What You Missed and What's Coming Up At CPAC

By Michael Falcone February 27, 2015

By MICHAEL FALCONE

NOTABLES

  • BOBBY JINDAL PITCHES HIMSELF AS A 'FULL SPECTRUM CONSERVATIVE': Louisiana governor and likely 2016 candidate Bobby Jindal says voters are looking for the next Republican presidential nominee to be "a fighter." And though he has yet to formally announce his candidacy, Jindal described himself as someone who is "unafraid to tell the truth" even if he's attacked for doing it. "I gave a speech in London about the threat of radical Islamic terrorism … I was called racist, an anti-Muslim, it's not true but I think people are looking for a fighter," Jindal said during an interview with ABC News on the sidelines of CPAC yesterday. In looking ahead to the future of the party, Jindal said the GOP needs to work on expanding its appeal to people across all socio-economic and age groups, ABC's RICK KLEIN and JORDYN PHELPS report. "We need to be party of everybody," Jindal said. "We need to fight for a 100 percent of the votes." WATCH: http://abcn.ws/1DfjhxY
  • WHY BEN CARSON THINKS IT'S IMPORTANT FOR A BLACK MAN TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has captivated the conservative community and thrown himself into the pool of potential 2016 presidential contenders, told ABC News on Thursday that when it comes to politics, his race and upbringing give him "a great deal of perspective." ABC's RICK KLEIN goes one-on-one with Carson: http://abcn.ws/1AOPSwc … Grover Norquist: http://abcn.ws/17BOYZB … Gary Johnson: http://abcn.ws/18qXoEa … and Rep. Mia Love: http://abcn.ws/1BicneE
  • CHRIS CHRISTIE TURNS TO MEDIA BASHING: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued to bash the media yesterday at CPAC, playing into a popular topic among the activists in the crowd. As New Jersey Governor, Christie told radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham in a question-and-answer session he has reporters from The New York Times covering him every day and accused journalists of taking sides on issues he has stood up against, ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE notes. "When you do things like I've done in New Jersey, take on a lot of these special interests that they support they just want to kill you…here's the bad news for them, here I am and I'm still standing." http://abcn.ws/17CnHGq THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO SEN. TED CRUZ'S MIND WHEN HE HEARS 'BILL CLINTON': https://vine.co/v/O2JdKzdxiTL
  • ANALYSIS FROM ABC'S SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: The first day of CPAC is done. It was filled with cheers, hyperbole, a dose of media bashing, some costumes, plenty of foreign policy talk (even without the specifics) and a serious sizing up of the first round of potential GOP 2016 presidential candidates. Today, brings the most anticipated speaker: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. In his question and answer session with Fox News' Sean Hannity he will try to woo the conservative activists gathered and ease many of their fears that he is a squishy moderate. He will also have to answer questions on his Common Core and immigration positions, no doubt. It may not be easy, reports say there's a walk out planned. Bush is likely to be prepare for it since its been publicized, but it may still be embarrassing. We'll be watching. And if you missed the first day of speakers at CPAC, get caught up with a wrap featuring Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina and more from this morning ABC's World News Now: ht tp://abcn.ws/1FDAELn
  • ELSEWHERE ON THE TRAIL: Mike Huckabee skipped CPAC altogether this year and today holds a round table in the key primary state of South Carolina and headlines a fundraiser for the South Carolina Attorney General, according to ABC's ALI WEINBERG. Chris Christie will spend today and tomorrow fundraising in California. Ted Cruz, who spoke at CPAC yesterday, is reportedly addressing the Club for Growth private event in Florida today.

THIS WEEK ON 'THIS WEEK': Sunday on "This Week," the powerhouse roundtable debates all the week's politics, with ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, ESPN senior writer and CNN contributor LZ Granderson, syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham, and ABC News' Cokie Roberts. Check the "This Week" page for full guest listings. Be sure to use #ThisWeek when you tweet about the program. TUNE IN SUNDAY: http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek

WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE HILL?

WITH JUST HOURS REMAINING UNTIL FUNDING EXPIRES FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, the House and Senate remain at an impasse, ABC's JEFF ZELENY reports, but appear to be heading toward a short-term solution. The House is set to vote on a three-week funding bill this morning rather than pass a bill to keep the department running through September. Some mainstream Republicans believe this is a wrong-headed approach, because it simply delays the inevitable and kicks the can down the proverbial road - all in defiance of President Obama's immigration action. And some ardent conservative immigration opponents believe their Republican leaders are caving in. Call it a compromise or another episode of governing-by-crisis, but the Senate is likely to grudgingly go along with the Band-Aid approach, so they don't have a security shutdown on their hands. It sets the stage for an incredibly divisive March for Republican leaders, who have only delayed the inevitable with this temporary fix.

THE BUZZ

with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

MORE FROM CPAC: CARLY FIORINA CRITICIZES HILLARY CLINTON. Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO, is positioning herself as the anti-Hillary Clinton candidate, going after the likely Democratic presidential candidate in her speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday, hitting her for accepting donations from foreign countries to her foundation, ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE notes. In her address, Fiorina called on Clinton to "please explain why we should accept that the millions and millions of dollars that have flowed into the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments doesn't represent a conflict of interest." The Washington Post reported last week that the Clinton Foundation began taking foreign donations after Clinton finished her time as Secretary of State, but it reported Wednesday that the group also accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments during her tenure as head of the State Department. http://abcn.ws/1GxYt8l

THAT TIME SEN. JIM INHOFE THREW A SNOWBALL ON THE SENATE FLOOR. This may be a congressional first. Sen. Jim Inhofe, a devoted climate change denier, tossed a snowball at someone on the Senate floor Thursday as he tried to debunk climate change. "In case we had forgotten because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair: You know what this is? It's a snowball and that just from outside here so it's very, very cold out. Very unseasonal," he said. "So, Mr. President, catch this," Inhofe, R-Okla., said on the Senate floor, tossing the snowball to someone off-screen as he tried to suppress a smile, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ writes. "We hear the perpetual headline that 2014 has been the warmest year on record but now the script has flipped and I think it's important since we hear it over and over and over," Inhofe, 80, said. "As we can see with the snowball out there, this is today. This is reality." http://abcn.ws/1LOd7v9

NANCY PELOSI SPORTS SUNGLASSES IN SOLIDARITY WITH HARRY REID AFTER EYE INJURY. Wearing sunglasses indoors may be the new craze on Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi walked into a news conference on DHS funding yesterday morning and threw on some sunglasses in solidarity with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. "I brought my glasses to be with Harry but he switched on me," Pelosi said to laughs from reporters. "I tricked her," Reid answered. Earlier this week, Reid debuted some dark sunglasses to cover up an injury sustained to his right eye while exercising earlier this year, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ notes. But Thursday, Reid went with a different set of specs - dark rimmed glasses with a shaded lens covering his right eye. Reid has undergone two surgeries to help restore vision in his right eye. http://abcn.ws/1Fyhd6G

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

HOW THE REAL-LIFE FRANK UNDERWOOD IS STARING DOWN THE DHS SHOWDOWN. What would Frank Underwood do? As the House of Representatives' majority whip - a role famously depicted in the Netflix hit series "House of Cards" - it's a question Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., ponders as Capitol Hill faces a showdown over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security. "I think he'd storm over to the Senate chamber and just start maybe voting some people's machines 'yes' to get the bill brought up," Scalise joked of the fictional character played by Kevin Spacey. "He'd take matters into his own hands over in the Senate." Scalise, who didn't start watching "House of Cards" until after he became majority whip in August, said the fictional Washington depicted in the show bears only a limited semblance to reality. "They depict the Capitol and the hectic schedule. I mean everybody is running around from meeting to meeting and votes," he said in an interview with ABC's JEFF ZELENY, host of "The Fine Print." "But when it comes to the interaction between members, it's a lot more collegial than I think is depicted there." WATCH: http://yhoo.it/1LPni0J

WHO'S TWEETING?

@SalenaZitoTrib: . @ron_fournier & I talk Millennial disconnect & whats up at #CPAC2015 on @OffRoadPolitics http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/cpac-conservatives-to-millennials-blah-blah-blah-20150226 …

@shiracenter: The next @MittRomney campaign: #Boston2024 Olympics http://roll.cl/1DyALrA

@jonward11: for Jeb Bush, the Q&A is the message http://news.yahoo.com/for-jeb-bush-the-q-a-is-the-message-004359060.html …

@NKingofDC: Noonan on Jeb: "I think he's making a poor impression." http://on.wsj.com/18rjiXR

@abbydphillip: Last night I saw an ok looking gold and white dress. Today I see an ugly blue and black dress. What is even happening?