‘Summit’ lures top names
Potential Republican candidates test the field in N.H.
NASHUA, N.H. Presidential hopefuls arrived en masse in the firstin-the-nation primary state, drawn by a Republican “summit,” sometimes referred to as a candidate cattle call.
More than a dozen presidential aspirants are here to pitch their policies and personalities to a hotel ballroom full of politically active Republicans.
The lineup includes potential candidates with money and buzz, including Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Chris Christie and Marco Rubio, and those who could be considered long shots: former New York governor George Pataki, New York Rep. Pete King and former HewlettPackard CEO Carly Fiorina.
First up among the betterknown hopefuls: former Texas governor Rick Perry, whose toughest question came from a self-described supporter in the audience: “Tell us what is going to be different this time around.”
Perhaps Perry’s biggest challenge in attempting a second run at the Republican nomination would be overcoming the memory of his poor debate performance during the 2012 campaign, when he forgot a central part of his own platform. At the time, he blamed his memory lapse on re- cent back surgery.
“You gotta be healthy, you gotta be on your game,” Perry said. Preparing to be president “takes years of intense study. I spent the last three years in that mode.” He said he had talked to policy experts “from the Hoover Institute to the Brookings Institute and everything in between.” (The Hoover Institution is generally considered conservative, and Brookings is liberal.)
A number of candidates held additional events: Rubio went to a house party in Manchester, and Christie held a town hall in Exeter. Bush spoke Friday morning at “Politics and Eggs,’’ a breakfast event at St. Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics.
The former Florida governor stressed his record of cutting taxes, shrinking the state government and maintaining the state’s bond rating — popular topics in fiscally conservative New Hampshire. Though he is known for his interest in improving public education — his support of Common Core educational standards is one reason why he gets labeled a moderate — Bush said he opposes President Obama’s proposal to make community college tuition free. “The idea of giving something free — it’s political. It’s polldriven. Someone did a focus group. Free stuff. Free community colleges, it’s a great sound bite,’’ Bush said.
The Republican summit is a fundraiser for its organizer, the state GOP.
Tom Rath, a Manchester lawyer and a longtime Republican activist, says he has yet to choose a candidate for 2016. “It does a little bit appear like you’re firing a starter’s pistol.” Potential candidates “have got to get serious now. You better get up here.’’
Though voters may still be sorting out which governor is which, the politically involved audience at the GOP summit has already been following the proto-candidates closely, says Dante Scala, a political scientist at the University of New Hampshire. “As they start to choose up sides, I think this weekend could be significant for them. They may be able to winnow down in their mind the two or maybe the one candidate they’re going to go with. Not the voters, but with the activists, there’s the opportunity (for candidates) to build good word of mouth … and persuade some activists to get on board the train.’’
Still to come today: Paul, Walker, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz.
The politico-palooza is a welcome event for New Hampshire Republicans. In 2012, Mitt Romney’s status as front-runner kept campaigning fairly quiet in the state, and people in New Hampshire “had to watch candidates on TV just like everybody else in the country,” Scala says. “There’s all sorts of possibilities because people feel it’s fluid and wide open. If you’re a Republican activist, you’re just smiling from ear to ear. If you’re a Democratic activist, you’re jealous.’’
In fact, Democrats set up shop across the street from the summit, where Democratic National Committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida said any one of the GOP candidates would damage middle-class Americans by cutting taxes for the wealthy and repealing the Affordable Care Act.