2/20/14, "Cruz Storms GOP Establishment Stronghold in Sunshine State with Record-Setting Crowd," Breitbart News, Matthew Boyle, with Andy Badolato in Sarasota
"The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) just held its winter meeting here, and the wealthy beachfront communities that dot the coast are typically considered one of the beating hearts of the Establishment GOP's donor community.
Tonight, though, it's Cruz country.
An event originally scheduled as a small
rally for potential 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
mushroomed into a major political event after nearly 2,000 people RSVP'd
online.
“We are shocked at the level of interest
that we’ve received for doing this rally,” Sarasota GOP chairman Joe
Gruters told Breitbart News.
“It’s obvious that the state is aware
that he is listening, and they’re excited about what Ted Cruz is saying
and it certainly cuts across the bow of the establishment in D.C., which
is maybe not trying to ‘stifle’ what Sen. Cruz is saying but certainly
that Cruz is getting so much attention at the local level in a county
like Sarasota shows you that he’s a major player and that people should
watch out for and everything that the guy is doing,” he added.
Cruz opened his remarks here with one his
signature phrases. “I spent all of last week in Washington, D.C.," he
said. "It is great to be back in America.”
Following what will now be a
sizable rally at the Sarasota Hyatt – participants are already lining
up “like Black Friday campers at Best Buy,” one organizer emailed – Cruz
will attend a $500 per person VIP fundraiser and, to wrap up the
evening, a $5,000 per couple private donor dinner.
The fundraising proceeds are going to the Sarasota County GOP party.
Organizers say 1,800 people signed up for the rally and at least 200 for the dinner.
It's unusual for an event like this to
catch fire, Gruters said, because the community is known less for its
conservative activists than its business-minded GOP donors.
“We are a center right community,” he
said. “If you look at all of our individuals and officials on a local
level, they’re all pretty much just barely center right. The interest
and the energy that’s being created as a result of this event is that
Cruz—to me, it’s just amazing. From my standpoint, Ted Cruz is a serious
political player—and it’s amazing he’s able to attract these large
crowds.”
When reached by phone early Thursday
afternoon, organizers told Breitbart News they were still rearranging
chairs because they needed to ensure there was enough standing room in
the venue so as not to break the fire marshall code.
Originally, organizers had planned on
having a rally with several hundred people where Cruz would receive the
Sarasota GOP “Statesman of the Year” award. Past winners have included
Sean Hannity, Donald Trump and Haley Barbour. But when the party
announced the event online, an unexpected swarm of GOP activists from
the grassroots sought to ensure they had the opportunity to get in to
see Cruz in action. “If you have a single candidate rally and you get
500 people in the room, it’s a great day,” Gruters said. “To have almost
2,000 in the room for a single candidate—it’s amazing.”
Gruters also made a strong pitch for other GOP officials to make a stop in his back yard.
“I like to say ‘Sarasota is the new
Iowa,’” Gruters said. “If you want to be a serious presidential
candidate, you better stop at Palm Beach and you better stop at Sarasota
because we have the donors and we have the base activists. My question
to everybody is: ‘Go to a rally somewhere else and see how many people
you get,'” he said."
"Andy Badolato contributed reporting from the event in Sarasota. Breitbart News' Matthew Boyle reported from Washington." image from Breitbart News. via Drudge
.
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