Politics
AFP Summit: 2016 Prospects Hone Pitch to Koch Donors, Activists
DALLAS (Politico) — Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Pence, Rick Perry and Ben Carson all sounded like presidential candidates in weekend speeches to conservative activists here for a conference organized by an influential Koch-backed group.
The would-be candidates touted their small-government bona fides and hammered prospective Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama on issues ranging from the Middle East to health care to Obama’s golfing.
Cruz and Perry got among the lustiest responses from the nearly 3,000 grass-roots activists at Americans for Prosperity’s annual Defending the American Dream summit. But Paul and Pence, who on Thursday night dined privately with a more exclusive group of major donors and VIPs including AFP foundation chairman David Koch and columnist George Will, appear to have made the best impressions on the elite and moneyed class.
###