NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, given the last slot among the presidential hopefuls at the Conservative Political Action Conference, faced some of the most devoted members of the Republican Party's ideological base, who oppose his stances on immigration and other key issues, with a strategy that diverged from his potential opponents.
Rather than give the typical stump speech, he stood away from the podium and fielded questions in a session hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Booing arose from the audience when Hannity opened with the subject of immigration, drawing a direct response from Bush.
“For those who made an ‘oo’ sound – is that what it was? – I’m marking you down as neutral, and I want to be your second choice,” Bush said with a smile.
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Already, dozens of attendees, as planned, had begun filing out of the auditorium in protest as Bush began to speak. Nevertheless, the main ballroom remained packed.
WND caught up with a few of the protesters and asked why they walked out on Bush.
"Immigration and common core," said one middle-aged woman with a Nordic accent. "Being a foreigner, it took me 16 years to get my citizenship, you know."
She said she was a bit offended by Bush's lax stance on immigration: "I worked too hard to get my citizenship."
"Not a fan of Bush," said a young Hispanic man who explained, "We simply don't need another Bush or another Clinton in the White House."
And elderly man said: "I am not a Jeb Bush fan. Too liberal for me. He shouldn't be here talking to a conservative group."
A young woman wearing a Cruz button who serves in a Christian youth mission told WND she simply found Bush too boring.
'My mother changed her mind'
Bush's remarks were received with polite applause that failed to reach the level of enthusiasm the CPAC conservatives showed for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Bush explain his mother had reconsidered after saying the nation “does not need another Bush” in the Oval Office.
Hannity broached the immigration question, asking Bush why he supported as governor driver’s licenses and breaks on college tuition for illegal immigrants.
“A great country needs to secure its borders,” Bush replied without answering the question.
Allowed to continue, Bush further changed the subject to suggest the nation needed “economic-driven immigrants that come here to work,” without specifying whether they were in the U.S. legally or illegally or would get driver’s licenses and tuition breaks for their college-age children.
“So why not secure the borders first?” Hannity then asked.
Bush responded: “Let’s do it. Let’s control the border."
At the end of the sequence, Hannity returned to the initial question.
Bush emphasized driver’s licenses for illegal aliens “didn’t happen” and the legislature passed the tuition-break benefit, without acknowledging his strong support of both measures.
Common Core
Hannity also brought up the federal Common Core education standards, which many conservatives strongly oppose, but the questioning began with a focus on Bush's pioneering voucher program.
“In researching Common Core, I didn’t know you were the first governor in the country to institute vouchers,” Hannity said.
“Yes, we did have the first statewide voucher program, giving us more school choice, both public and private, than any other state in the country,” he said.
“Our standards have to be high enough so a student going through our system is college- or career-ready, and that’s not happening right now,” Bush said.
“There’s a lot of concern shared by conservatives and myself that with this president and this Department of Education, there’s a risk politics will intrude, and they have in programs like ‘Race to the Top,'" he said.
"We should say the federal government has no role in the creation of standards. Give the states the money to innovate with their own Title 1 programs," he said.
Bush insisted it was President Obama rather than Common Core itself that dictated federal standards be applied in the schools.
He touted his record of job creation when he was Florida governor, following the Wall Street Journal's advice to win tea-party voters by advancing the narrative that Bush, “as the two-term Republican governor of Florida,” was “one of the country’s most vaunted conservative champions."
When Hannity asked Bush how he would defeat ISIS, the former governor said Mitt Romney was right in the 2012 presidential debates to suggest the United States should not trust Putin.
Bush added that the U.S. should promote relationships with traditional allies in the region, including Turkey.
Check out WND's extensive coverage of the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference:
Trump at CPAC: 'Hillary was the 1st birther'
CPAC crowd chants: 'President Paul!'
John Bolton: Hillary 'unfit to command'
Rick Perry: America will survive Obama as it did Carter
Jeb Bush bracing for CPAC walkout
Rubio: Hillary 'yesterday,' Obama 'failed'
Scott Walker 'wants to make America great again'
Sarah Palin: Obama's VA 'killing our veterans'
Jindal pounds Common Core in CPAC speech
Cruz: Hillary 'embodies the corruption of Washington'
'Next 20 months will be very dangerous'
Cruz strongly signals presidential bid
Christie: 'I gave up the New York Times for Lent'
Conservatives warned against unprincipled, unproven candidates