Probably the most eagerly anticipated activity of he week-end was the opportunity to attend a sunrise yoga session hosted by Ann Romney and Bloomberg News’ Mark Halperin. Its hard to imagine a more meditative way to start the day than watching a political pundit twist himself into a pretzel. (Well, it’s actually easy to imagine if you watch “Morning Joe.”) But skeet shooting with Lindsay Graham was widely reported as the highlight of the weekend. He’s become the comedian of the group and not just when he’s hysterically declaring that ISIS is coming to kill us all. He kept the rich guys and press alike in stitches with quips like ”We tried tall, good looking, smart, nice, great family man. Vote for me, we’re not going down that path again.” But this anecdote probably captures the flavor of the event more than any other:
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Graham admitted he hasn’t had to turn away any million-dollar checks since he arrived (campaign finance laws bar candidates from taking more than $2,700 from any one individual). But he added he hopes a super PAC – an outside group that could spend unlimited amounts of money supporting him but with which he’d be barred from coordinating — emerges soon to support his presidential candidacy. Unlike some of his competitors, Graham, as a federal officeholder, couldn’t start one himself, even before he officially declared his bid.
He ran into Romney in person shortly after arriving on Friday night at the exclusive lodge where the conference is being held. They shook hands at the top of a staircase overlooking a cocktail party that was already in full swing.
“There’s money down there Lindsey, go get it!” Romney said with a big smile. Graham smiled back, then started down the staircase.
The reporter probably didn’t notice Graham’s tail wagging or Mitt saying “good boy” under his breath.
John Kasich told the Republican donors, “you think you’re going to beat Hillary Clinton by just destroying the Clintons? You’ve got to be kidding me,” which is akin to saying that it’s not enough to simply kill Moby Dick. Carly Fiorina offered the unusual insight that “everything” about her “is different.” Scott Walker spent most of his time sequestered with potential doors but he did tell the whole group that he’d won in a blue state and that he’d only been recalled once in his one and a half terms. (Ok, he didn’t mention the recall.) Chris Christie offered that he was probably “the most psychoanalyzed national political figure in the world,” which is likely to come as quite a surprise to virtually every national political figure in the world.