More than 10,000 activists will descend on Washington this week for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Every presidential candidate, except Ron Paul, will speak in the convention’s main hall Friday. But no candidate is more in need of a big positive reaction from the crowd, and a victory in the CPAC straw poll, than Rick Santorum.
We already know that Mitt Romney is not the first choice of conservative activists. The entrance polling from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida all showed that Romney is weakest among the Republican party’s most conservative voters. Whether he likes it or not, Romney is the establishment candidate who will depend on money and infrastructure to carry him to the nomination. His losses in Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota proved how weak a candidate he would be without those advantages.
But who, if anybody, will be the conservative alternative to Romney? That is the big question that Santorum must answer when he speaks on Friday. Can he outshine Newt Gingrich, who has been a CPAC star for decades? Can Santorum overcome his big government/compassionate conservatism niche? What, if anything, will he have to say to economic conservatives who see no difference between his mercantalist tax policies and Obama’s?
CPAC is Santorum’s first appearance on the national stage since his wins Tuesday. He either electrifies the crowd, wins the straw poll, and gains some real momentum, or he ends up looking like just another speed bump on Romney’s road to the nomination.
Campaign 2012
Romney: The Washington Examiner‘s Phil Klein details how Mitt Romney could fail to reach 1,144 delegates, thus forcing a brokered convention and possibly another candidate.
Santorum: Rick Santorum has only raised $1 million since his three beauty contest wins in Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota.
Obama: Politico‘s Jim Vandehi writes that President Obama has made it clear that, “victory is more important than purity.”
Virginia: A Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters in Virginia shows Mitt Romney far ahead of Ron Paul 68 percent to 19 percent. Rick Santorum failed to make the ballot.
Indiana: Fox News asks, “Just how much time Does Republican Senator Richard Lugar spend in Indiana?” Lugar is facing a primary challenge from the conservative State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.
Around the Bigs
The Wall Street Journal, Accord Near on Foreclosure Abuses: Federal and state governments are near an agreement with the nation’s five largest banks to forgive foreclosure fraud charges in exchange for $25 billion in penalties, $17 billion of which must go to borrowers who were not victims of fraud, but are currently underwater on their mortgages.
ABC News, Senate Democrats Say Obama ‘Reinforced’ His Stance on Contraception Mandate at Democratic Retreat: Senate Democrats tell ABC News that at the Democrats’ annual retreat at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. yesterday, President Obama “reinforced” his stance on the controversial contraception mandate.
The Washington Post, Tim Kaine splits with Obama on birth control rule for religious groups: Former Virginia governor and current U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine criticized Obama’s decision to force Catholic churches to pay for birth control for its employees. “I think the White House made a good decision in including a mandate for contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act insurance policy, but I think they made a bad decision in not allowing a broad enough religious- employer exemption,” Kaine said on WHRV-FM in Hampton Roads.
The Washington Post, Poll finds broad support for Obama’s counter-terrorism policies: A majority of self-identified liberal Democrats, the same people who vehemently criticized President Bush for his supposed civil rights violations, whole-heartedly supports President Obama’s decision to keep the Guantanamo Bay prison open.
The New York Times, Libya Struggles to Curb Militias as Chaos Grows: Libya’s new government has failed to extend its authority further than its own offices, as militias still dominate the capitol Tripoli.
Righty Playbook
At The Foundry, Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., reviews The Heritage Foundation’s newly released 2012 Index of Dependency on Government.
Someone has made a satirical site, Obama/Volt 2012, encouraging Obama to drop Biden and choose the Chevy Volt as his running mate in 2012.
Cato‘s John Samples says Obama and Santorum “both see government as pursuing a moral crusade on behalf of some value.”
Lefty Playbook
Firedoglake‘s David Dayen says the foreclosure fraud settlement is at least “going forward,” but notes that $17 billion in relief is a drop in the bucket compared to the $700 billion in negative home equity Americans have.
Salon‘s Glenn Greenwald looks at The Washington Post poll showing liberals supporting President Obama civil rights record and calls it “repulsive progressive hypocrisy.”
The Washington Post‘s Sarah Kliff posts polling data to explain why the White House sees political opportunity in the contraception battle.
