Monday, March 05, 2007

CPAC

Monday, March 05, 2007 | Posted by SheaHeyKid | | Edit Post
Always important to get WSJ's pulse on conservative activities, here are some excerpts from John Fund's analysis of CPAC.

Newt Gingrich, who isn't even a declared candidate, gave the most inspiring speech...

Mr. McCain hurt himself by declining to address CPAC; Mr. Giuliani helped himself by showing up but left lots of unanswered questions; and Mr. Romney used superior organization to win the conference straw poll, albeit narrowly, and thus can claim he has a clear demonstration of conservative support.

Mitt Romney clearly told the crowd what it wanted to hear. He delivered a pitch-perfect message that sought to unite economic, social and national-security conservatives. Fiscal conservatives were impressed with his pledge to limit increases in discretionary federal spending to below the inflation rate. Many liked his emphasis on limiting the role of courts in social issues and his vow to try to roll back the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

But despite his laundry list of conservative positions, he didn't completely win over the audience. His showing in CPAC straw poll over less organized candidates was only adequate. Anti-Romney volunteers were everywhere, busy passing out pairs of flip-flops...

So who is the front-runner for the GOP nomination now? Polls show Rudy Giuliani with a commanding lead nationwide. But well over half of GOP primary voters are unaware of his liberal positions on everything from guns to the 1996 federal welfare reform bill.

But a third of RNC members expressed no preference for president--a high number given the intensity of the race. That leaves hope for a posse of second-tier candidates,...

...many CPAC attendees were eager to believe rumors that Jeb Bush or former senator Fred Thompson was about to enter the race...

Fred Thompson: from senator to Law & Order to President... He did give a good speech at RNC a few years ago, if I remember correctly.

Mitt needs to spend this week and next week quickly building on his success at CPAC by cementing his position as the best choice for a balance between fiscal and social conservatism, principles coupled with pragmatism.
Labels:

0 comments:

Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

AddThis

Bookmark and Share

Always sniffing for the truth

Always sniffing for the truth

Blog Archive