A secretive group of activists and social conservative leaders is holding an off-the-record event to vet the GOP presidential candidates this weekend. Approximately 200 conservatives are gathering at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, Va., hoping to meet the Republican Party’s next presidential nominee away from the watchful gaze of the media.
Candidates who attend will reportedly be given an hour on stage to address the audience and answer questions, followed by a 30-minute meet-and-greet. The conservative attendees at the Council for National Policy event appear to be looking to unite behind a candidate earlier than in past presidential election cycles, and may seek to coalesce around a single candidate at another meeting to be held in October.
Several candidates are expected to attend this weekend, but former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have decided to forego the event.
Walker, who just returned from a five-day trip to Israel on Thursday, will attend the Wisconsin GOP’s convention this weekend. Our American Revival, Walker’s political group, told the Washington Examiner that the governor plans to meet with a number of conservative leaders next week and will attend a second event held by the Council for National Policy in October. Bush chose to attend a series of events in Iowa this weekend, said Kristy Campbell, Bush’s spokeswoman, in an email.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and a top member of the Council for National Policy, will reportedly be among the conservative leaders huddling with Walker early next week. Perkins has expressed skepticism about Walker, and criticized his stance on social issues earlier this year.
“For the last few years, Governor Walker has carefully avoided social issues, at one point even calling them a distraction,” Perkins wrote in his newsletter in February. “Unfortunately for Walker, the American people absolutely care about faith … If Governor Walker wants to woo Christian conservatives, he might start by recognizing faith’s importance in the very profession he’s in.”
Walker’s team has pushed back strongly against the idea that he has avoided social issues, touting his support for pro-life causes. “Scott Walker is the son of a pastor and a proven conservative governor who has reformed a lot of the status quo governing in Wisconsin,” a Walker aide said in a statement. “Our American Revival and Scott Walker have seen a lot of enthusiasm and interest from conservatives throughout the country, be they social fiscal or otherwise.”
Bush has work to do to convince social conservatives as well. Mark DeMoss, a public relations expert for Christian leaders and groups who served as Mitt Romney’s “evangelical whisperer” in 2012, told the Washington Examiner that the rush to pick a candidate via the Council for National Policy events was a “futile effort.” For 2016, DeMoss has pledged his support to Bush and is on Liberty University’s Board of Trustees, where Bush delivered the commencement address last weekend.
“In January 2012, some of these same people had a big confab … and the only thing they could agree on was they didn’t want Mitt Romney,” DeMoss said. “I was there representing Mitt Romney; I think he got 4 votes out of 200 or something. If they couldn’t do it then, eight months closer to election day and only a few candidates [remaining], there’s no way they’re going to be able to do it with 12 or 15 or 20 candidates this far out.”
Bush and Walker are polling among the top tier of the GOP field thus far. In a Fox News poll released earlier this week, Bush held a narrow lead over the field and was tied with Ben Carson as Republicans’ top choice. Walker, meanwhile, led all GOP candidates nationally in a recent poll released by Public Policy Polling. Whether either candidate can court the social conservatives affiliated with the Council for National Policy remains to be seen.
