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McCain's Snub Stuns Conservatives Ronald Kessler
Aides to opponents of Sen. John McCain said they were "stunned" by his decision not to show up at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. After rejecting invitations to speak to the 6,000 attendees, McCain tried to schedule a private reception without clearing the request with CPAC. By then, all the rooms at the Omni Shoreham had been booked. "It was a classic McCain move, dissing us by going behind our backs," said William J. Lauderback, executive vice president of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors the three-day conference. "If you diss the girl before the dance, you're not going to be dancing with the girl when the music starts," said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. To those who know McCain, his self-destructive decision to snub conservative activists who could be his most ardent supporters is entirely in character. As outlined in a Jan. 11, NewsMax article, "Vanity Fair Tiptoes Around McCain's Explosive Temper," McCain routinely unleashes volcanic outbursts of anger on Senate colleagues whose support he needs. A former Senate staffer recalled what happened when McCain, running for president in 2000, asked for support from a fellow Republican senator on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. "The senator explained that he had already committed to support George Bush," the former Senate staffer said. "McCain said f*** you and never spoke to him again." Indeed, the performance—or non-performance—of the three major presidential contenders at the 34th annual CPAC could be a metaphor for the way their campaigns will be run. Rudy Giuliani agreed to speak at the last minute. He acquitted himself well, talking in a conversational tone that was refreshingly free of campaign rhetoric. He emphasized the need to stay on the offensive in the war on terror. He described his record of cutting taxes and crime in New York City. But he avoided any reference to his positions on gay rights or abortion, areas where he runs into trouble with conservatives. Nor did Giuliani have any other presence at the conference—no reception, no signs. Romney Drums Up Grassroots Support In contrast, Mitt Romney saw CPAC as a perfect opportunity to drum up grass roots support. With the help of Jordan Sekulow, who was responsible for galvanizing youth support in the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign, Romney flooded the conference with 200 volunteers who wore dark blue Romney t-shirts and waved large dark blue Romney signs. Whenever Romney appeared, they chanted, "We want Romney! We want Romney!" The Romney campaign paid the $25 student registration fee for the volunteers and paid travel and hotel bills for 10 of them. The volunteers were highly disciplined. They were told not to talk to the media unless given permission. "I decided I wanted to come and help Mitt Romney do for the country what he did for Massachusetts," said volunteer Deborah Sonnenschein, a paralegal from Sudbury, Mass. "In particular, one thing that I'm really impressed with is what he did with secondary education. And having grown up and lived most of my life in the African-American community in Massachusetts, when he started the free tuition in state schools for anyone who met certain criteria, what that did was it practically doubled the number of black students in four years." Anne Loerch, a student at American University's Kogod School of Business, said, "I appreciate a good businessman, and I think he'd be really good in dealing with the deficit." As with the Bush-Cheney campaign, the Romney campaign runs on metrics, meaning that results are measured statistically. Each volunteer was instructed to persuade at least five people to vote for Romney in CPAC's straw poll. Describing his efforts during the Bush-Cheney campaign, Sekulow said, "The vast majority of our young volunteers came from the evangelical movement. They're members of right-to-life clubs on campus, pro-life groups on campus, and they were conservative, and they supported President Bush, and they were great at grassroots." In attracting volunteers to support Romney at CPAC, Sekulow, an evangelical Christian of Jewish heritage, reached out to all students. Instead of waiting until the last minute, Romney booked a room for a reception in January. Romney "called us a long time ago to arrange for a hospitality reception for CPAC attendees," Lauderback said. At least 600 people jammed into the room as the volunteers cheered, "We want Mitt!" They waved large red mitts saying, "Mitt '08." "These are the same kinds of efforts we'll be putting into winning the coming straw polls," a Romney aide said. No Shows: McCain and Giuliani Guiliani's and McCain's lack of interest in wooing conservatives has been part of a pattern. Whereas Ronney spoke to a National Review Online conference, a gathering of the Republican Study Committee, and a Heritage Foundation retreat in Baltimore, neither Giuliani nor McCain showed up. Giuliani subsequently spoke at Heritage Foundation headquarters in Washington. Similarly, Romney spoke at a reception he gave at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting in January at the Grand Hyatt in Washington. McCain gave a reception but did not show up. Giuliani gave no reception and did not attend, leaving attendees mystified. At CPAC, Romney was the only candidate to give his speech with his wife at his side. After Ann Romney spoke briefly, Romney made a dig at the media, as he often does. "The mainstream media is surprised that we're here," he said, "They wrote our obituary last fall. Of course, they've written our obituary before: after Watergate, after the '82 midterm elections, after Iran-contra, and after Bill Clinton's election. The truth is that their wishful thinking reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, I predict that we'll be around a lot longer than, say, newspapers!" If elected president, Romney promised that he will cap non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus one percent. "That alone will save $300 billion over 10 years," he said. "If Congress sends me a budget that exceeds the cap, I will veto that budget. I don't care if it's a Republican or Democrat Congress, I will veto that budget." Ann Romney told me she thought it was one of the best speeches her husband had ever given. Like most of the candidates who spoke, Romney said he favors President Bush's troop surge. After giving his speech to CPAC, presidential candidate Jim Gilmore told NewsMax, "The Democrats' instincts would be to withdraw inside the borders of the country. That's been their long tradition as a party." The former Virginia governor said, "They're just reading the polls, and they're not thinking about the best interests of the country. It's our job, really, to protect the people of the United States." Norquist's Take In introducing Romney, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said the former Massachusetts governor was the first major candidate to sign ATR's pledge not to raise marginal tax rates. Neither Giuliani nor McCain has signed the pledge. Norquist described Romney as a candidate who, by reining in spending, left Massachusetts with a balanced budget after inheriting a $3 billion deficit. Norquist called Romney a man who "fights for all the values of the Reagan coalition." He said Romney both respects family values and lives them. "He's been married for 37 years, he has five sons, 10 grandchildren, and he's fought for marriage at ground zero in the war, the other team's war on the institution of marriage, ground zero being the supreme court in the state of Massachusetts, " Norquist noted. At the Romney reception, Jefts G. Beede, a board member of the Reagan Ranch, said, "He's clean as a whistle. He's practically the only absolutely guaranteed clean politician running in this election." In his keynote address, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina said a previous speaker at CPAC once began his address by saying: "Since our last meeting, we have been through a disastrous election. It is easy for us to be discouraged, as pundits hail that election as a repudiation of our philosophy and even as a mandate of some kind. Bitter as it is to accept the results of the November election, we should have reason for some optimism." Those words were spoken on March 1, 1975 by Ronald Reagan, DeMint said. DeMint's experience with two of the major candidates is revealing. In December of 2006, DeMint was elected chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, a caucus of conservative senators that includes the majority of the Republican Conference. Yet when DeMint called Giuliani to discuss his candidacy, the former New York mayor did not return his calls, according to a source. On the other hand, when DeMint called Romney, Romney not only returned his call, he kept calling DeMint almost weekly, asking him for advice. DeMint began to see some of his guidance materialize in Romney's speeches and strategy. In early January, DeMint endorsed Romney. A spokesman for DeMint declined to comment. Fund Bounced by Giuliani Bodyguard Another speaker at CPAC, the Wall Street Journal's John Fund, left his cough medicine in the green room. Wearing both a speaker's pass and a media pass, Fund returned to retrieve it. Giuliani was about to speak, and one of his security men said to Fund nastily, "The mayor is about to speak. Get out!" Fund took that as typical of the arrogance of the people around Giuliani. Like their boss, Fund told me, Giuliani's staff is known for not returning calls. Fund attributed that to either arrogance or fear that Giuliani would disapprove of what they had to say. In the end, Romney's efforts paid off. Of the 1,705 votes cast in the CPAC straw poll, Romney got 21%, compared with 17% for Giuliani and 15% for Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. McCain trailed with 12% of the votes. The results were announced at the conclusion of the conference to a ballroom packed with 1,400 people. When McCain's name was mentioned, loud boos erupted.
Ronald Kessler is Chief Washington Correspondent of NewsMax.com. Get his dispatches FREE sent you via e-mail – Click Here Now.
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