Walker gets front-runner treatment at CPAC
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.
Adam Gabbatt of The Guardian newspaper holds images of possible Republican candidates, from left, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Donald Trump, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and, former Texas governor Rick Perry.Â
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 talk-radio 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.
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.
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.
Contributing: Catalina Camia