ATLANTA — It’s likely the Donald Trump melodrama is the only news you’ve heard from the RedState Gathering of conservatives in Atlanta. But something unusual happened here, and it had nothing to do with Trump.
A parade of Republican presidential candidates marched through — Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker — and not one of them bombed. Not one underwhelmed, disappointed, or mailed it in. Instead, the GOP hopefuls were sharp, fired-up, and focused, even as the embarrassments of the latest Trump controversy threatened to overshadow it all.
Why were they so good? Here’s a theory: The candidates prepared like crazy for the recent Cleveland debate, honing their arguments, finding the most effective way to express their positions. Most of that material was never used — there was no time, given the constraints of a big-field debate. Plus, they were terrified of making a mistake in front of the huge Fox News audience. So now, with all that preparation, and with more time — and without the crushing pressure and nerves of the debate — they’re letting go with their newly-polished best stuff.
Ted Cruz staffers privately complain that when he gives a knockout speech, it’s often dismissed because Ted Cruz is expected to give a knockout speech. That’s what he did Saturday. The Texas senator focused on a theme of conservative authenticity that deeply resonated with the RedStaters.
Conservatives must be wary of “campaign conservatives,” Cruz said, who, when it comes time to ask for votes, “suddenly discover they’re the most conservative souls who ever lived.” Cruz took as his example the debate in Cleveland. “I’m pretty sure not a single person in the debate stood up and said, ‘I’m an establishment moderate squish. I stand for nothing,'” Cruz explained, as the crowd laughed. “Have you noticed that they run as us? That’s how they run. By the way, they say if you’re actually us, you’re unelectable. And yet when they’re running they understand, their message doesn’t sell.”
Might Cruz have been referring to anyone in particular? Cruz never mentioned the next-up speaker’s name — Jeb Bush — but many in the audience took him to be the “campaign conservative” in question. But the Republican leadership in Congress was even more in Cruz’s sights as he riffed on the idea of authenticity — all the while keeping his message light enough to stay on the entertaining side of angry.
How well-received was Cruz? Well, the man who introduced him, Texas Rep. Jim Bridenstine, won a standing ovation just for introducing him. And people stood often during Cruz’s speech. The appearance was the starting point of a southern-states bus tour that shows the importance Cruz places on the so-called SEC primary next March, and it was a big start.
It might seem odd to say that a crowd that could appreciate Cruz so much would also, just an hour and a half later, give a warm reception to Bush. But that’s what happened when the former Florida governor delivered a solid, policy-packed speech that at the same time gave off an air of energy, passion, and liveliness.
Bush was not guaranteed a friendly reception from a group that included a significant number of Tea Party activists. Some who were present discussed among themselves whether they should boo when Bush was introduced. RedState founder Erick Erickson seemed fully aware of that possibility when he went out of his way to speak kindly of Bush in his introduction. “Our next speaker is a friend of mine,” Erickson told the audience. “I love the guy. When he was the governor of Florida, he was probably the most conservative governor in the nation.”
“He and I don’t agree on every issue,” Erickson continued, “but I hope you’ll listen to what he says.”
They did. Bush went through topics like cutting the federal workforce, regulations, taxes, energy, education — and yes, immigration, too — in a way that won frequent ovations. There were some jabs, too. Discussing federal workers, Bush won a lot of applause when he declared, “If you don’t show up to work as a member of Congress, you should not get paid.” Might that apply to the senator who appeared immediately before him? The audience didn’t seem to care. They liked the idea.
Bush was also the only candidate to mention the Trump matter from the stage, but it was only because Erickson prompted him. Bush won applause when he put Trump’s feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in electoral terms. “Do we want to win?” Bush asked. “Do we want to insult 53 percent of all voters? What Donald Trump said is wrong. That is not how you win elections. Worse yet, that is not how you bring people together to solve problems.”
Who else shone? Mike Huckabee gave a good-humored speech that was a classic formulation of the three-legged stool of economics, national security, and social conservatism. But for a man most associated with social issues, Huckabee prioritized the first two. “People ask me, every time I go to a campaign event, what do you think the most important topic we face?” Huckabee said. “I think they want me to limit it to one. I say that’s like asking me which wing of the airplane is most important. The one on the left, or the one on the right?”
Huckabee explained that, for him, one wing is “the economy, jobs, getting America moving again,” while the other is “national security, making sure this country is safe.” He later gave an impassioned appeal on social issues as well. But the message was sent: In 2016, the economy and national security come first.
One other thing: Some recent observers have seen this year’s Huckabee as an angrier candidate than he was in 2008, lacking the good humor that won over voters in the early states back then. At RedState, the old Huckabee was back.
Who else? Bobby Jindal was a hit — funny, focused, with an at-times touching emphasis on his family’s immigrant story. The Louisiana governor’s parents came to the United States from India knowing virtually nothing about their new country and worked hard to become Americans from day one. ‘We need to insist on assimilation,” Jindal told the crowd. “Immigration without assimilation is invasion. We must not let that happen in America.”
Carly Fiorina followed up on her breakthrough debate performance with the kind of speech that has been winning supporters one-by-one for the last several months. Chris Christie was entertaining and substantive, pleasing the crowd by openly discussing the rift between the Chamber of Commerce, once a strong ally, and conservatives on issues like immigration and crony capitalism. Rick Perry was strong, as was Scott Walker, as was Marco Rubio. They all impressed.
The news was, in other words, relentlessly good: a field of remarkably talented candidates rounding into campaign shape. A group of candidates younger, more energetic, more passionate, and more focused on the future than the geriatric Democratic field.
In all, the RedState gathering might be described like this: Other than the Trump affair, it was a rousing success. But that description has an obvious other-than-that-Mrs.-Lincoln feel to it. The fact is, the Trump matter dominated much of the talk at RedState. Erickson referred to it repeatedly during his times onstage, defending his decision to withdraw Trump’s invitation to speak. RedStaters appeared to mostly support Erickson’s decision, but some were deeply unhappy. Everyone had an opinion.
The bottom line is that the RedState gathering illustrated the degree to which Trump’s antics, and the wall-to-wall media coverage they inevitably attract, are like an eclipse casting a shadow over all the good things happening in the Republican presidential field. That’s not to say Republicans should try to force Trump out of the race; given the increasingly out-of-control feel of Trump’s campaign, the problem will likely work itself out in coming weeks. But it is to say there is a lot good happening in the Republican presidential campaign, and someday Republicans will be able to see it, clearly and without the distraction that is Donald Trump.
