At Conservative Retreat, Support for Insurgent Candidates

OXON HILL, Md. â€" Sarah Palin’s appearances no longer inspire speculation about her presidential aspirations, but her reception at a large gathering of conservatives on Saturday underscored her enduring popularity with the right. In a speech here, she offered zingers for the Republican base but also a strenuous defense of her Tea Party-inspired friends who are challenging the Republican establishment.

In a sweeping pep talk at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Ms. Palin, a former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee, attacked the president from the opposing party and the Beltway Republican groups that are promoting traditional candidates over insurgents in Republican primaries.

“More background checks” she said, railing against new gun control proposals offered by Democrats in Congress. “Dandy idea, Mr. President. Should’ve started with yours.” Lines like that frequently brought the crowd to its feet.

Despite her exit from electoral politics after the loss of her presidential ticket in 2008, Ms. Palin has secured an enduring type of influence within the conservative movement. Many of its upstart office holders credit her with their success. They include Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who came o! ut to introduce Ms. Palin hours before he was scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

“She can pick winners,” said Mr. Cruz, who beat the state’s lieutenant governor in a primary last year. “I would not be in the U.S. Senate today if it were not for Gov. Sarah Palin.”

Acknowledging that “we can’t just ignore that we lost a big election,” Ms. Palin said that “the last thing we need is Washington, D.C., vetting more candidates.”

In an apparent reference to Karl Rove, who established the Conservative Victory Fund to oppose insurgent primary candidates, she added, “The architects can head on bak to …” Jeers from the crowd drowned out her proposed destination.

Ms. Palin’s name is one of nearly two dozen appearing on a presidential straw poll that serves as an early measure of enthusiasm in the Republican contest.

Speaking before Ms. Palin was a Republican, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who had offered one of the party’s success stories from 2012. Mr. Walker, who remains the governor after beating back a union-driven recall campaign, spoke about political lessons from his state that could be applied nationally. Yet his suggestions were more modest in scope than those offered by other potential 2016 candidates, focusing more on how to reframe union fights than on how to fundamentally change the perception of the party.

Entitlement reform, Mr. Walker said, should be cast as “moving people! from gov! ernment dependence to true independence.”

He added, to raucous applause, “It’s why we take off work on the 4th of July, not the 15th of April.”

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and Representative Michele Bachmann, both of whom vied for the Republican nomination in 2012, also had their 15 minutes. Mr. Gingrich said the Republican-controlled House “could be having a hearing every week on the future.” Using props â€" a candle and an incandescent light bulb â€" Mr. Gingrich imagined that if Thomas Edison’s technology emerged today, liberals would try to block the electric bulb, while subsidizing candles for the poor.

He was followed by Mrs. Bachmann, who has championed the incandescent bulb, introducing a bill to block a planned phaseout of that technology in favor of compact fluorescent lights. On Saturday, she characterized conservatives as a “growing movement of people who care about all Americans.” She cited as evidence their support for $2-a-gallon gasoline and for preserving Second Amendment rights for women.