Steve King’s Conservative Principles Conference got off to a fast start this weekend. Last night, we noted the satellite trucks outside, and reached out to the key players. Acting as the people magnet that he is, Chris Heneghan, our roving British journalist, immediately ran into Steve King in the hotel lobby and set up for this morning’s microinterview for the ‘Grok.
Campaign Carl Cameron was on site for Fox (and formerly of NH’s WMUR Channel 9) typing away in the media corner as the show began
Your scribe sat down with Congressman King just before ‘showtime’ to ask him a little about his aims for the conference, his plans for keeping candidates honest as they move between New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, and we got about 10 minutes of exclusive time on video – Now available after the jump 🙂
In short, Rep King thought that the 2012 season had gotten off to a slow start, and he wanted to get the wheels turning and start having interaction between the grassroots and the potential candidates.
He envisions the dialog between candidates and activists as a two-way street where candidates absorb the best ideas of the activists and in return enthuse the activists to go out into the field on their behalf. The Congressman expects that some of those activists will end up in DC helping to shape policy for the victor.
We thanked Steve King for his frequent appearances in NH on behalf of conservative candidates, and asked him how he saw the interaction between our states developing. He sees increased communication as helpful to the states and their voters in getting a consistent picture of the candidates, instead of the candidates presenting tailored ideas in each state.
We finally asked what he thought about candidates who arrived on the scene with a clear vision and platform vs those who arrive at a platform after polling the activists. He definitely prefers the ones with a clear vision up front. He also thinks highly of a certain "dark horse" from Atlanta – who happens to have a rather nice platform brochure out already. (And see the video with the afternoon batch)
As the day began, the whole place was hopping, with John Bolton, Haley Barbour and Newt Gingrich (all three are in that "will they, will they not?" group of possible candidates) chatting in the reception area, hundreds of delegates registering for the conference, and Steve King doing back-to-back interviews in the lobby. (Interview and and photos after the jump):
Grokster Mike chatting with Congressman King about his aims for the conference and the presidential season just before ‘showtime’. (The white noise is a fountain about 30ft behind the camera.)
Above, Ambassador Bolton, Governor Barbour, and Speaker Gingrich chat in the hotel lobby before the conference.
Betsy McCaughey, tireless warrior to defeat Obamacare, pictured here with a heavily annotated copy of Obamacare, agreed to a microinterview later today. She has analyzed Obamacare more closely than almost anyone, and has written books about the battle to overturn it, including "Obama Health Law: What it Says and How to Overturn It".
The first morning panel:
- Marilyn Rickert – FairTax.Org
- Peter O’Rourke – Strong America Now
- Greg Mourad – National Right To Work Committee
- David Bossie – Citizens United
