Get Real

Yesterday opened with a sleeker and more refined version of Mitt Romney. He came with his game face on ready to show out. He was in the zone. “I refuse to believe that America is just another place on the map with a flag,” Romney said. “I believe that America is an exceptional nation, of freedom and opportunity and hope. We are an exceptional land.” He had some good zingers and great timing. It was a great speech, but it was definitely everything the audience wanted to hear. I found myself nodding quite a bit throughout his speech. After some contemplating though, it dawned on me how well he had conveniently sidestepped the issue of government mandated healthcare, a topic almost every other speaker has hit heavily on. Hmmm…wasn’t he governor of Massachusetts when healthcare “reform” passed that included an individual mandate to purchase insurance? That’s going to be a major weakness for him, otherwise, he was pretty on point. His swagger and charm almost made you forget he completely glossed over the healthcare issue. More than anything…he was smooth.

Sen. John Thune screams vice-presidential. It was obvious his speech was to feel out response for a 2012 run and a couple of people yelled out “Run John Run.” Thune’s content was good; his speechwriters nailed the key issues and framed them nicely with some running themes of C-PAC—Reagan (duh), American exceptionalism, etc. He could use some work on his timing, it was a little shaky. He’s not presidential…yet. He needs some more time.

Pawlenty gave a fired up invigorating speech that really caught me by surprise and I’m certain I’m not the only one who took notice. David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, commented “If there were a most-improved candidate, it would be Pawlenty,” and I couldn’t agree more. Wow, he got people up on their feet and definitely won some new support. American exceptionalism seemed to be a theme continued from Romney as evidenced when Pawlenty echoed the sentiment, “"The bullies, terrorists and tyrants of the world have lots to apologize for. America does not." I will definitely do some more research on this guy…intriguing.
So I caught the last bit of a panel where Sen. Orrin Hatch got heckled and hated on hard (for his vote for the TARP), but, bless his heart he owned it and took it like a champ…“All I can say is, there aren’t many people who will say I’m sorry. I’m one who will.” He made no excuses and I respect that, voting for the TARP is going to haunt a lot of legislators.

Know that the following is an example of a great show of restraint for me--> Ron Paul definitely wins most interesting line in any speech… “There is too much bi-partisanship,” --the most polarizing speaker of C-PAC (not Libertarian-PAC). The discord between his supporters, and, well everyone else (from what I could tell), was visually and audibly obvious. He argues for borderline anarchy and calls for an end to foreign aid (like completely and all together), and it should be noted that he made up his own definition of foreign aid. “End the fed!”…yeah, we know… His die-hard fans (DIE-HARD people, not all of you out there) are a different breed—and that is putting it politely, and is all I have to say on the subject (also get a new buzzword for every Republican who spoke any of you die-hards hated…neo-con is neither accurate nor is it original). He can have the straw poll (since it’s obviously been such an accurate indicator in the past), and I wish he would have his own conference next time too. Bring on the comments.

Rick Perry put on the classic “Dubya” Texas charm and antics. It was fun to watch.