Cpac

A new report commissioned by the Republican National Committee reads like an anti-GOP critique from the “lame stream media.” It describes the party as too rigidly ideological, too in thrall to greedy corporations, too disconnected from nonwhite and young voters, and in desperate need of new ideas. The authors of the report appear to hail from the Bush wing of the Republican Party. They include Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush's White House spokesman; Sally Bradshaw, a veteran advisor to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; and Republican National Committeeman Henry Barbour, nephew of Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and RNC chairman who worked on the presidential campaign of Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

A new report commissioned by the Republican National Committee reads like an anti-GOP critique from the “lame stream media.” It describes the party as too rigidly ideological, too in thrall to greedy corporations, too disconnected from nonwhite and young voters, and in desperate need of new ideas. The authors of the report appear to hail from the Bush wing of the Republican Party. They include Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush's White House spokesman; Sally Bradshaw, a veteran advisor to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; and Republican National Committeeman Henry Barbour, nephew of Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and RNC chairman who worked on the presidential campaign of Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Mitt Romney won a presidential preference straw poll of party activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, giving him a morale boost after a trio of losses earlier in the week that suggested the Republican base was still cool to the tentative front-runner. Romney was the choice of 38% of the 3,408 CPAC attendees who voted in the poll, and Rick Santorum finished second with 31%. Newt Gingrich won 15% and Ron Paul had 12%. Romney, Santorum and Gingrich addressed the conference on Friday.

OXON HILL, Md.--Returning to a public stage for the first time since losing the presidential election, Mitt Romney called on Republicans Friday to put a powerful U.S. military at the top of their agenda. The 2012 Republican nominee had a distrustful relationship with some conservatives during his presidential run, but he was warmly received by hundreds of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual meeting of activists from that wing of the party. Romney's call echoed his 2012 campaign promise to expand the Pentagon budget.

A small group of demonstrators staged a silent protest during Mitt Romney's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. Security guards for the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, where the annual gathering of conservatives is being held, quickly threw the protesters out. Joe Gallant, 22, was among the group. Gallant said the protesters moved to the front of an overflow room where attendees were watching Romney's speech, taped their mouths, and revealed T-shirts that read, “If money is speech, then poverty is silence.” “We were just trying to get our point across that there is too much money in politics,” Gallant said.

The return of Herman Cain to CPAC was all about Herman Cain. "A lot of people thought that after the character assassination that was launched against me that Herman was going to shut up and sit down and go away," the former pizza chain CEO told a jam-packed ballroom of conservative activists Thursday afternoon. "Ain't going to happen. " Cain thanked those who worked for him in the presidential race, and explained that he dropped out only for two reasons: "gutter politics," and family considerations.

President Obama is trying to accommodate Catholic bishops on birth control, but at CPAC, Republican presidential candidates still ranted about his assault on religion. At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Friday, Newt Gingrich warned that Obama would “declare war” on the Catholic Church if he were reelected. Mitt Romney, who in recent days has been decrying Obama's “war on religion,” pledged that he would “reverse every single Obama regulation that attacks our religious liberty and threatens innocent human life in this country.” Rick Santorum said the proposed mandate requiring all employers, including religious organizations, to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives is the kind of coercion that threatens religious freedom.

Mitt Romney is a conservative. He said so himself, over and over again in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington today. The Republican presidential hopeful, ahead in the delegate race but smarting from losses on Tuesday in three state contests, described himself as a "severely conservative Republican governor" and a businessman whose principles were rooted in his family and his faith. The speech to hundreds of CPAC attendees, also streamed online, was seen as a significant opportunity for the former Massachusetts governor to reset his relationship with the party base after a more intense period in the primary campaign in which his GOP rivals have ratcheted up their criticism of his record.

Rick Santorum, who is enjoying a surge in fundraising and attention after winning three states last week in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination, pushed back Sunday against the idea that his socially conservative views will alienate working women. The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania also minimized Mitt Romney's victory in Saturday's straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, implying that the Romney forces had somehow rigged the win. “For years, Ron Paul's won those because he just trucks in a lot of people, pays for their ticket, and they come in and vote and then they leave,” Santorum told CNN's Candy Crowley.

FORT WASHINGTON, MD -- High-profile speeches by a pair of Republican presidential possibilities suggested that noneconomic issues are likely to emerge as 2014 and 2016 campaign themes as the economy continues to recover. Beyond pocketbook concerns, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky touched on American exceptionalism, civil liberties, guns, marriage and abortion, among other topics, in back-to-back appearances Thursday before several thousand conservative activists.

FORT WASHINGTON, MD -- High-profile speeches by a pair of Republican presidential possibilities suggested that noneconomic issues are likely to emerge as 2014 and 2016 campaign themes as the economy continues to recover. Beyond pocketbook concerns, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky touched on American exceptionalism, civil liberties, guns, marriage and abortion, among other topics, in back-to-back appearances Thursday before several thousand conservative activists.

To understand what is wrong with today's political right, look no further than the American Conservative Union. The ACU made headlines last month when it snubbed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. A source told National Review that Christie hadn't been invited to the ACU's annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which begins Thursday, because of his "limited future" in the Republican Party. To put that in perspective: The ACU found ample room at CPAC for Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON -- Almost four months after his presidential election defeat, Mitt Romney is planning a return to the national political stage. The 2012 Republican nominee will appear, with his wife Ann, on Fox News Sunday next weekend, Chris Wallace, the program's host, announced Sunday. It will be his first televised interview since the November election. Romney also plans to speak next month at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a high-profile forum for conservative politicians.

Rick Santorum, who is enjoying a surge in fundraising and attention after winning three states last week in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination, pushed back Sunday against the idea that his socially conservative views will alienate working women. The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania also minimized Mitt Romney's victory in Saturday's straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, implying that the Romney forces had somehow rigged the win. “For years, Ron Paul's won those because he just trucks in a lot of people, pays for their ticket, and they come in and vote and then they leave,” Santorum told CNN's Candy Crowley.

Rick Santorum, still enjoying a surge in fundraising and attention after winning three states last week in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, pushed back Sunday against the idea that his socially conservative views could alienate working women. Many pundits have suggested that Santorum's views on gay marriage, abortion, contraception and working women could present formidable obstacles in attracting moderate and independent voters if he were to become the GOP nominee.

Mitt Romney won a presidential preference straw poll of party activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, giving him a morale boost after a trio of losses earlier in the week that suggested the Republican base was still cool to the tentative front-runner. Romney was the choice of 38% of the 3,408 CPAC attendees who voted in the poll, and Rick Santorum finished second with 31%. Newt Gingrich won 15% and Ron Paul had 12%. Romney, Santorum and Gingrich addressed the conference on Friday.

Developer and reality-show star Donald Trump added a touch of glitz and hubris to the CPAC conference Thursday, making a surprise and somewhat surreal appearance to tell the crowd that he still has not decided whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012. "This country is in serious trouble," Trump said. He said the United States "is becoming the laughingstock of the world. " "America is missing quality leadership," he said. "I am well acquainted with winning.

Ron Paul again triumphed in the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, overwhelming the support for most other potential Republican candidates at the annual gathering of conservatives in the nation's capital. Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas who ran for president in 2008, edged former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 30% to 23%. The result was barely changed from last year's, when Paul won 31% to 22%. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each had 6% of the vote, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 5%. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who did not speak at the three-day gathering, had 3% of the vote.

The number of votes cast in a straw poll of conservative activists was only a couple thousand fewer than the total at Maine caucuses. But for Mitt Romney, the verdict of attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference may have been a more significant victory Saturday. It was the best showing for any Republican presidential hopeful since George W. Bush won 42% of the vote at CPAC's 2000 confab. But it wasn't Romney's first victory there; he won the straw polls from 2007 to 2009.