Friday, October 05, 2007
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Reporting from Americans For Prosperity Conference
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
12:30 PM
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A bunch of us are at the Americans for Prosperity conference-- the Defending the American Dream Summit-- where 1,300 fiscal conservative activists have gathered to hear from the Big 4 candidates and others.
I've seen Giuliani speak. He was really in his element with the fiscal cons, lots of applause, and didn't mention 9/11 once. He touted his fiscal record in NYC instead, spoke about the need to beat Hillary, and rarely mentioned the other Republican candidates (he may not have mentioned them at all).
Ron Paul made a visit to the press room to talk up his fundraising, which he reported came in at an average of $40 a donation, thereby disproving the prevailing theory on the Paulies that there are just 12 of them who know how to use the Internet really well.
I got John Stossel and Mike Huckabee interviews on tape, and I'm trying to edit that and get it up within a couple hours.
It's worth noting that Americans for Prosperity is a very young organization-- about three years-- and this is its first conference ever. I spoke to Ed Frank, AFP's communications guy, and he attributes the tremendous growth of the group and the tremendous pull of the conference to the abysmal spending record of the Republicans over the past couple years. The issue does matter to grassroots activists, enough that 1,300 of them came out for an inaugural conference, which is pretty phenomenal, as these things go.
Update: I just saw Fred Thompson speak. He was well-received and the ballroom filled up for him, but I see what people/the press mean about the low-key attitude coming off as boredom and lacklusterism. He had a few good applause lines-- one about judges (which still rules the applause lines in these crowds), about lowering the corporate tax, and one about liberals complaining about lost revenue ("It's not lost! Taxpayers know exactly where it is. It's in their pockets!")-- but many of his points lack oomph. In a smaller crowd, with the Virginia AFP delegation, he was about the same.
Update: Here's some of Huckabee, courtesy my friend Bruce of Gay Patriot.
Update:
Update:
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Townhall can certainly decide how much time they're going to give to candidates, but it is grossly dishonest to impose different limits without announcing the reasons in advance.
ABC News did the same thing in their debate, without informing their audience.
This article - totally skipping over Paul's address and lavishing praise on Rudy - simply confirms the Townhall bias. Ron got time in the "spin room"? Give me a break.
Happily, you note Thompson's total lack of talent in making a public presentation. He can read bitparts from a script, but has no heartfelt principles that could possibly motivate voters.
Huckabee and McCain are on a slippery slope - all downhill. Only Ron Paul is showing *huge* increases in financial and activist support.
Past time that Townhall got on the Paul express, or at least showed a little respect.
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Jim Geraghty made the same point you did, Mark=y Katherine, but with a slightly different conclusion -- he says Thompson's stump style is more casual and conversational and he doesn't get angry about D.C., just quietly exasperated. But he thinks the style works for him and for those who don't need policy wonkishness. Thompson doesn't rile anyone up, but he makes you think and you know how he feels. That may explain why reporters (and many bloggers) think he is fizzleing but many average voters seem to like him. Most average voters "feel" a president as much as respond to policy. Most people really into politics look for much more policy substance and only tangentially look at emotional responses. That's why I think many reporters (as well as other GOP candidates) may be underestimating Thompson's impact, especially as he gets more exposure. (BTW, Geraghty also noted that Thompson got a standing ovation at the end of his speech. Another audience with a different reaction than the "professional" observers?) |
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He took 8 questions, had interviews with all 3 of the radio types that were live, and generally hung around the place. |
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Why did they cut off Ron Paul after 10 minutes? They gave all the other canidates much more time. |
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