(Almost) LIVE from the CPAC 2011 Conference in Washington, DC

by: joeynovick

Fri Feb 11, 2011 at 02:22:52 PM EST

Sigh. - promoted by Rosi

I am here at the CPAC conference in Washington DC, and had the opportunity to see Mitt Romney speak this morning. CPAC - the Conservative Political Action Conference - is as crucial a gathering of neoconservatives, paleoconservatives, Tea Party people and rank-and-file Republicans as the Netroots Nation conference is for our side. The place is crammed with Republican presidential hopefuls and I'm enjoying walking around talking to people who probably disagree with me on just about everything.

I have met a large contingent from NJ, and got a chance to interview some of them. Will post video later.

more below

joeynovick :: (Almost) LIVE from the CPAC 2011 Conference in Washington, DC

Prior to his speaking, former Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico made the crowd yawn. He was doing OK with his support for school vouchers, cutting taxes, prayer in school. But he lost them with his support for legalizing marijuana. His supporters held up signs that read "Johnson for President", but the mostly conservative crowd did not cotton to his stand on legal pot for all.

Romney on the other hand, was on his game. Good time slot (10:30am); crowd completely seated and attentive. Johnson had the 9:30am spot, and people were still flowing in.

Romney did not let up on Obama from the moment he took the stage. Some quips:

The president has moved from 'Change we can believe in to 'Can you believe this change?' Crowd roars.
'Obama's State of The Union Address sounded like my speech last year at CPAC. Crowd roars again.
I will not apologize for America. I love America. The president won the Nobel Peace Prize for the way he dealt with North Korea and Iran. Hey, Mr. President, how's that working out for you?
If I decided to run for president....(Romney pauses)....crowd cheers...We are going to have a new birth of freedom. Freedom for citizens. Protection for the unborn....."

He left with a standing ovation, and sounding pretty confident that he will be the one to accept the nomination of his party in Tampa Bay in 2012.