Four years after he announced at the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was quitting the 2008 Republican presidential race, Mitt Romney returns to CPAC this week a battered but resilient front-runner for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination who is still struggling to win over conservatives.
The three-day CPAC confab in Washington represents a crucial opportunity for Romney, who won just three of eight state nominating contests so far because so many Republicans still fret that he’s too moderate and malleable on issues of importance to them. It’s also an unusual moment for CPAC. The Republican nominee is usually known by the time the group convenes, but this year’s race is still in flux, which will only intensify competition for those conservative activists.
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Still, the timing couldn’t be worse for Romney. The former Massachusetts governor limps into CPAC following a three-state thrashing by rival Rick Santorum, whose direct appeal to evangelicals and social conservatives propelled him to victory Tuesday in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.
“It’s a game changer,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said of Romney’s defeat. “Conservative voters are just not ready to rally around Mitt Romney.”
Romney, Santorum and fellow presidential candidate Newt Gingrich are all scheduled to address the CPAC gathering Friday. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is skipping the conference to campaign. All four presidential candidates will be judged in a Saturday straw poll, which, thanks to the unsettled nomination, will be competitive for the first time in decades.
“If we are a microcosm of the movement and indeed I think we are, the field is still wide open,” Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the CPAC convention organizer, told The Washington Examiner. “The point being, the conservative movement is still up for grabs in terms of who they are going to support, and it will be a very interesting weekend.”
Santorum, arguably the most socially conservative of all the candidates, will arrive with the most momentum, Perkins said.
“For Santorum, the timing is perfect,” Perkins said. “To win three huge victories Tuesday and then roll into CPAC on Thursday, to one of the largest gatherings of social conservatives. It’s going to be a great event for Rick.”
Perkins said the conference will give Santorum a moment in the spotlight that he was denied by his belated win in Iowa.
“People will listen to what he has to say, which can raise his credibility as the potential standard-bearer,” Perkins said.
Romney won past straw polls and in 2008 was considered the more conservative alternative to Sen. John McCain, the eventual nominee.
But Romney has a history of pivoting on key conservative issues, including abortion, gun control and health care reform, which has hindered his efforts to win over the Republican base.
Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, said Romney should use CPAC to reconnect with the party’s conservative base.
“This gives him a great opportunity to have a conversation with conservatives,” said Bozell, who added that Romney’s 2008 speech, where he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race, scored a lot of points with conservatives.
“He could equally impress them this time around,” Bozell said. “But, if he doesn’t sing the conservative tune with the right pitch, the audience is going to hear it. Instantly.”
