Five takeaways from Friday at RedState Gathering 2015
Carly Fiorina wants to make the most of her sudden momentum. The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive impressed conservatives on Thursday at the "kid's table" debate with her sharp attacks on Democrats, and she stepped up her attacks on Democrat Hillary Clinton while promising to stay level-headed amid the brighter spotlight. "It just gets a little easier when people know who you are," she added.
All the presidential hopefuls who spoke Friday received at least partial standing ovations, although the crowd feted Fiorina will multiple ones. Whether that enthusiasm remains the practice on Saturday when former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks remains to be seen. Many of Friday's speakers decried the influence of establishment Republicans, and Bush is most often seen as their candidate. If he plays to the crowd, he should be fine. But if he talks about Common Core and immigration, the response could turn quickly.
Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, used humor to relate to the largely Southern crowd. He joked about his size and his love of pizza, beer and the Mets. Asked how he, the ultimate Jersey guy, would relate to Southerners, Christie looked into the audience, shrugged, and asked, "Are you not charmed?" Judging by the response, the answer was "yes."
Nonpresidential candidates wanted to make their marks. The RedState Gathering heard from Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, both possible future candidates for higher office. But South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley got some of the best reviews from the crowd after she detailed how she tried to neutralize the debate over the Confederate battle flag flying over the South Carolina statehouse.
Criminal justice reform is picking up steam in conservative circles. An overhaul of criminal justice rules is nothing new in Georgia, where Gov. Nathan Deal has championed changes for years. But the issue was front and center before conservative leaders in other parts of the country, as Fiorina and several panelists talked of the cost-cutting benefits of keeping some drug offenders out of prison.
The only thing less popular than Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the RedState Gathering on Friday was Planned Parenthood.
From presidential hopefuls to conservative activists and writers, the women’s health care and abortion provider was derided from the get-go at this weekend’s Republican confab. Coming the day after the first presidential debate, everyone involved realized the attention of the political world was on Atlanta.
The recent surfacing of undercover videos that purport to show Planned Parenthood employees brokering the sale or donation of fetal tissue for research has galvanized anti-abortion forces. Planned Parenthood has said it does not illegally selling tissue.
“The (taxpayer) money Planned Parenthood gets should go to real health clinics, not to the butchering of babies,” author and pundit Katie Pavlich said Friday to applause before the first presidential hopeful addressed the 700 activists in a ballroom of the Intercontinental Buckhead.
And that set the tone.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was “outraged” by the videos.
“Disgusted,” he said. “As a father of four, but also as a public servant.”
Christie, however, used the issue to bash Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
“I was just as disgusted by the video put out by Hillary Clinton,” Christie said. “She’s playing the old game everybody plays, and we better be ready for it. She said Republicans are against women’s health care.”
Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said that three times this week he’s been asked whether he would vote to shut down the federal government unless Congress agrees to defund the organization. A better question, he said, would be for Democrats to say whether they would shut it down to protect Planned Parenthood.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called the videos "barbaric" and said his administration canceled Planned Parenthood's Medicaid contract and blocked it from getting a permit for a clinic in New Orleans.
“Not only am I going to send the Department of Justice and the IRS, I will send OSHA, EPA and every federal agency I can think of” to investigate Planned Parenthood, Jindal said. “This is barbaric. It sickens me to watch those videos.”
There was more, of course, and the criticism of Planned Parenthood will likely continue throughout the convention. The Gathering ends Saturday night when billionaire Donald Trump speaks at a RedState event at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta.
Speaking of Trump, hardly anyone did on Friday.
Despite an outsized performance at Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Cleveland, Trump’s name was barely uttered in Atlanta. In fact, Jindal was the only presidential candidate to even reference Trump on Friday. Asked during a session with reporters about Trump leaving the door open for a third-party bid, Jindal replied that “party leaders need to take a deep breath.”
“Put down the strong products, get away from the window ledges,” he said.
“In terms of a third-party candidacy, I don’t think he’d do that,” Jindal said of Trump. “Obviously, it wouldn’t be good to do that. But again, party leaders, party donors just need to relax.”
If Friday was about bashing Planned Parenthood and avoiding Trump, it was also a chance for “insurgent” candidates to chip away at the top-tier campaigns. Jindal, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businesswoman Carly Fiorina were all relegated to the “kids’ table” debate in Cleveland, the Thursday afternoon forum for candidates who didn’t qualify for the prime-time debate.
Jindal took on the “establishment” in the form of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who will speak Saturday.
“Jeb Bush says that we need to be willing to lose the primary in order to win the general election,” Jindal said.
“That is the establishment saying we need to hide our conservative beliefs and try to get the left and the media to like us,” he said. “I’m here to tell you, if we try to do that again, we will lose again and we will deserve to lose again.”
But to John Breakfield, a Gainesville attorney who was among the 700 people in the audience, Bush remains the best choice for 2016 — for one of the reasons Jindal dismissed.
“Jeb had a great eight years in Florida,” Breakfield said. “He proved he can govern and, quiet honestly, he’s electable.”
Fiorina’s sharp performance at Thursday night’s second-tier debate propelled her to the national spotlight. The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive impressed conservatives at the debate with her sharp attacks on Democrats and Trump. She was greeted with a sustained standing ovation in Atlanta before she took the stage, one of the loudest greetings the conservative crowd showered upon any of the presidential candidates.
“2016 is going to be a fight — a real fight — between conservatism and the progressivism that has completely dominated the Democratic Party. It’s not only undermining the country, it’s crushing the country’s engine of economic growth,” she said. “And in order to win, we have to have a nominee that throws every punch — who will not pull her punches.”
Lisa Rowan of Maryland, who was in the audience Friday, said Fiorina has made a distinct impression this week. But, Rowan said, so have all the candidates.
“They’re all holding their own,” Rowan said. “They all have great points to make. It’s just unfortunate there are so many of them.”
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