CPAC 2013: Add Cruz, Walker to Paul, Rubio for high ‘wow’ factor

ANALYSIS:

A governor and three U.S. senators emerged as probable first-tier candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination by the windup of the 40th anniversary Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

SPECIAL COVERAGE: CPAC 2013 - Latest news from the Conservative Political Action Conference

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz grabbed and held the audience of more than 3,000 conservative activists, registering more standing ovations during, and positive crowd buzz after, their speeches than did any of the other potential GOP presidential nomination aspirants.

Mr. Walker talked about how he survived a recall election forced by public employees unions that had resisted his successful efforts to make public employees cover part of their health insurance premiums. He also angered them by denying union demands for salary and pension benefits increases.

He said by risking his governorship to solve his state’s budget crisis, he showed that he cared about taxpayers struggling with a bad economy and the unfairness of making those same taxpayers shell out more for union benefits when public employees were earning more in salaries than private-sector workers.

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Mr. Rubio distinguished himself as the only potential presidential nomination candidate at CPAC to address foreign policy. He addressed the defense of America’s superpower status against China’s cyberspace attacks and desire to surpass the United States economically and militarily.

Mr. Paul skipped foreign policy and focused instead on bringing pressure on the executive branch of the U.S. government to follow the Constitution.

He had the advantage of hearing every other major CPAC speaker, including Mitt Romney, praise his having led a filibuster to successfully force the Obama administration to acknowledge the primacy of the Constitution and due process.

Mr. Cruz and Mr. Rubio enhanced their standing among Republicans by citing their Cuban-American heritage, but Mr. Cruz showed he had the best unofficial presidential nomination organization. At the end of his rousing speech, he asked the audience to text him to spread his “growth and opportunity” message. In doing so, he captured more than 1,000 cellphone numbers for his potential nomination campaign.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s CPAC address during the annual Ronald Reagan banquet drew shouted rebukes from former Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who from his table near the stage repeatedly taunted Mr. Bush during his speech, asking when he was going to defend constitutional principles.

Mr. Hayworth and others at the dinner were objecting to Mr. Bush’s statements that he would consider raising taxes to help balance the budget and he would reach out to Hispanics voters with comprehensive immigration reform, which some activists interpret as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The CPAC crowd had high expectations for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, whose parents were born in Punjab, India. Considered a likely 2016 contender, he executed a laugh-sustaining stand-up comedy routine, much like the president’s annual performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

But when he moved to policy talk, audience attention began to wander, with some saying it reminded them of Mr. Jindal’s lackluster 2009 response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate last year, lit few fires with his speech. He was attacked in a later CPAC address by Media Research Center President Brent Bozell, who derided him for putting forward a weak plan that wouldn’t achieve a balanced budget for 10 years.

Based on the loud, sustained cheers for his comments, Mr. Bozell’s criticism was shared by other activists at CPAC.

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