An excellent run down of the major GOP presidential primary candidates following CPAC:
Watch out conservatives. Jeb Bush is in this to win this and he just might. I met privately with Governor Bush at CPAC. He struck me as far more polished than many of the other candidates and he clearly recognizes the quality, however superficial it might be to some, of looking the part.
More interesting, I have a ton of friends who like him. They all have one thing in common. They are Christians. They appreciated the sincerity of his brother’s faith and they appreciate his as they perceive it reflected in his demeanor, his soft language on immigration, and his position of Schiavo back in the day.
Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just telling you. At the same time, a lot of major donors tell me that they think we do not need another Bush and they view him as the second coming of Romney. Major donors who I thought would go in early with Bush are looking instead at Scott Walker.
That leads me to Walker and a problem. He is not polished yet. There is time, but he needs a lot of work. Two events happened over the weekend. CPAC and the Club For Growth had their conferences at the same time. I, regrettably, could not be at the Club For Growth conference where I intended to be. I had to be at CPAC. But I kept my ear to the ground.
Bush had a far more impressive performance than Walker. Walker seemed like he crammed for the exam and it showed. His answers fell flat in several areas. The benefit Walker has that Bush does not have is that donors are willing to give him time to get it together.
Read more: Red State
