CPAC 2013 Looks To 2016 Presidential Election, Talks Immigration And Gay Marriage

CPAC 2013 is looking ahead to the 2016 Presidential election. As such, many of the Republican speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are talking about big issues like immigration and gay marriage.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Democrats are also looking to the 2016 Presidential Election, but they’d like Hillary-Michelle in 2016. Despite there being good reasons for that not happening, Hillary Clinton is already leading in 2016 political polls, and would beat any current potential Republican by a large margin. So CPAC 2013 is a way for Republicans to start making a message that they hope will resound with the American public in 3.5 years.

Texas Governor Rick Perry says the problem with the GOP is that their last two candidates have been too progressive:

“The popular media narrative is that this country has shifted away from conservative ideals, as evidenced by the last two presidential elections. That’s what they say. That might be true if Republicans had actually nominated conservative candidates in 2008 and 2012.”

Later tonight we’ll be seeing a CPAC Mitt Romney speech, although many Republicans are wondering why. Mitt Romney is famous for Romneycare, which spawned Obamacare, and before running for president leaned to the left on many issues. If Mitt Romney is the past for the GOP, then Rand Paul and Marco Rubio would be the future.

Still, at CPAC Marco Rubio claims that the Republicans don’t need any new ideas, saying, “We don’t need a new idea. There is an idea. The idea is called America, and it still works.” The Marco Rubio “bigot” comment has also been making the rounds, where Rubio claims, “Just because I believe that states should have the right to define marriage in the traditional way does not make me a bigot.”

Rand Paul became instantly famous, if he wasn’t already, because of the speaking filibuster against President Obama’s policy on drone strikes on Americans. At CPAC Rand Paul claims “the GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered. I don’t think we need to name any names here, do we?” Rand Paul also used CPAC to expound on drone strikes further:

“To those who would dismiss this debate as frivolous, I say tell that to the heroic young men and women who have sacrificed their limbs and lives Tell it to Sgt. J.D. Williams .?.?. who sacrificed himself to save his fellow soldiers. Tell J.D., who lost both legs and an arm, tell him his sacrifice was great but that we had to suspend the Bill of Rights he fought for. Yes, the filibuster was about drones, but also about much more. Do we have a Bill of Rights or not? Do we have a Constitution or not, and will we defend it?”

At CPAC 2013 immigration reform was advocated through changes and supported ways for illegal immigrants to achieve legal status, largely through temporary worker visas. None want to support total amnesty but at the same time they don’t want to use harsh tones toward undocumented illegal immigrants, who they hope will become future Republicans. Still, polls show that more than half of Americans support deporting illegal immigrants.

What do you think about CPAC 2013 so far?

#POTUS says he can't find anything to cut except for White House tours. I say, not a penny more to countries that burn our flag. #CPAC2013

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 14, 2013