Posted on 06/10/2015 1:29:58 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fiorina raises eyebrows on gay marriage, Rubio frames student debt as a moral issue, and Huckabee just bores the crowd.
In May, six Republican presidential candidates—Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Perry—had a private audition in front of the country's most influential conservatives.
Each spoke for roughly 30 minutes to the Council for National Policy—a secretive nonprofit group populated by hundreds of right-wing activists and donors—and followed up their speeches with question-and-answer sessions with Tony Perkins, the CNP president, who also serves more visibly as the head of the Family Research Council in Washington.
Based on interviews with nearly a dozen attendees gathered at the Ritz-Carlton in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, it was Cruz who emerged the winner. That's because he, unlike his rivals, gave CNP members exactly what they wanted—the blueprint for a conservative candidate to unite the conservative movement, become the GOP nominee, and ultimately, win the general election.
But there were plenty of other notable takeaways from the closed-door event. Here they are, candidate by candidate:
FIORINA
The only woman in the Republican field was introduced by Marjorie Dannenfelser, one of the most influential conservatives in the room and president of anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List. Carly Fiorina also picked Dannenfelser during the Q&A session when all the speakers were asked to name a conservative leader in their inner circles. That gave momentum to the rumor that Dannenfelser was supporting Fiorina. Indeed, while Dannenfelser won't endorse, she has since confirmed she's doing everything she can to assist Fiorina.
Fiorina gave a strong speech that earned more applause than anyone besides Cruz. She charmed the audience, attendees say, with a trial-run of a line that has recently become a staple of her stump speech—recalling how she was asked whether hormones would affect her decision-making in the Oval Office and then asking, "Ladies, can you think of any time a man's hormones have affected his decision-making?"
Still, Fiorina had one moment that troubled some in the crowd of social conservatives. She referenced the upcoming Supreme Court ruling that could legalize same-sex marriage nationwide and said if that happened, she is prepared to "move on" from the issue and focus on other fights. (Fiorina's campaign disputed those exact words, recited verbatim by several attendees, but did not deny the overall accuracy of that sentiment.)
HUCKABEE
Mike Huckabee was commonly described as the biggest loser of the event, not because he gave the worst speech but because he did not meet the lofty expectations set by his many allies in the room. He was introduced by Tim LaHaye, a minister and coauthor of the popular Left Behind book series. And while Huckabee and Cruz had long been viewed as the chief competitors for the support of conservative leaders, the former Arkansas governor gave what several attendees described as a "flat" stump speech that underwhelmed an audience who had heard it all from him before. At one point, he elicited some groans in the room, attendees said, when he told of how he'd left his lucrative job at Fox News to run in 2016 at the request of many people in the room—and then said, half-jokingly, "So you had better support me."
RUBIO
Marco Rubio's speech was well received, attendees say, as he focused heavily on education issues and framed excessive student-loan debt as something of a moral crisis for families and young people. But Rubio irritated some people in the room because he was the only candidate who did not do a "click line" for photographs with members after his speech; he had to tape an appearance on Fox News Sunday.
His introduction by John Stemberger raised eyebrows because of Stemberger's previous alliance with Jeb Bush. The president of the Florida Family Policy Council, once a close Bush ally, said afterward that he has not endorsed anyone yet, but several CNP attendees said they have witnessed Stemberger lobbying on behalf of Rubio in smaller invitation-only meetings at the event.
PERRY AND JINDAL
Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal were forgettable, attendees said. This was particularly surprising in the case of Jindal, who in February wowed the CNP gathering in California by giving a fiery speech about the collapse of conservative values in America. But Jindal didn't bring much new material to this meeting, attendees said. And Perry, who has also spoken to CNP previously, was said to be high on energy but light on substance—even drawing groans for referring to the group as "the Center for National Policy."
Perry was introduced by Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute in Texas. Attendees said they thought Shackelford was supporting Cruz despite his introduction of Perry. Jindal was introduced by Joe Gregory, a Tennessee businessman and mega-donor to the National Rifle Association.
MORE CRUZ
Cruz was introduced by Paul Pressler, a former Texas judge, who previously endorsed his presidential bid. And although he was widely viewed as the winner of the event, he had one bad stumble that kept attendees buzzing. When asked to name a movement conservative in his inner circle, Cruz hesitated, and could not muster a name, eventually saying that his entire team is staffed with true believers. It was especially awkward, attendees said, because Cruz's chief of staff, Paul Teller—a longtime, prominent CNP member—was standing off to the side of the stage. A CNP member from a rival campaign pointed out the irony of Cruz dominating the event, yet whiffing on the single-easiest softball question.
Of course Cruz missed the softball questions. Something tells me he’s more the major league type. Let his press staff deal with the softball questions, Cruz is on a mission that will only be dragged down by softball. Cruz or lose!
Well, according to some Freepers on here....Cruz should’t be holding this SECRET meeting! What a load of Garbage.
Cruz or lose!
There are people here who criticize his hair style. No, I’m not kidding.
I was speaking with the former Montgomery Co. OH chairman the other day about people like Kasich, Huckabee, Graham, etc. The clear “third tier” guys. I said “They are running for vice president” and he said, “that’s it exactly.”
Then they’re idiots. The vice presidential nominee will be an Hispanic female. You heard it here first.
Fiorina gave a strong speech that earned more applause than anyone besides Cruz. She charmed the audience, attendees say, with a trial-run of a line that has recently become a staple of her stump speech -- recalling how she was asked whether hormones would affect her decision-making in the Oval Office and then asking, "Ladies, can you think of any time a man's hormones have affected his decision-making?" Still, Fiorina had one moment that troubled some in the crowd of social conservatives. She referenced the upcoming Supreme Court ruling that could legalize same-sex marriage nationwide and said if that happened, she is prepared to "move on" from the issue and focus on other fights. (Fiorina's campaign disputed those exact words, recited verbatim by several attendees, but did not deny the overall accuracy of that sentiment.)If she winds up on the ticket, it will be as the VP running mate; she's from Cali, a large state which votes late in the day and has almost no real impact on the outcome; she's female, but that won't necessarily help her draw female voters from the Demwits; and her biggest campaign points thus far have been taking a verbal baseball bat to Hitlery, so if that isn't the Demwit nominee, that might be all she wrote. OTOH, she's hardnosed, which will appeal to women who vote and don't like men that much.
Susanna Martinez?
Well, according to some Freepers on here...s/b
Well, according to some FINOs on here...
Yes, or someone similar.
Probably a future Commerce Secretary.
No true Conservative would do that.
Since that’s not what happened.. oh, well, whatever. No one is going to follow you into the voting booth and force you to vote for anyone. At least not yet.
And Cruz is done in my book for supporting for a 5-fold increase in H-1B visas. It’s got to be Scott Walker.
Cruz didn’t vote for the Trade deal?
From hereon in I’m ignoring the eeyores, that includes you. Have a nice day.
As I type this, I am listening to Mark Levin dissect the traitorous vote for the trade bill. It doesn’t sound good. Cruz voted for the trade bill, along with the other traitorous Republicans.
Then vote for Huckabee like you were going to in the first place.
Ted Cruz REMAINS the only true Conservative in this race.
~~Cruz, OR LOSE~~
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