They were auditioning in front of hundreds of wealthy, conservative political donors assembled for a semi-annual retreat by the billionaires Charles and David Koch.
Mider has the blow-by-blow:
Cruz drew his first big cheer when he called global warming a fiction invented by liberals, and got more when he attacked Planned Parenthood, took credit for killing the Export-Import Bank, promised a campaign in the mold of Ronald Reagan's, and said he relished the thought of facing Hillary Clinton on a debate stage.-RW
“I have yet to meet a person in America whose criticism of Congress is, 'You guys haven’t cooperated with Obama enough.' People are fed up,” said the former college debate-team champion, for another round of applause.
Unlike the three candidates who preceded him Saturday and earlier Sunday, Cruz drew a few dozen standing ovations as he left the stage, including from David Koch himself. The Koch brothers' favor is widely sought by Republican political candidates, both because of their personal wealth—they are both worth about $51 billion—and because of their influence with their network of donors dedicated to free-market causes.
Bush got not one, but two, rounds of applause for calling for an end to a ban on U.S. oil exports, and another one when he said the country is “on the verge of greatness.” And, asked about signing a pledge not to raise taxes as president, he said that as the Florida governor, “I cut taxes every year. I don't have to sign a pledge,” to more applause.
Virtually everyone stood up after Bush's speech, but it was unclear whether anyone thought he deserved an ovation. It was time for cocktail hour in another part of the hotel.
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