C-PAC: Candidates Galore

C-PAC was a den of presidential candidates, all hoping to connect with their core conservative voters. Some were fairly popular, like Giuliani and Romney, and others were obscure, like Tancredo and Gilmore. The Republican primaries are going to be a real contest to watch, it seems, as conservatives will really have a number of excellent candidates to choose from. While the Democratic primaries look to be between Hillary Clinton and Obama, the Republican ticket has at least four or five viable candidates.

Walking around C-PAC would lead you to believe that Romney and Brownback were the two most popular candidates. Rather, these two were just fueling their grassroots efforts by hiring tons of workers to hand out stickers and literature to passersby. The New York Times reported that "...the Romney campaign planned to have at least 225 student volunteers at the event, with 90 percent of them living close enough to eliminate the need for housing or transportation." [These 225 volunteers certainly explain how Romney received 21% of the straw poll vote, or roughly 385 votes].

Other candidates didn't need to have folks handing out campaign lit at every intersection. Giuliani, who spoke Friday afternoon to a standing-room-only crowd, didn't have any representation at the conference at all. I would say this is because he is still forming the infrastructure of his campaign (he doesn't even have a logo or print material yet), but perhaps it was because he realizes how early everything still is. There will be another C-PAC before the we have to choose a candidate. Another popular candidate was former-speaker Newt Gingrich, who received 14% of the straw poll and he hasn't made a decision about running yet.

One candidate that wasn't even mentioned, or talked about positively, was Sen. John McCain. By our arrival Thursday, newspapers were already reporting that he was the only Republican presidential candidate that turned down an invitation to C-PAC that year. Handouts were circulating pointing out that McCain skipped three different invitations to conservative events in Feb., but made time to announce his candidacy on Letterman. If you ask me, he doesn't stand a chance with conservatives.

So who will we choose? Newspapers are reporting that C-PAC was filled with grumblers and mopers--conservatives who are angry at the Republican party for putting up such moderate and liberal candidates. The truly "conservative" candidates are trailing big-time with the general public; people like Brownback and Huckabee haven't even been mentioned in many of the primary news features. Perhaps its because people are thinking about beating the competitor (which we all assume, perhaps wrongly, will be Hillary). Almost everyone at C-PAC would agree that they would rather have a Giuliani than a Clinton, but that won't say much for advancing the conservative movement.

So do we sit back and really make this a popularity contest? I think it has to be a combination of "yes" and "no." On FOX News this evening, Bill Kristol said that Republicans may be looking to make a deal with our more moderate frontrunners. I certainly support a Giuliani campaign, but it would be cool to see him with a more conservative candidate, like Newt Gingrich or Mike Huckabee. Kristol also mentioned that these candidates may be trying to move more to the Right, just as Hillary Clinton moved more to the Right to become "moderate." We have a long way to go, and if frontrunners see that the conservative base is yearning for certain ideas, they may be able to shift their policy to actually listen to their constituents.

This really is a battle of ideas. Out of the candidates I heard speak at C-PAC, I have to pick Giuliani hands-down. His speech was excellent, optimistic, and specific. He gave concrete examples about reforming the education system and defending America. He cleaned up New York City and accomplished a feat that was never thought possible... and I believe he could really transform America in a similar fashion.

The road to the White House is quite a ways away, and a lot could change. But C-PAC offered us a look at the ground level, the earliest days of a presidential candidacy. It will be fun to see it grow from there.