Five members of the College Republicans traveled to Washington, D.C., this weekend to rub elbows with some of the most prominent Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a three-day event sponsored by the American Conservative Union, one of the largest conservative lobbying groups in the country.
One speaker at the event, controversial pundit Ann Coulter, made national headlines at the conference for referring to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot" in her speech, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also made some more positive national headlines by winning CPAC's annual "straw poll."
Garnering 21 percent of votes cast by registered conference attendees, Romney edged out former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who received 17 percent of the votes. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., came in third with 15 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich earned 14 percent and McCain 12 percent.
Romney's popularity among attendees of the conservative conference was markedly difference from his showing in a Newsweek poll also released over the weekend, which showed the former New York mayor far ahead of both Romney and McCain in an early forecast.
Romney and other Republican presidential candidates also spoke at the event, with the noticeable exception of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the only leading candidate who declined to attend the conference.
The Dartmouth students met Brownback face-to-face at dinner, talked policy with New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and posed for a photo op with straw poll winner Romney. They also visited the exhibition fair, where they received free "PETA killed Me" stuffed puppies, referring to the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
"I think it was absolutely worth it," said College Republican President Dominik Kolodziejczyk '09 of the trip. "Especially with the great confluence of speakers, because of the fact that all the presidential candidates are starting to campaign. We were fortunate to see all the high-profile candidates within a span of three days."
The Dartmouth students considered Romney's camp to be the most impressive at the conference. His supporters were everywhere, pushing "Vote Mitt" T-shirts and posters supporting the candidate.
"In think the general consensus was that Mitt Romney had strengthened himself as a leading contender for the race," said Rahul Sangwan '07, state vice chair of the New Hampshire College Republicans. "I think some of his substantive issues such as cutting the budget every year at inflation minus one percent was really appealing to a lot of people."
The College Republican delegates also said they were impressed by Giuliani. His campaign was heavily outpostered by Romney's, but he still was able to draw many cheers from the conservative crowd.
"Giuliani's speech definitely renewed my interest in him," Kolodziejczyk said. "Growing up in New York, it was great to see him once again being thrust into the national stage, and I'm excited to see where his campaign goes."
College Republicans Treasurer Doug Zarbock '10 said that McCain's absence was evident.
"I was surprised that McCain did not have a presence there." Zarbock said. "It doesn't seem like a good decision at all because he's rejecting his conservative base entirely by doing that especially when all the other candidates were there."
Not all the speakers, however, were candidates. One speaker, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne Le Pierre, received positive reviews from the Dartmouth attendees, and garnered much applause by showing a video montage of what he saw as liberal gaffes, including a clips of a PETA event and a moment in which Rep. Eleanor Norton, D-D.C., told her constituents "to shut up."
"The highlight of the trip was the La Pierre speech," Sangwan said. "I thought he was the most engaging and dynamic speaker I ever heard. I don't agree with him on what he said. A lot of it was propaganda, but his rhetoric was fantastic. I think he got more applause than almost any of the candidates."
