ATLANTA — The crowd of conservatives who have flocked to the seventh annual RedState Gathering seem comfortable with Donald Trump’s early success. They say they enjoy his “mad as hell” tone, but want someone who offers more specifics about policy proposals. Will they find a replacement in Georgia?
Many attendees hope a different candidate will emerge to voice the beliefs and concerns of the activists and grassroots organizers living across the country. The Washington Examiner spoke with several conservatives who said Trump “dominated” Thursday’s debate, but added that does not mean he necessarily won.
Howard Minnick, a RedState attendee, said he approves of what Trump has done not because he’s the right person to run the country, but because he has “carried the voice of a lot of people.” Now, Minnick said, he wants someone else to step up and occupy the center podium on the debate stage.
“Huckabee, I think, might help move Trump out of the center [spot] and all of his bloviating, and I think either he or Cruz will take the spotlight and step up,” Minnick said. “I don’t know that there was a winner [of the debate]. There were three though that I think started to break out of the pack and be something that people hadn’t seen before: Cruz, Huckabee and Rubio.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio attracted hundreds of RedState supporters on Friday and filled the ballroom at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta Hotel. But when Donald Trump visits Saturday, he is expected to attract an even larger crowd.
The Donald should receive a warm welcome from the southern audience. While some are not sure what to make of his candidacy yet, they appreciate his straightforward demeanor and side with him in the scuffle against Fox News.
Trump threw a tantrum on Twitter on Friday and complained about Fox News’ questioning of him on the debate stage. Fox News personality Megyn Kelly gained attention for asking Trump at Thursday’s debate about the disparaging remarks he has made about various women in the past.
“Most of us women are like this [question] is embarrassing,” said Rebecca Landau, a RedState attendee. “We have world issues to talk about here. If she asked it to any of them, it would have been a ridiculous question. … If I don’t like somebody, I may not speak nice about that person either.”
Landau thinks Trump won the debate, but also thinks he may prove too unpredictable for her to ultimately support him. She has chosen Trump, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and businesswoman Carly Fiorina, as her top choices.
Like many conservatives in attendance, she seemed reluctant to offer Trump her vote, but appreciated that he had antagonized all of the right enemies.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal did not appear to cross the minds of the RedState attendees the Examiner spoke to, but his speech on Friday produced some of the largest sustained applause lines of the weekend thus far. After concluding his speech, Jindal took great pains to warn reporters not to dismiss Trump and said a Trump third party candidacy would not spell disaster for the GOP.
“Let me say this about Donald Trump generally and the third party issue in particular: I think the party donors, the party leaders need to take a deep breath, put down the sharp objects, and get away from the window ledges,” Jindal told reporters. “The reality is this: the voters will decide who the nominee is and they’ll decide who the president is. Anybody that tries to clear the field and pick our nominee, there’ll be a backlash against that. The reality is I think Donald Trump has tapped into a very powerful frustration among voters.”
RedState voters seem frustrated with Trump, but they may not desert him if they cannot find a more palatable option.
