Palin Bolsters Insurgents at Conservative Retreat
By SARAH WHEATON
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press Senator Ted Cruz of Texas introduced Sarah Palin on Saturday, crediting her for his election.In a sweeping pep talk at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Ms. Palin, a former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee, attacked President Obama and the Beltway Republican groups that are promoting traditional candidates over insurgents in Republican primaries.
“More background checks?” she asked, railing against new gun control proposals offered by Democrats in Congress. “Dandy idea, Mr. President. Should’ve started with yours.” Lines like that frequently brought the crowd to its feet, as did a dramatic sip from a Big Gulp cup, to mock Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposed ban on soda cups bigger than 16 ounces in New York.
Despite her exit from electoral politics after the 2008 presidential election during which she was John McCain’s running mate, Ms. Palin has an enduring type of influence within the conservative movement. Many of its upstart office holders credit her with their success. They include Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who introduced Ms. Palin hours before he delivered the keynote address.
“She can pick winners,” said Mr. Cruz, who beat the state’s lieutenant governor in a primary last year. “I would not be in the U.S. Senate today if it were not for Gov. Sarah Palin.”
Acknowledging that “we can’t just ignore that we lost a big election,” Ms. Palin said that “the last thing we need is Washington, D.C., vetting more candidates.”
In an apparent reference to Karl Rove, who established the Conservative Victory Fund to oppose insurgent primary candidates, she added, “The architects can head on back to …“Jeers from the crowd drowned out her proposed destination.
Ms. Palin’s name was one of 23 that appeared on the ballot for the convention’s annual straw poll, an early measure of the base’s sentiments toward potential nominees for president. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky won a narrow plurality, 25 percent, of the 2,930 votes cast. (His father, Representative Ron Paul, frequently won the straw poll despite limited success in the real Republican primaries.)
Senator Marco Rubio who has also worked to find consensus on issues like immigration, came in second, with 23 percent. Their combined showings illustrate the emergence of a younger generation on the right, both among elected officials and the base. A majority of those voting in the straw poll, 52 percent were between the ages of 18 and 25, according to organizers.
Some much-discussed potential candidates, including Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who gave a prominent speech on Friday night, were not on the ballot. And 14 percent of those voting wrote in a name that did not appear.
Mr. Paul is likely to follow in his father’s footsteps and run for president, said Ron Nehring, a former chairman of the California Republican Party. “But,” he said in a Twitter message, “don’t put stock in these straw polls, which have 0 predictive value.”
On Saturday, those gathered at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center on the Potomac River outside Washington heard from two other rising stars and sources of 2016 speculation. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who beat back a union-driven recall effort last year, spoke about political lessons from his state that could be applied nationally. Yet his suggestions were more modest in scope than those offered by other potential 2016 candidates, focusing more on how to reframe union fights than on how to fundamentally change the perception of the party.
A completely new face to many was that of Ben Carson, the celebrated neurosurgeon. Famous for separating conjoined twins, the once apolitical doctor quickly earned the affections of conservatives when he criticized Mr. Obama’s tax and health policies at the National Prayer Breakfast last month, as the president sat just feet away.
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