Tales from the fringe: CPAC 2015
If you haven’t been following the latest news from Donald Trump – and who could blame you for that – you may have missed his pronouncement that this time he really means it.
Signaling that he is seriously considering a presidential campaign, Trump hired Corey Lewandowski, former director of the New Hampshire chapter of Americans for Prosperity, to serve as his senior political adviser and campaign manager.
Former state Rep. John Hikel likes the billionaire real-estate mogul. The Goffstown Republican who, like the Donald, has had his own share of outrageous and bizarre episodes, wrote on Facebook, “Like him or hate him, he’s such a refreshing change from every other presidential candidate. I don’t know who I support yet, but I like what Trump stands for, his commitment and ability to fix America.”
As James Pindell reported in his daily dispatch from the campaign trail, the fledgling Trump campaign offered local supporters an all-expenses-paid trip to attend CPAC, the annual gathering of conservatives held in the DC-area last weekend. It may not have been what they expected:
If you were a New Hampshire activist and someone from Donald Trump’s organization offered you an all-expenses-paid trip to CPAC in Washington, you might be mistaken for thinking it would be a high-class Trump experience. He isn’t a candidate, and there are no limits on what he can spend on anything, including politics.
Instead, the handful of activists, including a former state Senate candidate and the vice chair of the Concord City Democrats, hopped on a bus and spent 18 hours riding back and forth from the Granite State. Once in Washington, they weren’t put up at the Four Seasons but at the Quality Inn, 20 minutes from the conference.
Former state Representative and Senate candidate Jane Cormier, and her husband Carlos Martinez, were among the Granite Staters attending the conference. Boston Globe’s Matt Viser caught up with them after they heard Jeb Bush speak. They were not impressed:
“It’s what he believes now that is the biggest issue,” said Carlos Martinez, a 52-year-old musician from Hooksett, N.H. “He’s not conservative at all. He has no conservative, core beliefs.”
“He’s a progressive Republican,” said his wife, Jane Cormier, a 55-year-old who is the director of Right to Life New Hampshire. “That’s fine, but don’t think you can step over the line and call yourself conservative. We won’t allow that. We’re smarter than that.“
When they returned from CPAC, Cormier had made her pick. ”Ted Cruz is the hope for our future,“ she wrote on Facebook. "I support Ted Cruz!”