A stellar performance at the conference can provide a huge boost for a candidate, as demonstrated by Rubio’s well-received January appearance. The Florida Senator aced his appearance at a joint forum with rival White House prospects Cruz and Paul. Rubio gave crisp and detailed answers to policy and political questions posed by the session moderator, ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
Afterward, Rubio won an informal straw poll of attendees, and impressed a number of donors in one-on-one interactions and a speech. And he got a boost from media coverage of his performance at the forum, which marked the first session ever streamed live to the media from the long-running series of twice-a-year Koch seminars, as the gatherings are known in conservative politics.
Since then, Rubio has made significant headway with the donor class, raising a total of more than $40 million into his presidential campaign and a pair of supportive big-money groups, including a super PAC and a non-profit.
By contrast, Paul – who had worked to cultivate a relationship with Charles Koch based on their shared appreciation of libertarian philosophies – was widely seen as having bombed at the January seminar. And, though there’s not necessarily a direct causal link with his seminar stumble, super PACs supporting Paul have thus far failed to keep up with the big-money fundraising operations of his rivals.
During the forum, Paul, at times slouching in a cushy arm chair with his legs crossed, gave rambling and sometimes unpopular answers. At one point, he opposed eliminating tax benefits to the oil and gas industry — from which Koch Industries, the brothers’ multi-national conglomerate, benefits but which the brothers philosophically oppose. And, in a speech, he raised eyebrows among even some of his ardent supporters by touting tax breaks to spur growth in blighted inner cities. The idea is anathema to the brand of small-government conservatism espoused by the Kochs and many of their network’s donors, who object to marketplace interference.
Paul’s attire didn’t help, either. Some in the buttoned-down crowd remarked later that his boxy blue blazer, faded jeans and cowboy boots gave off a “cavalier” vibe.
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