ATLANTA — The RedState Gathering of conservative activists largely attracted attention because of something that did not take place in Georgia, namely an appearance by Donald Trump. But the gathering featured nine other presidential candidates and provided key insight into how candidates and voters interact in the Deep South leading into the increasingly important “SEC primary” next spring.
The SEC primary gets its name from the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA, which has a penchant for picking college football champions. Several southern states will pick their preferred Republican nominee for president on the same day next March.
Multiple GOP presidential candidates in attendance referred to the growing importance of the southern states in the primary process, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker predicted the Republican Party may not have a nominee until next May — months after several southern states will have cast their ballots.
While the presidential campaign will change many times before Georgians ever head to the polls, here are five important things that could impact the race:
1) Donald Trump turned applause from conservative activists into outspoken opposition.
Antagonizing grassroots organizers has negative implications for a candidate running as an outsider.
Many attendees of RedState’s debate watch party enthusiastically cheered Trump’s no-nonsense approach when he first took the debate stage. But as he continued to talk, exclamations from the audience imploring him to “shut up” had become more frequent.
On Friday, Trump made pejorative comments about Fox News personality Megyn Kelly’s tough questioning during the debate, and said he could see “blood coming out of her wherever.” Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.com, rescinded Trump’s invitation to speak at an event on Saturday night as a result.
Many attendees told the Washington Examiner that Erickson appeared to make the right call, even though they had looked forward to seeing the reality television star in person. And Trump’s remaining supporters in attendance did not appear to win him any new fans.
2) Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush turned a previously hostile crowd into one that rewarded him with a standing ovation.
Many RedState attendees booed Bush at the debate watch party on Thursday night, and a few shouted obscenities. By the time he finished delivering his remarks on Saturday, however, he received a standing ovation from much of the crowd.
Bush succeeded by going on the attack. He verbally accosted Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s failure to take a position on Keystone XL pipeline construction and said Trump should apologize to Megyn Kelly. Bush responded more forcefully to Trump’s remarks than any of the other candidates who appeared after RedState rescinded its invitation to The Donald.
“What Donald Trump said is wrong,” Bush said. “Worse yet, that is not how you bring people together to solve problems.”
3) Carly Fiorina continued to impress GOP primary voters, even those who did not watch her debate performance on Thursday.
While the media focused on broadcasting Trump’s newest pejorative statement, many in attendance wanted to talk about Fiorina’s candidacy.
The RedState Gathering did not air the televised presidential debate in which Fiorina participated on Thursday. But that did not stop many in the crowd from adding her to the top of their lists. Fiorina’s performance on Friday continued to build on the momentum she created at Thursday’s debate.
“I’ve been very impressed with how direct she is,” said Rebecca Landau, a RedState attendee. “Every time I see her, I’m more and more impressed.”
4) Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s attack of moderate Republicans and GOP leadership worked wonders in Georgia.
Cruz chose not to criticize Trump’s newest pejorative remarks when asked for comment by reporters, but he had no problem expressing his displeasure with Jeb Bush and former GOP nominee Mitt Romney while onstage in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
Cruz’s claim that “they [moderate Republicans] run as us” in the primary season to get to the general election drew loud applause from the crowd. As many in attendance searched for a conservative standard-bearer to replace Trump, several indicated that they hoped Cruz would step up and supplant the reality TV star.
5) South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley shined during her brief appearance onstage.
The Palmetto State took down the Confederate Flag flying over public grounds last month after a massacre of nine black people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. While the media moved its center of attention to Trump, the vice presidential buzz for Haley may just have started to heat up.
Haley spoke passionately about GOP efforts to remove the Confederate flag from capitol grounds and said the people who wanted to keep the Confederate flag up “are not racist people.” She spoke about local officials who had publicly displayed Confederate symbols deciding to stand with her as the flag came down.
In a lighter moment that drew laughter from the crowd, she also talked about getting locked out of the governor’s mansion. When asked about the possibility of running for vice president, Haley responded, “I’m not ready to think about that … I’ve got a state to heal.”
The talk emanating from the RedState Gathering almost exclusively focused on Erickson’s back-and-forth with Trump. But the moments at the conference that could have the longest lasting impact on the 2016 election may have had nothing to do with The Donald.
