and disregard.
Now, as an all-but-announced presidential candidate bidding for the favor of his partys fiercest partisans,
Walker continues to choose to disregard and disrespect those who dared to defend their livelihoods, their
communities and their state.
I know there will be many critics of the governor who say that this is who he has always been. I have a
different view. I believe this is what he has become. After all these years of aspiring to higher office, this is
what the experience has made Scott Walker.
That prospect ought to cause even Walkers most ardent advocates to pause and consider whether this
man is ready for presidential politics.
This has very little to do with liberalism versus conservatism, Democrats versus Republicans. This goes
much deeper, to the question of how a potential contender for a powerful position views himself, his
experiences and the responsibility that he proposes to embrace.
If Scott Walker really believes that the experience of disregarding the concerns of Wisconsinites has
prepared him to deal with global threats, then he misconstrues his own strengths, he misconstrues
threats that are as complex as they are serious, and, above all, he misconstrues the duty of respect that
every governor (and every president) owes to citizens with whom he agrees and to citizens with whom
he disagrees.
John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times. jnichols@madison.comand @NicholsUprising

Doyle McManus: The leaders of the CPAC

By: Doyle McManus, 3/3/15
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/2960345-14/doyle-mcmanus-theleaders-of-the-cpac
The fervent Republicans who throng the Conservative Political Action Conference every year arent
representative of the American electorate. They arent even representative of the GOP electorate. For
four of the last five years, their straw poll for president has chosen Rand Paul or Ron Paul. These are not
everyday Republicans.
Yet the conference, which took place Thursday through Saturday, is still an important event the
starting gun of the Republican primary campaign, in the words of one veteran GOP strategist. Its the first
real national audition for potential Republican candidates, all on the same stage, one after the other
even if the TV audience is only on C-SPAN. And a good performance can help recruit conservative foot
soldiers across the country.
So almost everyone whos considering a run showed up, from CPAC favorites Rand Paul and Ted Cruz all
the way to Jeb Bush, whos fighting off an unwanted label as the most moderate Republican in the race.
Heres what we learned: Bush has staying power, despite conservatives suspicion that hes a closet
moderate. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is hot the new more-conservative hope to stop the
Bush juggernaut. Sens. Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) could rise if Walker stumbles. Chris
Christie looks like a spent force. And Rand Paul is still Rand Paul.
Yes, its still early; none of these proto-candidates has even announced formally that hes running. But it
wasnt too early for each to deploy campaign buttons and T-shirts in CPACs big convention hall. And that
means it isnt too early to describe the rough shape of the 2016 GOP field: no single front-runner, but four
or five candidates who are most likely to succeed.
Bush didnt have the attendees on his side. There was a smattering of catcalls when he took the stage; a
flag-waving activist in a Revolutionary War uniform led a decorous walkout of about two dozen. But
Bushs organization had salted the room with supporters a page from Practical Politics 101 and their
cheers beat back the boos. Bush sensibly tackled the two issues on which he has diverged from his party
orthodoxy immigration and education and while he attempted to make his positions sound as
conservative as possible, he didnt trim them much.
He repeated his support for legislation that would create a path to legal status for immigrants who are in
the country illegally, although he agreed that enforcing border controls should come first.
On education, he defended the Common Core system of standards, which many conservatives loathe,
insisting it was never intended to remove authority from state and local governments.

Its fine to oppose the bad things, Bush said. We need to start being for things again. It was a solid,
steady performance before a tough audience, and a step Bush needed, to remind GOP voters that hes a
conservative too.
But the real winner of the event may have been Walker, the usually taciturn governor of Wisconsin, who
brought the audience to its feet with an animated speech full of red meat.
Theres a reason we celebrate July 4 and not April 15, Walker said. We celebrate our independence
from government, not dependence on it. . Get government out of the way.
He listed his actions as governor confronting public employee unions, lowering taxes, pushing antiabortion legislation, lowering restrictions on concealed firearms and said they showed that he is
someone whos going to fight.
He stumbled when, asked how he would handle Islamic terrorists, he suggested his experience as
governor covered that, too. If I could take on 100,000 protesters (in Wisconsin), I can do the same
across the world, he said a parallel that doesnt hold up long.But his audience hardly noticed.
Hes the one, said Ruth Willis of Syracuse, N.Y. Hes already won more fights than any of the others.
Cruz and Rubio were more polished but as senators, neither could match Walkers executive
experience far away from Washington.
One more lesson: Republicans will be talking a lot about foreign policy in this campaign.
Our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us, Rubio warned. He charged that
President Obama treats the ayatollah of Iran better than the prime minister of Israel.
Rubio and others skipped ahead to criticize former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom they
excoriated as no different from Obama in foreign affairs. She actually gave a reset button to the
Russians, exclaimed Walker, to whoops from the audience. A reset button!
The growing hawkishness in conservative ranks is a bad sign for Rand Paul, who has broken with most of
his colleagues to urge restraint in U.S. foreign policy. But its in keeping with recent polls that show most
voters holding more confidence in Republicans than Democrats on foreign policy a reversal of a GOP
slump after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
What was missing from CPAC? Any sign of the intellectual ferment in conservative think tanks about how
to address the stagnant incomes of the American middle class. Most speakers stuck to more traditional
fare: smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation. There are new ideas in the Republican Party, but
this, it seems, was neither the time nor the place.
But Election Day 2016 is still a year and a half away. On the Republican side, theyre off and (almost)
running.

Rick Santorum hopes this time isn't different

By: Rebecca Berg, 3/3/15

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rick-santorum-hopes-this-time-isnt-different/
article/2560953

As Rick Santorum spoke to the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday in Maryland, members of the
audience were streaming out the door.
It was bad luck that Santorum had been picked to follow Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is each year the biggest
draw at CPAC and attracts supporters on the opposite end of the Republican spectrum from Santorum's troops.
But even after the audience exodus had ended, Santorum's speech remained off-key.
"The Kenyan government is actually developing proof that Barack Obama was actually born in America," Santorum
said in a memorable moment, to anemic chuckles.
In many ways, watching Santorum can feel like a throwback to 2012, when a birther joke might have made sense,
and when Santorum was for much of the race viewed as an also-ran until he emerged as the socially conservative
alternative to Mitt Romney starting with an unlikely and narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses.
Now, instead of starting this presidential campaign as the heir apparent to the nomination, as a former second-place
finisher might, Santorum is again an underdog: Polling in the low single digits nationally, as he was at this stage in the
2012 cycle, networking at full speed, and scraping for any real estate in the crowded Republican primary field ahead
of 2016.
In the early evening Friday, Santorum looked exhausted as he snacked on Keebler cheese and peanut butter
sandwich crackers in his family's suite overlooking the gray Potomac River. Before he sat down to speak with the
Washington Examiner, he had already given his speech to CPAC, held a town hall with conference attendees, taken
questions from the press, and participated in a number of other one-on-one interviews. Afterward, Santorum would
attend the Reagan Dinner featuring keynote speaker Gov. Mike Pence.

It's no wonder he's tired: Santorum hasn't stopped running for president since 2012. He conceded to Romney in April
2012; in June of that year, Santorum announced he was starting a group called Patriot Voices. Santorum's team says
the committee has brought in $10 million in the past two years alone and currently has 21 people on staff.
"I was just asked on Bloomberg, when are you going to start to staff up?" Santorum said. "Unlike these other folks,
we've actually had an organization."
But if Santorum has grown his political organization substantially since his last race, his path to victory is less clear as
he faces a primary field likely to be composed of successful governors and high-profile senators, many of them fresh
faces. He has also lost some key staffers from 2012 to other campaigns, including Chuck Laudner, who ran his Iowa
operation, and Hogan Gidley, his former communications director.
Asked what niche he might propel his candidacy in the 2016 field, Santorum said he intends to build off of his
successes in 2012 among dogerblue-collar voters.
That demographic was indeed a key ingredient to Santorum's surprisingly strong performance in Iowa in 2012. After
the election, Santorum said, Romney's campaign told him he had consistently thrown off their polling, because the
vast majority of his supporters turned out to the polls after 5 p.m.
"Who votes after work? Not business owners, not folks who have a flexible schedule, but folks who work in salaried
jobs," Santorum said. "Those are the folks who vote overwhelmingly later in the evening. Those were my voters."
"So, I think that's where we start," Santorum added. "When I look at this race and look and see where everybody else
is and look at what else is going on, I realize we'll probably be the only person in the race for a minimum wage
increase. We'll probably be the only person in this race that's for scaling back legal immigration."
Santorum also hopes to carve out a space on foreign policy and national security, issues that many Republicans
anticipate will be at the forefront during this presidential election. In the Senate, Santorum served on the armed
services and foreign relations committees, credentials he often cites.
But Santorum's path is even more clear-cut than that he hopes.
"I fit in to the winner column," Santorum grinned. "Should I run, that's the niche I hope to occupy."

GOP hopefuls understand the limits of

'centrism'
By: Washington Examiner, 3/3/15
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gop-hopefuls-understand-the-limits-of-centrism/article/
2560941

As the Republican hopefuls pitched themselves last weekend to the Conservative Political Action Conference, the
Daily Beast's Ana Marie Cox was incredulous that attendees seemed to think Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker, might make a strong national candidate.
Cox rejected as "utter bullst" the idea that a conservative politician like Walker can expand beyond his base. She
also dismissed the argument that he had to do just that to win three consecutive elections in the not-veryconservative state of Wisconsin.
"'Scott Walker survived a recall election' is, in the mind of CPAC watchers, proof of both his conservatism and a claim
to middle ground," she wrote. Yet, she added, "the only part of the middle that Walker occupies is geographic, and
even then, only from a national [perspective]."
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This analysis raises an important point about the 2016 field. It also reflects a deep misunderstanding of American
politics. Unstated is the false assumption that "middle ground" is the best or only ground from which to appeal beyond
one's political base.
Walker's merits as a candidate aside, his election victories and also President Obama's demonstrate that
independent or persuadable voters are not always or primarily looking for centrism. Above specific policy
considerations, persuadable voters want leaders who are serious, seem to understand their problems, and seem
willing to tackle big issues without fear of upsetting the status quo. This is something Ronald Reagan and Obama
two big winners with vastly different ideas shared in common in their respective times.
In Walker's case, he generated immense controversy with his collective bargaining reforms. But when it became clear
those reforms were working, he won Wisconsinites over -- not just his political base. Not only did he increase his
2010 vote total by 200,000, but one in six Walker voters in 2012 told exit pollsters they intended to vote for Obama
later that year. This is what having a broad appeal looks like.
And Walker is not the only Republican contender in 2016 who seems to get this. The other top candidates either
know how or at least have a strategy to broaden their appeal beyond the base. For example, Rand Paul is courting
young people and constituencies that are not traditionally Republican.
Without compromising his conservative bona fides, he hopes to broaden his appeal by mainstreaming unorthodox
libertarian ideas. In some cases (criminal justice reform, for example) he has helped strengthen his party just by
pushing it toward new, pressing issues and beyond talking points that originate in the Reagan era.
Likewise, and long before anyone was questioning his conservative credentials, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush won a
blowout re-election victory in a deeply divided state in 2002. He got 700,000 more votes than he had won four years
earlier, and in fact carried Miami-Dade County in what was expected to be a very close race.
This was after he had already outraged teachers' unions with accountability reforms and abolished Affirmative Action
in state contracting and college admissions. There is no way Florida had 2.9 million staunch ideologically
conservative residents that year, but it had that many voters who liked what they saw in their conservative governor.
All of the Republican candidates this year would do well to remember this, and to look at what really made Reagan
stand out. It was not just the particular set of positions or issues he confronted in a bygone era. Rather, it was his
ability to connect with landslide majorities and persuade them that his conservative solutions were exactly what
America needed.

Jeb Bushs CPAC triumph

Bush entered a hostile gathering of conservative activists and exited to applause
By: Avik Roy, 3/3/15
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/3/jeb-bushs-cpac-triumph.html

One of the big stories of the emerging 2016 presidential contest has been the fractured
relationship between former Florida governor Jeb Bush and the Republican base.

Conservative activists have been openly hostile to his putative candidacy, primarily
because of his centrist positions on immigration and education. But this week at the
Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, he stuck to those
positions and won applause from a skeptical crowd.
During Bushs tenure as governor of Florida, from 1999 to 2007, he was considered one
of the most accomplished conservative governors in the country. He installed in Florida
the nations first statewide school voucher program, allowing low-income parents to send
their children to schools in wealthier parts of the state. He ended race-based admissions at
state universities. He cut taxes by $19 billion while increasing the states reserves by $8.5
billion. Many conservatives felt that he would have been a better president than his
brother George W. Bush.
But eight years is an eternity in politics. Many of todays conservative activists entered
politics with the formation of the tea party movement in 2009. They werent around for
and dont remember the former governors Florida record. What they do remember is that
the size and scale of government increased under George W. Bush. And the two causes
Jeb Bush has been most associated with in recent years immigration reform and the
Common Core education program evoke hostility from the conservative base.
This was the context of his Thursday appearance before CPAC, an annual gathering of
conservative activists that is a longtime must-attend event for Republican presidential
aspirants. Earlier that morning, radio host Laura Ingraham asked, Why dont we just call
it quits and let Jeb Bush and Hillary [Clinton run] on the same ticket? Other speakers
recounted Bushs positions to a chorus of boos. Activists spread word that they would
engineer a mass walkout during Bushs appearance.
In a break from the format of past years, during which candidates gave stump speeches
and retreated behind the curtain, this year CPAC required all candidates to answer
questions from a moderator. Bush elected to forgo a speech, instead spending his entire
20 minutes in an interview with Fox News firebrand Sean Hannity.

A silent majority of Republicans recognize the need for the 2016

nominee to appeal to Democrats and unaffiliated voters. Bush
has his eye on that larger goal.
Hannity went straight at it, asking Bush about his heresies on immigration and education.
And Bush stood his ground. I know theres disagreement here [in this room], said
Bush. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people, and we should give
them a path to legal status. Hannity grilled Bush on whether he still supports allowing
drivers licenses and discounted in-state college tuition for students whose parents
entered the country illegally. Bush said, I do, and pointed out that a plan to do so was
passed by the conservative Florida legislature and signed by its Republican governor last
year. Bush also doubled down on higher standards for public schools, his description of
the controversial Common Core program.
When Bush expressed these views, there was a smattering of boos. But there was much
more applause, especially as Bush recounted his governing record. Only a few dozen
people walked out of the large convention ballroom, while thousands remained. A crew of
Bush supporters passed out T-shirts and stickers supporting their man. And when he left
the stage, he did so to cheers.
Many GOP contenders, such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal,
believe that the only way to win the Republican nomination in 2016 is to embrace
policies that are in perfect harmony with the partys most hardened activists. But a silent
majority of Republicans recognize the need for the 2016 nominee to appeal to Democrats
and unaffiliated voters. Bush has his eye on that larger goal.
There remain pitfalls in his still-forming political platform. He has indicated that he
supports repealing and replacing Obamacare, the 2010 health law formally known as
the Affordable Care Act. But he hasnt expressed how he would do so without disrupting
coverage for the tens of millions now enrolled in Obamacare-sponsored health plans.
On foreign policy, Bush has said that he is his own man and shouldnt be held
responsible for his brothers policies. It will be interesting to see how he navigates the

challenge of advocating a muscular role for the United States in the world while declaring
his independence from his brother and father.
But the early indications for Jeb Bush are encouraging. Telling people what they want to
hear is an age-old political practice, and the CPAC stage was filled to the brim with
presidential pander bears. What Bush did was something quite different. He attempted to
persuade a skeptical audience to consider his views and earned their respect as he went.
Sometimes, we call that leadership.
Avik Roy is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Saint Marys College Republicans attend

Conservative Political Action Conference
By Martha Reilly, 3/3/15
http://ndsmcobserver.com/2015/03/saint-marys-college-republicans-attend-conservative-political-actionconference/

When the members of Saint Marys College Republicans attended the annual Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC), which took place from Feb. 25 to 28 in Washington D.C.,
they thought they would be listening to the news not making it.
College Republicans president and senior Nicole OToole said she and vice president Shannon
Golden were leaving New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies speech when Fox News reporter Griff
Jenkins approached them.
He asked if he could interview Shannon and me for Greta Van Susterens On the Record show
that evening, OToole said. I discussed Chris Christies speech and how I admire his passion
and energy. The 2016 candidate should emulate a lot of his personal qualities.
Golden said her stance surprised Jenkins because she is from New Jersey but does not back Chris
Christie. She said her time on Fox News, along with her overall experience at CPAC, increased
her enthusiasm about the College Republicans organization.

This gave us the passion to get back to campus and spread the conservative view to other girls
at Saint Marys, Golden said. One of the most valuable things that we took away from CPAC
was that we are the future, and this next election is about us and our future.
OToole said this years CPAC served as a learning opportunity for the College Republicans
organization.
I explored more deeply some issues I have been flip-flopping on and was inspired by some of
our countrys smartest and brightest leaders, OToole said. We will definitely take back all of
the incredible networking we were able to do, and we hope to send a conservative speaker to
campus this spring.
According to OToole, one of the most interesting parts of CPAC was the differing viewpoints
of the speakers.
It was a nice reminder of the many different views of the Republican party, OToole said. I
believe you can only truly be sure of your beliefs if you have really investigated the other side.
OToole said one speech in particular made a lasting impression on her: a luncheon with the
Clare Luce Booth Policy Institute, which honored communications consultant KT McFarland as
its Woman of the Year.
[McFarlands] best advice for young conservative women was to always be prepared and
confident, OToole said. Men ask for more and do not feel rude about doing so. Women need
the confidence men have in order to be more successful in the world.
Golden said CPAC speakers such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Phil
Robertson of Duck Dynasty covered a variety of topics, but Sarah Palins speech was
especially focused on the military.
It was an extreme change of pace from all the other speakers who talked about what they would
bring to the table if they run in 2016, Golden said. She talked about improving soldiers
benefits and the support for when they return from war.

OToole said Palins speech distinguished itself from the others as she discussed her son Track
Palins military service.
Sarah Palins speech really stuck out because shes very colorful, OToole said. She
emphasized the need to legitimize military degrees so that veterans are able to get better jobs that
they are more than qualified enough to do.
Golden said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who focused on liberty and economic freedom, was a
crowd favorite.
People were chanting President Paul and going crazy, Golden said. He seemed to get the
best response from the crowd, especially from the millennials.
Golden said some of the most memorable parts of the conference were the opportunities to
network and her time on Fox News.
It was great being with like-minded peers from all over the country and hearing who everyone
wants in 2016, Golden said. There were so many politicians and huge people in the Republican
Party. It was such a privilege that SMC College Republicans was able to take part in this years
CPAC.

!
BAYHAM: Rand Finishes First, Walker Runs
Best In CPAC 2015 Presidential Straw Poll

By: Mike Bayham, 3/2/15

http://thehayride.com/2015/03/bayham-rand-finishes-first-walker-runs-best-in-cpac-2015presidential-straw-poll/

The first major non contest contest of the GOP presidential campaign is the American Conservative Unions CPAC
Conference straw poll the year before the presidential election.

Almost all of the probable Republican contenders for the White House attend. In the case of the 2016 race, only one
notable likely candidate skipped (ex-Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee).
The conference is where presidential hopefuls introduce themselves to conservative activists and frame their future
candidacies.
Another reason why the CPAC event is significant is due to the large contingent of national media and journalists
from the home newspapers of the aspirants.
The event typically commands not just the presence of the contenders but in some instances a substantial investment
of resources, as those who place a premium on the results of the straw poll purchase event credentials, subsidize
trips of attendees by footing hotel room bills and transportation, and distribute quasi-campaign materials, quasi
because as of the moment no one has thrown their hat in the ring.
And of all of the straw polls, only the August Ames Straw Poll in Iowa receives as much media attention.
Unsurprisingly, Kentucky US Senator Rand Paul finished in first place, as he had in the previous two CPAC straw
polls and as his father then-US Representative Ron Paul of Texas had in 2009 and 2010.
Beyond the libertarian mindset of many of the predominantly young CPAC crowd, Paul and aligned entities have
been spending a great deal of money trying to win the straw poll. Red and black Stand with Rand t-shirts, buttons
and signs featuring the curly headed silhouette of Paul the Younger have been given away at the last three
conferences.
In fact, CPAC has served as a type of an annual drill for the national Paulistas, complete with organizational
meetings held in nearby hotel ballrooms.
The investment has paid dividends of some sort, as Paul led the 2013 (25%), 2014 (31%) and this years straw poll
(26%). It should be noted that Paul was the only potential 2016 candidate who made any kind of substantial effort to
woo CPAC straw poll support in 2013 and was joined by the Draft Ben Carson crowd in spending money in 2014.
Both groups spent heavily at CPAC 2015 as did Jeb Bush and Ted Cruzs people.
The ex-Florida governors Right to Rise PAC held a rally not far from the straw poll voting stations shortly after the
conclusion of Bushs appearance on the main stage while Cruz hosted a meet and greet.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walkers big expense seemed to be some hastily printed t-shirts and signs made
promoting his Our American Revival PAC and former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum supplemented his speech with a
town hall event.
Though Paul has won three CPACs in a row, he does not seem to have been able to break out beyond the core of
support he has enjoyed at the previous events.
Contrasting Paul in commitment of resources but trailing him by a mere 4.3% was Walker at 21.4%. Pauls numbers
fell from the 31% from 2014 while Walkers surged from the 7% the year before, the big difference being that the
Wisconsin governor was focused on a tough re-election and was not so much hinting about preparations for a White
House run.

The 2014 Walker numbers represent a genuine draft; his 2015 showing, an impressive movement.
After Paul and Walker and practically tied were Cruz (11.5%) and Carson (11.4%). At 8.3% and fifth place was Bush,
followed by Santorum (4.3%), US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (3.7%), real estate developer Donald Trump
(3.5%), former HP ceo Carly Fiorina (3.0%), New Jersey governor Chris Christie (2.8%) and former Texas governor
Rick Perry (1.1%).
Six other candidates listed on the CPAC ballot received less than 1%.
Cruz received 11% in 2014 and did not gain from the drop in Pauls share of the CPAC vote while Carson moved up
marginally from last year, where he got 9%. The two have demonstrated agreeability amongst conservatives though
apparently not viability.
Bush needed to make a splash of some sort to show that his brand is not totally anathema to the party base. The
Jebrillos will boast that 5th place after not even being on the straw poll radar (by his own request) at previous
conferences shows that he has conservative appeal. The ContraBushes will see the glass half empty, pointing out
that his ceiling amongst the right is very very low.
An objective view would concede the significance of his top five finish after making an effort (i.e., busing supporters
in) but Bush has more work to do to bring in the partys conservative base.
The two other noteworthy showings were Trump and Fiorina. The former verbally pushed for straw poll support in an
appearance at a Citizens United event while the latter made the most of introducing herself to conservative activists
and reconstructing her political identity after her unsuccessful bid for US Senate in California.
Behind Walker, one could argue that Fiorina was the second biggest winner from the straw poll.
Christies numbers were meaningless aside from being a source of anguish for conservative candidates who fell
below the New Jersey governor.
The bad news for Santorum is that despite having been runner up in the 2012 Republican presidential fight, his
support has dwindled, though there is an upshot: he fared better than other candidates who have appeal with
evangelicals.
After finishing a strong second in the 2013 straw poll, where Rubio garnered 23% to Pauls 25%, the junior senator
from Florida does not seem to have been fully forgiven by activists for his once squishy posture on immigration.
While demographically and ideologically the participants of the CPAC Straw Poll are not reflective of the Republican
presidential primary/caucus electorate, the non-scientific survey does provide a peak into the minds of conservative
activists.
The big story from CPAC 2015 is that a lot of conservative activists who paid their own way to National Harbor are
lining up behind Walkers nascent presidential candidacy.

Is the Media Trying to "Disappear"

Rand Paul (Just Like His Father)?
By: Mike Krieger, 3/3/15
http://www.onenewspage.com/n/Markets/754y897r0/Is-the-Media-Trying-toDisappear-Rand-Paul.htm
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal ran a cover photo of the Republican hopefuls set to
attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland. The caption at the
bottom of the picture read:* At a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, an
attendee holds photos of possible presidential candidates.*

This is what the photo looked like:


*Notice anything bizarre about this photograph? Lets see. *Theres Scott Walker, Marco
Rubio, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Rick Perry.
Basically every insane hack and oligarch puppet imaginable is prominently featured. *Yet,
the man who would go on to win the CPAC straw poll, Rand Paul, isnt anywhere to be
seen.*

Actually, upon further inspection, his curly locks appear to be protruding from behind Chris
Christies gigantic skull, while his ear is softly caressing Rick Santorums right eyeball.* The
only other face that is entirely covered up seems to be the biggest laughing stock of them
all, Donald Trump, *who may actually be a good candidate considering his unique ability to
repeatedly emerge from bankruptcy unscathed (yes, Im joking).

While this is just one picture, and could indeed be a regrettable oversight*, the reason I
brought it up, is because the media shamelessly went out of its way to pretend his father,
Ron Paul, didnt exist back in 2012. It was so bad, that Jon Stewart made a classic clip
exposing the entire spectacle.

Former CNN Anchor Campbell Brown Slams Common

Core Opponents
By: Susan Berry, 3/2/15
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/02/former-cnn-anchorcampbell-brown-slams-common-core-opponents/

"

Former CNN anchor-turned education reform expert Campbell Brown recently attacked
opponents of the Common Core standards and potential GOP presidential candidates
who have flip-flopped on their views of the initiative.

In a Washington Post column over the weekend, the founder of the Partnership for
Educational Justice accused Governors Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Chris Christie (R-NJ), and
Scott Walker (R-WI) of pandering to conservatives at CPAC by professing their recent
dislike of the controversial reform.
Conservative activists who have been learning about Common Core for years now far
longer than Brown has been an education reform expert probably recognized that
Christie was not all that convincing regarding his grave concerns about the standards,
especially since he has yet to do much in his own state to eliminate them.
Similarly, while Walker has confronted the teachers unions in Wisconsin, both his lack
of commitment to fully repeal the Common Core and his ardent support of workforce
development espoused by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggest he believes a
function of government is to provide big business with a labor force.
Jindal may have once supported the Common Core, but he is now one of the very few
sitting governors who has attemptedto eliminate the initiative from his state. In fact,
late last week a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Jindals case against the Obama
administrations alleged federal overreach has standing and may proceed.
Alternately, Brown defended former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) who was booed at
CPAC because of his adamant support for both Common Core and amnesty for illegal
immigrants:
Meanwhile, former Florida governor Jeb Bush has become a target for standing by
Common Core as a voluntary minimum level of rigor for all states. His message to
governors: Go ahead and set your own standards if you want; just make them at least as
rigorous.
Brown doesnt appear to know a lot aboutCommon Core. Those who have been up on
the standards will have some issues with her comments:
Lets be clear about what Common Core is. It spells out what students should know at
the end of each grade. The goal is to ensure that our students are sound in math and
literacy and that our schools have some basic consistency nationwide. But the standards
do not dictate a national curriculum, and teachers are not told how or what to teach.
Heather Crossin, co-founder of Hoosiers Against Common Core, has been around the
block a few times now with the standards.
Campbell Brown makes the same, tired mistakes so many out of touch reporters and
politicians do wishfully dismissing the complaints of tens of thousands of parents
across the country as being politically motivated or the result of misinformation,

Crossin told Breitbart News. Politicians who turn such a blind eye to the fierce and
growing band of parents opposing Common Core, as Brown would have them do, do so
at their own peril.
Crossin observed the power of the grassroots, anti-Common Core movement the same
one that forced a bill to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind (HR5) law off the
floor of the U.S. House late last week.
If catapulting Common Core to being a number one presidential litmus-test issue
wasnt enough to prove the power of the anti-Common Core movement, the fact that
HR5 which would have increased the arm of the federal government in spite of some
good provisions was pulled from a floor vote does, saidCrossin. It means the cries
of parents can no longer be ignored and drowned out by the numerous deep-pocketed
groups who are used to ruling D.C.
Brown is completely incorrect in her claim that the development of these standards was
driven by the nations governors, Louisiana parent activist Anna Arthurs told Breitbart
News. Bill Gates has admitted the origins of Common Core began in the summer of
2008 when Gene Wilhoit and David Coleman came to his Seattle home and gave a sales
pitch about their idea to Bill and Melinda Gates.
Within weeks of this meeting, Mr. Gates made a commitment to bankroll the
development of the Common Core State Standards, Arthurs added.
On its home page, Browns pro-Common Core Partnership states, Education policies
should be rooted in evidence and common sense, and they should always make student
learning the top priority.
It is surprising that Browns organization should choose to support the Common Core
initiative, which meets none of the criteria of its proclaimed mission statement.
The unproven Common Core standards were adopted by 46 states prior to even being
published. No independent studies have been performed to validate the claims of
proponents that the standards are rigorous, internationally benchmarked, or make
students college- and career-ready.
As for common sense, where is the sense in eliminating truly proven, high-level
standards such as those in Massachusetts and replacing them with the unproven
Common Core?
In response to Browns remarks, president of Restore Oklahoma Public Education Jenni
White told Breitbart News that she wrote comments in a blog post last September to

counter the same tired comments that were dragged out of every closet from every
sector once the tide started to shift in our direction.
White wrote:
Nearly every shot fired in the War against the Core has been fired by regular, plain old,
we the people citizenry. The parents crowding into forums on Common Core, lead by
citizens themselves, or staying up half the night researching the initiative on their own
because they are dealing with kids crying over math homework for which they can
provide no help, are not power brokers who can afford lobbyists, three color mailers or
30 second spots on CNN they are not exercising their right to politics they are
exercising their right to self-government. The Common Core fight isnt about politics,
its about governance its about we the people and thats EXACTLY the way it
SHOULD be in America.
Anumber of 2016 hopefuls who are solidly against the Common Core standards
spokeat CPAC this year. In addition to Jindal, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Rand Paul
(R-KY), and Dr. Ben Carson all targeted Common Core over the weekend.
As the Washington Times observed, nearly six in 10 of the more than 3,000 voters who
took part in The Times/CPAC straw poll over the weekend said that they would never
vote for a Republican nominee that supports Common Core.
The magnitude of the anti-Common Core grassroots movement is unlike any seen
recently in the nation.
If the Common Core reform were truly state-led, as it was sold, you wouldnt have this
groundswell of opposition and anger from parents, New Hampshire grassroots parent
organizer Ann Marie Banfield explained to Breitbart News. This reform is the result of
a heavy-handed federal overreach into our local classrooms, and we are confrontingit.

Libertarians at CPAC 2015

By: Bruce Majors, 3/3/15
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2015/03/bruce-majors-libertarians-atcpac-2015/
Your humble blogger started going to CPAC back in 2007 and have attended every CPAC since
then. Both in 2007 and in 2015 I ran booths in the exhibit hall, which limits or changes your
perception of what went on at CPAC.
My first CPAC attendance was due to my
participation in a local DC metro Ron Paul
meetup. Mitt Romney dropped out of the
Republican primaries the day before
CPAC, and the woman who had spent a
huge amount of time organizing volunteers
and supplies for his booth was very angry
with him. And Ron Paul was her second
choice. So she told us to take over the
booth, which we did with less than 24
hours notice (Ron Paul had not secured
one). I showed up with the only thing I
had, a small business card sized brochure
I was distributing for Ron Paul door to
door in Maryland, and an old reason
magazine with Ron Paul on the cover as
my only graphic for the wall behind me.
By then end of the day a full booth of
volunteers had showed up and they had brought more than enough flyers, buttons, bumper stickers
etc. (A comely 22 year old man boy asked me for the copy of reason, and when I told him I had
subscribed to it since I was younger than he, and that only a few years earlier it had been a
mimeographed zine, he cocked his pretty head quizzically at the word mimeograph.)

CPAC has now moved out of DC, to the Gaylord National Resort on the Potomac River in Oxon Hill,
Maryland. Back in 2008 we did not know Rand Paul would ever run for office, and Ron Paul traveled
about the Wardman Marriott hotel (back in DC, where CPAC used to be) with an entourage of
Governor Gary Johnson, Judge Andrew Napolitano and constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein. This year

there was a little friction between the Rand Paul and Gary Johnson peeps, as Johnson said Paul is
not a libertarian and the Libertarian Party posted an anti-Rand graphic.

Since then Ive covered CPAC what the gays were up to, what Ann Coulter said, who won the
straw poll, what the libertarians did in my old tea party blog, which I actually started just to cover
the divisions at CPAC.

This year I was in charge of staffing a booth for Gary Johnsons Our America Initiative, so my
experience of most of CPAC consisted of running the booth and watching the actual speeches on
Fox and YouTube. Though I did talk individually with hundreds of attendees and made it to four
parties, those of the Republican Liberty Caucus, the Leadership Institute, the Competitive Enterprise
Institute, and Rand Pauls Young Americans for Liberty.

At the booth I got three types of common responses, people coming up to tell us they were
libertarians (including young people who said they voted for Romney but since became libertarians
and wish they had voted for Johnson), people critical of libertarians, and libertarians from Rand
Pauls booth coming over to give me static over the so very well timed meme posted on the
Libertarian Party facebook page (and produced by the gay group Outright Libertarians), comparing
Rand Paul to Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.
No one had much interest in the particular items Our America had wanted us to push, about the law
suit Gov. Johnson has against the presidential debate commission (I killed a tree for nothing), though
LP News, Gary Johnson buttons, and libertarian bumper stickers were popular. The Libertarian
Party itself has not had a booth at CPAC since around 2008 (back when a not fully ripened Austin
Petersen was a lowly intern in the Libertarian National Committee office.)
Gary got his main publicity for faking a heart attack when debating a former, one term,
Congresswoman, who said 1 in 5 pot smokers are more likely to have a heart attack from using pot.
(Are 1 in 5 people, those with the worst cardiac health, more likely to have a heart attack from
drinking coffee, eating sweets, having sex. or walking up stairs?)

Project 21 Member Wins CPAC Blogger

Award
By Before Its News, 3/9/15
http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2015/03/project-21-member-wins-cpac-bloggeraward-2977808.html
Project 21s Wayne DupreeCongratulations to Project 21
member Wayne Dupree, who was named Blogger of the
Year at the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) this past weekend at the Gaylord
National Resort in suburban Washington, D.C.
In addition to his work with the National Centers black
leadership network, Wayne created the NewsNinja
website his own Internet radio network We Are
America Radio (WAAR) to give additional voice to
black conservatives ready to step up in defense of their
country and its future.
Over the past year, Waynes work with Project 21 has
included the prominent black public affairs web site
EURWeb, the One America News Network and radio
stations nationwide.
In the past, the CPAC Blogger of the Year Award was won by now-familiar media personalities such
as Katie Pavlich and Mary Katherine Ham. Other award recipients at the 2015 CPAC included the
Journalist of the Year that was awarded to Jim Geraghty of National Review, the Andrew
Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award to Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty and the
American Hero Award that was posthumously given to former U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.

Wayne said of his honor:

I am very surprised, shocked, humbled and honored to receive this award.
When you get into this grassroots fight to help save the country from an agenda that has been set
forth to destroy the very fabric it was built on, you never think of awards and presentations. This
year, I went to CPAC with the idea of interviewing as many frontline newsmakers as possible to see
where they were on issues that plague our communities and neighborhoods.
Ive been doing this for less than three years now. To have come this far this fast with so many
grassroots supporters is truly amazing. I am happy to be recognized, but I will be happier if we
are able to change the course of this country with conservative values leading the way.

My reflections on CPAC
James Simpson, 5/3/15
http://beforeitsnews.com/politics/2015/03/my-reflections-on-cpac-2693616.html

I attended the last two days of CPAC. Missed the first two because of pressing deadlines on other
work.
However, I did get to see some key speakers and caught the overall flavor of the event. A few
observations follow.
Phil Robertson
Duck Dynastys politically incorrect Godfather, Phil Robertson was my favorite. I will state right off
that anyone who dismisses Phil for his dress and style, in my mind displays the shallow hypocrisy of
todays culture. His fashion is his choice, his words are what count.His speechwas priceless. Most
important was his emphasis on the Bible and the fact that our Constitution was based on Biblical
principles and written by devoutly faithful men. He quotes John Adams telling words, Our
Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
government of any other.
It is a truth too often overlooked, except by the Left, which has assiduously sought to destroy the
Christian underpinnings of this nation precisely for that reason. They know that only when
Christianity is destroyed and discredited will our people willinglyor maybe ignorantly would be a
better way to describe itsubmit to Socialism. The MarxistFrankfurt School, of which Obama is a
well-versed student, made that goal explicit. I recommend you watch Phils speech, it is insightful
and entertaining in a way only he can deliver. I only wish there were a viable candidate that would
speak as plainly, honestly and insightfully as old Phi.
Jeb Bush
Jeb Bushmanaged to get his message deliveredat CPAC despite pretty widespread conservative
opposition to his prospective presidential candidacy. Instead of a speech, which would doubtless
have been met with a lot of booing, he staged a tightly-controlled, scripted, on-stage interview

conducted by Sean Hannity. That the two conspired to keep it controlled is beyond dispute.
Hannity served up key questions that allowed Bush to answer his critics on all fronts in a manner
that could not be challenged.
The questions and answers were delivered in machine-gun fashion with no breathing room in
between for opponents in the crowd to voice their displeasure. Bushbussed in hundreds of
supporters, who clapped and roared their approval every time he raised a controversial issue, like
his support forillegal alien amnesty. He made it all sound as reasonable as he couldseal the
borders first, and then provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million here. After all we cant
send them back now, can we? Yes, I would say we can. Furthermore, it is not 11 million, but more
like 30 million or morevirtually all prospective future Democrats.
How Republican politicians refuse to understand that amnesty is the death-knell for the GOP is
beyond me. I suspect it is a measure of just how powerful Chamber of Commerce and National
Association of Manufacturers money can be. It appears political genocide can be bought. During
the speech, conservativesstaged a walkout, led by CPAC regular, William Temple, dressed in his
usual patriotic garb and carrying a large Gadsden flag.
A breaking news story reveals just how serious it is that we get Obamas amnesty outrage stopped
in its track. Mark Levin interviewed a Maryland conservative activist who recently penetrated a
White HouseTask Force on New Americansconference call on amnesty that was supposed to be
private. You can read about that and more, and listen to the interview at Ann Corcorans
greatRefugee Resettlement Watch blog.
Wayne La Pierre
NRA President Wayne La Pierretalked toughon the 2nd Amendment but conspicuously absent was
any reference to Obamas illegal amnesty efforts. AsGun Rights Examiner David Codreahas
pointed out, illegal alien amnesty is the greatest threat to the 2nd Amendment because Obamas
goal is to get them voting. With the 30 million or so illegals poised to obtain legal status (not the 5
million repeatedly hyped), Democrats will capture the permanent progressive majority they
have been seeking since the Democratic Party was captured by communists.
As we know, the NRA frequently talks out of both sides of its mouth. It has been an effective voice
for the 2nd Amendment, but sometimes makes compromises that threaten the 2nds long-term
viability. This is one of those instances. Supporting Democrats and RINOs who later show their true
colors is another. Failing to support strong 2nd Amendment defenders in some states is a third. For
example, their opposition to former Maryland Governor OMalleys2013 gun grabwas virtually
non-existent. Back then they promised a court challenge to the blatantly unconstitutional law. We
are still waiting.

Straw Poll
With the exception of 2012, when Mitt Romney won, the straw poll has gone to Rand Paul or his
father every year since 2010. The poll is somewhat biased by the youthful CPAC attendance
demographic, but Paulies also swarm the voting booth every year. Noteworthy was Wisconsin
GovernorScott Walkers close second. Cruz came in a distant third and Bush was number five, so
apparently his Astroturf messaging method didnt work. Chris Christie was near the bottom,
earning only 2 percent support. Rick Perry tied for last with Sarah Palin. Here are the results:
Given the poll bias, in my mind,Scott Walkerwas the true winner. I did not see his speech, but
the poll suggests Walker left CPAC in the strongest position with the party faithful of any
prospective future GOP presidential candidate. Washington insiderThe Hillnewspaper
agrees,writing:
His performance didnt have the same fervor as hisacclaimed speechlast month to the Iowa
Freedom Forum, but it didnt matter. Walkers CPAC straw poll placing a close second behind
the favorite Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) shows he got the most bounce out of the event. His showing
was especially impressive given that he lacks the organizational muscle of the likes of Paul and
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who finished fifth.
And he deserves it. While from a messaging and charisma standpoint, my personal favorite is Ted
Cruz, Walker has been tested in an unprecedented, relentless, vicious, four-yeartrial by firefrom
Democrats, unions and the media. He is the first governor ever to survive a recall election, and
despite a national effort by unions and Obamas Left, won handily. Same with his re-election.
Walker has survived unsullied by a fouryear secret probewhich vies with the IRS scandal as one of
the greatest systematic abuses of governmental power in recent memory. Corrupt prosecutors
used the power of the bizarre John Doe law in a vicious attempt to shut down the GOP
throughout the entire state and destroy Scott Walkers reelection prospects. The only mystery is
why Milwaukee County DAJohn Chisholmand his assistant,Bruce Landgraf, are not in jail. Against
all these odds, Walker has governed effectivelyintroducing changes and reforms that have
reversed the states downward economic slide, balancing the budget and cutting taxes.
The poll revealed some other interesting characteristics about CPACs conservatives. As
mentioned, it was a youthful crowd. Fifty percent were 25 or under and 42 percent were students.
Sixty-four percent believe that illegal aliens should be either deported and not allowed to return
(37%) or encouraged to return home to apply for citizenship (27%). Twenty-nine percent believe
illegals should be allowed to stay. Of these, 18 percent thought they should be allowed to apply

for citizenship. Seventy-seven percent believe Congress should use its power of the purse to
defund Obamas unconstitutional amnesty.
Again reflecting the dominant age group, 41 percent believe that marijuana should be legalized
for medicinal and recreational purposes. Only 27 percent believe it should remain illegal. The
crowd was largely pro-life. Depending upon the questions asked, between 68 and 74 percent were
pro-life, while between 18 and 25 percent were pro-abortion. Of the issues that would dissuade
poll participants from supporting a candidate, i.e. deal breakers, people were all over the map
when allowed multiple responses:
Expanding Medicaid under Obamacare 40%
Supporting Gay Marriage 18%
Immigration Amnesty 35%
Supporting Common Core 37%
Being Pro-Choice 31%
Foreign Policy of Disengagement 32%
Taken alone however 58 percent said they would never vote for a candidate who supported
Common Core.

Florida's Rubio close to decision about

presidential run
By: Thomas Beaumont and Philip Elliot, 5/12/15
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/floridas-rubio-close-to-decision-aboutpresidential-run/ar-BBi8mz3

PALM BEACH, Fla. Marco Rubio isn't

quite ready to say he's running for
president, yet admits it sure does look
like he will seek the White House in
2016.
"I think that's reflected in both our travel
and some of the staffing decisions that
we've made," the Florida senator told
The Associated Press. "We if in fact I make that final decision on
a run want those elements to be in place."
The message that his decision is still pending is one Rubio delivered
again this past week on stage, both at the Conservative Public
Action Conference outside Washington and at the conservative Club
For Growth in Palm Beach. But allies of the first-term senator and
former speaker of the Florida House who have spoken with him
about his plans fully expect that he will run for president, rather
than a second Senate term.

"I assume he's running," said Wayne Berman, a veteran Republican

fundraiser who was chairman of Sen. John McCain's presidential
fundraising in 2008. "He will help the party turn the page, politically,
to the next generation."
Nearly a dozen people close to Rubio, including GOP officials,
fundraisers and his advisers, say Rubio has told them he is in the
final stages of planning the launch of his presidential run and will
formally join the crowded field of Republican hopefuls as early as
April. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their private
conversations with Rubio.
Berman said he is working to line up and keep donors to
finance that national campaign. Among the donors who have signed
on: Dallas investor George Seay and Goldman Sachs' Joe Wall.
Rubio's goal is to raise $50 million before next year's Iowa
caucuses, according to four donors who have spoken to Rubio about
the likely campaign's budget.
"Marco's best asset is Marco," said former congressional aide Scott
Weaver, who organized a recent dinner for potential donors and is
serving as a co-chairman of Rubio's advisory committee. "If you can
get Marco in front of people, he sells himself. It's been an easier
sales process than we thought at this point."
Rubio's team is also aggressively courting Spencer Zwick, Mitt
Romney's top fundraiser in the 2012 presidential race. Zwick is
sought after by several prospective Republican candidates and has
also spoken favorably about Rubio's chief rival, former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush.
That competition is vicious. One high-profile Rubio finance
lieutenant, former Rep. Bill Paxon, had helped raise tens of
thousands for Rubio. But on Monday, Paxon announced he was
switching his allegiances to Bush.

"Gov. Bush has the principles, temperament and judgment, along

with the proven executive track record, to successfully run for and
then serve as our country's next president," Paxon said in a
statement.
Bush was a mentor to Rubio during their time in Florida. The two
are likely to compete for many of the same donors, both in Florida
and nationwide, and Rubio acknowledges it would be "a bit unusual"
to run against Bush.
"I think he's proving he's going to be a very formidable candidate,"
Rubio said. "I just believe if you think the best place to serve your
country is to run for and hopefully win the presidency, you move
forward on that irrespective of who else is in the race. If I ran, it
wouldn't be against him."
No major candidates for president have declared their intentions;
even Bush says his decision on that is ahead. Formally entering the
race triggers a host of legal and campaign finance complications.
But a decision to commit is different for Rubio, whose Senate term
runs through 2016. He has said repeatedly he will not run for
Senate re-election and the presidential nomination at the same
time.
That's a different approach than likely presidential rival Rand Paul.
The Kentucky senator is trying to set up a two-step system in his
state that would allow him to seek the presidential nomination
through a caucus and a Senate bid through a primary. Kentucky law
prohibits one person from seeking two positions in the same
nominating process.
Rubio's advisers have told party leaders that they should expect to
recruit a candidate to run for his Senate seat in 2016, according to
four people involved in the talks, who discussed the private
conversation on the condition of anonymity because Rubio has not
notified the National Republican Senatorial Committee of his plans.

At the same time, Rubio's team is preparing for a national

campaign. His top political adviser and likely campaign manager,
Terry Sullivan, has been recruiting operatives including Jim
Merrill, who ran Romney's New Hampshire campaigns and was at
Rubio's side for a two-day visit to the state last week. Spokesman
Alex Conant is leaving Rubio's Senate office this week to begin work
at his political action committee.
"When you consider doing something like that, you can't just decide
to do it and then start working," Rubio said. "You have to have
conditions in place to move forward. Some of them are very similar
to the ones we'd have to take anyway if we ran for Senate. Others
are different."
___
Elliott reported from Washington.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie waves as he leaves the stage after speaking to delegates at the
California Republican Party Spring 2015 Organizing Convention in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday,
Feb. 28, 2015, Christie told the crowd of about 500 lunch guests that the party should not rush into
choosing a 2016 presidential nominee because of pressure from pundits and donors. Rich
Pedroncelli - The Associated Press

Parker: Gov. Christie is dead man running

for GOP presidential nomination
By: L.A. Parker, 3/2/15
http://www.trentonian.com/opinion/20150302/parker-gov-christie-is-dead-man-running-forgop-presidential-nomination
Gov. Chris Christie is a dead man walking around every Republican ballroom outpost from
Washington, D.C. to Sacramento.
Yes, I know. People continue withdrawing epitaphs and political obituary notices. Not even cemetery
employees have had one foot in the grave more than Gov. Christie.
Christie gets pitched as vampire, zombie, talk show host, and an eventual Republican rebound
champ whose revival will match any religious resurrection. Not happening.

Anyone who finishes behind Donald Trump in any challenge except hair comb overs should
reconsider their designs on a presidential run. Christie, last week, finished 10th in the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll.
While first place does not guarantee an eventual GOP presidential nomination, Christies 2.8 percent
appeared incredibly minuscule opposite Trump (7.5) and businesswoman Carly Fiorina (3 percent).
Sure, everybody knows Trump but Fiorina remains synonymous with anonymous but managed to
gain a slim advantage over Gov. Christie. Not good no matter how political doctors spin this most
recent examination results. People are just not into the Republican governor from a true blue state.
A second look at Christies budget speech revealed a man lost in a sea of bad news after Superior
Court Judge Mary Jacobson told him to pay $1.6 billion into a pension fund.
Christie pushed through his speech as Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno unknowingly made a workout
video with all the stand up applause offered for her man in Iowa, New Hampshire, Illinois, or where
ever Christie travels in this run up toward a presidential campaign announcement.
Christie looked dazed, unprepared, even appeared to hold disbelief for a budget speech that lacked
detail. Jacobson obliterated a key Christie presidential platform that would have showcased
successful pension reform.
New Jerseys chest-thumping second-term governor touted his typical discord.
The numbers do not lie, and we dont need any court to tell us we have a serious problem, Christie
fired. The bull enjoyed that brief moment inside Jacobsons China shop but Christie pleaded for
resolution.
I know we can get this done. We have proven time and again that even when we look like were not
going to make it work and that politics and partisan interests have won, we flip the script, Christie
offered.
The worlds best screenwriters would find impossible detailing a path toward presidential pay dirt for
Christie. Eventually, even fiction authors run out of imagination unless moved by pipe, spoon, or
needle.
Christie barnstormed to California last weekend where he delivered a speech to the California GOP
convention. The governor invoked memories of Ronald Reagan and pitched himself as a
conservative.
Heres some advice from a guy from New Jersey: dont be afraid, said Christie.

There are always going to be people to tell us that the country isnt ready for conservatism, he said,
that you have to go along with whatevers the policy that the media or big donors in the party would
like you to follow.
Christie told California republicans to slow down as this presidential nomination campaign plays
I promise you that over the next few months, you will see article after article arguing that our party
cant afford a long nomination battle, we need to pick a nominee as soon as possible, that we have to
unite behind whatever candidate appears to have the most money, the most endorsements or the
best press coverage, Christie said.
As usual, Christie followed his supporters notion that Reagan gained a nomination in a down-to-thewire campaign while President Barack Obama needed a similar course before accepting a 2008
nomination.
Christie hardly makes one think of Reagan and the New Jersey governors real connection with
Obama remains a now dreaded camaraderie as New Jersey rebounded from Hurricane Sandy.
Republicans may forgive Christie for his New Jersey shoreline Obama embrace in 2012 but they will
never forget that brotherly love event as GOP candidate Mitt Romney chased victory.
Christie totes such baggage that GOP heavy hitters such as Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Ben
Carson, or Ted Cruz can bury him with Bridgegate, pension woes, federal investigations, alleged
mishandling of Sandy funds, Mideast luxury junkets, Dallas Cowboys trips, poor decisions about
Ebola and the measles, bad manners, etc.
No way exists for a flip of this script. Reports of Mr. Christies political life are greatly exaggerated.

Trump hires Iowa operative

amid 2016 chatter
Lauren Blanchard, 3/2/15
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/02/trump-hires-iowa-operative-amid-2016chatter/

DES MOINES, Iowa Donald Trump has hired a key Iowa operative to be his
point person in the state, keeping the chatter alive of a possible 2016 bid -- even
though the billionaire real estate mogul has flirted with a run before, only to pull
back in the end.
Operative Chuck Laudner confirmed to Fox News that he's been hired by Trump,
and is putting together a full schedule of events in the first-in-the-nation caucus
state, which will be released at a later date.
Laudner said the biggest struggle for Trump is getting people to take his
professed interest in a run seriously and see him as a possible presidential
candidate.
"It really is serious. And that's his biggest hurdle for him at this point is to
convince people that's he's serious and not playing around with it," said Laudner.

"Before we can even get to the issues ... first we have to convince people that he
is serious about running."
Trump spoke at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference outside
Washington, and ranked eighth in the straw poll.
According to Laudner, this is the first time Trump has hired anyone in Iowa.
Laudner also backed up reports that Trump is making hires in South Carolina and
New Hampshire, two early-voting primary states.
"He was always a one-man army ... doing his own thing," Laudner said.
Laudner ran former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's Iowa campaign in 2012.
He said Trump will be headed to Iowa a lot more in the near future and they'll be
focusing on rural areas and getting to know folks outside the big cities.
"Once you see Donald Trump in rural counties, it'll be another indicator of how
serious he is," said Laudner.
On Friday, Trump plans to fly into Des Moines, Iowa, from Miami to speak at a
reception for the Iowa Agriculture Summit. His speech will be recorded and
played for the full summit audience on Saturday. Trump has to fly back to Florida
for the World Golf Championship-Cadillac Championship being held at the Trump
National Doral Resort.
The summit is attracting many of the biggest GOP 2016 potential candidates
including: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker;
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; former Texas Gov.
Rick Perry; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; and Santorum,
among other names.

Lauren Blanchard is part of the Junior Reporter program at Fox News. Get more
information on the programhereand follow them on Twitter: @FNCJrReporters

Governor Jindals news and conference

appearances in D.C. over the past week
Makes the news cycle, touts himself as 'a fighter'
By: Kevin Allman, 3/2/15
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/bobbys-busy-week/Content?oid=2590568

Last week, as Gov.Bobby Jindal's office was preparing to release its budget proposal to deal with the state's
expected $1.6 billion shortfall, the governor was elsewhere, dealing with other matters.

On Monday, Fox News presented an essay by Jindal criticizing Presi- dentBarack Obamafor being (in
Jindal's opinion) soft on the terror group ISIS, saying Obama was more focused on "criticizing America and
lecturing the American people than on devising a plan to hunt down and kill these
extremists." (Salon.comsummed up Jindal's argument: "GOP governor has a plan for defeating terrorism
well, not so much a 'plan' as a really manly slogan.")

Two days later, in an essay forTownHall.com, Jindal was criticizing fellow Republicans for what he saw as
their timorousness when it came to repealing the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. And the following day,
Jindal was at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., where many
Republicans mulling a run for the 2016 presidential nomination were gathered. Jindal took swipes at Obama
and the Common Core math and reading educational standards.

In a brief sideline interview with ABC News, Jindal still refused to admit he's running for president, but said he
was "unafraid to tell the truth" and expressed the opinion that Americans are looking for "a fighter.

DONALD TRUMP: I HAVE A BETTER CHANCE

OF DEFEATING HILARY THAN MOST GOPERS
By: Tony Lee, 3/2/15
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/02/donald-trump-i-have-better-chanceof-defeating-hillary-than-most-gopers/

Businessman Donald Trump declared that he is more likely to defeat Hillary Clinton in
2016 than other potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates. Trump, who said at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that there is a 75 to 80 percent chance
he runs for president, has been hiring top operatives in New Hampshire and Iowa ahead
of a potential run. As Breitbart Newsfirst reported, Trump hired veteran conservative
Iowa operative Chuck Laudner last week.
If I run, I think Ill win. I think Ill beat Hillary. I understand Hillary, I know Hillary,
TrumpsaidMonday on Fox News. I know the weaknesses and the strengths. And I
think that I would beat Hillary, and it would be more likely that I would win than
somebody else.
Trump, who said at CPAC that he thought 2016 will be tougher to win for Republicans
than 2012, added, I think the election is going to be a very, very tough one, depending
on who the Republicans pick We have to pick a very conservative, strong, intelligent
person that knows what to do and how to make this country great again, because our
country is in serious trouble.

CPAC: What you need to know about the 2016

White House Job Interviews
By: Marc Jorgensen, 3/2/15
http://www.insidesources.com/cpac-need-know-2016-white-house-job-interviews/

CPAC has become the place where conservatives scrutinize their presidential lineup,
creating the closest thing to a White House job interview. Since the Reagan era, the
CPAC straw poll has helped forecast who conservative activists want as a nominee. The
Conservative Political Action Conference gathers some of the most engaged and
informed in the Republican Party and is a required stop for any serious presidential
contender.
The conference this year seemed to radiate with an unprecedented aura of confidence,
owing to strong Republican wins last November.
Here is a quick look at how some of the top contenders performed:

Jeb Bush
Q&A, Jeb stated his goal was to be skeptics second choice if I go beyond this. His
apologetic tone was clearly intended more to nullify opposition rather than win support.
Defending his positions on a path to citizenship and immigration were the most
controversial, splitting the room with boos and cheers.

Later, Bush spoke more as a pragmatic businessman than a Republican primary candidate
on the need for immigrant workers to sustain US demographic and economic growth,
which also didnt jive well with CPACs more activist atmosphere and received mixed
reactions.
Verdict
About as good a performance as Jeb could have hoped; still unacceptable for many.

Ben Carson
Soft-spoken Ben Carson was the most in depth outlining his underlying rationale for
conservative positions from healthcare to foreign policy. His remarks, which felt more
like a doctor presenting research findings to colleagues, triggered affirming, but not
rousing, applause. The way he quickly retreated offstage, shaking no hands, at the end of
his speech, seems a good indicator of being far from campaign mode.
Verdict
Succinct, carefully and well-informed arguments are welcome and valued, but are not a
campaign driver.

Chris Christie
If caution breeds blandness, this was abundantly clear with Chris Christies awkwardly
low-key and policy-heavy interview with radio host Laura Ingraham. Although Christie
seemed to exert great pains in controlling his notoriously volatile temperament, he still
could not conceal a chip on his shoulder, reacting sharply to a question regarding his
diminishing polling results.
Verdict
Lackluster, unconvincing and mostly forgettable, but forgetting about him for while may
be a gift in the long run.

Ted Cruz
Cruz is certainly among the leading CPAC stars appearing confident as he unrelentingly
strutted the stage.

His speech was well synced with the audience, and clearly passed the CPAC test with
flying colors. Nevertheless, the crowd seemed more enamored with the political stances
he takes than with him personally. And, could this support evaporate if Cruz is compelled
to alter views in broadening his base of support?
Verdict:
Relishing the moment and completely in his element; not going away soon.

Scott Walker
Embracing the role of outsider like no other, Walker characterized Washington as 68
square miles surrounded by reality. With his track record of fighting the unions in
Walkers home state of Wisconsin, which he referenced multiple times, has also solidified
his position as the fighter for the people. In this speech, Walker built on his recent
momentum, and currently there does not seem to be an end in sight.
Verdict
The more people get to know Scott Walker, the more they like him, and this matters quite
a bit in politics.

Rand Paul
The near absence of emotion in Rand Paul, as he delivered a full-bore presidential stump
speech, was revealing. He appeared like a candidate speaking to a hometown crowd
whose votes are secured, while being more worried about gaining outside support. He did
win the straw poll, for the third consecutive year. Pauls most presidential moment
seemed to be masterfully infusing ideas of inclusion of minority groups to the Republican
banner in arguing for privacy and justice.
Verdict
Measured, presidential, but overly preoccupied with limited appeal.

Marco Rubio
Rubio opted for a slow building and more reaffirming and less stirring speech. It also
wound up being the shortest speech from the presidential hopefuls, leaving the Q&A

portion to take up the majority of his 20-minute block. This being Rubios fifth
appearance at CPAC since 2010, it does seem questionable how heavily he still relies on
his family coming to the US story.
While Rubios story is still compelling, politics appears to be a vehicle for selling books
or launching new opportunities. While stressing American exceptionalism, he plugged his
book twice and joked about owning a professional sports team if he loses in 2016.
Verdict
Still a compelling life story and still little substance.

Carly Fiorina
The Former Hewlett Packard executive is shaping up to be the sleeper that may surprise.
Fiorinas carefully crafted life story engaged the crowd. Her campaign platform and
cleverly woven attacks on Hillary drew eruptions of applause and hushed respect. Her
keen mind and sense of humor shined brightly at the start of her speech, claiming that her
degree in medieval history has come in handy recently as President Obama keeps
talking about the crusades.
Wearing the hat of former business executive, however, she struggles. During a
discussion of the economy, she sounded self-conscious and unaccustomed to speaking
about political ideology in everyday language.
Verdict
Smart, fascinating narrative, and still adapting to life outside the boardroom.

Phil Robertson Prophesies Over the Future of

America
By: Jessilyn Justice, 3/2/15
http://www.charismanews.com/us/48557-phil-robertson-prophesies-over-the-future-ofamerica

Phil Robertson accepts the 2015 Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award at CPAC. (MSNBC)

Phil Robertson rolled his passion for God and morality into his speech at the Conservative Political
Action Conference last week.
While accepting the Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award, Robertson
prophesied over the future of America, saying the lack of morality is sickening the country.
"Phil has the guts to do and say what most politicians in Washington won't," Stephen
Bannon, Breitbart News Network executive chairman, tells the International Business Times.

"I don't want you, America, to get sick," Robertson said. "I don't want you to become ill. I don't want
you to come down with a debilitating disease. I don't want you to die early!"
He said the country's increase in sexually transmitted diseases is a result of "Sex, drugs and
rock'n'roll (having) come back to haunt us."
And it's up to the politicians to carry their Bibles to protect their hearts -- and their country from
war.
"Unless we get spiritual men in the White House to turn (the U.S.A.) around, we're going to lose it,"
he said.
Otherwise, without Jesus, the country could be turned over "murderers."
Nazis, ancient Japanese Shintoists and now "this ISIS thing and these Muslims. What are they into?
Territorial conquest ... and murder."
And the way to avoid that?
"God help us."

For Rubio, immigration shift could win the

right but hurt elsewhere
Chris Adams, 3/2/15
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/03/02/3592908_for-rubio-immigration-shift-could.html?rh=1

WASHINGTON At a gathering of the nations conservative political activists last week, Sen. Marco
Rubio won back at least some of the trust hed lost in 2013, when he helped broker a bipartisan
immigration plan.
For conservatives such as William Temple, what the Florida Republican and potential presidential
candidate had to say was welcome indeed.
I believe he has a sincere heart, said Temple, who made a splash at the Conservative Political
Action Conference by helping to engineer a walkout of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs appearance. I
think he really wants to resolve that issue.
But if the senator has just found his way back to the conservative wing of the party, experts also say
he runs the risk of alienating other Republicans.
Sen. Rubio needs to be careful how he positions himself on immigration reform, said Matt Barreto,
co-founder of the polling and research firm Latino Decisions and a professor at UCLA. Rubio needs
to find a way to engage conservatives on the immigration issue, and to convince them that this is the
right thing to do and not let conservatives convince him to flip-flop on the issue.
In a December poll by the Pew Research Center, 70 percent of respondents overall favored a pathway to
legal status for immigrants who meet certain requirements. But support was lower among
Republicans (53 percent) and lower still among those who are tea party supporters (42 percent).

Rubio, a first-term senator from West Miami, was once a darling of the nations conservatives but is
now viewed skeptically by many of them despite having one of the most conservative voting
records in the Senate. The change is largely because of his role in pushing an overhaul of the
immigration system that made it through the Senate in 2013 but stalled in the House of
Representatives.
Asked onstage at CPAC this past week about 2013, Rubio said hed learned from the episode.
While acknowledging that there are millions of people whove lived in the United States for years and
havent broken laws except for those on immigration, Rubio said doing something about
thepopulation that was in the country illegally needed to take a backseat to more pressing
immigration-related concerns.
What Ive learned is you cant even have a conversation about that until people believe and know
not just believe, but its proven to them that future illegal immigration will be controlled, he said.
That is the single biggest lesson of the last two years.
That lesson was cheered by conservatives but comes with its own risks, said Fernand R. Amandi,
managing partner of the Miami-based political firm Bendixen & Amandi International, which does
work mostly for Democrats but also for some Republicans.
Its not so much that he made a 180, but instead a couple of 360s when it comes to his position on
immigration, Amandi said. The senator runs the risk of being seen as a political pinwheel.
Its not the first time Rubio has been seen as moderating his immigration stance. He was, in fact,
viewed as a moderate Republican on immigration issues while in the Florida Legislature, Amandi
said. He then veered right, and then back to the center, and now back to the right, Amandi said.
His comments at CPAC suggest he made the wrong political gamble, from his perspective, Amandi
added.
Rubio was greeted warmly Friday by a ballroom audience, and he didnt receive the boos awarded his
onetime mentor Bush. Attendees interviewed afterward said the trust theyd lost in him was coming
back.
I want him to be a contender. I really do, said Robert Rankin of Butler, Pa. Im pulling for him. I
think he has the potential. Maybe the capability the legitimate capability to do it.
I like him, added Jim Hanson, whos executive vice president of Secure Freedom, a Washington
research center formerly known as the Center for Security Policy. Theres one thing the Republicans
have lacked, and its charisma. Hes a charismatic guy.

Hanson, originally from Wisconsin, supports Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. I could go with WalkerRubio, he said.
Temple, who protested Bush while dressed in the garb of Declaration of Independence signer Button
Gwinnett, is an organizer of the Golden Isles Tea Party in Brunswick, Ga. He first saw Rubio years
ago in Florida and has followed him ever since.
Temple supports Texas Sen. Ted Cruz but has a fondness for Rubio.

I like him. I think hes a wonderful guy, Temple said. He needs to make it as crystal clear as he can
that American citizens come first, and thats what we want to hear. And if you do that, Im sure he will
get more votes.

Facebooks Top Republican Presidential

Contenders for 2016 Are

3/2/15
http://www.onenewspage.com/n/US/754y890ju/Facebook-Top-Republican-PresidentialContenders-for-2016.htm

Social media sentiment is becoming a bigger barometer for political strategists as

presidential candidates angle for 2016, and with over a year and a half before the election
Facebook has fresh information revealing the most buzzed-about potential contenders.

Interaction numbers for Republicans who appeared at the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) last week from Tuesday to Friday reveal Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker out in front of other potential Republican candidates.

*Also Read:* Obama Takes Fiscal Cliff Battle to Social Media

Walker amassed 1,353,365 interactions, which is measured in Facebook likes, posts,

comments and shares.

Ranking behind him was Donald Trump (599,488), Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (589,184),
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (539,884); Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (532,413), Dr. Ben
Carson (449,788), former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (305,941); Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
(301,875) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (140,783).

*Also Read:* Facebook Reveals the TV Shows That Unite Democrats and Republicans

Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, had 1,532,786 interactions penned
around her name.

*Also Read:* Facebook, Politico Partner for South Carolina Primary

Media organizations are leveraging Facebook and Twitter heavily as part of their 2016
coverage with broadcast divisions like ABC News and NBC News weaving in social
media analytics and interactions along with the big three cable news channels.

The Foreign Policy Minefield for Scott

Walker and Other GOP Contenders
By Eric Pianin, 3/2/15

https://news.yahoo.com/foreign-policy-minefield-scott-walker-201500475.html

The Foreign Policy Minefield for Scott Walker and Other GOP Contenders

The economy was hands down the top issue of the 2012 presidential campaign as the
nation struggled to emerge from the recession.
Today, that obsession has shifted to growing fears about ISIS and the prospects of renewed
terror attacks on the U.S. For the first time in five years, slightly more Americans cite
defending the U.S. against terrorism (76 percent) than strengthening the economy (75
percent), according to aPew Research Center policy priority surveyconducted Jan. 7 through 11.

This important development could have serious implications for Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker, who is currently burning up the track in the early going of the 2016 GOP presidential
sweepstakes.
A strong speech to grassroots Iowa conservative Republicans last month helped catapult
Walker into the top tier ofGOP presidential aspirants. Moreover, he finished a close second
toSen. Rand Paul (R-KY)in the Conservative Political Action Conferences annual presidential
preference straw poll last weekend.
Yet Walkers inept responses to questions on foreign policy and the terrorism threats have
exposed a gap in the former Milwaukee county executives understanding of global affairs.
The intense media scrutiny of this hole in his credentials could undercut his credibility with
many conservative voters and donors.
In early February Walker visited a foreign policy think tank in London, where he would not
discuss the war on ISIS, evolution or other highly charged topics, asThe Fiscal Times
previously reported. The governor said he felt uncomfortable discussing foreign affairs while

overseas invoking the old saw that U.S. politics should end at the waters edge. Yet many
journalists and political analysts thought this was strange behavior
Last Thursday, Walker made a gaffe during an appearance at CPAC in suburban
Washington when he compared his handling of a protest rally by Wisconsin state
employees in 2011 to how he might handle ISIS threats if he were president.
If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world, he said in an
offhand manner, though many took him seriously.
Walker and his aides later clarified he was merely trying to describe how forthrightly he
deals with crisis. During an appearance onFox News Sundayyesterday, Walker explained,
Im not comparing those two entities, referring to state employees and terrorists. Instead,
he said he meant to show how he has exerted leadership under difficult circumstances.
I apply that to saying that if I were to run and if I were to win and become commander-inchief, I believe that kind of leadership is whats necessary to take on radical Islamic
terrorism, he said.
On Saturday, two days after his CPAC appearance, Walker raised more eyebrows at an
exclusive conference in Palm Beach, Florida, sponsored by the conservative Club for

Growth. He was one of five GOP presidential aspirants invited to discuss fiscal and foreign
policy.
When pressed by moderator Frayda Levin, a Club for Growth board member, about what he
was doing to prepare for being president in terms of foreign policy issues, Walker said,
Candidly,I think foreign policyis something thats not just about having a PhD or talking to
PhDs. Its about leadership. I would contend the most significant foreign policy decision of
my lifetime was made by a president who was previously a governor. A president who made
a decision that wasnt even about foreign policy. It was in August of 1981, when Ronald
Reagan fired the air traffic controllers [after they went on strike].
Walker added, It sent a message not only across America, it sent a message around the
world [that] we werent to be messed with.
Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University, took Walker to task

today challenging the governors version of history and his foreign policy shortcomings.
Drezner noted that the Soviets continued to act in a belligerent manner toward the U.S. for
years after Reagan fired 11,300 controllers during the Professional Air Traffic Controllers
Organization (PATCO) strike.
For a few years after Reagan clashed with PATCO, U.S. foreign relations took a turn for the
worse, not for the better, Drezner, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, wrote inThe
Washington Post.

Recently, the conservativeWeekly Standards John McCormickwarned in a blog post,Walker

isnt going to last very long if his main response to foreign policy questions is to point out
that Ronald Reagan took on the air traffic controllers.
McCormick added, But if Walker has thought deeply about the issues and articulates a
clear agenda, its doubtful that the lack of a college degree will significantly hurt him in the
race for the presidency.
For now, there are no indications this past week was a big oops moment for Walker, just
as former Texas governorRick Perry flamed outafter a fast start in the 2012 presidential
campaign. But it underscores a problem that Walker and other governors face in running for
president when their foreign policy and military experience is usually very limited.

AsMolly OToole ofDefense Onewrote today, A shallow background on defense issues

doesnt preclude a candidate from being elected, of course, but the stakes have been
raised.
Three in 10 of the more than 3,000 conservatives who voted in the CPAC straw pollsaid
national security would be important to them in deciding thenominee, with foreign policy
and national security moving up the list of voterpriorities, CPAC reported.
University of Virginia political scientist Larry J. Sabato said Walkers comments arent likely
to hurt him much among GOP voters. In fact, if an opponent chooses to use it against him,
it will simply highlight Walkers fight against the unions in Wisconsin, which is wildly popular
in the party base, he said.
But in the general election, Walkers statements could be used by the Democratic nominee
to highlight his inexperience in foreign affairs especially if he were up against former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Its easy to imagine this being a zinger aimed by Hillary
Clinton at Walker in a presidential debate, if Walker gets to fall 2016, Sabato said.

Dave Helling: For the starship

Government, bipartisan politics is the
final frontier
By: Dave Helling, 3/2/15
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/local-columnists/article11942015.html

President Barack Obamaissued a statement last weekafteractor Leonard Nimoy died.

Leonard was Spock, Obama said, referring to Nimoys classic portrayal of a Vulcan
space traveler in the Star Trek TV series. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed,
the presidents statement said. I loved Spock.
Of course he did. After his six years in office, we know ObamaisSpock: detached,
information-driven and undoubtedly big-eared.
I wasnt a huge fan of the show, but it doesnt take much of a leap to see what the young
Obama must have seen in Nimoys character. Spock, too, was the son of mixed-race
parents, an outsider. To succeed, he had to be the smartest guy on the bridge while
eschewing emotional decision-making and irrational attachments.
Thus, Barack Obama.
For the last six years, Republicans have taken William Shatners portrayal of Capt.
James T. Kirk as their model: rash, emotional, passionate. Excerpts from last
weekendsConservative Political Action Conferenceshow GOP presidential
candidatesfiring their phasers at any moving target, from education to Obamacare to
immigration. Some shots hit their mark, others careened wildly into space.
Star Trek isnt reality, but it can help explain it. In many ways, the 1960s Kirk-Spock
dynamic defines contemporary politics: logic says that most Americans benefit from the
government and that tax cuts dont pay for themselves. But the evidence cant persuade

the Capt. Kirks, whobelievegovernment only helps takers and growth comes from tax
policy.
The nations debate over the threat from the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria
provides another comparison. Obamas reaction has been classic Spock: logical,
noninflammatory, lets-look-at-both-sides-of-this.
Republicans, on the other hand, are in full Kirk mode. They want an open-ended U.S.
commitment to boots on the ground.
Last week Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, said other nations would send ground
troops to fight ISIS if the United States would lead, whatever that might mean.
That, captain, is illogical.
For three seasons, TV viewers watched as the two Star Trek protagonists battled it out.
In most episodes, they prevailed through compromise Kirks passion informed
Spocks logic, while Spock brought reason and facts to Kirks hotheadedness.
The best way forward, the show told us, is to use the headandthe heart. The current
voyagers of the starship Government may want to consider that lesson.

Ab
\
Why Isnt the Oil Industry Worried About
Hillary Clinton?
By: Rebecca Leber, 3/2/15
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121191/oil-lobby-weighs-hillary-clintonsenvironmental-record

In the run-up to her likely presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has assured top
environmental groupslike the League of Conservation Votersthat she is committed
to their causes. So why arent oil industry representatives worried?
Erik Milito, the American Petroleum Institutes (API) Director of Upstream and
Industry Operations, told conservatives last week at the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) that Clinton could be "better" on oil and gas than the current
president.
We hope no matter who's in there it's better than what we have there now, because
it's been nothing but barrier after barrier of delay,Militosaid during a presentation
on the natural gas boom in America. President Clinton, he actually signed a positive
piece of legislationthe Deepwater Relief Act. All of this development on the
deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico is because of the alliance he had with the Louisiana
delegation. Its hard to speculate where Hillary will be different.
Both sides think Clinton could be an ally. The reason: her mixed record on energy
issues, like natural gas and the Keystone XL pipeline. For example, Clinton might be
the only politician in the country who has steadfastly refused to take any position on
the pipeline. However, she was in Canada thesame daythe Senate debated
legislation to approve Keystone andsuggested in 2010thatshe was inclined to
approve TransCanadas Keystone permit application.

As Secretary of State, Clinton championed hydraulic fracturing, a controversial

drilling process that injects water and chemicals underground to extract oil and gas
from rock. According to a report fromMother Jones,Clinton advocated for natural
gas as the cleanest fossil fuel available and hired a former oil industry
representative to push fracking abroad. She didn't acknowledge the environmental
problems fracking and its wastewater cause, including increasing greenhouse gas
emissions, contaminating drinking water, and causing minor earthquakes.
All this has made environmentalists careful when talking about Clinton. Grassroots
groups like 350.org and Friends of the Earth say theycould organize
proteststargeting Clintons climate commitment, if the need arises. The larger green
groups tend not to publicly comment on Clintons mixed record, though
representatives have privately expressed reservations to me in the past.
APIs Milito did name one reservation he had about Clinton. Shes hired Obamas
senior advisor, John Podesta, tochair her campaign."[Podesta] is not someone
who's generally shown to be supportive of the policies of oil and gas industry, Milito
said.
That's an understatement. Until he left the White House in February, Podesta was
the strategist behind many of the presidents climate change initiatives. He saw the
political rollout of the White House's first comprehensive strategy to reduce methane
emissions in natural gas and curb carbon pollution from power plants. Podesta also
helped broker a breakthroughclimate deal with Chinalast fall.
The oil industry may not have mobilized against Clinton just yet, but they already
have strong opinions on Podesta. His legacy will be the creation of a regulatory and
political strategy to address greenhouse gas emissions that, following the collapse of
legislation, opened up multiple fronts of attack on the fossil-fuel industry, Stephen
Brown, vice president of government relations for the Tesoro oil refinery, told
theWashington Postlast month.
Environmentalists can cheer Podestas place in Clintons campaign for the same
reason oil industry representatives can condemn it. Perhaps Hillary will be an
environmentalist candidate, after all. Or perhaps Big Oil will get their way. Either
way, there's a lot at stake.

Scott Walker flip-flops on immigration reform:

Is that bad?
By: Doug Mataconis, 3/2/15
Fresh off a strong second-place showing in theentirely meaningless straw poll at the
Conservative Political Action Conference, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkercertainly
seems to be getting in line with conservative thinking on the topics of the day:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a presumptive 2016 Republican presidential

candidate, says he has changed his immigration stance and no longer backs
comprehensive reform that would allow illegal immigrants to be penalized but
remain in the country.

My view has changed, Walker said in a Fox News Sunday interview taped Friday.
Im flat out saying it.

Walker in 2013 said a plan in which illegal immigrants can become United States
citizens by first paying penalties and enduring a waiting period makes sense.

However, he is now saying such a plan is tantamount to amnesty, amid criticism

that he has flip-flopped on that issue and others including right-to-work
legislation in his home state.

I dont believe in amnesty, said Walker, who finished second Saturday in the
Conservative Political Action Conferences straw poll for potential 2016 Republican
presidential candidates. We need to secure the border. We ultimately need to put in
place a system that works a legal immigration system that works.

Walker also is among the 25 Republican governors who have joined in a lawsuit
challenging the presidents 2014 executive action that defers deportation for
millions of illegal immigrants.

This contrasts significantly withcomments that Walker made during a July 2013
interviewwith a local Wisconsin newspapers editorial board, as well as duringa
Politico-sponsored conference in February of that year:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Friday that he supports a pathway to citizenship
to illegal immigrants but said that people who are waiting in line should have first
preference.

Youve got to find a way to say that people who are in line right now have first
preference, the Republican governor said at POLITICOs third annual State
Solutions Conference in Washington.

And while Republicans including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have recently been
outspoken about the need for immigration reform, Walker said that the issue is the
country needs to deal with and not just Republicans.

Walker said that in addition to not having enough visas for immigrants is that the
system in general is broken.

We just have a broken system. And to me, if somebody wants to come in and live
the American dream and work hard ... we should have a system that works and lets
people in, Walker told POLITICOs Jonathan Martin at the event.

He added: The vast majority of people want to come here for the right reasons.
They want to live the American dream.

This isnt entirely surprising, of course. Walker is quite obviously preparing to run
for president in 2016, a possibility he likely wasnt considering nearly as seriously
some two years ago when these questions first came up, and the truth of the matter
is that support for any form of immigration reform that involves what the tea party
crowd considers to be amnesty for the 12 million or so undocumented immigrants
estimated to be in the country is pretty much a deal breaker. Jeb Bushs support for
such reforms and his continued insistence, even this past week at CPAC, that there
will eventually have to be some kind of legalization for these people is the main
reason that he is rejected by the hard right. Bushs political protg, and possible
2016 rival, Marco Rubio was once a tea party darling after his win in the Florida US
Senate race in 2010, but his star faded quickly two years ago when he became one of
the most prominent Republicans to cross the aisle and support the Senate
immigration reform bill. Indeed, Rubio finished worse in the CPAC Straw Poll than
Bush himself did, which is perhaps the greatest indication of how far his star has
fallen among the hard-right wing of the Republican Party thanks to his support for
immigration reform. And that happened notwithstanding the fact that Rubio has
since backed away from the Senate bill, has criticized the DREAM Act, and has
opposed the presidents initiatives for temporary immigration relief, such as
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental
Accountability (DAPA). Given all of this, I suppose, Walker likely considered it to be

in his interests to play it safe on immigration by backing the restrictionists rather

than staking out the riskier pro-reform position taken by Bush and Rubio.

Im often reluctant to criticize politicians on the flip-flopping charge because there

isnt necessarily anything wrong with someone who changes their mind. Should a
politician, or anyone for that matter, be forced to stick with policy positions they
took in the past just because theyre on the record? If that were the case, then public
opinion would never change on any issue. Take the issue of same-sex marriage, for
example. It wasnt that long ago that the vast majority of Americans opposed the
idea of same-sex marriage, as did the majority of politicians in both political parties.
Over time, public opinion has changed on that issue and the public has become
more accepting of the idea of marriage equality, which has also led politicians to do
the same. President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden all opposed same-sex
marriage and have since changed their position. The same goes for countless others.
Are they to be denounced as flip-floppers because they changed their mind? That
seems to me to send the wrong signal since we want people to change their minds
when they are wrong.

Walkers problem, of course, is that he clearly has changed positions on this issue
and its hard to argue that he hasnt done so for purely political purposes. Prior to
backing away from his previous support for immigration reform, Walker had been
receiving criticism from many on the right for his previous support for the idea and,
heading into CPAC, it was seemingly one of the few marks against him from people
on the right. Changing his position so blatantly and, at least so far, with little
explanation for exactly why his previous support for some kind of legalization for

undocumented immigrants changed, and, unless hes able to, its hard to believe that
it was for anything other than blatantly political reasons. Thats the kind of flipflopping that its hard to defend.

Facebooks Top Republican

Presidential Contenders for 2016
Are
By: Jordan Chariton, 3/2/15

During CPAC last week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led all GOP hopefuls with
over 1.3 million interactions, and No. 2 wasnt close
Social media sentiment is becoming a bigger barometer for political strategists as presidential
candidates angle for 2016, and with over a year and a half before the election Facebook has
freshinformation revealing the most buzzed-about potential contenders.
Interaction numbers forRepublicans whoappeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) last week from Tuesday to Friday revealWisconsin Gov.Scott Walker out in front of other
potential Republican candidates.
Walker amassed1,353,365 interactions, which is measured in Facebook likes, posts, comments and
shares.

Ranking behind him was Donald Trump (599,488), Texas Sen.Ted Cruz (589,184), former Florida
Gov.Jeb Bush (539,884); Kentucky Sen.Rand Paul (532,413), Dr. Ben Carson (449,788), former
Texas Gov.Rick Perry(305,941); Louisiana Gov.Bobby Jindal (301,875) and New Jersey
Gov.Chris Christie (140,783).
Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, had 1,532,786 interactions during that time.
Media organizations are leveraging Facebook and Twitter heavily as part of their 2016
coveragewithbroadcast divisionslike ABC News and NBC News weaving in social media analytics
and interactions along with the big three cable news channels.

Reason Triumphs over Common Core Opponents

By: Anne Kim, 3/2/15
http://www.insidesources.com/reason-triumphs-common-core-opponents/

Common Core opponents are losing the fight a hopeful sign that
sound policy can trump ideology.
Ask any parent of a school-age child: Its not unreasonable to expect some objective
measures of achievement.
First-graders should know how to count to 100 and add and subtract up to 20. Third
graders should know the difference between a noun and a verb. High school seniors
should be able to solve basic problems in algebra and write essays using facts to support
opinions.
Standards such as these have been voluntarily adopted by 43 states and the District of
Columbia. But these standards also bear the label of Common Core now fighting
words among certain conservatives for whom the Common Core is as anathema as
Obamacare.
For the past several years, activists have waged war against states adoption of Common
Core State Standards, and so far this year, theyve persuaded lawmakers in 19 states to
introduce legislation proposing their repeal.
But for all the sound and fury, Common Core opponents have accomplished next to
nothing, succeeding in just one state Oklahoma. And while some may see the right
wings losing fight against the Common Core as simply evidence of their waning political
muscle, the real reason behind these losses is an optimistic one: the Common Core
remains intact because its good policy. In a political landscape littered with the victims

of ideological warfare, this is one battle where common sense is prevailing over
demagoguery.
While Common Core opponents have sought to cast the standards as just another
egregious example of federal over-reach (i.e. by President Obama), these charges have
foundered on the shoals of reality.
For one thing, the Common Core State Standards are the consensus product of a statedriven process, led by state school chiefs and governors from all but a tiny minority of
states, that began in 2009. Although the federal government has taken a few steps to
endorse the Common Cores adoption, a federal power grab this certainly isnt.
Second, the Common Core State Standards have the staunch support of the business
community, long distressed by the ongoing shortage of skilled workers. Both
the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, for example, have invested
major resources garnering support for the Common Core, including through grass-roots
campaigns and lobbying.
The business communitys self-interest in an educated workforce isnt hard to grasp.
While the Census Bureau reports that roughly 42 percent of Americans over age 25 now
have an associates degree or more (a marked improvement), its far short of what the
U.S. economy needs and far behind what our international competitors are achieving.
Georgetown Universitys Center on Education and the Workforce estimates that twothirds of jobs by the end of the decade will require some sort of post-secondary
credential. Yet the Lumina Foundation reports that America ranks 11th globally in postsecondary achievement, and in countries such as South Korea, Japan and Canada, the
percentage of post-secondary graduates is already at or above 60 percent.
The shortage of skilled workers is acute even in manufacturing, which is increasingly
technology-driven. The Manufacturing Institutes 2015 skills gap report predicts that
while manufacturing will generate 3.5 million jobs over the next decade, as many as 2
million jobs will go unfilled for lack of skilled workers.
But perhaps the most significant hurdle for Common Core opponents is that theyve
posited no practical alternative to its repeal thereby rendering their opposition
substantively meaningless.
Theres a big difference between what sounds good politically and what actually makes
sense legislatively, said Karen Nussle, Executive Director of the Collaborative for
Student Success, in a recent briefing for reporters.

As a case in point, Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Michael Petrilli cites the
experience of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who acquiesced to a do-over of the states
standards at the behest of his Tea Party base.
[Pence] had a group work on new standards, Petrilli told reporters. And guess what?
They looked a lot like the Common Core. Petrilli continued: Thats because reading is
reading, and math is math.
In a hopeful sign for future pragmatism in politics as well as in policy, GOP presidential
candidate Jeb Bush recently defended his support of Common Core standards at
conservatisms signature confab, the Conservative Political Action Conference in
Washington, D.C., arguing that the Common Core isnt the federal takeover of
education its detractors have claimed.
While there are certainly plenty of issues where ideology, not sound policy, continues to
carry the day, the triumph of reason in the Common Core debate may signify a broader
thaw in the deadlocked politics of today.

A 2016 long shot explains why he might run

for president

By: Jamie Weinstein, 3/2/15

http://www.businessinsider.com/bob-ehrlich-explains-why-he-might-run-for-president-2015-3


NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Bob Ehrlich says hes won state legislature, congressional
and gubernatorial races he wasnt supposed to win and he just might win a presidential
race few even know he is considering.
The former Maryland governor isnt officially in the 2016 presidential race, but like more
than two dozen other current and former Republican politicians, he says he is actively
considering a run.
Speaking to The Daily Caller Friday afternoon on the sidelines of the Conservative Political
Action Conference, Ehrlich said he is in the listening tour phase of his presidential
considerations, traveling to important early primary states likes New Hampshire and Florida
to give speeches and hear from voters.
There are two definitions of listening tour, Ehrlich, 57, explained. One is phony, Ive made
my mind up and I am pretending to do a listening tour. And the other is what we are
doing, taking those invitations, seeing how people react to my style, my views, my record,
my platform, my personality, my approach.
Ehrlich says most of the candidatesconsideringa presidential run agree on at least 85
percent of the issues, so there would be more differences on strategic approaches,
particularly in D.C., on Capitol Hill, than on substance or on platform.
Then the issue becomes, Alright, what do you bring to the game? he argued.
Ehrlich is rarely mentioned among the potential slate of 2016 contenders and he has so far
not appeared as a choice in a single 2016 poll. So what would Ehrlich bring to the race that
would propel him above the other potential White House contenders already getting buzz
should he make the decision to pull the trigger on a run?
Well, Im the wrong person to ask, he first says, refusing to point to what distinguishes
himself as a candidate. Youre asking me? Dont ask me.
I just think that part of my appeal over the years is that Ive always written my own
speeches, he said later in the interview, more willing to open up about what makes him
distinctive as a contender. When they hear it come out of my [mouth] whether they agree
with me or not they know what I say is what I think. You may disagree. You may think Im
dead wrong. Its also what I said last year, and five years ago and 10 years ago. And I think
there is a certain appeal in this very cynical age to that kind of candidate.
Ehrlichs path to victory is hard to discern at first glance (and, perhaps, second, third and
fourth glance). In 2002, he won the governorship of a Democratic state, but he failed to win
re-election four years later. In 2010, he tried to take back the governors mansion, only to
lose again. Such a political track record is not traditionally a springboard for a presidential
run.

We lost twice, so it is clearly not a positive part of your resume, Ehrlich concedes. On the
other hand, we lost with an approval rate close to 60 [percent], which was kind of a
bummer.
But, he argues, being back in the private sector for eight years is a good thing, being away
from government for a while is a good thing, writing books is a good thing, giving speeches
is a good thing, coaching my seven-to-thirteen year old football team is a good thing. So my
life over the last better part of a decade are positives.
Asked if he might run just to put his name out there as a possible cabinet pick in a
Republican administration, Ehrlich said thats not the way he rolls.
Im a competitor, I am an old jock, I am an old athlete, Ive never gotten into a race to lose,
the former captain of the Princeton University football team said. Ive never gotten into a
race for any other purse than to win.
Ehrlich believes the big issues in 2016 will be Obamacare, immigration, tax reform and
national security. He says his campaign would also emphasize issues close to his heart, like
the problem of fatherlessness and criminal justice reform, which he notes he pushed as
governor long before other Republican politicians began talking about it.
Ehrlich wont put a timeline on when he has to come to a decision about a run, but he says
he will continue to travel to early primary states and speak to any group willing to host him.
If he decides to run, he says he doesnt believe he will have a problem raising money and
that in this age of social media, money isnt as important as it once was anyway.
But if he does decide to enter the crowded field of presidential aspirants, what exactly is his
path to victory?
The secret plan! Ehrlich exclaimed, before conceding:Theres no secret plan.

Newt Gingrich: Choke Point Is the

Beginning of a Real Tyranny in the
United States

By: Kelsey Harkness, 3/2/15

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal, Newt Gingrich called the Justice Departments
Operation Choke Point, the beginning of a real tyranny in the United States, and said the whole
program needs to be dismantled.
I dont think the average American realizes that the bureaucrats have come up with a model,
which could kill any industry, kill any business, and do so even though what it was doing was
totally legal, he said while attending the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
on Friday.
I think thats very frightening for our future.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the House and presidential candidate, is an outspoken critic of
Operation Choke Point, which was designed in 2012 as a way to reduce mass market consumer
fraud by blocking certain industries access to bank accounts, payment processors and other
financial institutions.
Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce defended the agencys actions in an email to The
Daily Signal, saying it has no interest in pursuing or discouraging lawful conduct.
Instead, Pierce said the programwhich she did not address by nameaims to hold
accountable banks and payment processors that illegally enable fraudulent businesses to siphon
billions of dollars from consumers bank accounts in exchange for significant fees.
But whether intentional or not, The Daily Signal has documented multiple examples where
Operation Choke Point affected a range of legal and legitimate industries, including firearms
sellers and payday lenders.

Under Operation Choke Point, federal regulators pressure banks and other financial institutions
to not do business with customers operating in what they consider high risk industries.

Of that strategy, Gingrich said:

The liberals that come up with this new modelwhere youre doing something which is totally
legal that they dont likethey go to your banker and they choke off your money by saying to the
banker, You know, that business over there, thats kind of risky. And the bank gets scared
because these are their regulators. And so the bank comes to you and says, Were no longer
going to be able to handle your account.

Gingrich said the program poses a real threat to the American public and that the whole model
needs to be replaced.
What youre doing is totally legal, but they have decided as bureaucrats, that they dont like it,
he said.

The Extreme Becomes Mainstream

By: Bill Schneider, 3/2/15
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-schneider/the-extreme-becomes-mains_b_6785920.html

Remember the "vast right-wing conspiracy" Hillary Clinton talked about in 1998 when her
husband was embroiled in scandal? It sounded paranoid at the time. Well, it met last week
near Washington. I'm talking about the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC), a network of right-wing think tanks, websites, interest groups and tea
party factions.
These groups, once seen as extreme, are now the mainstream of the Republican Party. And
they've got the Republican establishment on the defensive.
Ina national poll of Republican primary voters, two thirds said they don't believe in global
warming, and half said they don't believe in evolution. Fifty-seven percent said they support
"establishing Christianity as the national religion."Another pollasked people what they
think President Obama "believes deep down" in terms of his religious faith. A majority of
Republicans chose "Muslim." Only 9 percent described the President's faith as Christian.
The flight to the extreme is also happening in the Democratic Party. The left is rallying
against the Democratic establishment -- President Obama and Hillary Clinton -- on trade,
on military intervention and on their ties to Wall Street. The left's heroes are Massachusetts
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. A challenge from the left has
just forced Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has close ties to both Obama and Clinton,
into a run-off in his bid for reelection.
But the far left is still not as dominant in the Democratic Party as the far right is in the GOP.
In a February Pew poll, 50 percent of the public called the Republican Party "too extreme,"
while 36 percent felt the same way about the Democratic Party.
Centrist influences in both parties have diminished. There used to be a large constituency of
conservative Democrats, many of them Southern whites. They are now Republicans. There
used to be large constituency of liberal Republicans, many of them from the Northeast. They
are now Democrats.

The result is identity politics. "We don't simply have gridlock," a former U.S. ambassador
said. "We have two separate American identities." When both parties were broad coalitions,
dissatisfied voters could switch, temporarily, to the other party. No more. Now the other
party is an alien identity. So what do dissatisfied partisans do? They stay home, as large
numbers of unhappy Democrats did last November when turnout among young voters and
Latinos dropped sharply. Or they endorse more extreme options on the right and left.
A split is opening up among Republicans over the issue of inequality. Americans are
increasingly troubled by wage stagnation and the growing income gap between the rich and
everybody else. The orthodox Republican view since Ronald Reagan is that economic
growth is sufficient. Government should cut taxes to keep the economy growing and then
step aside and let people can get ahead on their own. The problem is that the George W.
Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 did not deliver wage growth.
Pragmatic Republicans want to see more targeted help, like an expanded earned-income tax
credit for lower-income workers. Former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush fancies himself a reform
conservative. "We can't just be against things all the time," Bush told a conservative
advocacy group. "We have to be for positive, conservative reforms. We should be the reform
party."
That happens to be exactly what Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) said when he first ran for
president in 2000. McCain got slapped down by right-wing Republicans who accused him of
abandoning the Reagan cause. A similar backlash is emerging on the right against Jeb Bush.
Right-wingers are even attacking Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen because she has dared
to call for monetary policies to deal with inequality, which she called "a significant
problem." When Yellen testified last week before the House Financial Services Committee,
Rep. Mike Mulvaney (R-South Carolina) warned her, "You're sticking your nose in places
that you have no business to be." Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is threatening to audit the
Fed.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has emerged as the leading conservative figure in the 2016
race. Walker has endorsed what theWashington Postcalled"a strictly Reaganesque
economic approach, including lowering income tax rates and reducing the number of tax
brackets." No targeted policies.
What's behind Walker's sensational rise? He fashions himself a fighter. Republicans are
thrilled when Walker talks about how he took on labor unions in Wisconsin, defeated a
bitter recall campaign and then won reelection. He used that experience to make the case
that he can defeat ISIS in the Middle East. He told the CPAC audience, "If I can take on
100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world."

Walker was likening Wisconsin protesters to ISIS terrorists. But the CPAC audience didn't
seem to care. They whooped in support of Walker. To the far right, labor union activists and
Islamic terrorists are more or less the same.
In the straw poll of CPAC delegates, Walker came in a close second to Paul, who had won
the two previous straw polls. And Jeb Bush? He came in fifth.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misattributed a quotation of the
Washington Post to The New York Times. This post has been updated accordingly.

Rubio close to decision about running for

Republican presidential nomination
By: THOMAS BEAUMONT AND PHILIP ELLIOTT, 3/2/15
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/rubio-close-to-decision-about-running-forrepublican-presidential-nomination/article23240924/?cmpid=rss1

Marco Rubio isnt quite ready to say hes running for president, yet admits it does look like he will seek
the White House in 2016.
I think thats reflected in both our travel and some of the staffing decisions that weve made, the
Florida senator told The Associated Press. We if in fact I make that final decision on a run want
those elements to be in place.
Allies of the first-term senator who have spoken with him about his plans fully expect that he will run
for president, rather than a second Senate term.
I assume hes running, said Wayne Berman, a veteran Republican fundraiser who was chairman of
Sen. John McCains presidential fundraising in 2008. He will help the party turn the page, politically,
to the next generation.
Nearly a dozen people close to Rubio, including Republicans officials, fundraisers and his advisers, say
Rubio has told them he is in the final stages of planning the launch of his presidential run and will
formally join the crowded field of hopefuls as early as April. All spoke on condition of anonymity to
discuss their private conversations with Rubio.
Berman said he is working to line up donors to finance that national campaign. The goal is to raise $50
million before next years Iowa caucuses, according to four donors who have spoken to Rubio about
the likely campaigns budget.
Rubios team is also aggressively courting Spencer Zwick, Mitt Romneys top fundraiser in the 2012
presidential race. Zwick is sought after by several prospective Republican candidates and has spoken
favourably about Rubios chief rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Bush was a mentor to Rubio during their time in Florida. The two are likely to compete for many of the
same donors, and Rubio acknowledges it would be a bit unusual to run against Bush.
No major candidates for president have declared their intentions. Formally entering the race triggers a
host of legal and campaign finance complications. But a decision to commit is different for Rubio,
whose Senate term runs through 2016. He has said repeatedly he will not run for Senate re-election
and the presidential nomination at the same time.

Rubios advisers have told party leaders that they should expect to recruit a candidate to run for his
Senate seat in 2016, according to four people involved in the talks, who discussed the private
conversation on the condition of anonymity because Rubio has not notified the National Republican
Senatorial Committee of his plans.

Doyle McManus: Who killed at CPAC, the

GOP's red meat 2016 auditions?
By: Doyle McManus, 3/2/15
http://www.kentucky.com/2015/03/02/3722761_doyle-mcmanus-who-killed-at-cpac.html?rh=1

The fervent Republicans who throng the Conservative Political Action Conference every year aren't
representative of the American electorate. They aren't even representative of the GOP electorate.
For four of the last five years, their straw poll for president has chosen Rand Paul or Ron Paul.
These are not everyday Republicans.
Yet the conference, which took place Thursday through Saturday, is still an important event "the
starting gun of the Republican primary campaign," in the words of one veteran GOP strategist. It's
the first real national audition for potential Republican candidates, all on the same stage, one after
the other even if the TV audience is only on C-SPAN. And a good performance can help recruit
conservative foot soldiers across the country.
So almost everyone who's considering a run showed up, from CPAC favorites Rand Paul and Ted
Cruz all the way to Jeb Bush, who's fighting off an unwanted label as the most moderate Republican
in the race.
Here's what we learned: Bush has staying power, despite conservatives' suspicion that he's a closet
moderate. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is hot the new more-conservative hope to
stop the Bush juggernaut. Sens. Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) could rise if Walker
stumbles. Chris Christie looks like a spent force. And Rand Paul is still Rand Paul.
Yes, it's still early; none of these proto-candidates has even announced formally that he's running.
But it wasn't too early for each to deploy campaign buttons and T-shirts in CPAC's big convention
hall. And that means it isn't too early to describe the rough shape of the 2016 GOP field: no single
front-runner, but four or five candidates who are most likely to succeed.
Bush didn't have the attendees on his side. There was a smattering of catcalls when he took the
stage; a flag-waving activist in a Revolutionary War uniform led a decorous walkout of about two
dozen.

But Bush's organization had salted the room with supporters a page from Practical Politics 101
and their cheers beat back the boos. Bush sensibly tackled the two issues on which he has diverged
from his party orthodoxy immigration and education and while he attempted to make his
positions sound as conservative as possible, he didn't trim them much.
He repeated his support for legislation that would create "a path to legal status" for immigrants who
are in the country illegally, although he agreed that enforcing border controls should come first.
On education, he defended the Common Core system of standards, which many conservatives
loathe, insisting it was never intended to remove authority from state and local governments.
"It's fine to oppose the bad things," Bush said. "We need to start being for things again." It was a
solid, steady performance before a tough audience, and a step Bush needed, to remind GOP voters
that he's a conservative too.
But the real winner of the event may have been Walker, the usually taciturn governor of Wisconsin,
who brought the audience to its feet with an animated speech full of red meat. "There's a reason we
celebrate July 4 and not April 15," Walker said. "We celebrate our independence from government,
not dependence on it. ... Get government out of the way."
He listed his actions as governor confronting public employee unions, lowering taxes, pushing
anti-abortion legislation, lowering restrictions on concealed firearms and said they showed that he
is "someone who's going to fight."
He stumbled when, asked how he would handle Islamic terrorists, he suggested his experience as
governor covered that, too. "If I could take on 100,000 protesters (in Wisconsin), I can do the same
across the world," he said a parallel that doesn't hold up long.
But his audience hardly noticed.
"He's the one," said Ruth Willis of Syracuse, N.Y. "He's already won more fights than any of the
others." Cruz and Rubio were more polished but as senators, neither could match Walker's
executive experience far away from Washington.
One more lesson: Republicans will be talking a lot about foreign policy in this campaign. "Our allies
no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us," Rubio warned. He charged that President
BarackObama "treats the ayatollah of Iran better than the prime minister of Israel."
Rubio and others skipped ahead to criticize former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom
they excoriated as no different from Obama in foreign affairs. "She actually gave a reset button to the
Russians," exclaimed Walker, to whoops from the audience. "A reset button!"

The growing hawkishness in conservative ranks is a bad sign for Rand Paul, who has broken with
most of his colleagues to urge restraint in U.S. foreign policy. But it's in keeping with recent polls that
show most voters holding more confidence in Republicans than Democrats on foreign policy a
reversal of a GOP slump after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
What was missing from CPAC? Any sign of the intellectual ferment in conservative think tanks about
how to address the stagnant incomes of the American middle class. Most speakers stuck to more
traditional fare: smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation. There are new ideas in the
Republican Party, but this, it seems, was neither the time nor the place.

But Election Day 2016 is still a year and a half away. On the Republican side, they're off and
(almost) running.

CA GOP Gathers In Sacramento For

Low-Key Convention
By: Jon Fleischman, 3/2/15

http://www.highlandnews.net/news/political/article_573a9cd0-c113-11e4b2d3-0321595dc671.html
While the largest gathering of conservative Republicans was taking place at the Conservative Political Action
Committee (CPAC) near our nation's Capitol, roughly 1300 delegates and guests gathered at the Sacramento
convention center, across the street from the California State Capitol. for the biennial organizing convention of the
California Republican Party.
The California GOP confab was a relatively low-key affair. All of the elections for party office were uncontested, with
former State Senator Jim Brulte being elected by acclamation by delegates to a second term as Chairman. San
Francisco GOP Chairman Harmeet Dhillon was also re-elected as Vice Chairman. Newly elected statewide officers
were former Downey Mayor Mario Guerra as Treasurer, and Nevada County GOP Chairman Deborah Wilder.
Elections were also held for five out of eight regional Vice Chairmanships.
The convention's keynote address was given at a Saturday luncheon featuring New Jersey Governor and presidential
aspirant Chris Christie. While his remarks got off to a bit of a slow start, Christie closed exceptionally strong, sharing
some personal stories that exhibited the kind of charisma that makes his national ambitions harder to dismiss (see
more Breitbart coverage of Governor Christie's speech here). On Saturday evening, convention attendees heard from
freshman GOP Congresswoman Mia Love of Utah. Always a California GOP convention favorite, Congressman Tom
McClintock's fiery address to a Tea Party Caucus meeting received rave reviews.
The only controversial issue at the convention, which clearly divided convention attendees, was a decision to grant a
charter to the Log Cabin Republicans of California. The debate on the issue lasted the better part of an hour, with an
ultimate vote in support of granting the charter of 861-293.
For context of how uneventful the rest of the Sunday general session was, the most controversial discussion on the
floor besides the chartering of the Log Cabin Republicans was whether or not a resolution using the phrase "illegal
immigrant" should be amendment to read "illegal alien."
Of interest was the increased presence of public employee unions at the convention, sponsoring the event, hosting
parties, and sending representatives to interact with the delegates.
The 2014 election results were a mixed bag for beleaguered California Republicans, who currently hold a 28% share
of registered voters in what has become a reliably blue state. On a statewide, level Democrats swept every
constitutional office, and Republicans had their clock cleaned in U.S. House races, ending up with a net loss of a
seat. However, the GOP did have enough state legislative wins to climb back up above super-minority status in both
the State Senate and the State Assembly-an important benchmark to be able to stop tax increases, which take a twothirds vote.

Florida's Rubio Close to Decision About Presidential Run

By: Philip Elliot, 3/2/15
http://www.theledger.com/article/20150302/NEWS/150309894/0/Author?p=1&tc=pg

In this Feb. 27 photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National
Harbor, Md. Rubio is telling allies he is running for president and plans to join the crowded field of Republican hopefuls as early as
April.

PALM BEACH, Fla. | Marco Rubio isn't quite ready to say he's running for president, yet admits it sure does
look like he will seek the White House in 2016.
"I think that's reflected in both our travel and some of the staffing decisions that we've made," the Florida
senator told The Associated Press. "We if in fact I make that final decision on a run want those elements
to be in place."

The message that his decision is still pending is one Rubio delivered again this past week on stage, both at the
Conservative Public Action Conference outside Washington and at the conservative Club For Growth in Palm
Beach. But allies of the first-term senator and former speaker of the Florida House who have spoken with him
about his plans fully expect that he will run for president, rather than a second Senate term.
"I assume he's running," said Wayne Berman, a veteran Republican fundraiser who was chairman of Sen. John
McCain's presidential fundraising in 2008. "He will help the party turn the page, politically, to the next
generation."
Nearly a dozen people close to Rubio, including GOP officials, fundraisers and his advisers, say Rubio has told
them he is in the final stages of planning the launch of his presidential run and will formally join the crowded
field of Republican hopefuls as early as April. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their private
conversations with Rubio.
Berman said he is working to line up and keep donors to finance that national campaign. Among the
donors who have signed on: Dallas investor George Seay and Goldman Sachs' Joe Wall.
Rubio's goal is to raise $50 million before next year's Iowa caucuses, according to four donors who
have spoken to Rubio about the likely campaign's budget.
"Marco's best asset is Marco," said former congressional aide Scott Weaver, who organized a recent
dinner for potential donors and is serving as a co-chairman of Rubio's advisory committee. "If you
can get Marco in front of people, he sells himself. It's been an easier sales process than we thought at
this point."
Rubio's team is also aggressively courting Spencer Zwick, Mitt Romney's top fundraiser in the 2012
presidential race. Zwick is sought after by several prospective Republican candidates and has also
spoken favorably about Rubio's chief rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
That competition is vicious. One high-profile Rubio finance lieutenant, former Rep. Bill Paxon, had
helped raise tens of thousands for Rubio. But on Monday, Paxon announced he was switching his
allegiances to Bush.
"Gov. Bush has the principles, temperament and judgment, along with the proven executive track
record, to successfully run for and then serve as our country's next president," Paxon said in a
statement.

Bush was a mentor to Rubio during their time in Florida. The two are likely to compete for many of
the same donors, both in Florida and nationwide, and Rubio acknowledges it would be "a bit
unusual" to run against Bush.
"I think he's proving he's going to be a very formidable candidate," Rubio said. "I just believe if you
think the best place to serve your country is to run for and hopefully win the presidency, you move
forward on that irrespective of who else is in the race. If I ran, it wouldn't be against him."
No major candidates for president have declared their intentions; even Bush says his decision on that
is ahead. Formally entering the race triggers a host of legal and campaign finance complications. But
a decision to commit is different for Rubio, whose Senate term runs through 2016. He has said
repeatedly he will not run for Senate re-election and the presidential nomination at the same time.
That's a different approach than likely presidential rival Rand Paul. The Kentucky senator is trying to
set up a two-step system in his state that would allow him to seek the presidential nomination
through a caucus and a Senate bid through a primary. Kentucky law prohibits one person from
seeking two positions in the same nominating process.
Rubio's advisers have told party leaders that they should expect to recruit a candidate to run for his
Senate seat in 2016, according to four people involved in the talks, who discussed the private
conversation on the condition of anonymity because Rubio has not notified the National Republican
Senatorial Committee of his plans.
At the same time, Rubio's team is preparing for a national campaign. His top political adviser and
likely campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, has been recruiting operatives including Jim Merrill,
who ran Romney's New Hampshire campaigns and was at Rubio's side for a two-day visit to the state
last week. Spokesman Alex Conant is leaving Rubio's Senate office this week to begin work at his
political action committee.
"When you consider doing something like that, you can't just decide to do it and then start working,"
Rubio said. "You have to have conditions in place to move forward. Some of them are very similar to
the ones we'd have to take anyway if we ran for Senate. Others are different."

Rick Sanchez: Why Jeb Bush won big at

CPAC

By: Rick Sanchez, 3/2/15

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2015/03/02/rick-sanchez-why-jeb-wins-big-at-cpac/

Getting booed isnt usually something to be celebrated. This weekend though, the boos
heard emanating from the hall at the Conservative Political Action Conference just
outside of Washington echoed throughout America in a singularly positive way for one
apparent presidential hopeful.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush uttered the words that few in the hall seemingly
wanted to hear. And they let him have it.
The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people, he said. We should give
them a path to legal status.
It was a reality check, even if reality was the last thing many in the hall wanted to hear.
Bush knew exactly what he wanted to say and more importantly he knew what most in
the audience would say back. Yet, courageously, he said it anyway.
Of course he tempered it with ground rules emphasizing that his plan would include
making sure that of those 11 million, only those who earn citizenship would have it
bestowed upon them. To achieve it, he added, they have to work, not receive
government benefits, learn English and contribute to our society. In other words, given
that it could cost up to $50 billion to deport 11 million people, why not simply find a way
to acculturate them by separating the good from the bad?
Given the practicality of his statement, one would think other potential candidates would
have echoed his sentiments. Think again. Those who do agree with Bush are those
among us who arent running for office.
Law enforcement officials: Police chiefs and sheriffs across the country, already
burdened by the additional responsibility of immigration enforcement, say they need
immigrants out of the shadows to help them get accurate, unafraid reports of crime.
Economists: The vast majority of subjective research concludes that immigrants,
whether legal or not, provide much more to our economy than they take away.
Political scientists: The interpretations of those who subjectively look at Americas
demographics conclude that Hispanics are and will continue to be a powerful voting bloc
in the years to come; however, the past three presidential elections have shown that
because of the perceived anti-Hispanic rhetoric caused by the tone of the immigration
debate, its a voting block that is becoming less and less likely to vote Republican.

Social psychologists: The consensus among those who study the group dynamic of
Hispanic communities is that they are extremely traditional, fiscally conservative, family
oriented, and predominantly Christian, making them much more likely to relate to most
Republican principals.
So sans Bush, where was that recognition among the speakers at CPAC? Where was
any conversation at all about the arguments for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
beyond the bludgeoning tool of being anti-amnesty?
Jeb Bush was the one lone voice in the wilderness of CPAC and then there were the
other potential candidates who either sang from the same songbook or ignored the topic
altogether, leaving us to only consider what theyd said before.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz: Unfortunately, Republican leadership is cutting a deal with
Harry Reid and the Democrats to give in on executive amnesty, Cruz said, explaining
that the reason is because they are not listening to you.
In his customary style, Cruz never misses an opportunity to attack. Translation from
above: Like all of you here at CPAC, I hate Obama, I hate Harry Reid and I hate
amnesty.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: You can't even have a conversation about (a pathway to
citizenship) until people believe and know, not just believe, but it's proven to them that
future illegal immigration will be controlled, Rubio said.
Rubio as is his custom, uses a sort of cowardly circumlocution when asked about a
pathway to citizenship. Translation: There is no solution that will pacify the base;
therefore, its not worth considering any solution.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: "No. Again I think long term that's going to be a part of
it but I think there are too many people here in Washington who are leapfrogging over
everything else and trying to get to that right away. We fundamentally don't have a
system . . . to legitimately deal with people who want to come in fact, I think you would

greatly reduce if not outright eliminate the number of people who come in illegally if we
had an effective, time-effective particularly, system of dealing with legal immigration."
Walkers answers have been so confusing on the issue of a pathway to citizenship that
hes had to go back and clarify them on several occasions. Quoted above is his latest
clarification as reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Translation: Can I just talk
about union busting?
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul: I do not support amnesty.
Paul, much more cautious than his father, appears unwilling to apply his usual
libertarian dialectic to the issue of a pathway to citizenship, so he basically is staying
away from the subject except for the above pithy entry we found on his website.
Translation: Im not a real truth teller like my dad.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: (Not willing to take a position.)
Whether at CPAC or at recent events, Christie has mostly avoided the controversial
topic. Asked twice about immigration, he instead chose to talk about his record on
taxes and education. Translation: Ive got enough problems in New Jersey and dont
need any more.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: The people who are here would have to go
to the back of the line and start over. Its not to be cruel. Its to make that everybody
living in our boundaries lives in the light, not the darkness, and doesnt run and hide
every time they see a police car. We owe it not just to the people who have waited in
line a long time, but also those who do want to live and work here, and create a system
that is legal, that makes sense and actually protects our borders but protects the dignity
and worth of every person.
Huckabee used to firmly believe and reportedly expressed repeatedly that we should
create a pathway to citizenship and that undocumented immigrants do provide us with
much more than they take from us, but then switched his views and now sings the same

tune as the rest of his colleagues in the anti-amnesty chorus. Translation: What I
believe is not what I can say.
So there you have it.
One candidate and one candidate alone is willing to deal with the paradox that now
confounds the GOP. Shakespeares Hamlet said it best, and now so does Barbaras
little boy Jeb: I must be cruel, only to be kind.

Naghmeh Abedini: Silence in the Face of Evil is

Evil Itself

By: Carrie Dedrick, 3/2/15

Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini, spoke at the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend,urging citizens to
stand for religious freedom.

Abedini has previously been vocal about her husbands imprisonment in Iran, and
recently held an audience with President Obama, who promised that he would do
everything in his power to get the American pastor out of prison.

In her speech, Abedini said, My question isas Im proud to see my husband stand up
for his faith in the face of evilhow are we standing up as a country for him? What kind
of message are we sending to the world when we continue to negotiate while Iran
continues to abuse one of our own, an American pastor?

She continued, Silence in the face of evil is evil itself. That means when we dont act
and we dont speak, we are doing the same things that the persecutors are doing to my
husband When we dont speak in the face of evil, were doing that evil ourselves.

Abedini also warned that the United States is at risk of losing its own religious freedom if
citizens continued to be silent about religious persecution in the larger world.

If we dont address whats going on across the world, it will be something we will have
to deal with here. And were seeing were losing our religious freedom here.

This great nation is blessed because of our foundation on Jesus Christ. My prayer is
thatwe would turn our eyes back on Jesus, that we will repent of the ways that we
have looked to other things to fulfill us, and that we would turn our eyes back to Jesus
and pray and cry out for healing for our nation, and that we get back to our core value of
religious freedom.

MUST-SEE: Judge Nap

Faces Off With Former
NSA Chief at CPAC
3/2/15
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/02/must-see-judge-napolitano-and-former-nsachief-hayden-debate-privacy-vs-security-cpac

At the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday,

Judge Andrew Napolitano debated former NSA chief Gen. Michael Hayden
(Ret.) on privacy vs. security.
With the audience firmly on his side, Judge Nap argued that the Fourth
Amendment states that the government has no right to monitor and collect
personal data on American citizens.
"Your right to be left alone is a natural and personal right," Judge Nap said.
"Only you can give it up. The majority cannot take it away from you, and
certainly American spies cannot take it away from you."
Hayden said that Judge Nap is an "unrelenting libertarian," which drew cheers
from the crowd. When Hayden described himself with the same term, the
cheers turned to laughs and heckles.
Hayden argued that the Constitution also says the government must provide
for the common defense of this country, adding that he tried to keep the U.S.
safe while keeping in mind the right to privacy of Americans.
"Honest men can differ about this. I understand that. Honest folks may even
object to the existence of the [NSA domestic surveillance] database," Hayden
said. "But before we pass judgment, let's look at this in its totality and how it
has been conducted."
Watch the full debate below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzRpaSa5OMo

These 2 Things Cut Crime, Prison Recidivism

Rates in Half, Says Criminal Justice 'Champion'
Gov. Sam Brownback
By: Samuel Smith, 3/2/15
http://www.christianpost.com/news/these-2-things-cut-crime-prison-recidivism-rates-in-halfsays-criminal-justice-champion-gov-sam-brownback-134977/

Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownbackspeakson a criminal justice reform panel at the Conservative
Political Action Conference at the Gaylord NationalConventionCenter in National Harbor, Maryland, on
February 27, 2015.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Appearing as a guest speaker on a criminal justice reform panel at the
Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback

explained how Kansas' provision of mental healthcare and private mentors for its prisoners have
played a significant role in cutting the state's prison system recidivism rate in half.
Brownback, who was elected governor in 2010 after serving as a U.S. senator, told the audience that
reducing states' crime rates and corrections spending can be easily accomplished if state prisons
provided more to their prisoners than just a place to live and food to eat until they're released back
into society.

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"I think we have gotten stuck inthe oldmantra that 'If you do the crime, you do the time,'" Brownback
said. "When I first ran [for Congress] in the 1990s, that is one of the mantras that I put up. The
problem of it was that at some point in time you find that [the time] is done then you got a guy
coming out and we were having 60 percent recidivism rates. That is what we were having in our
state 60 percent recidivism rates."
Fed up with the high rate of criminal relapse, Brownback, who has long been considered a
"champion" of criminal justice reform, implemented two key changes that've been imperative to
reducing Kansas' recidivism rate from 60 percent to about 30 percent.
Brownback stated that since a majority of offenders have some sort of mental health,drugor alcohol
abuse problem, those issues need to be treated in order to give the offenders the best chance at
staying out of prison.
"If you have a guy who has a mental health issue and you arrest him and put him in jail, do you think
he is going to be doing better with his mental health issue when you put him in jail?" Brownback
asked. "Probably not. This will probably exacerbate the situation. We are trying to get them in a
situation that is less confrontational and works more with the problem that the individual has."
Even though several mental health institutions have been shut down in the last 30 years, Brownback
explained that Kansas has established mental health wards inside prisons that are geared to provide
offenders with the mental health ordrugrehab therapy they need in order to help them transition
appropriately when they're released back into society.
"We got 37 percent of people incarcerated in Kansas have a mental health issue. If you add that to
substance abuse, it is nearly 60 percent or little more of people incarcerated that have those two or
one or both of those issues going on in their life," Brownback continued. "What we have started
doing is setting pieces aside of prisons for mental health wings."
Brownback further noted that the state's also starting to send more offenders to halfway facilities
instead of prison to help them get the treatment they need.

"We are also now having places where a person is incarcerated or arrested for doing something,
instead of taking them to the jail, we are taking people to halfway facilities that deal with mental
health ordrugand substance abuse," Brownback said. "That will help reduce repeat offenders."
The second initiative, which has a real statistical tie to the state's reducing recidivism rate, is the
provision of private mentors to help offenders transition back into society successfully.
"That means a personal, private mentor for everybody that wants one that is coming out of a Kansas
prison," Brownback asserted. "We got about 6,000, mostly men, out [of prison] per year and we got
just a little over 4,000 private mentors."
Brownback added that the recidivism rate for offenders who have a mentor is at just 9 percent.
"The key is that you got to have a good match. We organize that. You got to have somebody on the
outside with a good heart and wants to do good for the community. You need to have a match before
the guy leaves prison," he emphasized. "You need to have a match at least six months before he
comes out so that they can start building thatrelationship. They have got to be somebody that 24/7 is
available because we all have problems."
Brownback also said that he wants to be able to use welfare reform dollars to help reduce the
likelihood that Kansans will end up in jail by providing them with personal coaches in high school and
helping younger children attain expected literacy levels.
"I want to get us welfare reform dollars to help people graduate from high schools. If you graduate
from high school, your likelihood of going to prison goes down," Brownback said. "We are also taking
welfare dollars to improve our fourth grade reading levels because another marker is if you don't
read by the time you are in fourth grade, your likelihood you are going to prison goes up as well."
Other states have also started championing criminal justice reform. In 2007, Texas instituted a plan
to usedrugtreatment and incarceration alternatives to help the low-risk and nonviolent offenders
without having to incarcerate them. Texas' crime rate is the lowest it has been since 1967.
"I think that has given us the credibility to go to other states and follow what Texas has done," Marc
Levin, policy director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Right on Crime project, said at the
panel. "Thankfully, conservative governors have been the ones stepping up to the plate and leading
the charge."
South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Mississippi are
other states that have instituted similar criminal justice reforms.

CPAC 2015: Gary Johnson fakes heart

attack over Ann Marie Buerkle's
marijuana claims
By: Mark Weiner, 3/2/15
http://www.syracuse.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/
cpac_2015_gary_johnson_fakes_heart_attack_over_ann_marie_buerkles_marijuana_clai
.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is picking up a little more
national exposure than she expected forher comments about marijuanaduring a
debate Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson faked having a heart attack, clutching his chest
and falling to the floor, after Buerkle claimed that marijuana users have a 1-in-5
increased risk of a heart attack in the first hour after smoking pot.

Buerkle made it clear she didn't appreciate the theatrics from Johnson, a 2012
libertarian presidential candidate who has long advocated for legalizing marijuana.
"You know, I think the governor has had great fun with his humor, but this isn't funny
that we're putting our kids and the future of this country at risk," Buerkle said. "It's not
funny. It is something that we as Americans have to pay attention to."
About half of the CPAC audience at the National Harbor resort in suburban Washington,
D.C., laughed at Johnson's antics, but many sitting in the football field-sized convention
hall never saw him hit the floor.
Since the nation's largest annual gathering of conservatives ended Saturday, the clip has
made the rounds on cable TV and YouTube.
Buerkle, who represented the Syracuse area in Congress for one term in 2011 and 2012,
said she had no regrets about accepting CPAC's invitation to debate Johnson. "I never
back away from a challenge," she said.

Fiery Hannity to CPAC: All

Conservatives Must Unite to Make
America Great Again
3/2/15
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/02/video-sean-hannitys-full-address-cpac

Sean Hannity gave a passionate address to conservatives at CPAC, calling on

the Tea Party and so-called "establishment" Republicans to come together.

He slammed President Obama for "immorally" racking up $18 trillion in debt

during his time in office and "robbing future generations of their inheritance."
Hannity said that the country's leaders are no longer living up to their
responsibility of "leaving a country better than we found it" for our children.
And he said he never thought that in his lifetime he would admire the actions
of Jordan and Egypt's leaders against ISIS, as opposed to the President of the
United States.
He specifically referred to Obama's decision to go golfing on the heels of the
beheading of American journalist James Foley last summer.
"Shameful. I never thought I'd have a president who would try to convince
Americans that the Islamic State is not Islamic. I never thought I'd have a
president that when 21 Christians were murdered didn't identify them as
Christians," he said.
He argued that there are many areas where the two sides agree right off the
bat, like balancing the federal budget, making America energy-independent,
securing the border, and giving parents a choice of schools.
"If we start on the points of agreement, we can make America once again the
greatest country God has ever given man," he concluded.
He promised that on "Hannity" and on his radio show, he will give access to
every Republican presidential candidate to make their case.
Watch his full address above and hear more of Hannity's thoughts on
CPAC, tonight at 10p/1a ET on Fox News.

Jeb Bush and the Quest for Voters

By: Jerry Weissman, 3/2/15
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jerryweissman/2015/03/02/jeb-bush-and-the-quest-forvoters/
In the wake of a significant setback for Jeb Bush at the Conservative Political Action Conference on
Saturday, its time to take another look at his candidacy. The former Florida governor came in a poor fifth
in the CPAC straw poll with 8.3 percent of the vote, trailing Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who had 25.7
percent, Governor Scott Walker (R-Wis.) 21.4 percent, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) 11.5 percent, and Dr.
Ben Carson 11.4 percent.
Granted this is very early in the game, the CPAC is a niche (only about 3000 voters), and Mr. Bushs base
is more moderate than conservative, but a successful candidate for president must appeal to a broad base
of voters and to do with strong presentation skills. Apparently, Jeb Bush is struggling.
In a January blog on Forbes, I quoted New York Times columnist Frank Brunis opinion of Jeb Bushs
speaking skills:
Even Bushs most ardent admirers dont sell him as a rousing orator. Last April I happened to hear him
give an education reform speech [he] was a phlegmatic blur. Afterward his supporters talked about and
fretted over it.
Granted, too, that Mr. Bruni has a liberal bias, but this weekend, the usually more favorable Wall Street
Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote:
Theres something tentative and joyless in Mr. Bushs public presentations. He isnt mixing it up with
voters or wading into the crowd. So far he is not good at the podium. His recent foreign-policy speech
was both bland and janglyWhat is most missing so far is a fierce sense of engagement, a passionate
desire to lead America out of the morass, a fieryor Churchilliancertainty that he is the man for the
moment. In its place we see a softer, wanner Im smart, accomplished, know policy, and its my turn.
Ms. Noonan speaks with authority about presentations: she was a speech writer for Jeb Bushs father,
George H. W. Bush, and his successful campaign for the presidency. But the younger Bush doesnt have
to become fierce, or passionate, or Churchillian to be successful. That would be artificial and forced for
him. It would suit his personality more if he were to try to become more Reaganesque. His fathers
predecessor was softer and more conversational, but his strongest suit was his ability to relate to his voter
base.

Ms. Noonans column went on to touch on what may be the core of Jeb Bushs problem:
I am not sure Mr. Bush likes the base. If he doesnt, it would explain some of his discomfort. I am
wondering if he sees the base as a challenge, not a home, something he has to manage, not something he
is ofbut to really succeed you have to show you share the bases heart, that you understand its
beginning points and align with it on essentials.
The essential factor for success in any presentation is to focus on the audience. A chronic fact of life in
that most common and frequently delivered of all presentations, the sales pitch, is that sales people sell
features and must constantly be reminded to sell benefits.
Who will remind Jeb Bush?
Jerry Weissman is the countrys leading presentation coach and best-selling author. Follow him on Twitter
@PowerPres, Forbes, and LinkedIn for more insights.

Carly Fiorina talks war on women,

demon sheep and more
By: Asche Schow
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/carly-fiorina-talks-war-on-women-demon-sheep-and-more/article/2560919

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and one-time Senate candidate Carly Fiorina was all over the
Conservative Political Action Conference last week. On Thursday she gave a speech, held a "meet
and greet" session and spoke on a panel about the middle class; on Friday she spoke on two
additional panels and on a fourth panel Saturday and all the while walked around the conference
giving interviews to various news outlets.
She didn't have the massive following that Ben Carson or Rand Paul had, but she also didn't
surround herself with her own staffers to appear more popular than she was, as former Sen. Rick
Santorum, R-Pa., did. By Saturday she was walking freely through the conference hall with just her
press person.
Fiorina sat down with theWashington Examinerfor a short interview early Saturday morning, in the
ghost town that radio row had by then become, outside of Mark Levin's speech. The loud applause
from Levin's crowd was the only reminder that CPAC was even still going on.
Fiorina was polished and prepared, even for my question about the infamous "demon sheep" ad.
But perhaps one of Fiorina's strongest assets is her plan to combat the Democrats' "war on women"
narrative. Last year Fiorina launched the Unlocking Potential Project in order to help conservative

women candidates, and potential 2016 candidate Fiorina is building off of that premise in order to
address an almost certain presidential narrative.
"I think we address it by fearlessly laying the facts out," Fiorina said. "The rhetoric is so ridiculous
when you look at the facts."
"If anyone's waging a war on women, it's Democratic policies," she added.
That war, Fiorina insisted, came from policies that have caused record numbers of women to be
living in poverty and dependent on food stamps.
"I find the rhetoric from the Democratic Party insulting in the extreme," Fiorina said. "And I just don't
understand why people have been afraid to push back on it. The facts are on our side."
Her solution as a candidate would be to "throw the facts right back in their face and take the fight to
them."
But that's only half the fight. A Republican nominee can't just say there is no war on women or say
that Democratic policies hurt women, she said. The nominee has to demonstrate that conservative
policies actually help.
"We have to land them in people's lives," Fiorina said. "We have to speak in personal, empathetic
terms, not in big, huge policy terms."
As an example, she described the difficulties a young woman would have trying to open a salon.
"[You] aren't going to make it through because it will take you over a year to get through the
permitting process and you don't have the money to hire a lawyer to help you to do it," she said.
Beyond explaining the specifics of how government is actively working against individuals, the GOP
needs to make sure voters know that the party wants to give everyone the opportunity to achieve
their own American dream, emphasizing that a helping hand is necessary at times.
As a candidate, Fiorina is considered a longshot. Her CPAC performance no doubt raised her profile
within the party, and people I spoke to afterher speech in which she eviscerated presumed
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said they were now intrigued and wanted to hear more from
her. She was the only nominee I saw that not only challenged Clinton directly but actually addressed
the very real issue of the war on women narrative.
Fiorina said she was even "bemused" by Clintonadopting some of her lines, like "unlocking
potential" or even the name and cover of her 2006 book.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Fiorina said.

Beyond the amusement, Fiorina said Clinton was a classic example of "do as I say, not as I do."
"Words are just words," Fiorina said. What counts is whether your actions are consistent with your
words. What counts is: Are you doing what you say you're going to do? Or are you just talking? And
so, I think it's just talk on her part."
Fiorina will have some big hurdles to overcome, including her failed Senate campaign of 2010.
When asked how she plans to address the issue, Fiorina was positive.
"I'm actually really proud of that race," she said, reminding me that she came from behind to win the
Republican primary and did as well as she did running as a conservative in liberal California.
"Despite that loss, I gained more Republican votes, more Democratic votes and more independent
votes than virtually anyone else running anywhere in the country that year. That's how big California
is," she said. "So I think I've demonstrated that I can unify the party and that I can then reach beyond
the party with a conservative message."
Ultimately, Fiorina said, the Republican nominee must unify the party. Asked where she believed she
fell on the conservative spectrum, she couldn't say.
"I would describe myself as a conservative the way Reagan talked about a three-legged stool," she
said. "I think we have to have a strong national defense, I think we have to have strong conservative
values and I think we have to have an economy that provides economic opportunity for absolutely
every person in America."
"So I don't know where you put me on the spectrum but that's how I think about my conservative
politics," she added.
In 2008, Fiorina was floated in some circles as a potential vice presidential pick for Sen. John
McCain. She says she's focused on her own campaign at this time and the importance of electing a
Republican president.
"If I get in this, I'm doing it because I think I'm qualified to be president. And that's the job I'm going
for," she said. "What happens after that, who knows."
Finally, I asked if we could expect any demon sheep-like ads during a Fiorina candidacy. She didn't
rule it out.

"Well, who knows," she said, laughing. "You know, some people loved that ad; some people hated
that ad. But what that ad did was, very inexpensively, put me on the map. So sometimes when you
don't have as many resources as, say a Jeb Bush is going to have, you have to do things a little bit
differently to break through."

Scott Walker may be the real winner of

CPAC
By: Doyle McManus,

3/2/15

http://host.madison.com/ap/commentary/scott-walker-may-be-the-real-winner-of-cpac-/
article_5849f1f9-fb53-5245-860e-0b23de66172c.html

The fervent Republicans who throng the Conservative Political Action Conference every year arent
representative of the American electorate. They arent even representative of the GOP electorate.
For four of the last five years, their straw poll for president has chosen Rand Paul or Ron Paul. These are
not everyday Republicans.
Yet the conference, which took place Thursday through Saturday, is still an important event the
starting gun of the Republican primary campaign, in the words of one veteran GOP strategist. Its the first
real national audition for potential Republican candidates, all on the same stage, one after the other
even if the TV audience is only on C-SPAN. And a good performance can help recruit conservative foot
soldiers across the country.
So almost everyone whos considering a run showed up, from CPAC favorites Rand Paul and Ted Cruz all
the way to Jeb Bush, whos fighting off an unwanted label as the most moderate Republican in the race.
Heres what we learned: Bush has staying power, despite conservatives suspicion that hes a closet
moderate. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is hot the new more-conservative hope to stop the
Bush juggernaut. Sens. Cruz, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Florida, could rise if Walker stumbles. Chris
Christie looks like a spent force. And Rand Paul is still Rand Paul.
Yes, its still early. None of these proto-candidates has even announced formally that hes running. But it
wasnt too early for each to deploy campaign buttons and T-shirts in CPACs big convention hall. And that
means it isnt too early to describe the rough shape of the 2016 GOP field: no single front-runner, but four
or five candidates who are most likely to succeed.
Bush didnt have the attendees on his side. There was a smattering of catcalls when he took the stage. A
flag-waving activist in a Revolutionary War uniform led a decorous walkout of about two dozen.
But Bushs organization had salted the room with supporters a page from Practical Politics 101 and
their cheers beat back the boos. Bush sensibly tackled the two issues on which he has diverged from his
party orthodoxy immigration and education and while he attempted to make his positions sound as
conservative as possible, he didnt trim them much.
He repeated his support for legislation that would create a path to legal status for immigrants who are in
the country illegally, though he agreed enforcing border controls should come first.

On education, he defended the Common Core system of standards, which many conservatives loathe,
insisting it was never intended to remove authority from state and local governments.
Its fine to oppose the bad things, Bush said. We need to start being for things again.
It was a solid, steady performance before a tough audience, and a step Bush needed, to remind GOP
voters that hes a conservative, too.
But the real winner of the event may have been Walker, the usually taciturn governor of Wisconsin, who
brought the audience to its feet with an animated speech full of red meat.
Theres a reason we celebrate July 4 and not April 15, Walker said. We celebrate our independence
from government, not dependence on it. Get government out of the way.
He listed his actions as governor confronting public employee unions, lowering taxes, pushing antiabortion legislation, lowering restrictions on concealed firearms and said they showed he is someone
whos going to fight.
He stumbled when, asked how he would handle Islamic terrorists, he suggested his experience as
governor covered that, too. If I could take on 100,000 protesters (in Wisconsin), I can do the same
across the world, he said a parallel that doesnt hold up long.
But his audience hardly noticed.
Hes the one, said Ruth Willis of Syracuse, New York. Hes already won more fights than any of the
others. Cruz and Rubio were more polished but as senators, neither could match Walkers executive
experience far away from Washington.
One more lesson: Republicans will be talking a lot about foreign policy in this campaign.
Our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us, Rubio warned. He charged that
President Obama treats the ayatollah of Iran better than the prime minister of Israel.
Rubio and others skipped ahead to criticize former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom they
excoriated as no different from Obama in foreign affairs. She actually gave a reset button to the
Russians, exclaimed Walker, to whoops from the audience. A reset button!
The growing hawkishness in conservative ranks is a bad sign for Rand Paul, who has broken with most of
his colleagues to urge restraint in U.S. foreign policy. But its in keeping with recent polls that show most
voters holding more confidence in Republicans than Democrats on foreign policy a reversal of a GOP
slump after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
What was missing from CPAC? Any sign of the intellectual ferment in conservative think tanks about how
to address the stagnant incomes of the American middle class. Most speakers stuck to more traditional
fare: smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation. There are new ideas in the Republican Party, but
this, it seems, was neither the time nor the place.
But Election Day 2016 is still a year and a half away. On the Republican side, theyre off and (almost)
running.

Cruz: The Next 20 Months Will Be Very

Dangerous Dark Warning For America
By: Garth Kant, 3/2/15

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2015/03/cruz-the-next-20-months-will-be-verydangerous-dark-warning-for-america-3115912.html

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned Americans the next 20 months will
be very dangerous because of the anger of President Obama.
The senator described Obamas reaction to his drubbing in the 2014 midterm election, in
which the GOP made landslide gains in Congress, as unprecedented.
Unlike other presidents, such as Bill Clinton, who had reacted to such midterm repudiations
with humility and compromise, Cruz said Obama had reacted with anger and defiance.
The Texan predicted Obama would now issue executive order after executive order and
that we will see a degree of lawlessness that exceeds even the last six years.
Speaking to a small group of conservative reporters across the street from the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, on Thursday, Cruz also predicted the world
will become a much more dangerous place before Obama leaves office.

He said ISIS, the Iranians and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, have given
every reason they intend to do as much damage as possible because they see Obama as
offering no credible deterrent.
Cruz implied the problem was compounded by a GOP congressional leadership unwilling to
confront Obama on the most important issues and his penchant to rule by executive action.
The senator called it a tough week in which GOP leadership joined with (Senate Minority
Leader) Harry Reid to pass amnesty.
Watch Cruzs CPAC speech:
The Texan also bemoaned the failure of his fellow GOP members on the Senate Judiciary
Committee to reject the nomination of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as attorney
general.
Cruz said he was eager to support Lynch after years of Holders putting politics above the law.
But, he said, during her answers at her confirmation hearing she brazenly refused to identify
any way in which she would differ from Holder in the execution of her duties.
The Harvard Law School graduate was particularly irritated that Lynch found the legal
reasoning behind Obamas amnesty reasonable.
Cruz was even further chagrined that Lynch refused to answer if amnesty by executive action
could be extended to all 12 million illegal immigrants.
The senator noted how previous attorneys general had stood up to presidents such as Nixon
and Clinton who had attempted to issue illegal or unconstitutional orders, but Lynch did not
seem to be in that same mold.
He said his pleas to fellow committee members fell upon too many deaf ears, despite the fact
Holder had committed countless lawless actions and Lynch promised more of the same.
Cruz said he warned his colleagues, If you vote yes, you cant complain when Obama grants
amnesty to 12 million illegal immigrants, because Lynch will rubber stamp it.

Scott Walker on Immigration Reform:

Wisconsin Governor, Potential GOP Candidate
Flip-Flops on Immigration, Talks Amnesty
Process

By: Michael Oleaga, 3/2/15

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/40505/20150302/scott-walker-immigration-wisconsingovernor-potential-gop-candidate-admits-stance.htm

Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc., speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo : Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, revealed on Sunday
he has changed his stance on immigration.
During an interview with the Wausau Daily Herald in July 2013, Walker said he would support
comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants if such
individuals paid penalties. When asked his about current stance on the issue, Walker admitted he has
changed his opinion.

"Well, I don't believe in amnesty," said Walker during an interview for "Fox News Sunday." "And part of the
reason why I made that a firm position is I looked at the way this president has mishandled that issue. I
was one of the first governors that joined the lawsuit that has been successful at least on this initial
technicality and I hope we prevail ultimately throughout the courts."

Walker said amnesty is not the approach to improve the U.S. immigration system, but through enforcing
laws and giving employers the tools to ensure the law is upheld.
When pressed on providing a pathway to citizenship if undocumented immigrants paid a penalty, Walker
said he "believes there's a way you can do that" but added enforcement on the U.S. border is the first
step.
"I'm not talking about amnesty (for the undocumented immigrants). And my view has changed. I'm flat-out
saying it. Candidates can say that. Sometimes they don't," said Walker, adding he has "absolutely"
changed his stance since his 2013 interview.
Walker continued, "I've looked at the problems we've experienced from the last few years. I've talked to
governors on the border, and others out there, I've talked to people all across America. The concerns I
have is that we have to secure the border. We ultimately need to put in place a system that works, a legal
immigration system that works, and part of doing this is on employers, giving them e-verify and tools to do
that, but I don't think you do it through amnesty."
Walker's interview comes after he placed second at the American Conservative Union's 2015
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll this past week. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., won
the straw poll for the third consecutive year with 25.7 percent of the votes while Walker received 21.4
percent of the 3,000 votes. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, placed third with 11.5 percent, narrowly ahead of
retired neurologist Ben Carson's 11.4 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush completed the top five with
8.3 percent despite mixed reception upon the utterance of his name at CPAC.
The annual four-day CPAC conference, which was held from the Gaylord National Resort and Convention
Center in National Harbor, Maryland, included speeches from other potential presidential candidates
including Bush, Carson, Cruz, Paul and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry
and current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
__

Midday Roundup: Rand Paul wins CPAC

presidential straw poll

By: Lynde Langdon

http://www.worldmag.com/2015/03/
midday_roundup_rand_paul_wins_cpac_presidential_straw_poll
Fan favorite.Attendees at last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was theirtop choicefor the 2016 presidential nomination.
Paul won 26 percent of about 3,000 votes in the CPAC straw poll. Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker finished a close second with 21 percent. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who so
far has commanded the field with heavy fundraising, finished in fifth place with only 8
percent of the vote. The straw poll, whose results were published Saturday, included a
high number of students and young people47 percent of participants were in the 18-25
age group.
Freed.Four Americanmissionariesare heading home after being detained in Venezuela.
Police there questioned the missionaries for several days before releasing them over the
weekend. They are en route to their homes in North Dakota, where they are expected to
arrive Tuesday. The three men and one woman were helping set up a church in the
coastal town of Ocumare de la Costa when they were taken. Its not clear why they were
detained, though Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blamed the United States
for the countrys economic woes and made vague accusations against Americans in the
country for allegedly conspiring against the government. The missionaries pastor,
Bruce Dick of the Bethel Free Church in Devils Lake, N.D., said the church mobilized
thousands of people to pray for them while they were detained.
Chilling effect.Relations between the Israeli government and the Obama administration
might have hit an icy low as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to
address Congress tomorrow. Earlier today in aspeechat American Israel Public Affairs
Committee in Washington, Netanyahu decried Iran for threatening the security of the

Middle East and the world with its nuclear aspirations. The Israeli leader has criticized
the nuclear negotiations between Iran and America and its Western allies. But
Netanyahu also said media reports have exaggerated the tension between President
Barack Obama and himself. Over the weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry said
Netanyahu was welcome to speak in the United States butjabbedcongressional
Republicans for inviting him without consulting the White House.
Open seat.Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.,announcedshe plans to retire at the end of
her term in 2016. Mikulski will have spent 40 years on Capitol Hill when she retires, 10
in the House and the rest in the Senate. She has had the longest tenure of any woman in
Congress. The surprise announcement has Democrats scrambling to decide who will run
to protect the seat, which Mikulski won from Republicans in 1986.
Died.Baseball and basketball lost two well-respected players this weekend. Minnie
Minoso, the first black player for the Chicago White Sox,diedSunday at age 89. Minoso,
who hailed from Cuba, played in the major leagues during five decades. He began his big
league career in 1949 with the Cleveland Indians and went from there to Chicago. He
had a .298 career batting average and hit 186 home runs. Former New York Knicks star
Anthony MasondiedSaturday after a struggle with heart disease. He was 48. Mason
was a native New Yorker and a fan-favorite with the Knicks in the 1990s. Fans
remember how he shaved words into the hair on the side of his head, which often
featured his nickname, Mase. After Coach Pat Riley pulled him out of basketball
obscurityhe was a third-round draft pick and played overseashe brought
unapologetic brawn to the court for the Knicks.

Why Hillary Clinton may jump into

presidential race soon

By: Linda Feldmann, 3/2/15

https://news.yahoo.com/why-hillary-clinton-may-jump-presidential-race-soon-162424137.html

Clinton associates are now reportedly talking about an April launch, in

response to anxious donors. Fundraising is one concern, as well as her ability
to deflect attacks.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is reportedly planning to announce her 2016 presidential race in
April, not in July.
Thereport in The Wall Street Journal, citing close associates of Mrs. Clinton, represents a
shift in direction. In late January, Team Clinton wasputting out wordthat she may wait until
July. After all, the argument went, shes the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic
nomination, and the longer she stayed out as an announced candidate, the longer she
could stave off the inevitable attacks. And raising money wouldnt be a problem, no matter
when she announced.
Now that thinking is apparently changing. Fundraising is a concern after all, in a race where
the two major-party candidates alone are expected to raise well over $1 billion each.
Jumping in sooner would help the Democratic field take shape, reassuring party leaders
and donors that the former first lady, senator, and secretary of state is running, the Journal
reports. A super PAC loyal to Mrs. Clinton has faced hesitation from donors who dont want
to make big pledges until she is a candidate. Such concerns would evaporate after she
announces.

Also at issue is her ability or willingness to respond to negative stories. News reports about
the Clintons foundationtaking donations from foreign governmentshave brought heaps of
criticism onto the former first family, including from some prominent Democrats. So far,
Clinton has not responded personally.
The Clinton Foundationacknowledged last weekthat it had failed to submit a donation from
the Algerian government to the State Department for approval in accordance with the
foundations ethics rules.
If Clinton wasnt planning to run for president, the donations would not create the
appearance of foreign governments trying to curry favor with a secretary of State and
possible future president. But as an all-but-certain candidate, Clinton faces just that
problem.
Clintons unannounced status has also hardly spared her harsh criticism from the big field of
likely Republican contenders. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last
week, one candidate after another went after Clinton.
Businesswoman Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the likely GOP field, has positioned
herself as the anti-Hillary.
"She tweets about womens rights in this country and takes money from governments that
deny women the most basic human rights, Ms. Fiorina said at CPAC. "She tweets about
equal pay for women but wont answer basic questions about her own offices pay
standards and neither will our president. Hillary likes hashtags. But she doesnt know what
leadership means."
Fiorina also called on Clinton to explain why foreign government donations to the Clinton
foundation dont represent a conflict of interest.
The Republican National Committee, too, has not been sitting pat, waiting for Clinton to
enter the race when shes good and ready. Last month, the Republican National
Committeelaunched a campaigncalled Hillarys Hiding, trying to portray her as
duplicitous: preparing a presidential campaign while acting as if shes not a candidate.
But some sympathetic voices have also called on Clinton to get out there and start
campaigning.

Come to the Buckeye State, Hillary. Go to Kansas and Michigan, too, and to other places
full of regular Americans who need to know they're on your mind,wrote Cleveland-based
columnist Connie Schultz last month. Hold town halls, and take questions that aren't
screened. Meet with editors at small and regional news organizations now, before your
every quote is a response to someone else's attack.
Clinton speaks Monday night to a gala hosted by the group Emilys List, which works to
elect pro-abortion-rights Democratic women to public office. She will be in friendly territory.
Ditto other speeches she is giving this month. On March 19, she gives a paid speech in
Atlantic City to the American Camp Association ofNew YorkandNew Jersey'sTri-State
CAMP Conference.
But come April, the first month of the years second quarter, watch for a host of Republican
candidates to announce either a full-fledged campaign or at least an exploratory committee.
Clinton may well be in the mix.

What Secrets Did Potential GOP

Presidential Candidates Reveal at
CPAC?
By: Sarah Schweppe, 3/3/15
http://www.cheatsheet.com/politics/heres-what-cpac-showed-us-about-potentialrepublican-presidential-candidates.html/?a=viewall

Last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference served as an unofficial kick-off for the
2016 presidential race, with the prime potential candidates fighting for attention. Although Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came out on top, according to the Washington Times/CPAC presidential
preference straw poll, the much-talked-about Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) is gaining on him.
Both were well ahead of other potential Republican candidates for 2016. Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas) took third place, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson came in fourth, and former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush fifth. So what did we learn about these potential presidential candidates?

Walker accidentally compares American protesters to ISIL

According to the Atlantic, Walker received an overwhelmingly positive response from the
crowd at the conference. But one comment he made didnt go unnoticed. While discussing his
ability to respond to the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Walker made a
pretty big leap in relating his experience with political fights with labor unions to potentially
being able to thwart the militant group. I want a commander in chief who will do everything in
their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on American
soil, he said. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.
Former Texas Governor and potential competitor for the 2016 Republican nomination Rick
Perry criticized Walkers comparison in an interview after Walkers speech. These are
Americans, Perry said. You are talking about, in the case of ISIS, people who are beheading
individuals and committing heinous crimes, who are the face of evil. To try to make the
relationship between them and the unions is inappropriate. Walker later said to the Wisconsin
State Journal, Im just pointing out the closest thing I have to handling this difficult situation is
the 100,000 protesters I had to deal with.

Bush still notconservativeenough

Bush is certainly a polarizing candidate, and this was evident at CPAC, where the attendees were
probably more conservative in politics than the former Florida governor. People were not afraid
to cry for no more Bushes, and according to the Washington Times, Bush was booed by the
crowd when his name was announced in the poll results.
Despite the struggle, the Washington Post said Bush held his own at the conference. Bush was
energetic maybe due at least in part to nervousness in facing a testy crowd and informed,
the Post said. He refused to back down particularly on immigration from positions that he
knew would be unpopular with the crowd. He insisted that Republicans were good at opposing

things but bad at being for things. He was composed. He was up to the moment. He looked, in a
word, presidential.
GOP members fear that Bush is not conservative enough comes from his positions on issues like
immigration, which he addressed at the conference. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport
11 million people, he said, referencing his gubernatorial decision to grant drivers licenses to
immigrants living in Florida illegally. We should give them a path to legal status where they
work, where they dont receive government benefits where they make a contribution to our
society.
Bush might not be able to win over the most staunch conservatives, but made an attempt to
convince them that he could do the job. Im marking you down as a neutral and I want to be
your second choice if I decide to go beyond this, Bush said to a heckler during the conference.
RealClearPolitics still ranks Bush as the No. 2 pick for a Republican 2016 presidential candidate,
with 14.7% of the poll, only 0.3% behind frontrunner Walker.

Paul wins poll, talks national defense

This CPAC marked the third time Paul won the straw poll at the conference, but his share of the
vote did drop from 31% in 2014 to 25.7% this year. He was still very well received, according to
supporters.
You have to say that Rand Paul did what he had to do when he came here, said Charlie Gerow,
a board member of the American Conservative Union, to the Washington Times. He fired up his
passionate supporters who were out in number as they always are, and he maintained
equilibrium with them and held them solid.
Also talking about the threat of ISIL, Paul brought out the classic tough conservative rhetoric.
Without question, we must now defend ourselves and American interests, he said.
Concerning federal spending, Paul said, for me, the priority is always national defense.

The CPAC Sizzler: Red Meat for

Primaries
3/2/15

http://patriotpost.us/articles/33544

The Republican presidential primary virtually began this past weekend right outside the Washington
Beltway. The event is also known as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
The gathering of thousands of activists was treated to candidates and experts engaged in extensive
and serious policy discussions. There were no doubts where participants of CPAC stand regarding
Americas exceptionalism, Liberty and the Constitution.

Some highlights:
In the face of growing threats in the world (and no, we dont mean the climate), potential presidential
contenders emphasized national security and foreign policy. The Islamic State was clearly identified
as Islamic and named as a necessary target for destruction to end its evil and medieval barbarism.
Florida SenatorMarco Rubiojumped from the obvious problem of ISIL and the cauldron of toil and
trouble of the Middle East to pledging to reverse Obamas cancellation of the missile defense
installations in Europe to appease and pacify the angry Bear of Russia. Rubio pegged the KGBraised Vladimir Putin as a danger in need of countering, arguing for an expansion of missile defense
into Eastern Europe beyond Poland and the Czech Republic.
Rubio assessed ObamasJV foreign policy, characterizing the commander in chiefs frame of
reference thusly: America, and American engagement, is more often the source of our problems
than the source of our solutions. Rubio slammed this view as wrong and dangerous.
Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindalhammered the administrations jobs for Jihadistan approach: We
dont need a war on international poverty, we need a war on the evil radical Islamic terrorism.
Furthermore, Jindal asserted, Obamas administration has incompetently failed at formulating and
executing a realistic plan aimed at degrading and destroying ISIS. Therefore, Jindal concluded,
Obama has shown himself incapable of being our commander in chief.
On immigration policy, most all of the CPAC featured speakers were in unison in supporting a
secured southern border and enforcement of existing laws to encourage and reward legal
immigration.
Rubio of the Senates Gang of Eight fame said hes learned his lesson: [Y]ou cant even have
a conversation about [illegal immigrants already in the country] until people believe and know not
just believe, but its proven to them that future illegal immigration is brought under control. Hes
absolutely right, despite what many conservatives view as his blemished track record.
On the other hand and this is no surprise Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and wannabeGOP-nominee with big donors on his side, was honest enough not to pander in his proclamation,
Yes, I support a path to legalization for illegal immigrants currently in our nation. (He also began
histack Left on same-sex marriage, perhaps signaling he wont even bother trying to convince
votersa laMitt Romney that he really is severely conservative.)

The CPAC speaker with the most election wins (three) over the last four years, Wisconsin
GovernorScott Walker, clearly articulated the most basic spirit of America: Up there in Washington,
we have a president who measures success by how many people are dependent on the
government. Theres a reason we celebrate the Fourth of July and not April 15, because in America
we celebrate our independencefromthe government and not our dependence on it.
And former Texas GovernorRick Perryoffered up downright Reaganesque optimism: Ive never
been more certain than I am today that Americas best days remain in front of us. The weakness and
incompetence of our government shouldnt be confused with the strength, the ingenuity and the
idealism of the American people. Perry listed the nations painful sufferings through the War
Between the States, two world wars and the Carter administration before assuring CPACers, We
will survive the Obama years too.
The economy, education, tax reform, God, guns and family were other key areas where speakers
strummed the heartstrings of this constitutionally conservative crowd. Speeches are one thing, but
the most important question left unanswered is this: Can the GOP win the White House in 2016? Or
will the GOP lose in the same way it lost in 2012 with lots of highly paid consultants, an
embarrassing ground game and a timid approach to a vision for a great America? Based solely on
the roster of CPAC speeches, were hopeful that history wont repeat itself. But well find out soon
enough.

Phil Robertson had a little advice for

Presidential candidates during his speech at
CPAC 2015 this weekend
http://cnmnewz.com/phil-robertson-had-a-little-advice-for-presidential-candidates-during-his-speech-atcpac-2015-this-weekend/
Duck Dynastys Phil Robertson was awarded the second annual Andrew Breitbart Defender of Free
Speech Award last Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2015, given by Breitbart
News.
All of us ought to be able to speak freely where we didnt have to be awarded for it, right? Robertson began,
after accepting is award. For all you potential candidatesnow, lookto keep you out of trouble, to keep the
scandals down, let me give you a little word of advice, he continued, pulling a huge well-worn Bible out of
his camouflage man-bag. You carry two things with you wherever you go, and in case one of you gets to be
the President of the United States, make sure you carry your Bible with you and your womanIm just
saying.
Robertson was given the award for his outspokenness on matters related to faith and family since his popular
show Duck Dynasty first aired on A&E nearly three years ago. His acceptance speech was filled with quotes
from the founding fathers, advice for candidates and even a bit of advice for John Boehner, suggesting the
Speaker of the House spend a tad more time worrying about the content of bills being passed and less about the
attire members wear.

2016 Power Index: Jebs

adversary and his alternate
By: Chris Stirewalt, 3/2/15
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/02/2016-power-index-jebs-adversary-and-hisalternate/

2016 POWER INDEX: JEBS ADVERSARY AND HIS ALTERNATE

The three top-tier candidates for the Republican nomination came out of the big

Conservative Political Action Conference event better than they went in.
FrontrunnerJeb Bushtook a moderate message to a conservative gathering
and came out unscathed. (His team also demonstrated organizational chops in
busing in some prepster-looking folks in Jeb! 16 stickers from the Hill and
downtown to fill up empty space in the hall.) Gov.Scott Walker, R-Wis., scored a
surprisingly close second in the events closely watched straw poll. While
Sen.Rand Paul, R-Ky.,delivered an expected win with the youngish, libertarianleaning activists, Walker being just 5 points off the lead with so many
conservative alternatives on the ballots is a testament to his surge. And there
was no doubt thatSen.Marco Rubio, R-Fla., won new admirers for his nimble,
direct answers. And now we start to see some clearer contours of the race.

[Watch Fox:Chris StirewaltjoinsGretchen Carlsonon The Real Story in the

2 p.m. ET hour with the latest on whos up and whos down in the 2016 Power
Index.]

Different roles -While Rubio and Walker are far apart in public polling, they are
the two people most likely to be the nominee other than frontrunner Bush. But for
very different reasons. Walker has emerged as the man most likely to beat Bush,
a role the partys conservatives are eager to fill. In 2012 the establishmentbacked frontrunner knocked down a series of Not Romney rivals, but this time,
conservatives seem to be coalescing behind one well-funded candidate. A similar
effect emerged in 2012 forRick Perry, but he broke down at the first turn. Walker
looks much more likely to go the distance. Rubio, on the other hand, looks like a
good alternate for Bush if the former Florida governor proves unwilling or unable
to pacify his restive party. Rubio, who is less mistrusted by conservatives, has
consistently impressed big-money donors both center-right and right-wing. If
Bush cant get the job done, Rubio looks ready.

And heres this weeks full Power Index ranking: 1)Jeb Bush; 2)Scott Walker;
3)Marco Rubio; 4)Rand Paul[+1]; 5)Ted Cruz[-1]; 6)Rick Perry; 7)Ben
Carson; 8)Chris Christie; 9)Carly Fiorina[first ranking]; 10 (tie)John
Kasich[-1];Mike Huckabee.

Biggest winner Theres little doubt thatCarly Fiorinawas the candidate who
got the most out of her CPAC venture. While she has impressed elsewhere, her
tough speech that laceratedHillary Clintons claims of experience was a huge
hit. Her stock as a potential running mate is way, way up.

[What would you say? -Give us your take on the GOP field and we will share
the best and brightest with the whole class. Send your thoughts
toFOXNEWSFIRST@FOXNEWS.COM]

JEB WILL NOT SIGN NO NEW TAXES PLEDGE

Reuters: Jeb Bushwill not sign any no new taxes pledges or any other pledges
if he decides to seek the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, a
spokeswoman said on Saturday. The statement from Bush spokeswomanKristy
Campbellwas in response to an appeal from anti-tax championGrover
Norquistfor Bush to sign his Taxpayers Protection Pledge, in which candidates
agree to oppose tax increases. If Governor Bush decides to move forward, he
will not sign any pledges circulated by lobbying groups, Campbell said in a
statement. His record on tax cuts is clear. He didnt raise taxes. Bushs
opposition to such pledges is longstanding. He did not sign such pledges in any
of his three previous campaigns for Florida governor, an aide said

[Bush will campaign at a retirement community in Las Vegastoday, giving a

speech and taking questions in the early primary state.]

WALKER WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRATION DEAL

Fox News: Wisconsin Gov.Scott Walker, a presumptive 2016 Republican
presidential candidate, says he has changed his immigration stance and no
longer backs comprehensive reform that would allow illegal immigrants to be
penalized but remain in the countryWalker in 2013 said a plan in which illegal
immigrants can become United States citizens by first paying penalties and
enduring a waiting period makes sense. However, he is now saying such a plan
is tantamount to amnesty, amid criticism that he has flip-flopped on that issue
and others, including right-to-work legislation in his home state. I dont believe in
amnesty, said Walker, who finished second Saturday in the Conservative
Political Action Conferences straw poll for potential 2016 Republican presidential
candidatesWalker also is among the 25 Republican governors who have joined
in a lawsuit challenging the presidents 2014 executive action that defers
deportation for millions of illegal immigrants.

Hires former RNC hands -TIME: Walkers political group, Our American
Revival, has hiredDanny ODriscollandWells Griffith, according to a
spokesperson, adding to a team heavy with former talent from the Republican
Partys national office, including former political directorRick Wileyas campaign
manager.

Peace with Perry -WaPo: [Texas Gov.Rick Perry] also addressed a small
dust-up between himself and Wisconsin Gov.Scott Walker, who appeared to
compare labor protesters in the United States to Islamic State terrorists during a
speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. Responding
to the remarks, Perry told MSNBCthat the comparison was inappropriate.
During the CNN interview Sunday, however, the former Texas governor said he
acceptedWalkers explanation. I think the initial response when I heard that:
Thats not right. You dont make that connect. The governor has gone back and
clarified his remarks since then and clearly said thats not what he was talking
about, Perry said. I respect that clarification and support him on that.

And I want to make it clear right now.Im not comparing[ISIS and government
worker unions]. What I meant was it was about leadership.The leadership we
provided under extremely difficult circumstances, arguably, the most difficult of
any governor in the country, and maybe in -- in recent times.To me, I apply that
to saying if I were to run and if I were to win and be commander-in-chief, I believe
that kind of leadership is what's necessary to take on radical Islamic terrorism.
Gov.Scott Walker, R-Wis., on Fox News Sunday Watchhere.

Backs Bibi -Walker pennedan op-edfor NRO declaring his support for Israeli
Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahus speech to Congress on Tuesday: If the
president continues to call into doubt our friendship with Israel while seeking
rapprochement with Iran, he will harm more than just the U.S.Israeli
relationship. He will undermine the trust of our remaining friends and partners in
the Middle East.
RUBIO SHIFTS STAFF AS HE READIES FOR TAKEOFF
AP: Nearly a dozen people close to [Sen.Marco Rubio, R-Fla.], including GOP
officials, fundraisers and his advisers, say Rubio has told them he is in the final
stages of planning the launch of his presidential run and will formally join the
crowded field of Republican hopefuls as early as April. Rubios advisers have
told party leaders that they should expect to recruit a candidate to run for his
Senate seat in 2016, according to four people involved in the talks Rubios
team is preparing for a national campaign. His top political adviser and likely
campaign manager,Terry Sullivan, has been recruiting operatives
includingJim Merrill, who ran [Mitt Romneys] New Hampshire campaigns and
was at Rubios side for a two-day visit to the state last week. SpokesmanAlex
Conantis leaving Rubio's Senate office this week to begin work at his political
action committee.

Says Obama desire for Iran nuke deal trumps ISIS war -Palm Beach [Fla.]

Post: PresidentBarack Obamas desire for a nuclear deal with Iran is blocking
the military defeat of Islamic State forces, Republican Sen.Marco
Rubiocontends. But in an interview with The Palm Beach Post on Saturday,
Rubio argued that while Iran has tolerated some U.S. airstrikes on a limited
basis, it sees a larger U.S. role as a threat

[So much for spring break in Caracas -Rubio is among a group of officials and
politicians who werebannedfrom entering Venezuela over the weekend by
PresidentNicholas Maduro.]

Double cheddar -WaPoexamines fundraising viability and the $75 million

question confronting the vast potential Republican field, the apparent threshold to
be considered a top-tier candidate.

FIORINA BRISTLES AT TOKEN TALK

Inan interviewwithDavid Druckerfollowing her standout CPAC
performance,Carly Fiorinadrew a line between running for president because
she is a woman and being a woman who is running for president: Ive never
been a token in my life, and, if I run, Im not running because I am a woman. The
facts are, I am a woman, and as a woman, I think I bring the perspective of 53
percent of voters today who are also women and a voice that is too often
missing.

WITH YOURSECOND CUP OF COFFEE...

Is puny planet Pluto about to get a big head? Some scientists think so. While
everyone knows the distant orb is tiny (smaller than our moon) throw in its
atmosphere and Plutos planetary stature becomes, well, big.Buzzfeed:
Michael Summers, a NASA scientist working on theNew Horizons mission to
Pluto, posted [an] image on themissions blog last week. He wrote:The outer
limit of Plutos atmosphere is very difficult to define, although we know that it is
very far from the surface. If one defines it similar to the way we define the
exobase of Earths atmosphere, then Plutos atmosphere has an outer limit of at
least seven times Plutos radius above it surface. This means that the volume of
Plutos atmosphere is over 350 times the volume of Pluto itself! The New
Horizons mission will be taking measurements in plutospace later this year.

Got aTIPfrom theRIGHTorLEFT? EmailFoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM

POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages

Obama Job Approval: Approve 44.6 percent//Disapprove 51.1 percent

Direction of Country: Right Direction 32.2 percent//Wrong Track 59.2
percent

At CPAC, support for DCs

marijuana laws

By Kristen Doerer, 3/2/15

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/local-news/at-cpac-support-for-dcs-marijuanalaws.php

The conferences libertarian streak favors the District.

Men dressed as superheroes at CPAC, which was probably a bad place tobehigh. Photograph by Ewa Beaujon

Marijuana became legal in DC last week, despite threatening talk from the head
of the House Oversight Committee and impediments thrown into place by other

conservatives in Congress. But at CPAC, the annual gathering of conservatives

at National Harbor that ended Saturday, views on pot were more attenuated.
I spoke on Thursday with a group of students from the University of North
Florida who had no qualms about marijuana legalization. When I told them that
DC had legalized marijuana that day, one of them began clapping while the
other two nodded in approval.
It was in this group of students that I found a self-proclaimed libertarian. Im
definitely for state power, and DC isnt necessarily a state, but it should have the
power to enforce its own laws, said UNF student Dylan Lowe, who is from
Miami.
Among the students I spoke with, none thought states had no right to legalize
marijuana. But a debate Thursday onstage in the Potomac ballroom at the
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center showed a divide among
attendees on the issue.
Having a debate on whether or not to legalize marijuana is like debating
whether the sun is going to come up tomorrow. Its going to come up, Gary
Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, libertarian presidential
candidate, and current CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc said.
Johnsons antics dominated the debate, called The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?
His foil was Ann Marie Buerkle, a former nurse and Republican member of
Congress. She spoke about the dangers of legalizing marijuana, saying not only
can pot lead to depression and long-term memory loss, but that its stronger
strains can also be blamed for a quarter of psychotic illnesses.
Both raised their voices; neither quite shouted. After Johnson made a point
about the immense cost of enforcing marijuana laws and the prison costs,
Buerkle responded that not that many people actually go to jail for marijuana.
The percent of people going to jail for smoking a joint is 1 in 1,200, she said.
Anybody do the math? Johnson quickly retorted. Thats 1.8 million people!
At another point in the debate, Johnson feigned a heart attack and fell to the
floor.

This humor is disingenuous. Its really reprehensible! said a clearly offended

Beurkle.

CPAC 2015 takeaway: The GOP has

embraced selfies
By: Abby Johnston, 3/2/15
http://www.naplesnews.com/decodedc/cpac-takaway-the-gop-has-embraced-selfies

See, millennials? They "get it."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This weekends annual Conservative Political Action Conference

yielded a few important takeaways - Sen. Rand Paul emerged as the GOPs most healthy

presidential contender, Jeb Bush can work a crowd and, perhaps most importantly, the
Republican Party has embraced selfies.
It looks like the big tent party is reframing to include millennials - or at least putting them in the
focus of an easily shareable snapshot. In a nod to the increasingly important 2016 voting bloc,
key conservative figures and presidential hopefuls looked toward to the future of front-facing
cameras. The official CPAC Twitter account offered prizes for the days best selfies, and the
hashtag #CPACselfie garnered a collection of blurry portraits with the partys elite.
The prominence of the selfie at CPAC 2015 was a proclamation that conservatives "get it." The
Democrats, led by President Obama, tapped into THE INTERNETZ in 2008 and 2012,
successfully moving the mysterious youth vote to the polls. Its a strategy that the GOP has been
struggling to keep up with. And although there was no shortage of criticism for Obamas use of a
selfie stick in a recent BuzzFeed video, the GOP was willing to put its selfie bias aside for the
three-day conference.
So now that the GOP "gets" the power of the "selfie" for "social media," lets refine the selfie
game. Theyve got a little bit of work to do. Here are some "selfie" tips from a real "millennial."

This blur makes it look like Jeb Bush wants to run away from the entire conference. And
honestly, we wouldnt blame him after the unsuccessful walkout coup during his speech, but the
problem can be fixed by using the cameras burst mode. Props to the photobomber right behind
Jeb Bush.

A filter can be used to even out odd looking skin tones caused by bad overhead lighting, a tactic
this snapshot employs skillfully. The only problem with this selfie is that Rick Santorum needs to
come out of the dark. Im sure that isnt the first time hes heard that.

You should always avoid reflections in selfies, lest you run the risk of exposing that you are,
indeed, holding a phone in front of your face. Rick Perry, who can look devilishly
handsome even in mugshots, seems to have this understanding, unlike his young
spectacled protege.

You must be sure that everyone participating in a selfie is ready for said selfie. But good luck
getting Newt Gingrich to stop talking. Ever.

The goal of a good selfie is making yourself look like you are having a better time than all of
your friends. This well-executed shot of Sen. Ted Cruz achieves that goal. It just screams, "Im
so much better at this than you," which is basically what the senator spent the
weekend screaming, too.

This is the best selfie of the bunch. Good lighting, good angle, flawless use of what appears to be
a selfie stick. Perhaps it is this selfie that clenched the CPAC straw poll win for Sen. Rand Paul.

Sometimes you can use selfies to show background activity, like a selfie while you are at a
concert. This decent but underwhelming portrait of freshman Sen. Joni Ernst lacks the
personality she used on the campaign trail. Next time wed like to see Ernst throw a duckface
while, I dont know, castrating a hog?

Although you need to give credit for fitting five primary subjects (and that sullen young man in
the back) in the frame, this selfie suffers from overexposure. Kind of like Gov. Scott Walker
himself?
[Also by Abby Johnston: What Congress needs is more snowballs]

Want to keep up with all the latest DecodeDC stories and podcasts? Sign up for our weekly
newsletter at decodedc.com/newsletter.

LoBianco: 5 reasons Pence White House bid

won't happen

By: Tom Lobianco, 3/2/15

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/02/lobianco-reasons-pencewhite-house-bid-happen/24144521/

It will be at least two months until he announces it, but Gov. Mike Pence appears to have
his sights set on a 2016 re-election bid, not a run at the White House.
Recently, Pence has ramped up his presence inside the Indiana Statehouse, while
downplaying his trips outside the state. And he has become more hands-on around the
Statehouse, especially after the criticism and even ridicule hurled at him over the proposed
then scrapped "JustIN" state news site.
Perhaps most notable was the pair of news conferences Pence called to address problems
with the ISTEP test. (Pence often goes months at a time without holding media
availabilities.)
Even Pence's mother has suggested he should wait until 2020 to seek the White House.
Pence and his tight-knit circle of advisers have kept their 2016 plans closely guarded.
Pence spokesman Robert Vane would not give any clues last week, saying only that the
governor plans to make his 2016 announcement sometime after April.
What's been clear throughout his two years as governor is that Pence is highly regarded by
the conservative establishment in Washington, based on the strength of relations he
developed over 12 years there and a solid base of support among conservatives
nationwide.
But five key factors outside Pence's control appear to have effectively closed the window
on a 2016 Pence White House bid:

1. When former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced his likely run in December, the
Republican field quickly began taking shape, with top donors and fundraisers lining up
behind Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other clear contenders. Bush's move
made it almost impossible for prospective candidates such as Pence and many others to
keep waiting in the wings. But Pence never stepped forward, sticking to a timetable of
waiting until the spring.
2. Pence had a prime speaking spot Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference
in Washington, a launchpad for many prospective candidates. But he wasn't on the CPAC
straw poll. The poll is considered a key indicator of whom the conservative base considers
a serious contender for the White House.
3. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has emerged as the "Midwestern conservative governor"
candidate. It's not an exclusive slot, but Walker has done something else very important:
begun hiring campaign staff. The only campaign staff Pence has hired is for his 2016
governor's race. Walker's clear moves to run for president and his use of the Mitch Daniels
playbook (fighting labor unions) have given him very strong footing in the 2016 field.
4. Would-be Pence supporters are decamping for other candidates: Conservative
fundraiser and longtime Republican National Committee member Jim Bopp, a Terre Haute
lawyer, announced recently that he would raise funds for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Indiana's bank of top-dollar Republican fundraisers is not by any means of a single mind
on Republican candidates, but when then-Gov. Mitch Daniels was considering a White
House bid four years ago, they were prepared to join hands for the Indiana candidate.
5. Pence's mishandling of "JustIN," a proposed state-run news service that stirred
controversy, allowed what should have been his greatest policy achievement (expansion of
Medicaid using a state-run alternative) to be overshadowed. And perhaps worse, it
exposed flaws in his administration that left some Washington operatives questioning
whether the Pence Team could handle a White House bid.
Pence will continue to be a "potential presidential candidate" until he says otherwise, but
all signs point to him being an actual gubernatorial candidate.
The big question now is which Democrat he will face in 2016.
Call Star reporter Tom LoBianco at (317) 444-7136. Follow him on Twitter:@tomlobianco.


'Crazy like a Fox': Phil Robertson shocks
CPAC with the truth

By: Barbie Crafts, 3/2/15

http://www.examiner.com/article/crazy-like-a-fox-phil-robertson-shocks-cpac-with-the-truth

America needs the Bible, according to Phil.

Phil Robertson, the founder of Duck Commander and star of 'Duck Dynasty' on A & E
network, created a stir at the recent meeting of the Conservative Political Action
Committee (CPAC). According to a Friday report on Yahoo News, Robertson stressed
how the hippy years of "sex, drugs and rock and roll" had "backfired" on us with the
increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Although liberal media
sources have characterized the speech as bizarre, many observers have appreciated
Robertson's frank assessment of the issues faced by the country.
Phil Robertson addressed a variety of subjects in his remarks to the conservative
politicians. His blunt and simple approach to solving America's problems using Biblical
principles is not mindless chatter from a simple-minded person. Phil Robertson is not

only a self-made millionaire but an educated man. Robertson holds a Master's

Degree. Fox News reports that Robertson was at the meeting to be awarded the 2015
Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award.
At the beginning of his presentation, the rugged outdoorsman pulled a Bible from his
backpack, tattered from frequent use and patched with duct tape. He then quoted
extensively from the Founding Fathers to illustrate that the country was founded on
Christian beliefs. Some of his more outlandish remarks seem to be done to get people's
attention to the Christian moral messages Robertson attempts to deliver. He sees God's
way as the only way to turning the country around.

David Brooks: CPAC is the Hardest of the

Hardcore Conservatives

By: Jeffrey Meyer, 3/1/15

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeffrey-meyer/2015/03/01/david-brooks-cpac-hardest-hardcore-conservatives
On FridaysPBS NewsHour,New York Timescolumnists David Brooks and Mark Shields used their
weekly appearance to trash the attendees of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) as representing the extreme far right of the Republican Party.
So-called conservative columnistDavid Brooks opined that [t]heres conservatives, and then
theres conservatives, and then conservatives, and then way over on the other side of the
room is CPAC...So this is like the hardest of the hardcore.
The anti-CPAC discussion began with Mark Shields smearing the conference as promoting the kind
of language of no consensus, no compromise, compromise is capitulation, compromise is
surrender. TheNew York Timescolumnist continued to criticize CPAC as spreading an unelectable
message:

And it`s exactly the wrong message that was going to Capitol Hill this week,
where Republicans collapsed in handling Homeland Security.And I just think
the atmosphere created by that room and by the people there is harmful to
the party. It could be crucial to the nominating process, but it`s an
unelectable message.

NewsHourco-host Judy Woodruff

didnt bother to push back against Shields harsh rhetoric and instead claimed that message of no
cooperation, David, what -- thats been the trademark for these conservatives, hasnt it?
The pseudo-conservative Brooks eagerly took Woodruffs bait and proceeded to sound more like an
MSNBC commentator than an actual conservative:

Yes. Well, this is CPAC, remember. Theres conservatives, and then theres
conservatives, and then conservatives, and then way over on the other side
of the room is CPAC.And so you look at the people they have nominated over
the years as their favorite speaker, its Ron Paul, Rand Pauls father. President
Ron Paul has been elected, Gary Bauer, Christian conservative. So this is like
the hardest of the hardcore.

Duck Dynasty patriarch gives Roy Moore thumbs-up

3/2/15
http://www.wisconsingazette.com/wigwag/duck-dynasty-patriarch-gives-roy-moore-thumbs-up.html
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a famous ally in his fight against same-sex
marriages becoming accepted law.
Phil Robertson, patriarch of cable televisions Duck Dynasty series, said the chief justice is spot
on in his opposition to a federal court ruling striking down Alabamas constitutional amendment
that limits marriage to heterosexual couples.
Roy, if you hear this, do not back up because you are right on this one, Robertson said during an
appearance at Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery.
The Montgomery Advertiser reported Robertsons remarks.
Moore disputes that the U.S. Constitutions equal protection clause grants marriage rights to samesex couples, as U.S. District Court Judge Callie Ginny Granade ruled as she struck down
Alabamas marriage amendment.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to settle the question later this year.
Until then, Moore argues that Granades ruling does not bind state courts. Moore cites the legal
theory that only the U.S. Supreme Court and the Alabama Supreme Court can definitively settle the
constitutionality of an Alabama law.
Robertson has previously condemned same-sex marriage and homosexual activity, along with
adultery and sex outside marriage. Robertson describes all those actions as sins that violate Gods
law.
All of our rights do come from God, he said at Frazer. Theyre inalienable, meaning you cant
move them or transfer them.
Robertson has also garnered national headlines for remarking that he knew many black
Southerners who were happy under Jim Crow laws and for opining that the spread of sexuallytransmitted diseases can be attributed to hippies and beatniks.
The A&E network briefly suspended the elder Robertson from Duck Dynasty amid controversy
over some of his statements.
Robertson visited Montgomery with his son Alan, a minister, after having received a freedom-ofspeech award at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, an event that several
Republican presidential hopefuls also attended.
Its kind of ironic that these days, if you exercise your freedom of speech, someone considers it
worthy of a reward, he said at Frazer.
His son, Alan, remains a steadfast supporter of his father.

You realize that when you say things and you say them strongly that youre going to bring a
reaction and, obviously, some people are not going to like that, but heres the difference: what
were speaking is biblical truth and thats never going to change, Alan Robertson said. Since that
doesnt change, we dont change as messengers of that.
The Robertson came to Frazer for a fundraiser benefiting Compassion21, an organization that
provides mentoring and educational opportunities in urban Montgomery communities.

Father's Day as Hate Speech? Feminism, Gay

Rights Contribute to Fatherlessness, Experts Say
at CPAC
By: Napp Nazworth, 3/2/15
http://www.christianpost.com/news/fathers-day-as-hate-speech-feminism-gay-rightscontribute-to-fatherlessness-experts-say-at-cpac-134925/

National Harbor, Md. Twomarriageexperts argued that feminism and gay rights are contributing
to the problem of fatherlessness at aConservative Political Action Conferencepanel.
Father's Day may one day be considered hate speech because saying that children need fathers
has become offensive to the gay rights agenda, Heather Mac Donald, the Thomas W. Smith Fellow
at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal, argued on the Friday panel, "The
Future ofMarriagein America."
The panel was moderated by Kate Bryan of the American Principles Project. Mac Donald was joined
by Wade Horn, former assistant secretary for Children and Families, and Jennifer Marshall, vice
president of the Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation.
Marriagematters because children need a mother and a father, the panelists agreed, and a number
of social ills, including income inequality, can be attributed to the high number ofsinglemothers.
Over 40 percent of children are now born to an unwed mother. And while teen pregnancies have
actually declined in recent years, there has been an increase in 20-something women bearing
children out of wedlock, Mac Donald noted.
Part of the problem, Mac Donald said, is that "feminism has played a strong role in discrediting the
importance of fathers." Additionally, the Gay Rights Movement has a "silencing agenda" against
those who point out the importance of fathers.
"Even though I completely understand and support the impulse of gays to get married, that's going to
be the final nail in the coffin [of respecting the importance of fathers]," she said. "I predict there will
come a time when Father's Day is considered hate speech because it means that you're dissing the
lesbian couple."

Mac Donald recalled when she was invited to speak as the "tokenconservative" at a "very left wing
foundation." The topic was inequality and she was speaking about the importance ofmarriageand
mothers. As she was speaking, "people in the room were very, very uncomfortable and nervous,
shifting in their seats." Thekeynote speaker, general counsel for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio,
then got up and said, "we have to value the diversity of all families," Mac Donald recalled.
"Well, that's a good sentiment, of course we should, but that statement has a very large agenda, and
a silencing agenda as well, and that's where we're moving towards. To say mothers and fathers are
important is going to be seen as a blow against valuing the diversity of all families," she said.
Marshall added that she agreed, "and it's extremely significant."
As the Gay Rights Movement redefinesmarriageto include same-sex couples, fathers will be
considered optional for the raising of children, she argued.
"For all the good work that Wade Horn and others have done over the years to encourage
responsible fatherhood commit to your children by marrying the mother of those children it is
going to be very hard to say that fathers are essential if the law says they are optional through the
redefinition ofmarriage. So I think that's a very serious challenge that we face," she said.

Rick Perry on Hillary Clinton:

Wheres your loyalty?
By: David Sherfinski, 3/2/15
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/2/rick-perry-hillary-clinton-wheres-yourloyalty/?page=all

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National
Harbor, Md., Friday, Feb. 27, 2015.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is raising questions over recent disclosures that the Clinton
Foundation accepted millions of dollars! from several foreign governments while Democrats
likely 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, was secretary of state.

I think most Americans realize that a phone call! at 3 in the morning to the president of the
United States about an issue that deals with a foreign country that has given maybe tens of
millions of dollars to the foundation that she oversees is not right, Mr. Perry said on CNNs
State of the Union.
I think it falls flat in the face of the American people when it comes to are you going to trust an
individual who has taken that much money from a foreign source? Wheres your loyalty! ? he
said.
One recently disclosed $500,000 donation! was from Algeria to the foundations Haiti
earthquake relief fund in 2010, for which foundation officials acknowledged last week they
should have sought approval.
Its not only the appearance of impropriety its also the ethical side of this that I think most
Americans really have a problem with, said Mr. Perry, a possible presidential contender on the
Republican side. And Im really concerned about not just going forward but what has been
received at the Clinton foundation over the course! of the years and how that affects this
individuals judgment.
Republicans have been on the offensive over the donations, which are likely to surface in the
coming presidential campaign if Mrs. Clinton does indeed run.
At last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference! , former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly
Fiorina was among the most aggressive in speaking out against Mrs. Clinton and the donations in
her address to conservative activists.
Mrs. Clinton, please name an accomplishment, said Mrs. Fiorina, who is also weighing a
possible presidential run. And in the meantime, please explain why we should accept that the
millions and millions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation from
foreign governments! do not represent a conflict of interest.

Is Marco Rubio Ready to Announce A

Presidential Bid?
3/2/15
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/marco-rubio-ready-announce-presidential-bid-n315566

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is making moves that suggest he will be among
Republicans seeking to occupy the Oval Office and friends and allies say he
may do so as early as next month,.
Nearly a dozen people close to Rubio, including GOP officials, fundraisers
and his advisers, say Rubio has told them he is in the final stages of planning
the launch of his presidential run and will formally join the field of Republican
hopefuls as early as April,The Associated Press reported. The sources spoke
on condition of anonymity.
Rubio said during over the weekend in speeches at the Conservative Public
Action Conference and at the conservative Club For Growth in Palm Beach
that his decision is still pending though also admitted he is making moves that
make it look as though he'll seek the White House in 2016.
"I think that's reflected in both our travel and some of the staffing decisions
that we've made. We - if in fact I make that final decision on a run - want those
elements to be in place," Rubio said.
Republican strategist Danny Vargas said Rubio has the ability to bridge the
conservative with pragmatic and would bring many talents and abilities,
including excellent communication, to a presidential run. He's also got an
abundance of energy that is needed for such a campaign and the foreign
policy acumen that will be a big topic of the 2016 race, Vargas said to NBC
News.

Vargas acknowledged that Rubio took a hit by shying away from his initial
support for comprehensive immigration reform - he was one of the Gang of
Eight who wrote the Senate bill - "but there are still people who very much
appreciate his conservative voice," Vargas said.
Rubio's advisers also have told party leaders that they should expect to recruit
a candidate to run for his Senate seat in 2016, according to four people
involved in the talks, who discussed the private conversation with the AP on
the condition of anonymity because Rubio has not notified the National
Republican Senatorial Committee of his plans.
Rubio's team has been preparing for a national campaign. His top political
adviser and likely campaign manger, Terry Sullivan, has been recruiting
operatives - including Jim Merrill, who ran Romney's New Hampshire
campaigns and his Senate office spokesman Alex Conant is leaving this week
to begin work on Rubio's political action committee.

!
POLITICS

Let The Air Out Of Donald Trumps

Windbag
Donald Trump only pretends to run for president for the
publicity. Its time for Republicans to stop letting Trump
pretend hes a viable candidate.
By Neal Dewing
MARCH 2, 2015

http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/02/let-the-air-out-of-donald-trumps-windbag/

National Harbor, Maryland As I write, Donald Trump

has concluded his latest Conservative Political Action
Conference speech to somewhat muted cheers, and the
odd scattering of boos. The speech itself does not merit
critical study, as it contains no new ideas and no
particularly eloquent defense of any old ones. It was
boilerplate, full of applause lines with little thought behind
them.
Between a call to take our country back and the shocking
claim that Washington is broken, it became painfully
obvious that Trump was not going to offer any interesting
policy prescriptions. So the speech is mainly important for
the question Trump did not answer: What the hell is he
doing here?
The simplest answerpimping his TV showhas in times
past been the surest explanation for why Trump uses a bit
of his valuable time to bray like an ass at CPAC. True to
form, earlier in the week he reappeared in the news, a
human canker sore issuing a vague threat to run for the
presidency.

Donald Trump Is a (Bad) Joke

This time, he assures us, this time he might just be
thinking about pretending to appear to be serious. To
forestall the usual dismissal of his professed ambitions to
high office, the news articles make it a point to note that a
renewed contract with his network has not been finalized.
There are also reports that he is making hires among

campaign professionals, which seems like a cruel prank to

play on what Im sure are otherwise decent people.

Why we continue to excuse the noxious quadrennial fart

Trump releases into our cramped conservative elevator is
beyond me.
I was always under the impression that a farce was
supposed to be mildly humorous. Why we continue to
excuse the noxious quadrennial fart Trump releases into
our cramped conservative elevator is beyond me. The man
is a boorish sideshow, when hes not being a politically
obtuse blowhard. What has he done to merit any kind of
serious political platform?
Perhaps his greatest single contribution to conservatism
was to resurrect the issue of Barack Obamas birth
certificate. After the conservative movement managed to
escape being officially tarred with a psychotic, conspiracist
obsession over Obamas citizenship, Trump swooped in to
get the answer to a question nobody with a brain free of
mental illness was asking. He actually revisited the issue
toward the end of his allotted time at CPAC.
Hillarys the birther, he informed the crowd. To hear
Trump tell it, Senator Hillary Clinton wanted Obamas
birth certificate, Senator John McCain wanted Obamas
birth certificate, but neither could get it. Trump got it.
Yay?

Imagine, for a Moment, President Donald Trump

Yet Trumps belief in a thorough review of birth records
cannot be his only political position. What can we infer
from his public statements about how President Trump
would govern? I cant believe Im actually about to do this,

but if Trump can pretend to run for president then I

suppose I can pretend that he deserves a serious
assessment. The following are the positions of President
Trump, as discussed in his speech and as drawn out during
a subsequent Q&A with Sean Hannity:
Immigration
Our leaders need to take action or people will
flow into this country illegally
Build a wall along the border with Mexico,
because Trump is the king of walls
Mexico
The new China
Economic competition
That walled border thing probably wouldnt help
with this
Abortion
Im very pro-life.
Except in the case of rape, incest, or to protect
the life of the mother
Common Core:Common Core is bad.
The Islamic State (ISIS)
Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Trump
He would find a general, like Douglas MacArthur,
to hit them so hard and so fast they wouldnt
know what happened
There were many boos at this point, presumably
from Rand Pauls contingent who it seems would
prefer not to intervene against the scum burning
people alive and selling children into sex slavery
Point: Trump, actually

 Iran:No nukes!
Israel:We must protect Israel!
Obamacare
Its a disaster with catastrophic results for
business
We need to toughen up on it
He would get something so much better than
Obamacare
Social Security
Under President Trumps policies, America will
become rich again
This will mean that Republicans wont have to cut
Social Securitywell be able to afford it!
Marijuana
Supports medical marijuana, but not widespread
legalization.
There were many, many boos at this point
At no point in Trumps speech did he demonstrate a
particularly keen understanding of just how he would
enact his ideas, such as they can be called. He struck me
as someone who views a president as the CEO of America,
which is odd in light of his strong critique of Mitt
Romneys performance in the 2012 election. It was typical
Trump bravado, and Ill be honest: if he was selling me a
skyscraper or convincing me to invest in a project, Id
likely have a hard time saying no to him. He is instead
attempting to sell the idea of Trump the Statesmanan
idea Im not sure anyone is buying.

Heres How Donald Trump Could Become Useful

Lets take this exercise back into the realm of things that
will actually happen. Donald Trump will never be
president. He indicated that he is 75-80 percent sure that
he is running, which at this stage seems to me a tacit
admission that he has no intention whatsoever to run for
the nomination. The presidency isnt something you
decide to just go and do the year before the race. He is
wasting our time.

If Trump doesnt see any brilliant leaders unless hes

looking in the mirror, why not grow some?
Even if he does inconceivably, actually, really, finally run
for president, his shallow political understanding would
quickly be exposed. This may help explain why, despite his
repeated flirtation with the concept, he hasnt yet pulled
the trigger despite priding himself on his decisive and
savvy business dealings. One naturally avoids foreseeable
damage to the ego. Its always better to be clamored for
and demur, than to dispel your audience of its illusions
that youre worth their esteem.
Is there a role for Trump in the conservative movement?
That depends on his ability to recognize his actual
strengths. There is something about his outsized
personality that is, if not compelling, at least somewhat
entertaining. Theres also the matter of the extraordinary
amount of money he possesses, something he is not shy
about. These two things do give him the opportunity to
influence the course of events in a productive way, for a
change.
In his speech, Trump identified Americas need for
brilliant leaders, no doubt thinking of himself. If he

doesnt see any brilliant leaders unless hes looking in the

mirror, why not grow some? He ought to abandon this coy
garbage about running for president and set himself to the
task of investing some of his considerable wealth in
developing talented people. Train up conservative
campaign operatives, narrow the technology gap, and
nurture serious candidates at all levels of government. He
can also lend his public voice to amplify sensible and
practicable political ideas, such as a conservative
alternative to Obamacare.
The sooner Trump stops wasting our time with his
pointless ego-stroking, the better. Trumps bluster will not
be sufficient to carry him to the White Houseit never was
but bluster is the Trump brand. That has its uses, but
this prevarication benefits nobody but himself. Despite his
protestations of serious intent, conservatives have ample
evidence to the contrary. They should feel no obligation to
entertain the clownish behavior of this man. In a business
setting, if people waste your time with a pointless pitch
they arent prepared to actually see through to completion,
you stop taking their calls. Its well past time for the
conservative movement to tell Donald Trump that when it
comes to running for president, he can pound sand.

Paul Fanlund: Ronald Reagan,

Abraham Lincoln and the
politics of 2015
March 02, 2015 6:50 am By Paul Fanlund | The Capital Times

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/paul_fanlund/paul-fanlundronald-reagan-abraham-lincoln-and-the-politics-of/
article_4b80843b-4b20-5808-ac20-94e01b9cbe7b.html

Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln

Paul Fanlund is editor of The Capital Times. A longtime Madisonian, he

was a State Journal reporter and editor before occupying a business job
with Madison Newspapers for six years. He joined the Cap Times in 2006.
In his weekly column, which typically appears online on Mondays, and in
shorter forms, he writes about a broad range of Madison topics.

In 2013, I read and then wrote about Scott Walkers autobiography. Last
week, I finished the new book by David Axelrod, former adviser to Barack
Obama. The books, taken together, reveal the essential character of two
politicians who could not be more dissimilar.

My column on the Wisconsin governors book, which he titled

Unintimidated, focused on three themes, two being his unbridled ego
and his willingness to scapegoat allies to lift himself.

The third was his creepy fixation with Ronald Reagan. Now that Walker is
an all-but-announced presidential candidate, that Reagan thing is back
and creepier than ever, apparently meant to impress conservative activists.

Walker wrote that he decided to destroy Wisconsins public sector unions

because he wanted a Braveheart moment to replicate how Reagan, his
hero, had crushed the air trac controllers union in 1981. He also wrote
about how that intimidated the Soviet Union and hastened the end of the
Cold War. Laughable then, but the leap Walker is now taking goes beyond
unintimidated to fully unhinged.

Now, in Walkers mind, the Cold War not only ended in part because
Reagan fired the controllers, but Walkers own anti-union record in
Wisconsin qualifies him to be an international leader.

He made waves at the Conservative Political Action conference last week

saying that "if I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across
the world," comparing Act 10 protesters to terrorists, but hes been making
similar claims for a while now. Here is how the conservative National
Review put it, reporting on the event where former New York City Mayor
Rudy Giuliani dominated coverage by claiming Obama does not love
America.

Walker argued that when Reagan fired the air-trac controllers over
their illegal strike, he was sending a message of toughness to Democrats
and unions at home as well as our Soviet enemies abroad. Similarly,
Walker believes his stance against unions in Wisconsin would be a signal
of toughness to Islamic jihadists and Russias Vladimir Putin, the article
said.

Right, imagine the Russian president or an Islamic State militant sizing up

Walker: Gosh, that guy in Wisconsin, his pals in control of the Legislature
to assure success, cut the pay and benefits of elementary school
teachers. Putin would certainly quiver and dial back Russian aggression
in Ukraine.

Ludicrous on its face, Politifact.com, the fact-checking site, recently

asked noted history experts about Walkers contention on the air trac

controllers and, well, several were incredulous at the notion, its report
said, earning Walker a pants on fire rating, the sites most severe rebuke.

Others elaborated on the consequences of this delusion.

A recent MSNBC essay listed a whole series of acts of aggression by the

Soviet Union after the 1981 strike and before the actual end of the Cold
War a decade later. Lets at least try to be grown-ups, said the MSNBC
article. No U.S. foe, anywhere on the planet, suddenly felt intimidated
because the president put thousands of striking workers on
unemployment in 1981. They messed with us plenty following the move.

All of this matters, not just because Walker doesnt remember the 1980s
very well, but also because Walker is under the impression that he can
intimidate (jihadists and Putin) by undermining labor unions more than
Reagan did. Clearly, foreign policy isnt the governors forte, but this is
both childish and dangerously wrong.

Anyway, if Walker fancies himself a modern-day Reagan, the Obama book

left me thinking our president has something in common with a dierent
predecessor: Abraham Lincoln.

Author Axelrod mines many elements of the presidents personality in

Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. But the subject that most caught
my attention was the presidents resolve, described in the Obamacare
chapter titled: Why we do the work.

Axelrod described how Obamas mother had been diagnosed with ovarian
cancer at 53 and quotes the president: She spent the last months of her
life worrying as much about the medical bills as trying to get well.

Nearly 50 million people lacked health insurance in 2009. In principle,

Axelrod wrote, Americans supported fixing the system, but those with
coverage feared they would be hurt. Obama decided to act decisively,
cognizant of the political cost because the country was still navigating out
of the calamitous economy left him by George W. Bush.

I understand the risks, but what are we going to do? Obama asked
Axelrod. Are we going to put our approval ratings on the shelf and admire
them for eight years? Or are we going to spend down on them and try to
get some important things done for the future?

Later, when Axelrod warned Obama of the worsening political fallout,

Obama responded, Im sure youre right. But I just came back from Green
Bay, Wisconsin. I met a woman there who is 35 years old, had a job, a
husband, and health insurance. But she has stage-three breast cancer and
now shes hit her lifetime caps, so her insurance company is refusing to
pay her bills, and shes terrified shes going to die and leave her family
bankrupt.

Obama added: Thats not the country we believe in.

To get health care reform passed, Obama swallowed compromises that

seemed more like politics as usual than the historic change he promised in
his 2008 campaign.

Yet, in retrospect, I think he emerges appearing visionary and pragmatic.

A recent New York Times op-ed headline declared: For Tens of Millions,
Obamacare is working. Laden with charts, the piece was summarized in
this passage: Now statistics for the second year are largely in hand and
the verdict is indisputable: the Aordable Care Act has achieved nearly
all of its ambitious goals.

Most important, just three key provisions creation of exchanges with

subsidies for those who qualify, expansion of Medicaid and minimum
standards for insurance plans have benefited at least 31 million
Americans.

Millions more have taken advantage of other features, such as the

inability of insurance companies to deny coverage based on pre-existing
conditions and the ability to include children up to age 26 in a parents
plan.

Finally, while other promises of the Aordable Care Act are harder to
measure, the slowdown in the rate of increase in health care costs and
health insurance premium prices is at least partly due to the new law.

So how is Obama like Lincoln?

In the 2012 movie Lincoln, based in part on the book Team of Rivals by
historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Lincoln is portrayed as a leader who was
shrewd and pragmatic, one who accepted unsavory compromises and
countenanced outright finagling to abolish slavery through the Thirteenth
Amendment.

Guaw if you choose at my likening Obama to Lincoln, but both

presidents, knowing they would be vilified in their time, have earned
admiration for their skill and courage.

Walker, in contrast, has earned an F in history.

Why presidential candidates

love beating up on the press
BY REBECCA BERG | MARCH 2, 2015 | 5:00 AM

BY KELLY COHEN | 03/20/15 11:04 AM

"To me, this is a classic example of why people hate Washington and, increasingly, they dislike

When two Washington Post reporters asked Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
whether President Obama is a Christian, he answered with a non-answer
and harsh words for the media.

"To me, this is a classic example of why people hate Washington and,
increasingly, they dislike the press," Walker said. "The things they care
about don't even remotely come close to what you're asking about."

Walker could have left his critique at that, but he didn't. Instead, his
campaign milked the moment for money and publicity.

The Friends of Scott Walker PAC, his gubernatorial committee, sent out a
fundraising email with the subject line "Gotcha Journalism," and Walker
capitalized further with an op-ed in USA Today.

"I will always choose to focus on what matters to the American people, not
what matters to the media," Walker wrote.

Other likely candidates for president, seeking approval from the base and
publicity from a sometimes narcissistic press, have jumped on the antimedia bandwagon.

"I'm giving up the New York Times for Lent," New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference,
following a few unflattering stories about Christie by the publication. The
conservative crowd ate it up.

The strategy has become something of a cherished tradition in politics:

candidates portraying the news media as their archenemy, hoping to
publicly combat negative stories and carve out reputations as Washington
outsiders in the process.

"I love to bash the media all the time," John McCain told a town hall
audience in 2008, to appreciative laughter.

His running mate, Sarah Palin, famously railed against the "gotcha"
question, as in response to her interview with Katie Couric, during which
Couric asked Palin which newspapers she read. The line became one of
Palin's signatures, but it had been coined years earlier by George W. Bush,
in 1999, when he derided the "Washington game of gotcha" after being
asked about his past cocaine use.

Bashing the media was as much in fashion during the 2012 presidential
campaign, when Republican candidates used the tactic to defend against
negative coverage and portray themselves as political outsiders.

"The media for some reason wants to make this a two-man race all the
time, when every time they make it a two-man race it turned out to be the
wrong two people," Rick Santorum said on MSNBC in January 2012.

The quintessential anti-media moment of the election, however, came

when CNN's John King began a Republican debate with a question for
Newt Gingrich about statements made by his second wife, Marianne,
alleging Gingrich had asked for an open marriage. Gingrich lashed out at
King in response.

"I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news
media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent
people to run for public oce," Gingrich said.

That indignant response won Gingrich cheers and applause from the
audience, and gave Gingrich a boost in the polls when he might otherwise
have been dragged down by scandal.

Calling out the media can be a net positive for Republicans, as it was for
Gingrich, "as long as you don't go over the top," said Sean Spicer, chief
strategist at the Republican National Committee.

"There's always a fundraising appeal that candidates can make, because

among conservatives, bashing the media is a time-proven success,"
Spicer said. "But there really is a double standard, and it's worth
reminding journalists once in a while that we're keeping an eye on this."

Draft Carson now a fundraising,

organizing powerhouse


Ben Carson delivered a well-received speech kicking off the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference over the weekend and he finished fourth in The Washington Times/CPAC straw poll, dropping
a rung from his third-place finish third last year. (Rod Lamkey Jr./Special ...

By David Sherfinski
Monday, March 2, 2015
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/2/draft-carson-now-a-fundraisingorganizing-powerhou/?page=all

The National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, in existence

for about 18 months, has become a fundraising powerhouse and early-

primary state organizing machine as the retired neurosurgeon moves

closer to a presidential run in 2016.
John Philip Sousa IV, chairman of the committee and great-grandson of
the famous bandleader, said when they first started the group in August
2013, their sole objective was to convince Mr. Carson to run for
president and that they had zero idea of what this would turn into.
Mr. Sousa says he sends between 4,000 and 6,000 petitions calling on
Mr. Carson to run to the retired surgeon every week along with a
personal note.
The group also spent more than $400,000 on radio ads in AfricanAmerican markets in North Carolina and Louisiana to boost Republican
Senate candidates in 2014 and possibly nudge Mr. Carson, who had
said he was eyeing the results of the midterms.
Now, Carson has said from the get-go if God wants me to run I will
run. Well, our people pray an awful lot, but thats about all the control
we have over that one, Mr. Sousa said. We believe that in the next
week or two, hell announce his exploratory committee, and in between
May 1st and 15th hell probably announce his formal candidacy.
For his part, Mr. Carson said Sunday he would not run if I found there
really was no support for it but said things are looking positive for
him right now.
Im seeing a very substantial amount of support across the country in
red states, blue states, north, south, east, west, he said on NBCs Meet
The Press.
Mr. Carson, who writes a column for The Washington Times, delivered a
well-received speech kicking off the 2015 Conservative Political Action
Conference over the weekend, and finished fourth in The Washington
Times/CPAC presidential straw poll, dropping a rung from his thirdplace finish third last year.
Hes really a beloved figure, said American Conservative Union
Chairman Matt Schlapp. Im from Kansas, and I know someone who

flew out here just to hear him speak. He really motivates conservatives
and he should be proud with how he finished.
Vernon Robinson, campaign director for the Draft Carson committee,
said the doctor is uniquely positioned to broaden the Republican base in
2016, given his backstory of growing up in poverty in Detroit before
rising to become director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. He
then rose to national attention when he confronted President Obama at
the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast.
There was a whole generation of little younger than I am a
generation of kids whose parents wanted them to grow up to be Dr.
Carson if they were boys and marry Dr. Carson if they were girls, Mr.
Robinson said.
The group is working to make sure the political neophyte will have a
financial backstop in place if he does jump in. The $12 million in
raised in 2014 outpaced similar groups for other potential candidates.
A top priority for the group, Mr. Sousa said, will be to make sure Mr.
Carson is included in presidential debates.
And because super PACs like his group are not allowed to coordinate
with candidates, he said theyll try to anticipate what the would-be
campaign might do try to fill in the gaps around that.
Weve developed a game plan that we dont think his campaign will
take on, and that is [kind of] stealing a page out of Obamas playbook
where Obama, say, in Iowa said okay, if we go to our base for caucus
voters, that will get us x number of votes, he said. So we need to find a
way to get to x number of votes, plus.
He listed three legitimate groups not normally targeted that could make
the difference on the margins: medical professionals, home-schoolers
and Seventh day Adventists.
We believe that if the Carson people do the job we think they will do,
which is go after the base, and we bring in this other group, it will be the
margin of victory, and well replicate that early state after early state
after early state, Mr. Sousa said.

Rand Paul Wins Cpac Straw Poll,

Scott Walker Close Second
Sunday, March 1, 2015 | '

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gestures while speaking during the Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) - Senator Rand Paul won

a straw poll of conservative activists on Saturday, giving his
potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 a
boost, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker came in second in a
surprising show of strength.

Whether the victory for Paul will have long-lasting benefit is

unclear since his libertarian views may not have broad appeal in
the Republican Party.
Paul, a 52-year-old Kentucky Republican, outdistanced most
other potential candidates by taking 25.7 percent of the vote at the
Conservative Political Action Conference, a gathering of activists
on Washingtons outskirts of Washington.
Walkers second-place showing at 21.4 percent represented
significant show of support among conservatives and suggested
his potential candidacy will have real staying power as he seeks to
remain among the front-runners for the nomination.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz came in third with 11.5 percent of a total
of 3,007 who registered votes at the CPAC gathering.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, an establishment candidate
who is amassing millions of dollars for a campaign should he
decide to run, took fifth place with 8.3 percent of the vote, a notunexpected showing given conservative opposition to some of his
moderate stances.
Boos rang out in the audience when Bushs tally was announced.
The Bush camp made clear that he did not compete in the straw
poll, which is a survey of people attending the conference.
The straw poll concluded the four-day conference at a hotel along
the Potomac River, where conservatives heard from more than a
dozen potential contenders for the chance to represent the
Republican Party in the November 2016 election.
Walker, 47, was clearly among the most popular at the event.
The CPAC straw poll, however, does not necessarily identify the
next Republican presidential nominee. Mitt Romney won the

straw poll in 2012 and went on to win the nomination. But the
2008 nominee, John McCain did not win the poll.

CPAC DIRECTORS TOUT

COMMITMENT TO TRAINING
ACTIVISTS, FORUMS ON BORDER
SECURITY & JIHAD

"

AP Photo/Doug Mills
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/22/cpac-directors-tout-commitment-totraining-activists-forums-on-border-security-jihad/
by TONY LEE
22 Feb 2015

Vowing to put on a Conservative Political Action Conference

(CPAC) like nobody has ever seen, CPAC directors emphasized
that this years annual gathering of conservatives will put a special
emphasis on activism and training while also, unlike in recent
years past, having forums on immigration, border security, and
jihad.
On Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot channel 125, Matt
Schlapp, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union
(ACU), said that Republicans who thought that just focusing on
the economy and statistics would be enough to win national
elections had their nirvana moment with Mitt Romney, who was
a good man who understood business and markets but just felt
cold to Americans.
Schlapp said that Ronald Reagan succeeded in politics by bringing
together people who cared about culture, national defense, and
free markets and low taxes. He said that coalition has to be put
together again for the conservative movement to be successful and
to not talk about those things that have always made up the
GOPs three-legged stool is a big political error. Schlapp noted
that Republicans have not won a landslide election since 1988,
when George H.W. Bush won Reagans third term.
Schlapp told host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman said
this is not just about talk but action and said this years CPAC
which will be held Thursday through Saturday in just outside of
D.C. at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor,
Marylandis adding another day to the conference, making
Wednesday before the festivities a full day of training for
attendees. Morton Blackwell from the Leadership Institute and
representatives from the Young Americas Foundation will be
among those who will help activists on how to be more effective
online, get booked on radio shows, and communicate conservative
ideas in a way that will make a difference in their communities.

Schalpp said that it starts with doing one thing that leads to
another thing.
We hope to spur them on at CPAC, he said, noting that activists
will be reminded often that the conferences theme is
conservative action starts here.
Dan Schneider, the ACU Executive Director, noted that 14
different organizations that focus on campaigns and activism will
be helping conservatives on Wednesday and throughout the
conference in what he proclaimed would be the most robust,
comprehensive training program in the conferences history.
Schneider also said that the best and the brightest in the
conservative movement will be speaking at breakout sessions and
forums on topics like jihad, immigration, and border security in
addition to numerous other topics.
If you have a society where the culture is free and youve got an
economy where people can exercise their skills and you cant
secure your borders, then all is lost, he said. Conversely, If
youve got a great defense and you dont have something worth
defending, then you dont really have a nation. Youve got to
combine all three to have the kind of country that our Founders
envisioned.
Schneider noted that Reagan, who advocated bold colors instead
of pale pastels at CPAC, was the conferences first keynote
speaker and spoke 13 times at the gathering.
CPAC is where conservatism began with Ronald Reagan,
Schneider said.

CPAC organizer:
Conservatives must broaden
coalition
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/233443-cpac-organizer-conservatives-mustbroaden-coalition
February 22, 2015, 02:34 pm
By Mario Trujillo

The organizer of a major conservative conference said gay

Republicans should feel comfortable attending the event this week.
Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union
(ACU), insisted that conservatives must be realistic about broadening
their coalition to include gay conservatives, if they want to win
elections.
His comments, which aired Sunday, come amid accusations that the
conference excluded a Republican group that supports gay marriage
something the organization disputes. The interview was recorded
Wednesday, a day before the current allegations were made.
"I want to make it really clear, gay conservatives should feel
comfortable to come to CPAC. Libertarians play an important role in
this coalition," he said in an interview with "Capital Download." "We
don't have enough people in the center right to start excluding people
from that coalition. They all need to feel welcome. We need to pull
together on the things that we agree with."
The Conservative Political Action Conference should be a place to
welcome disagreement, he said, noting that his own group would
continue to oppose gay marriage.

"But at the same time, we have to understand that our political

collation has to be realistic, and we have to broaden it, and we have to
win," he said. "Not winning in politics, in a democracy is everything. If
you don't win the elections, you don't get to have the votes for the
public policy you want. And I think conservatives really do they
understand that."
CPAC has been accused over the past few years of excluding gay
Republican groups. This year, the Log Cabin Republicans accused
Schlapps group of preventing it from becoming a sponsor. The ACU
said the Log Cabin Republicans were not considered because the
group failed to fill out the proper form.

BREITBART NEWS
SUNDAY ON SXM 125: CPAC
WEEK KICKS OFF

"
by BREITBART NEWS
22 Feb 2015

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/02/22/breitbartnews-sunday-on-sxm-125-cpac-week-kicks-off/

On Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot

channel 125 from 7PM to 10PM EST, Breitbart
News Executive Chairman and host Stephen K.
Bannon will be hosting a Conservative Political
Action Conference (CPAC) special in the lead up
to the February 25-28 event in the nations
capitol.
Bannon will speak to Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow
and contributor James Pinkerton about the left-wing media hit
piece on Bill OReilly that accused him of lying about being in a
war zone during the Falkland War.
Breitbart Londons James Delingpole will come on the show to
speak about The New York Times smear on climate scientist Dr.
Willie Soon who challenges the establishments alarmism
regarding global warming.
American Conservative Union (ACU) Chairman Matt Schlapp will
come on the show to talk about this years CPAC event, which his
organization hosts annually. Schlapp, who was appointed
chairman this year, said in an exclusive with Breitbart News that
the theme of this years conference is Conservative Action Starts
Here and that they will focus more on hitting all three legs of the
conservative stoolsocial conservatism, fiscal conservatism, and
foreign policy.
Bannon will also speak to Daniel Schneider, Executive Directorof
the ACU, who is organizing CPAC this year.
Breitbart News Jordan Schachtel will come on the program to
talk about the phony story peddled by the mainstream media
about Muslims guarding a Norwegian synagogue.
Lee Stranahan will come on the show to talk about a serious
scandal brewing in South Dakota.

Breibart contributor Javier Manjarres will come on the show to

talk about his new book, Brown People, Hispanic Politics and the
Disunited State of Amigos.
Bannon will speak to Breitbart Texas editor Brandon Darby about
the latest important developments in the Cartel War.

CPAC 2015 organizers aim to

recapture intimacy, activism
of early days
Conservative Political Action Conference opens Wednesday at
National Harbor


Magic man: Matt Schlapp, head of the American Conservative Union, said his group is seeking the right
balance of entertainment and activism at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Gage Skidmore)

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times

Sunday, February 22, 2015
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/22/cpac-2015-organizers-aim-to-recaptureintimacy-act/?page=all

From the stage to the schedule, theres something palpably different

about this years Conservative Political Action Conference. Sure, there
are still plenty of big names planned for the main stage and enough
hoopla to create a political Super Bowl atmosphere in Washington.
But organizers of the 2015 event that opens Wednesday at National
Harbor Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center are executing
what they hope will be a back to the future strategy that recaptures the
intimacy and focus on activism from the early days of CPAC four
decades ago.
The stage is designed to put big-name speakers closer to the audience so
they can answer questions. The first day of the event is dominated by an
activism boot camp. Breakout sessions the rest of the week aim to give
the thousands of conservatives in attendance specific training, right
down to PowerPoint slides and handouts they can take home with them.
When it first started it was in a small room, probably a couple hundred
people. Ive had some people tell me it was pretty small. It was intimate
 . And now were big. Its hard to be intimate when youre big. Were
trying to recapture that intimacy, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the
American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC.
ACU Executive Director Dan Schneiders mantra to staff crafting the
agenda has been clear: Really make a difference.
Just having a nice conference where people can have fun and can
network with each other has value. Its a very good thing when
conservatives can come together from around the country and interact
with each other and be reminded that there are others who care deeply
about the future of our nation, he said. But while weve got all these
people at this conference, this is a golden opportunity to make sure that
they are better citizens, better activists and strengthened to make real
change in a positive direction.
This is the first full year that Mr. Schlapp and Mr. Schneider have put
their imprint on CPAC. Both were brought in last year as part of a

leadership overhaul at ACU designed to prepare the group to serve a

new generation of conservatives.
After last years conference, which focused on campaignlike speeches
from Donald Trump, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz followed by
topical panels, ACU organizers surveyed conference attendees and found
that while many enjoyed CPAC, hardly anyone could describe what they
learned during the conference.
What we have done this year is designed the program to enhance the
experience for the activist. Theyre our customer, Mr. Schlapp said.
So CPACs leadership set three goals for the 2015 event.
We want to deepen and broaden the base of knowledge of our
attendees. We want to equip the attendees with skills so they can become
better activists, and we want to genuinely motivate them to use those
new skills and the new knowledge to change America and restore
freedom, Mr. Schneider said.
While big speakers like Sen. Marco Rubio, former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be the main attractions,
those speeches will be more topic-focused and each speaker will take
questions from the audience, making them more accessible to activists.
The stage is designed to contribute to the more intimate atmosphere.
Speakers will stand at the end of a long runway that stretches to the
center of the room, surrounded by the audience.
We have to deal with the architecture of the room, and it has a big builtin stage, and what weve tried to do is diminish that and have the
speakers come out, Mr. Schlapp said. The goal is, you know, if you
were to have a town hall meeting or come to a community that you grew
up in to hear these people speak, what would be the venue? It would be
something where you would feel like you can reach out and touch them,
and we want to do the same thing. Its symbolic, but its also real in that
we believe that these activists should be able to have a lot more
interaction with the speakers.
Following each speech on the main stage, there will be PowerPoint
slides with main takeaways from the speech and suggestions on how to
get involved in activism.

You can inspire an activist to really want to throw themselves into

something. That is a magical thing. Weve just got to make sure that a lot
of time doesnt elapse between that magic and when they sign up and
start implementing, Mr. Schlapp said.
The Washington Times is a sponsor of CPAC, and this year the
newspaper will showcase some of its reporting experts on topical panels,
plus host its own panel discussion Thursday on the impact of regulations
on innovation and freedom. The newspaper also is hosting its second
annual Washington Times Idol competition on the main stage where 10
aspiring journalists from the National Journalism Center interview major
newsmakers, get graded by celebrity journalist judges and compete for
an all-expenses-paid internship at The Times this summer.
While topic-focused panel discussions have been staples at CPAC for
years, this time organizers have planned more breakout panels that take
the bigger panel discussions and break them down further into focused
lectures with two or three speakers.
I dont think we want to take away the entertainment value, the idea
that people get enthused. We dont want to lose that, but we want to
make sure that these activists from around the country get a change to
dig in a little bit on some of these issues that they care about. We hope
we strike the right balance, Mr. Schlapp said.
The education and training wont stop once CPAC ends. Organizers at
the ACU have been ramping up their own offerings and policy centers to
make CPAC a year-round resource for conservatives.
Our internal vision is CPAC 365. Imagine not just having a great
conference over the course of these three days, but what happens on the
other days of the year? Mr. Schlapp said, adding that the ACU has
already started ramping up its policy process and getting into contact
with scholars and specialists to keep the CPAC conversation going.
This conference is bigger and more impactful than ever, both on the
activism side and on the knowledge side, Mr. Schneider said.
For conservatives just passing through who might not have time to see
all of the offerings at this years CPAC, Mr. Schlapp said, just walking
around and taking in the energy that CPAC generates is inspiring.

Its inspiring, in a time when were told that conservatives skew older
and Republicans skew older and were not hip and were not now. When
you walk around CPAC, it skews younger conservatives from all stripes
and walks of life and it really is inspiring. It reminds us all that were not
alone, weve got a lot of allies, including some colorful allies, and
theres a lot of people in this country that want to get the country on the
right direction. To me, thats so hopeful, he said.

A Jeb Bush Q&A at CPAC. How will

that go over?
POSTED AT 8:31 AM ON FEBRUARY 21, 2015
BY JAZZ SHAW
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/02/21/a-jeb-bush-qa-at-cpac-how-will-that-go-over/

This coming week, CPAC kicks off in the National Harbor in Maryland,
just outside of D.C. This year Ed and I will be there bringing you as
much of the action first hand as we can manage. The list of speakers is
long and includes the majority of unofficially declared or highly likely
2016 GOP presidential candidates. On the first day alone there will be
appearances by Walker, Jindal, Cruz, Christie, Carly Fiorina and Ben
Carson. On Friday well see more of the big names (with the rather
glaring exception of Huck) taking the stage, including Rand Paul, Rick
Perry and Jeb Bush. (Hopefully that will include Rubio as well, but
thats not confirmed yet.)
But rather than just speeches this year, the American Conservative
Union is offering the honored guests an option: you can deliver your
scripted remarks as usual, shorten the presentation and take a few
questions from the moderator, or scrap the speech entirely and just do
a town hall style Q&A for your entire time on stage. Jeb Bush has
opted for the third choice, leaving at least some of us to wonder what
hell be saying in response to the obvious questions and how that will
be received.
ACU spokesman Ian Walters confirmed that speakers will have 20
minutes in front of the crowd and have the choice of delivering
remarks and taking questions, or devoting the entire time to a Q&A
session.
While Bush is expected to outpace the potential field in fundraising, he
faces significant skepticism from voters in the conservative base of the

party who disagree with his calls to ease immigration laws and his
support for the Common Core education standards
Allowing a Q&A at CPAC is an initial advantage for Bush. At
appearances in San Francisco, Detroit, and Chicago in the past two
months, Bush has proven more engaging and comfortable while taking
questions from a moderator as opposed to the traditional speeches he
also delivered in each city. He also opted for the format earlier this
month at an education summit that his foundation hosted in Florida.
What we dont know yet is precisely how this is going to work. Who
will the moderator be? And how will they determine which questions
are asked? If the session turns out to be a bunch of softballs (unlikely,
given our past experiences there) then there may be some unrest
among the natives. But if things get down to the nitty gritty on the
subjects where Bush has left conservatives shaking their heads, the
audience response may turn out to be more of the story of the day than
what the candidate actually says. Im not too worried about the latter
because CPAC audiences tend to be more polite and respectful than
rowdy, and have traditionally given everyone a fair chance to say their
piece.
But the fact remains that Jeb Bush has some history which will be
under scrutiny if he wants widespread conservative support in his bid
for the nomination. Somebody will have to ask some direct questions
about his support for Common Core and find out where he stands on
the question of balancing state and federal control over education
issues. Obviously immigration reform would have to be addressed,
and the crowd will expect him take a position once and for all as to
where he stands on not only the Presidents executive amnesty
program, but exactly what he thinks comprehensive immigration
reform would look like if he were president.
With luck youll know about it here as soon as hes done speaking, as
we should have multiple people from Hot Air and Townhall on hand to
cover the events. Now if we can only manage to avoid catching the
CPAC Plague we should be in good shape.

QUACK ATTACK: PHIL

ROBERTSON TO RECEIVE
ANDREW BREITBART AWARD

"

Wikipedia CC /Gage Skidmore AP Photos

by DAVID BOSSIE
20 Feb 2015Washington, D.C.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/20/quack-attack-phil-robertson-toreceive-andrew-breitbart-award/

It is my honor to partner with Breitbart News

Network, and Breitbart executives Stephen K.
Bannon and Larry Solov, to present the Second
Annual Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First
Amendment Award at this years Conservative
Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Last year, we bestowed the inaugural award to The Great One
conservative radio host Mark Levin. The presentation ceremony
for this award was standing-room only at the CPAC Theater,
where activists and conservative leaders joined to hear Mark
Levins courageous acceptance speech.
This year, we are presenting this prestigious award to Duck
Dynastys Phil Robertson. The media is already buzzing about this
exciting event, and the American Conservative Union has
promoted it to the main CPAC stage, in front of thousands of
conservatives and live on C-SPAN.
Matt Schlapp, Chairman of the American Conservative Union
said, Robertson personifies the importance of holding tight to
that which gives our lives meaning. For Phil Robertson, that
includes his family, the Lord above, and of course creating havoc
in the Louisiana countryside. We are honored to have him at this
years CPAC. I wholeheartedly agree.
Breitbarts Stephen Bannon and I created this award to celebrate
those who fiercely defend their free speech rights and the First
Amendment. Someone who finds themselves taking on the
institutional left and the mainstream media, and the result has a
profound impact on American culture. Our culture was a large
part of Andrew Breitbarts vision for the conservative movement:
that we take on the political left and the cultural left.
Andrews lifelong friend and Breitbart News Network CEO Larry
Solov put it perfectly, As both Andrews business partner and

lifelong friend, I can definitively say that he would have been

thrilled to give this award, that bears his name, to Phil Robertson
for his unflinching conviction in the face of an adversarial media.
In fact, Im fairly certain Andrew would have grown a beard for
the award presentation.
Having Phil Robertson and his family as a part of American
culture has changed this nation for the better. Week after week,
millions of Americans see a family living out their faith and their
values boldly and without reservation. Despite the best attempts
of the mainstream media and Hollywood liberals, the Robertson
patriarch and his family are still on television and they are as
popular as ever.
If you are attending CPAC 2015, please stop by the main ballroom
on Friday, February 27that 12:40 p.m. and join Breitbart News
Network and Citizens United as we present Phil Robertson with
this special award. It is our honor to present this award in
Andrews name along with Breitbart News to a great conservative
who, like Andrew, refuses to bow to liberal pressure no matter
what the cost.

Jeb Bush Chooses to

Be Cross-Examined at
CPAC


(Andrew S. Geraci/The Washington Times/Landov)
Friday, 20 Feb 2015 03:58 PM
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Jeb-Bush-CPAC-cross-examine/2015/02/20/id/
626031/

As theAmerican Conservative Union putsfinal touches on its annual

political conference (CPAC) next week, they've offered potential
Republican presidential contenders the option of a moderated
question-and-answer session instead speaking from a podiumto the
thousands of activists in attendance.
One White House aspirant taking the group up on the offer is former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Republican sources told Bloomberg Politics.
ACU spokesman Ian Walters confirmed that speakers will have 20
minutes in front of the crowd and have the choice of delivering
remarks and taking questions, or devoting the entire time to a Q&A
session.
While Bush is expected to outpace the potential field in fundraising, he
faces significant skepticism from voters in the conservative base of the
party who disagree with hiscalls to ease immigration laws and his
support for the Common Core education standards. How he chooses to
handle those topics, and the audience reaction that follows, will be one
of the most closely followed story lines of the four-day conference at
the National Harbor in Maryland.
Allowing a Q&A at CPAC is an initial advantage for Bush. At
appearances inSan Francisco, Detroit, and Chicago in the past two
months, Bush has proven more engaging and comfortable while taking
questions from a moderator as opposed to thetraditional speeches he
also delivered in each city. He also opted for the format earlier this
month atan education summit that his foundation hostedin Florida.
While Bush has received positive reviews after each appearance, the
questions have come from admirers, including his former deputy staff
chief in Tallahassee. It wasn't immediately clear who will moderate
questions to Bush at CPAC.
Bush is scheduled to appear on Friday. Other speakers on Friday
include Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Walters said. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence
will give the keynote dinner speech on Friday.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida may also speak Friday, but details were
still being finalized.
Speakers on Thursday will include Governors Scott Walker of
Wisconsin and Chris Christie of New Jersey, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas,
retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and businesswoman Carly Fiorina.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee declined an invitation to the
event, Walters said. Alice Stewart, a Huckabee spokeswoman,
citedpreviously scheduled events in Tennessee and South Carolina.

Chris Christie invited to CPAC

FEBRUARY 20, 2015, 12:34 PM

BY HERB JACKSON

"

AP FILE PHOTO

Gov. Chris Christie

Governor Christie will return this year to the Conservative

Political Action Conference, a gathering where he spoke last year

but was purposely not invited to attend in 2013 because of his

efforts to press for federal relief for Superstorm Sandy.
CPAC announced Christie's participation on Facebook this
morning. He is scheduled to appear on Thursday afternoon.
The conference in a Maryland resort outside Washington starts on
Wednesday when Christie has already announced he will hold a
town hall-style meeting in Burlington County through Saturday.
It is organized by the American Conservative Union and will
feature numerous other potential presidential candidates.
The speech would be Christie's second trip to the Washington area
in a week. He spoke Thursday night at the annual dinner hosted
by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and is participating in
private meetings of the Republican Governors Association today.
On Saturday, he may take part in the winter meeting of the nonpartisan National Governors Association, but is not expected to
stay for a governors' dinner with President Obama on Sunday or a
work meeting in the White House on Monday.
At CPAC last year, Christie highlighted his opposition to abortion
and support for treatment rather than prison for drug addicts. He
also defended energy billionaires Charles and David Koch from
attacks that then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had made
from the Senate floor.

Walker says right-to-work will help

presidential bid
Monday, February 23, 2015 8:59 a.m. CST
http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2015/feb/23/walker-says-right-to-work-willhelp-presidential-bid/

!
Gov. Scott Walker (Photo: Wisconsin Radio Network)

LEARFIELD, Wis (WSAU-Wheeler News) After he spent months

calling it a distraction, Governor Scott Walker now says approval of
a right-to-work bill would help his potential presidential campaign.
At the National Governors Association meeting in Washington
during the weekend, the Republican Walker said it will show that he
leads a state with "proven problem-solvers." Walker also said he
saw no need to cancel any of his national appearances this week to
stay home and help shepherd the bill through the Legislature. The

governor said he's not in the middle of the debate over right-towork, which supporters say would attract out-of-state businesses
but critics say would weaken unions.
The bill would no longer let companies require union membership or
dues as a condition of employment. G-O-P leaders of both houses
say they have the votes to pass right-to-work, which will be up first
in the Senate this week.
Minority Democrats are powerless to stop it, but Green Bay
Democrat Dave Hansen said his party would debate "long and
loudly" on the Senate floor Wednesday. A public hearing on the bill
is set for tomorrow.
Today Governor Walker is in Nashville for a Christian broadcasters'
convention. Later in the week, he'll appear in Washington at the
annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

Pence keeps feet in

Indiana, national debates
Governor to give speeches to influential national GOP
groups

Mike Pence

Posted: Monday, February 23, 2015 8:30 am

INDIANAPOLIS Gov. Mike Pence has kept to his largely hands-off approach to
dealing with the Indiana Legislature, even as he has stepped into the middle of some
high-profile issues during his third year in office.
Pence has cited his involvement with the legislative session as the reason for putting off
a decision on joining the Republican presidential race until at least April. But hes
keeping himself in that mix with upcoming speeches to influential conservative groups.

The Republican-dominated General Assembly reaches the midway point of its 2015
session this week and has been advancing several key items from the governors
agenda. Those include increased funding for the charter school and private school
voucher programs, adding a balanced budget amendment to the state constitution and
eliminating various tax credits in the name of simplification.
Pence has been out front on the drive to allow his appointees on the State Board of
Education to replace Democratic state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz as the board
chairman and called two Statehouse news conferences in a three-day period this
month to push for steps shortening the ISTEP+ standardized tests for some 450,000
students.
Thats in contrast to his detachment on other policy debates swirling around the
Statehouse, from the nitty-gritty of fairness in school district funding to the question of
whether proposed casino law changes would violate his definition of an expansion of
gambling.
Pence told reporters last week he believed House Republicans $31 billion state budget
plan was in the ballpark. He hinted that it might be spending too much, then wouldnt
go into details.
I just want to urge caution, he said. Revenue was off forecast in the month of January.
I think while the Indiana economy is growing, the American economy is growing, I think
that commonsense says we ought to be cautious about the commitments that we
make.
Pence said he didnt have a position on the proposal lawmakers are considering to end
the states 80-year-old ban on Sunday carry-out alcohol sales a subject that nearly
everyone seems to have an opinion about.
It is not on my agenda, Pence said. If the bill reaches my desk, well give it a fair
look.

MANAGEMENT & LABOR

Scott Walker Abandons His ReElection Pledge to Unions
BY TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE | FEBRUARY 23, 2015

By Patrick Marley and Jason Stein

http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/tns-wisconsin-scott-walkerright-to-work.html

After saying in his re-election bid that he wouldn't push so-called rightto-work legislation, Gov. Scott Walker committed Friday to signing it,
acting after GOP leaders fast-tracked the proposal for a Senate vote next
week.
Walker as a lawmaker sponsored the labor legislation two decades ago
and as governor was careful never to say he would veto it, but as
recently as September he said he wouldn't be "supporting it in this
session." That changed Friday as Walker's fellow Republicans in the
Legislature made clear they would act on the issue at a time when the
governor has won a second term and is spending more time outside the
state pursuing the presidency.
"I've never said that I didn't think it was a good idea. I've just questioned
the timing in the past and whether it was right at that time," Walker told

the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a Friday interview at a National

Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C.
The governor's potential White House run was made possible by his
signature 2011 lawknown as Act 10 that repealed most collective
bargaining for most public employees. Walker pushed the law through
despite protests by tens of thousands of union supporters. That prompted
a historic, unsuccessful attempt to recall him, helping Walker become a
conservative icon.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said he had the
votes needed to pass the proposal and was hoping to avoid the chaos that
surrounded the passage of Walker's union law four years ago. Fitzgerald
said he had spoken to Capitol Police and Walker aides about security at
the statehouse.
"My experience as leader is when you have the votes, you go to the
floor," said Fitzgerald, who used the abrupt action to pass Walker's labor
bill in 2011. "...I just have my fingers crossed as to whether something is
going to happen like Act 10."
Right-to-work laws -- in place in 24 states -- bar businesses and unions
from reaching labor deals that require workers to pay union fees. The
Wisconsin measure, like those in 18 other states, would include criminal
penalties for agreeing to a contract with a fee requirement.
Supporters say right-to-work laws provide workers with free choice on
whether to join unions. Opponents say unions and businesses should be
free to structure labor deals as they see fit and all employees should pay
for the work unions do.
A Senate leadership committee will introduce the bill Monday,
Fitzgerald said. The Senate Labor Committee will hold a hearing on it
Tuesday, and the Senate will take it up as soon as Wednesday.
The Assembly will vote on it the following week, under the Republicans'
timetable.
Lawmakers are calling themselves into extraordinary session for the bill
because Democrats would have fewer chances to use delaying tactics
available to them in a regular session, Fitzgerald said.

During the fight over Act 10, Senate Democrats were able to stall the
measure by decamping to Illinois for three weeks. They won't have that
option this time because the right-to-work bill does not require threefifths of the senators to be present for the vote, as the earlier legislation
did.
Walker, who was in New York City this week to meet with conservative
donors, is scheduled to be out of state for much of the coming week.
On Monday, he is to be in Nashville, Tenn., to address a Christian media
convention. Later in the week, he is to appear in Washington at the
Conservative Political Action Conference and in Palm Beach, Fla., to
address the conservative Club for Growth with other potential
Republican presidential candidates.
Walker indicated he likely wouldn't cancel any of those appearances to
deal with the biggest legislation of this session besides the state budget.
Governor's approach
After Walker came into office in 2011, Beloit billionaire Diane
Hendricks greeted him and asked him when he would make Wisconsin a
"completely red state, and work on these unions, and become a right-towork" state.
Walker responded by telling her about his plan to curtail collective
bargaining for public workers. "The first step is we're going to deal with
collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use
divide and conquer," he said.
After footage of their encounter became public in May 2012 -- and in the
years since -- Walker has insisted he did not want to take up right-towork legislation.
He downplayed the possibility of a right-to-work bill passing throughout
his 2014 race against former Trek Bicycle Corp. executive Mary Burke.
"I think it's pretty clear the Legislature has worked with us hand-in-hand
in the past, and I'm making it clear in this campaign, as I'll make it clear
in the next (legislative) session, that that's not something that's part of
my agenda," Walker said in September.
"My point is I'm not pushing for it. I'm not supporting it in this session."

But on Friday he said a right-to-work law would "affect a small

percentage" of people because most union workers are in the public
sector, and they are already prohibited from being required to pay union
fees under Act 10.
"Right-to-work is essentially in effect for ... a good chunk of the people
who four years ago were in a union, most of which in this state were in
the public sector," he said. "They now have that freedom to choose."
The states that have most recently adopted right-to-work laws are also
Great Lakes states -- Indiana and Michigan, both of which adopted them
in 2012. The legislation moved swiftly in those states, just as it is poised
to do so here.
"Wisconsin should be a right-to-work state," Assembly Speaker Robin
Vos (R-Rochester) said in a statement. "The public widely supports
worker freedom and the potential positive impact to the state's economy
can no longer be ignored."
But Terry McGowan, business manager for Operating Engineers Local
139, said supporters' claims about freedom for workers was a "smoke
screen."
"It has nothing to do with worker rights. It has everything to do with
pulling us down," he said.
By the Republicans' logic, people should get to take stock of the
government services they receive and then decide whether they want to
pay taxes, he said.
"How about you let the taxpayers decide -- you can either pay taxes or
not pay the taxes? Isn't that freedom, too?" McGowan said.
McGowan's union represents about 9,100 heavy equipment operators. It
runs training programs using fees paid by workers. Those will slowly go
away as workers decide to keep the money instead of paying fees, he
said, and taxpayers will have to pick up training costs through technical
colleges.
Local 139 regularly gives to candidates from both parties and has made
more than $460,000 in political donations since 2008, according to state
figures. But McGowan suggested support for Republicans pushing the
labor measure would end.

"Will I support them? Hell no," he said. "Not just no, hell no."
But he downplayed the possibility of launching massive protests at the
Capitol, as happened four years ago.
"I don't know what banging on a plastic bucket and blowing on a horn
will do," he said.
Economists say it's difficult to determine the effects of right-to-work
laws in other states because of a host of factors, ranging from taxes and
the skills of the workforce to interstate highways and the weather. That's
a problem when many of the partisan studies looking at the effects of
such legislation assume that there are no other causes for the economic
outcomes in states as different as New York and Alabama.
Economists say some careful studies suggest that right-to-work laws
tend to produce some additional investment and jobs in a state's
manufacturing sector, somewhat lower wages for those jobs and less
funding for unions as some members choose not to pay dues.
In the Senate, Fitzgerald can afford to have only one GOP senator vote
no -- Republicans control the body 18-14 -- but he confidently said he
had the 17 votes needed.
The vote is still likely to be very close. Sen. Jerry Petrowski (RMarathon), for instance, has opposed right-to-work in the past and called
it a distraction last month.
Other Republicans who have said they considered the measure a
distraction have come around to the idea. A spokesman for Sen. Rob
Cowles (R-Allouez) said he would vote for the legislation.
The plan to move quickly on the legislation comes a month after
Fitzgerald said the measure would not be taken up until after April 7,
when a vacancy is filled in the Senate. That seat will go to former Rep.
Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg), who won a GOP primary this week; no
Democrat is running for the seat.
Fitzgerald said he was moving the bill now because he had the votes. He
said he also was concerned opponents would launch TV ads that could
change some Republicans' minds.
"I lay awake at night losing sleep over that," he said.

Fitzgerald said he brought up the right-to-work proposal as a possibility

to the governor Wednesday. On Thursday, he alerted Walker's chief of
staff, Eric Schutt, to the plan to act on the bill next week.
Neither Walker nor Schutt discouraged Fitzgerald from putting the bill
forward, Fitzgerald said. He called Walker "supportive" but said "he still
probably believes there is a potential this could turn into something that
would be disruptive."
In the Assembly, Republicans have a 63-36 majority.
All Democrats in both houses are expected to oppose the measure, as
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) made clear.
"Rather than creating economic uncertainty for Wisconsin families and
small businesses, Republicans should focus their attention on boosting
family wages, closing the skills gap and fixing the $2.2 billion budget
crisis they created," Shilling said.
The state can't make changes to existing union contracts. Any labor pacts
requiring workers to pay fees that are in place when the law is signed
will remain in effect until they expire.
Fitzgerald said part of the reason he wants to pass the bill quickly is to
prevent unions and businesses from rushing to sign new contracts before
the law takes effect.

Candidate Scott Walker and Gov. Scott

Walker hit bumps with state GOP

Associated Press
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker talks to reporters at the conclusion of the opening
session of the National Governors Winter Meeting in Washington on Saturday.

By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 23, 2015
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/candidate-scott-walker-and-gov-scottwalker-hit-bumps-with-state-gop-b99448776z1-293564461.html

!
Associated Press, Journal Sentinel files
Gov. Scott Walker is increasingly splitting his time between campaigning for
president (left in Iowa) and navigating the state budget process (right during
budget address).

Madison When it comes to Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans,
distance doesn't seem to make hearts grow fonder.
As Walker travels throughout the country pursuing the presidency, he and
GOP lawmakers have bumped into one another on the biggest issues before
them, from the state budget to private-sector unions.
When lawmakers in charge of the state Legislature put forward complex
proposals last month to sanction failing schools, Walker panned the bills in
favor of grading them and letting parents decide whether to pull out of a
troubled school.
When the governor proposed borrowing $1.3 billion to help pay for state
road building, Republican leaders said that might be more debt than they
could swallow. And lawmakers didn't hesitate to toss aside a State Patrol
trooper contract negotiated by the governor's administration.
Finally on Friday, Republican legislators fast-tracked union legislation over
Walker's objections that it was a "distraction," pushing the governor to say
for the first time that he would sign the right-to-work proposal.
Governors do the key early work on the state budget and always get the
vast majority of what they propose in that bill, said Scott Jensen, a former
Assembly speaker and Republican lobbyist.
But, "I think there'll be more legislative involvement in the details in the
next few months, and that could be a healthy thing," Jensen said.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) sees something more
a growing conflict between Walker's campaign activities and his official
duties.
"Clearly his day job is increasingly becoming less significant to him in his
quest for his next office," Barca said.
Walker hasn't by any stretch dropped communications with the Legislature's
leaders on Wednesday he sat down with Senate Majority Leader Scott

Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and, in

a separate meeting, with Barca and Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling
(D-La Crosse).
On Thursday evening, Fitzgerald called Walker's chief of staff, Eric Schutt, to
let him know that Republican lawmakers would announce Friday they were
fast-tracking right-to-work legislation, which prohibits unions and employers
from requiring workers to pay labor dues or fees.
Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick downplayed the recent differences in
approach between the governor and Republican leaders as natural in politics
and similar to those of the past.
For instance, lawmakers made substantial changes to Walker's tax cut
package last spring, and the governor and lawmakers also had differences in
the last legislative session over how to hold failing schools accountable,
Patrick said.
Walker made the same points in an interview at an event in Washington,
D.C., Saturday, saying Republicans in Wisconsin support his presidential run.
"There has been no governor I can remember in modern American history,
at least in our state, who's ever introduced a budget and had it passed as it
is. There will be tweaks along the way, but ... I think if you look at the core
values that we share, Republicans in the Assembly and Republicans in the
Senate, we'll end up with a budget very similar to ours," Walker said.
As the governor has jumped to near the front of the pack of potential GOP
presidential nominees, his travel has increased.
Walker met with conservative donors in New York City on Wednesday and
Thursday and attended the National Governors Association meeting over the
weekend in Washington. On Monday, he's traveling to Nashville for a
Christian broadcasters' convention and then later in the week returning to
Washington to appear along with other 2016 GOP hopefuls at the
Conservative Political Action Conference.
Work on the right-to-work bill and state budget the two biggest bills of the
legislative session is moving forward at a furious clip in the Legislature.
But in an interview at the governor's conference meeting Friday, Walker said
he didn't plan to cancel any of his out-of-state travel.
"I'm not in the middle of the debate. I'm not the one articulating it. You've
got members of the Assembly and Senate who will be talking about it. ...
They can have that debate in a way that should be a good thorough debate
over the next couple of weeks. But I would expect that, with the votes they
believe that they have, this will be done in relatively short order," Walker
said.
For the past four years, the governor has steadfastly avoided saying whether
he would sign or veto a right-to-work bill if it landed on his desk, saying for
the first time Friday that he would sign it after it became clear that GOP

lawmakers would indeed pass it. Walker said signing the bill would advance
his presidential campaign.
"I think it's another positive. We're proven problem solvers," Walker said.
With Walker polling as well or even better than other top GOP contenders
such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the
demands on Walker's time and the scrutiny of his record will only grow in the
coming weeks. He's already booked to appear at two events in crucial early
nominating states next month the Iowa Agriculture Summit and a
meeting of the New Hampshire Republican Party.
For obvious reasons, statehouse leaders of the same party rarely criticize
one another, even indirectly.
So it drew attention last week when Vos, the Assembly speaker, volunteered
to reporters that he believed in evolution and felt that for him questions
about it were easy to answer. The day before, Walker had drawn headlines of
his own when he had declined to answer a question about whether he
believed in evolution.
On Friday, Vos noted that lawmakers are still meeting regularly with Walker
and that this current state budget is forcing difficult decisions because of the
state's financial strains.
Vos also pointed out that the Republican-controlled Assembly now has more
experienced leaders, such as Joint Finance Committee co-chairman John
Nygren (R-Marinette). They now know more about how a budget is crafted
and the programs that make it up, leaving them in a better position to offer
changes, he said.
"I think it's fair to say that Chairman Nygren and I are both stepping up
more," Vos said. "Because of that, there's naturally going to be more
pushback.

Christie to join other potential

2016 Republican candidates at
key conservative gathering

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

on February 20, 2015 at 1:59 PM, updated February 20, 2015 at 5:31 PM

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/
christie_to_join_other_potential_2016_presidential.html

WASHINGTON Gov. Chris Christie will join other potential

2016 Republican presidential candidates at the annual
Conservative Political Action Conference, it was announced today.
The annual CPAC gathering, sponsored by the American
Conservative Union, is a chance for the GOP hopefuls to speak to
an influential group of political activists who will help shape the
issues and debate in next year's Republican presidential
primaries. It will take place Feb. 25-28 in National Harbor, Md.,
10 miles south of the nation's capital.
Almost every Republican mentioned as a possible candidate in
2016 is on the schedule, according to CPAC's website, including
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted
Cruz, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul,
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Florida
Sen. Marco Rubio, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
Christie, Cruz and Carson are among the speakers set to begin the
formal program on Feb. 26.
Christie's appearance at CPAC will follow his annual budget
message to the state legislature and his first town hall
meeting since last summer. It will also be his second trip to
Washington in a week. He was the keynote speaker at the
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce's annual Walk to Washington
and was spending today at closed-door Republican Governors
Association events. Christie chaired the RGA last year.
The governor was snubbed by the group in 2013, but was
invited to speak in 2014 where he told the gathering to focus
on winning elections.
"We don't get to govern if we don't win," he said at the time. "And
it's not only bad when we don't get to govern because we don't get
to mold, change our society, what's worse is they do. And they're
doing it to us right now. So please let us come out of this resolved
not only to stand for our principles, but let's come out of this
conference resolved to win elections again.

Five Stories You'll Care About in

Politics This Week
By RICK KLEIN (@rickklein)
Feb 22, 2015, 2:16 AM ET
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/stories-care-politics-week/story?id=29115645


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ABCNews.com
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So, Jeb Bush is his own man, though he loves talking to his dads and his
brothers men. Joe Biden loves all men -- and women, of course, too -particularly those in early-voting states. Whether Elizabeth Warren and
Hillary Clinton learn to love each other might be the biggest question of
2016. Rudy Giuliani thinks he knows what the president loves. And Chris
Christie is learning more than he wanted about whom Republican donors
love.
Heres a glimpse at some of the stories the ABC News political team will be
tracking in the week ahead:
clear

1.
JEB AND FRIENDS
The annual conservative carnival known as CPAC will come together outside
Washington and draw the brightest prospects of the Republican Party, along
with servings of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. The Conservative Political
Action Conference has historically been an outlet for presidential contenders
to show off their stump speeches and burnish their conservative credentials,
and all the major 2016ers will be there. CPAC will be the first multicandidate showcase to feature former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose
declaration of independence from the Presidents Bush doesnt change the fact
that his brothers administration isnt so fondly remembered by some in the
conservative movement. Will Bush dare to mention immigration or
education, and risk early boos in his quest for 2016?
empty

2.
COUNTING DOWN
Wait -- its the end of February already? Those comfy two months
Republicans carved for themselves to deal with Homeland Security funding
have gone by fast, with no real progress in crafting a bill that can actually
pass Congress. Republicans calculated that this deadline was the best way to
roll back President Obamas executive order on immigration. But Democrats

are standing their ground, and polls suggest Republicans are more likely to
shoulder the blame for a partial departmental shutdown. While the
consequences wouldnt necessarily be dire, since so many DHS employees
are considered essential, Homeland Security is kind of a bad department to
not fund. A federal judge put a stop to the immigration order this past week,
potentially giving Republicans an off-ramp from a confrontation theyre not
entirely comfortable with. But word that the White House is plotting to get
that ruling reversed scrambles even that calculation. Somebody will have to
blink, or somebody will have to cut a deal, and fast.
empty

3.
NAME OF LOVE
Rudy Giuliani isnt running for anything, and hasnt won an election since
1997. But he still knows how to win/lose a news cycle. I do not believe that
the president loves America, the former New York City mayor declared,
prompting days worth of sparring with Democrats, and partial walk-backs
that may have made things worse for Giuliani. The dust-up evokes memories
of the early, birther-infused days of the Obama presidency, and invites
uncomfortable questions for 2016ers. The current context is important, too:
President Obama is pointedly refusing to call terrorists Islamic or
Muslim, in a semantic decision his critics fear has policy implications. And
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is readying a Washington trip
that will expose deep divisions between the U.S. and one of its closest allies
on the issue of Iran.
empty

4.
JOURNEYS WITH JOE
Joe Biden is flirting ... with something. Or else his schedulers are really good
at making us think he is -- how else to read a third early-voting-state visit by
the vice president in as many weeks? Next on Bidens tour is a trip
Wednesday to New Hampshire to tout the economy, following up on trips to

South Carolina and Iowa. It was in Iowa that Biden said Democrats running
for president should be sticking with what works -- in essence, he said,
running for a third term of the Obama administration. Biden himself has
said he wont make up his mind on running until summer, but Democrats
continue to be restless about the Hillary-or-bust shape their nominating
process seems to be taking. While Hillary Clinton herself still stays away
from early states, former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley will hit South
Carolina on Friday.
empty

5.
RAHMBO: FIRST ROUND PART II
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has gone a long way toward righting his own political
ship in advance of Tuesdays mayoral election in Chicago. But his best bet at
guaranteeing himself a second term would come by securing an outright
majority in this first round of voting, thereby avoiding an April runoff. Polls
suggest 50 percent is within reach but by no means guaranteed for Emanuel,
despite a tumultuous first term marked by a spike in violence and tensions
over schools and pensions. The general thinking is that one of Emanuels
lesser-known rivals could consolidate frustration with the mayor, given a oneon-one shot in a runoff. President Obama recorded a radio ad for his former
chief of staff, and dropped by the mayors campaign headquarters this past
week with the knowledge that Emanuel doesnt want to face six more weeks
of campaigning.