This weekend presents an interesting juxtaposition for conservatives following the nascent 2016 presidential race. In snowy Washington, DC, thousands of activists and media have descended on the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to hear likely 2016 candidates make their pitch to CPAC.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, many of those same candidates will trek to The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, to address and rub elbows with a few hundred top free market conservative donors who are gathering for the Club for Growth’s annual winter economic conference.
Jeb Bush’s spoke Thursday night, and The Club’s agenda includes names like Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Mike Pence, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio. The fact that so many top candidates are willing to hop on a plane (in an already busy week) and address this group, is a testament to their effectiveness.
For those paying attention, this is a chance to compare how the candidates perform in a wholesale atmosphere like CPAC (where firing up activists in the base is key), versus a retail environment (where mingling with potential donors, and demonstrating an understanding of free market economics is vital). The best candidate will be able to excel in either milieu.
Jeb’s speech, for example, was well received by The Club’s audience — and Jeb appeared utterly confident during his talk. As Byron York noted, he also did not back down from his support of immigration reform:
“If I go beyond the consideration of running, I’m not backing down from something that is a core belief,” Bush told a gathering of the conservative Club for Growth in Florida. “Are we supposed to just cower because at the moment people are all upset about something? No way, no how.”
Free marketers tend to favor immigration reform, so this was a fairly friendly audience for his message. It’ll be interesting to see if Jeb has the same confidence when addressing CPAC — especially considering rumors that some CPAC attendees plan to walk out on him. My guess is he will proactively bring up the topic, just as he did in Palm Beach on Thursday night. But he might also discover that what works in one environment may not play so well in another.
(Disclosure: I’m a guest participant at The Club meeting, and will be appearing in an off the record media panel discussion later.)