Erickson (undeclared Democrat) divides America.
Posted on 08/09/2015 11:09:06 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Nine presidential candidates appeared this weekend at the annual gathering of conservatives. But Donald Trump, who got himself disinvited, was the one driving the conversation.
ATLANTA — It was the Donald Trump show that wasn’t.
The RedState Gathering, a high-profile annual convention of conservatives held here in Atlanta this weekend, drew nine presidential candidates. But the one driving the conversation was the one who wasn’t there.
Trump, who had been slated to speak at the event on Saturday evening, was uninvited by RedState head Erick Erickson on Friday evening, following crude comments Trump made about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly after she asked tough questions of him during the first GOP presidential debate on Thursday.
The real estate mogul still dominated the event, however — he was the subject of nearly every question posed to other candidates on stage, and Erickson discussed at length the decision to cut him, a move that appeared broadly accepted by the audience.
While Trump was the center of conversation, the other candidates still managed to make an impression with an important group of voters — many of them Southerners who will be voting in the so-called SEC primary next year on March 1.
Here are POLITICO’s five takeaways from RedState:
1. This was Ted Cruz turf.
If RedState conducted a straw poll, the Texas senator almost certainly would have won. While many candidates received enthusiastic receptions, Cruz basked in several sustained standing ovations and chants of “Ted! Ted! Ted!” He also generated considerable goodwill by lingering near the stage after the speech to shake hands with audience members — a small but much talked about gesture that made a big impression on attendees who were already inclined to like him. In conversations with around 20 participants, nearly everyone mentioned him as a candidate under consideration, and most had him as one of their top two choices. Cruz, who is in the midst of a bus tour through the South, is counting on a strong performance in the Southern states that will vote shortly after the four early states next year. The reception he received at RedState, which was dominated by attendees from Georgia and elsewhere in the South, is an early indicator that he’s got some traction among activists in the region.
2. Keep an eye on Scott Walker in the South.
After Cruz, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was one of the most talked-about candidates of the weekend. Attendees, many of them Southerners from right-to-work states themselves, expressed admiration for his work taking on unions in the Midwest, and a number of RedStaters interviewed said they were deciding between Cruz and Walker. Cruz was inspirational, they said — but they were also impressed by what they knew of Walker’s record of winning elections and taking on labor in Wisconsin. His address Saturday afternoon, which closed out the convention and relied heavily on his usual stump speech, was well-received by a crowd that hasn’t seen as much of him yet. And while some have questioned whether the governor is deeply versed in foreign policy, that portion of his speech — especially when he tore into the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran — earned him a rousing standing ovation.
3. Jeb held his own in hostile territory.
Jeb Bush was never going to be the favorite of the RedState crowd. During the convention’s debate watch party Thursday night, he was vigorously booed, especially over his more moderate remarks on immigration. But the former Florida governor’s high-energy performance Saturday was a marked contrast with his lackluster debate performance, and he was well-received, proof that in his stronger moments, he can engage — if not win over — skeptical audiences. He tore into Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration over the Keystone Pipeline and foreign policy, messages that went over well in the room, and some in the audience also applauded his vigorous criticism of Donald Trump. He didn’t convert many attendees, but he showed he could hold his own in deeply conservative territory.
4. There were lots of Carly Fiorina fans, but not necessarily Carly Fiorina voters.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO, fresh off a stand-out performance in the second-tier debate Thursday night, delivered another well-received speech Friday — she took in more audience questions than any other candidate, according to organizers. Fiorina, one of her party’s fiercest critics of Hillary Clinton, earned some of the loudest applause of the day when she slammed the former secretary of state for “lying” about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, and about her email practices. But even after that, while many attendees said they liked her and found her impressive, but no one interviewed by POLITICO named her as a first choice, though several said they were interested in taking a closer look.
5. The Trump tide may be turning.
During the debate watch party Thursday night — where alcohol was flowing freely — Trump received a raucously enthusiastic reception from some attendees. By Saturday though, many attendees were expressing regret at best, fury at worst, over his Friday evening attack on Kelly. In interviews, several people who had previously been considering him were rethinking that view.
RedState voters aren’t necessarily Trump’s core base — those gathered in Atlanta tended to be involved in the mainstream political process in one form or another, a contrast to some of Trump’s deeply anti-establishment voters. But there was a sense by the end of the convention that the attacks on Kelly broke through in a way that previous controversial remarks from Trump didn’t, suggesting that he had crossed a line in some corners of the conservative activist universe.
“I’d been open to him before, but he kind of closed the book for me,” said Ronny West, 59, of Kennesaw, Georgia, who expressed disdain for what he saw as Trump’s “hissy fit.”
Helen Loyless, 61, said she wasn’t ruling him out yet, but “he needs to tone it down.”
I say the gopE will use Trump as an excuse for getting slaughtered after selecting a rino nominee.
I say that you are correct.
Coverage of RINO State from Propagandico? Pass.
When I saw the headline I knew that one of the five points would be a begging, wheedling, wishful plea for Trump to go away.
In your dreams, Darlin’.
And EE is no longer with ...
People who attend these events (cpac, redstate) are political junkies. I mean I love politics but I would never attend one of these events. To me, they are basically part of the establishment. So them having lukewarm support for Trump does not surprise me. Further, this is from the politico so add a little bias too.
Based on polls, Trump has support from across the board, and from many apolitical types who would never spend a weekend listening to Erick Erickson and a bunch of politicos speak about their “2020 vision for America.”
I’m a cynic by nature so I did note all the RINO media (NRO, Weekly Standard) promoting Cruz, basically to say we are not really a bunch of Jeb Bush RINOs here. But that’s me.
[What say you?]
Thanks to the rejection of God in society, the dumbing down of education, and the downward spiral of traditional values in news and entertainment, The Donald appeals to a large demographic that crosses culture, race, and political party. He speaks their language, and they support him.
This election may won on Jerry Springeresque rhetoric - and the war between culture and vulgarity. Trump is the “Boxers or Briefs” presidential candidate.
trump is the reason we'll get a RINO. He's siphoning momentum and support away from Cruz and the (less conservative but still halfway decent) Walker. This is splitting the true conservative vote and allowing Jeb to hold on to second place in many polls. And with Jebs money and connections he'll never be lower than second. So if and when Trump sputters out Jeb will be the one candidate still standing.
redstate.com=Salem Broadcasting=RINO Central
No big deal.
This is a trivial issue, at best.
I disagree, respectfully.
When Trump finally quits from essentially boredom the overwhelming majority of his supporters will swing to Cruz as he is the closest to Trump’s ideology concerning immigration. The big “I” is going to continue to be a main topic all the way to election day.
You could be right. My concern however is that if trump stays in too long Cruz may never get enough momentum to stop Jeb and the elitist machine
If Cruz loses, or Republicans lose, playing the victim card lacks class.
Cruz has the most identified supporters, the 2nd most money. But he seems to have a 4th class staff who have no clue how to run a political campaign. items.
1) Cruz has been in Georgia several times now, signing books, etc prior to this weekend. When his staff sends us appeals for money their emails never mention “Oh by the way, Ted will be signing books 2 miles from your house. Why not bring a couple friends to meet him.” Or “He’ll be in Newnan Saturday after his Red State appearance and it won’t cost you $295 to see him. Why not bring some friends to Newnan.” There are 3 things in politics: people, money and the brains to know what to do with them. Cruz has the first two. His staff seems to lack the 3rd. They need to step up their game. This aint bean bags.
2) When Cruz spoke at the DeKalb book store the book store owner stood at the door preventing people from entering who did not “look” like Cruz supporters. He prevented a Black, uncommitted conservative from entering. (I had talked to him across the street at McDonalds before we went over to the book store.) The bookstore owner also prevented other Blacks from entering (of unknown political persuasion). The media will blow such events way out of proportion. The Cruz staff/leaders need to be in control every Cruz event and prevent others from giving Cruz a bad image.
3) At the Newnan event there were no Cruz yard signs marking the path from the expressway to the BBQ, as is common in such events. The result is that many people arrived late. The only indication one was approaching some kind of event was the blue flashing single police car near the road. There was no Cruz person helping park the hundreds of cars. The first impression of the Cruz event was that the Cruz campaign was in chaos.
4) At the Newnan event Cruz spoke to the crowd while he was standing in the hot sun and most of the crowd was in the shade of tall trees. After the speech, Cruz shook hands while still in the hot sun. The staff should have immediately moved their candidate from the hot sun to the middle of the crowd in the shade. The hot sun puts more stress on a candidate and increases the risk of an unforced error.
5) Many similar “small” aspects of the Cruz campaign show that it appears to be run by amateurs. The Cruz staff seems to be clueless what to do with what they have.
6) Cruz himself is great. After his speech at Red State, the press wanted to immediately interview Cruz. But Cruz put priority on meeting the Red State attendees and lower priority on the press. That should have been mentioned in the review above. That priority by Cruz was the talk of the crowd the rest of Saturday afternoon.
*****
Jeb told us he was for getting the Federal government “completely” out of the education business. He also said we should keep all the big federal funding of education...but with tweaks to the strings that are attached. Is Jeb on the same planet as the rest of us?
Would you like me to pass that on to my people there?
I am amazed at the media this weekend harping on the Meghan Kelly thing....they are acting as though the poor little girl is totally defenseless against mean old Donald....I don't think for 1 second that she is unable to defend herself and certainly doesn't need sympathy.....she's a big girl now and can undoubtedly kick some butt herself....
That's the conventional wisdom. Seems that Trump won't be tied down to the conventional wisdom.
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