NEWS AND OPINION:
They’re first in the nation, and don’t you forget it. The New Hampshire Republican Party is ferocious about its traditional status as host of the nation’s first presidential primary, which can make and break candidates and create a media ruckus. So, naturally, there’s a First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit which began Friday — and the GOP giants can’t wait to get there. The sold-out event in Nashua is “an electrifying two-day conference,” say the organizers, who credentialed over 100 journalists to cover it.
Attending, in no particular order: Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham; Govs. Scott Walker, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Bobby Jindal; Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump and John Bolton. Among media and polling folks: Fred Barnes, Joe Scarborough, Stephen Hayes and Frank Luntz; among assorted politicians: Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Rep. Peter T. King, George Pataki, Scott Brown, Bob Ehrlich, Betsy McCaughey, John Sununu and Jim Gilmore.
On the Republican Richter scale of fame, this big group is pretty electrifying. Yes, C-SPAN will be there live, beginning at high noon Friday and continuing through early Saturday night. Eager Democrats are lying in wait, however. Also journeying to Nashua for the big event: that would-be Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who staged her own press conference just down the street from the GOP’s snazzy hotel, her talking points at the ready.
“Republicans running, or considering a run, for the White House in 2016 have stumbled all over themselves to brandish their conservative credentials, and their out-of-touch policies leave everyday Americans behind,” says Mrs. Wasserman Schultz. “This group of Republicans is pushing policies that will benefit the wealthy at the expense of hardworking Granite State families and would turn back the clock on women’s health and LGBT equality. The Granite State and the country deserve better.”
Needless to say, Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives in the Granite State on Monday for a cozy two-day visit.
CONSERVATIVES ON ALERT
Not to be outdone and ready to rumble, 24 hours after the first-in-the nation GOPers vacate their event site, a feisty group of New Hampshire conservatives moves in. Literally. On Sunday, the 603 Alliance — activists loyal to founding principles and intent on discovering the genuine conservatives in the presidential bunch — will stage a daylong Grassroots Summit. In the very same Nashua hotel, of course. They have big plans.
“On April 19, in the city of Nashua, New Hampshire, the live-free-or-die state, there is going to be a loud bang very much like the shot heard around the world made on April 19, 1775 in Massachusetts,” the group sternly predicts in a statement.
Past elections, they say, have taught them that “splitting their votes among numerous conservative candidates enables the moderate establishment to cruise to victory, and that only a consolidating effort on their parts will result in a victory for a conservative candidate.” They have a plan, and will reveal it with fanfare. And some interesting speakers will be along, including Sharon Angle, who ran for the U.S. Senate seat in Nevada; author Trevor Loudon and Aaron Day, chairman of The Atlas Society.
“We welcome all — Republicans, undeclared voters, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Free Staters, even Democrats if they support our organization’s principles,” the group notes.
RAND’S PRO-LIFE RATIONALE
“Now some have said to me, ’Well, you’re big on all this liberty stuff, why do you want to restrict a woman’s right to choose?’ And I say, ’Well, you know what, the government does have some role in our lives. One of the main roles the government has is to restrict you from harming another individual.’ Which gets us back to the original debate: When life begins, there is a role for state. So it’s not that I’m against people choosing things. I’m in fact one of the biggest believers in choice and liberty. But you can’t have liberty if you don’t protect where your liberty originates from — and that’s your right to life.”
— Sen. Rand Paul, to the Susan B. Anthony List Summit on Thursday.
MR. BOEHNER, REFEREE
“We’ve got a lot of good candidates out there, and they’ll sort — they’ll sort this out themselves. I’ve been a Jeb Bush supporter for a long time — a longtime friend of mine, colleague, and I think he’d do a great job. But we’ve got a lot of good candidates, and they’re going to have to go sort this out themselves.”
— House Speaker John A. Boehner, on the burgeoning field of presidential hopefuls, to Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo
ABOUT THAT GYRO GUY
“Despite the clear liberal agenda of postal worker Doug Hughes flying a gyrocopter into restricted Washington, D.C., airspace to protest for campaign finance reform, the broadcast networks avoided linking the dangerous stunt to left-wing politics or the Democratic Party,” says Kyle Drennan, an analyst for NewsBusters.com who has a long memory.
“Such avoidance stood in stark contrast to media eagerness to falsely blame conservatives and the Republican Party for deadly acts of violence in recent years, including a man flying a plane into an IRS building in 2010, the shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2011 and the Colorado movie theater shooting in 2012,” Mr. Drennan notes, adding, “while network coverage treated the stunt as a serious security breach in the nation’s capital, none of the reports attempted to connect the reckless action to heated Democratic rhetoric on the topic.”
WEEKEND REAL ESTATE
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POLL DU JOUR
• 60 percent of Americans say they prefer to use “environmentally friendly” cleaning supplies; 50 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents and 63 percent of Democrats agree.
• 59 percent overall say the “organic” label on food is just an excuse to charge more; 67 percent of Republicans, 58 percent of independents and 50 percent of Democrats agree.
• 47 percent overall say it’s easy to live green; 42 percent of Republicans, 45 percent of independents and 50 percent of Democrats agree.
• 44 percent are concerned about the state of the planet for future generations; 34 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of independents and 54 percent of Democrats agree.
• 20 percent agree with the statement “I am green”; 14 percent of Republicans, 23 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats agree.
• 17 percent say they are an environmentalist; 10 percent of Republicans, 19 percent of independents and 22 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Harris Poll of 2,244 U.S. adults conducted March 11-16 and released Thursday.
Talking points, drivel and gibberish to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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