Posted on 03/01/2007 9:19:09 AM PST by areafiftyone
With his campaign hitting a few speed bumps, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is hoping to use the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that kicks off Thursday to regain the early buzz that won him support from the right.
And Romney is paying dozens of college Republicans to lend him a hand.
Romney, along with every other Republican presidential hopeful except Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), will address what organizers predict will be an audience of close to 5,000 at the 34th annual gathering of conservative activists in Washington.
"We're working to round up a lot of volunteers and taking every opportunity to show our strength and aggressive nature," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden.
The Romney camp has such an aggressive nature that it is footing the bill for two vans to haul college students in from Massachusetts and Michigan, and will pay the $25 registration fee for them as well as other college Republicans from the Washington area to attend.
College Republicans, Madden noted, "are important to our campaign and important to any campaign. "Behind every (college Republican) you sign on, there are dozens behind them."
And while Madden said such turnout efforts are focused only on getting bodies to the event for a show of force, it wouldn't hurt if attendees took part in the presidential straw poll set for the CPAC event as well.
It was Romney's surprise second-place showing at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll last March in Memphis that helped fuel the early stages of his campaign. As it did in Memphis, the Romney team is playing down the CPAC straw poll but taking steps to ensure a good showing.
An e-mail obtained by The Politico from Michigan's Hillsdale College Republican club to its members notes that they "will be helping Republican presidential candidate and Hillsdale College Commencement Speaker Mitt Romney in two ways.
"First, anyone who attends will be asked to help man the Romney booth for two hours during the three days we are in D.C. Second, we are invited to attend a special reception held by the campaign."
Costs of the trip, the e-mail notes, "will be subsidized."
As with Romney's camp, aides to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani sought to lessen the importance of the straw poll. "No, it's not something that we're aggressively going after," said one Giuliani aide.
The point, said Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella, "is to share the mayor's record in New York and his optimistic vision for the future of this country."
Comella added that the campaign is not worried about taking flak from the CPAC crowd about Giuliani's more liberal views on key social issues.
"It's clear that Republicans respect that Mayor Giuliani stands by his positions," she argued. "This is a unique election, and voters are looking at it through a different lens. And that's leadership."
Asked why his boss is skipping the event, McCain spokesman Danny Diaz replied by saying that McCain is "a lifelong conservative who has fought to cut waste, wage an aggressive war on terror and throughout his career supported a culture of life.
"He's going to continue to reach out to folks throughout the party and country, including conservatives in the coming weeks and months," continued Diaz, noting that they've "achieved quite a bit of success" in picking up conservative endorsements from figures such as Sen. John Thune (S.D.) and other local officials in recent weeks.
McCain will be in Utah raising money and holding political meetings Thursday and Friday, returning home to Arizona on Friday night.
As for their hopes for the straw poll, Diaz said, "ultimately, there are going to be a lot of polls between now and next year."
In the CPAC straw poll last year -- attendees were asked to vote on who they thought would win the nomination, not who they preferred -- McCain finished second. Former Sen. George Allen (Va.) led the field with 22 percent, followed by McCain at 20 percent and Giuliani at 12 percent. Romney was back in the pack at 5 percent.
The poll will be phrased similarly this year.
With Allen out of the mix, the presidential competition will be wide open this year -- and it matters who wins, according to one CPAC veteran.
"What happens here doesn't stay here," said Craig Shirley, a longtime conservative activist and public relations specialist whose firm is an event co-sponsor. He said the events at CPAC take place "in a very important echo chamber.
"Talk radio, columns, blogs, TV, papers; there is an enormous amount of media coverage."
That's unlike the old days, Shirley observed, when "there was kind of a smirking attitude by the national press" who tended to treat the conservative conclave "like it was a 'Star Trek' convention."
Shirley also said that while the campaigns may deny it, they'll be watching the straw poll closely. He recalled how, in 1992, political advisers to President George H.W. Bush were "just mortified that they were going to lose," so they sent over White House staffers to register for the conference to win the poll.
All the candidates appearing have something to prove, said Greg Mueller, another CPAC veteran and Republican strategist who is helping to handle public relations for the event.
"If Romney wins the straw poll, that buzz is very beneficial," Mueller noted.
Giuliani, he said, "has to demonstrate that conservatives will give him a hearing. His goal is to continue the conversation, talk about where we agree and display leadership skills."
The most interesting speech of all, Mueller added, may be the last. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), who is considering but not actively pursuing a White House bid, will give the closing speech. "He's an icon of the movement, and this is more of a Gingrich crowd," observed Mueller.
As for McCain's skipping the event, Mueller called it "just another example illustrating his rocky relationship with conservatives."
Shirley was as puzzled by McCain's decision not to attend. "Hell, I've seen (Pennsylvania Sen.) Arlen Specter get a respectful reception at CPAC," he said.
Busing in supporters sounds desperate to me.
Sounds smart to me. Often college students have the most enthusiasm and drive for volunteering and campaiging, yet they do not have the financial resources to do so.
Am I imagining things, or was it Mitt Romney who was the holy potentate of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics who issued the directive that the American flag would not be displayed in the games, then later rescinded the order after being bombarded with protest? Lest we forget.
It shows a lack of basic support though, it may be better for Romney to go to CPAC and win conservatives over to his cause by himself.
Do you have a link for that?
I have never heard that before.
Everybody does this, but its not really gonna make a dent. The cpac vote will likely have thousands of participants, romneys few dozen college supporters will barely make a dent.
I like Giuliani, but his personal life is a mess-ala Bill Clinton. McCain is tired. Romney's resume is impressive, and it intrigues me that the Democrats and media are focusing so much effort right now to bury him early. If he can make it out of the primaries, he will be a formidable opponent, especially against Obama and Clinton who have absolutely zero experience as executive of any type of organization, let alone the United States. Compare that to Romney's experience running multi billion dollar companies, the Olympics and the state of Mass., and it is a no brainer who is more qualified-
Both Romney and Rudy have so much more executive experience than any of the leading Dem candidates!
Recovered from the WTC building’s ruins after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the flag’s presence at the ceremony caused controversy between the American and International Olympic committees. The tattered flag was carried into the 19th Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony at Rice-Eccles stadium here Feb. 8 by eight athletes, escorted by New York City firefighters and Port Authority police.
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/olympics2002/wtcflag.html
Romney fought FOR the flag and the flag won.
No, it isn't. CPAC is always crawling with College Republicans and other student groups from all over the country. The sponsors and a lot of the exhibitors pay "scholarships" (entrance fee and hotel lodging) for them to attend in exchange for a little volunteer work. And the list of exhibitors subsidizing students is public.
Bottom line, Mitt might have paid for them to come, and they may have to work the Romney for President booth for a few hours, but otherwise the weekend and the straw poll are the kids' to do with as they like.
Only in the same way that a group of CRs from New York might be largely predisposed in favor of Giuliani, a group from Kansas might mostly like Brownback, and a group from Arizona might...um, oops. Well, forget I mentioned Arizona.
The point is there will be a lot of kids there and Mitt didn't bring them all.
Sorry, I don't have a link for it. I'm going on my recollection from news events surrounding the Winter Games in Salt Lake City. I'm reasonably sure it happened, but I can't any longer document it.
Apparently this is not the frst time Romney has done this. He pays for crowds of supporters!
Thanks for providing that. When I saw DPMD's statement, I thought that sounds like something the IOC would do - not something Romney would do.
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