CPAC speakers talk Islamic State, immigration, Obama

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Next: the fight to win over the right.

It was day two of speeches at the largest gathering of conservatives in the country.

Political director Domenico Montanaro reports on the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC.

DOMENICO MONTANARO:

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and current front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2016, was the highlight of the day.

FORMER GOVERNOR JEB BUSH, (R) Florida: I have to show that I care about people, about their future. It can't be about the past. It can't be about my mom and dad or my brother.

DOMENICO MONTANARO:

He was met with some boos for his support of immigration reform and Common Core educational standards, but he defended his record.

JEB BUSH:

So, I would describe myself as a practicing reform-minded conservative, that I have actually done it.

DOMENICO MONTANARO:

Another Floridian, Senator Marco Rubio, struck out at President Obama.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) Florida: Sometimes, you wouldn't know we're an exceptional nation by listening to the president, who has described our nation as sometimes being arrogant or dictating terms to others.

DOMENICO MONTANARO:

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's message of smaller government and a less interventionist foreign policy is always popular with some of the younger libertarian activists at CPAC. And this year was no different.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), Kentucky: As conservatives, we shouldn't succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow become successful abroad.

DOMENICO MONTANARO:

But former Senator Rick Santorum, like most other speakers, took a hard line on fighting the Islamic State militant group.

FORMER SENATOR RICK SANTORUM, Pennsylvania:

If ISIS wants to establish a seventh century caliphate, well, let's oblige them by bombing them back to the seventh century.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DOMENICO MONTANARO:

The activists will vote on their favorite tomorrow in the annual CPAC straw poll.

Domenico Montanaro, PBS NewsHour.