The decline of American leadership abroad took stage at CPAC this Thursday.
A breakout session titled “The State of Our Alliances” featured scathing reviews of the Obama administration’s treatment of the U.K., Israel, and Japan. But ultimately, this panel ignored any and all American interests in these alliances and offered the audience a lopsided argument. Worse, this is not a one-time offense.
In the shadow of Donald Trump’s disruptive primary victories, it is understandable that conservatives at CPAC should seek to identify and unify the different traditions that constitute their movement. And so the annual movement congress kicked off yesterday with Sen. Ben Sasse, Sen. Rick Santorum, and Gov. Gary Johnson as the respective advocates of classical, populist, and libertarian conservatism.
The Florida and Ohio primaries on March 15 will determine whether Trump will be able to win the nomination outright, and at least in Florida it appears that he isn’t going to be stopped. A new PPP survey from Florida not only found that Trump is leading Rubio by 20 points (45-25%), but that he has surpassed Rubio’s favorability ratings in the state. Trump is now viewed favorably by 64% of Florida Republicans compared to Rubio’s 60%. Trump’s lead is consistent with what other recent Florida polls have found, and Trump’s lead in the RCP average is 18 points.
President Vladimir Putin has warned the internal security of the Russian state to be on the lookout for “foreign foes” who present a “direct threat to Russia’s sovereignty.” Putin has urged the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB- the organisation that came after the KGB) not to allow foreign influence in the upcoming September parliamentary elections in Russia.
At a campaign stop in Minnesota, Hillary Rodham Clinton made friends with a young Somali-american female voter who dared to question her on her past racial comments regarding race and diversity policy. There is no doubt about the deleterious effects Clinton’s past comments and actions have had on the Black community. And yet again, here is another glaring example of how Ms. Clinton looses her ability to keep calm when confronted with her own dishonesty. Oh, how very presidential. Not. Hillary’s response to the young woman?