While the Big Media focuses on Senators Clinton and Obama, conservatives are watching the other race. Most of the headliners were on hand at last weekend’s CPAC convention.

Michael Barone focused on how the convention of conservatives reacted to Rudolph Giuliani, noting that there were “some rather long intervals with no applause” but also that “people were genuinely interested in hearing what Giuliani had to say.” That proved to be true, as evidenced by Giuliani’s surprising finish in the straw poll (see below).

Even so, Giuliani didn’t even deliver the second-best speech of the event. That prize goes to the man who introduced him, George Will.

The best speech at CPAC, at least the best one covered by CSPAN, was delivered by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. He hit all the hot buttons—stronger families and communities, smaller and smarter government, lower taxes. But the best lines of his speech were devoted to defense—and were delivered with perfect pitch and cadence.

“The best ally peace has in the world is a strong America. We need more men and women in the military, better armaments, and a Strategic Defense Initiative…Iraq is just one front in the war. We removed Hussein, but afterward, we were under-prepared, under-planned, under-manned, and under-managed. But walking away now or dividing the country and then walking away would have real and severe risks for America and for our troops. I support the troop surge for that reason. And one thing I know, we shouldn’t let Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid dictate our battle strategy to the commanders in the field or to the Commander-in-Chief.” 

Romney brought the house down—and forced me to rewind my DVR—with this crescendo: “Conservatism is a belief in strength. It is because of America’s strength that we don’t all speak German and that our kids don’t all speak Russian. And it is because of America’s strength that our grandchildren will not have to speak Farsi or Arabic or Chinese. America must remain the world’s military superpower.” 

It looks like I wasn’t the only one Romney impressed. Romney won the straw poll, garnering 21 percent of the vote. Giuliani was a close second, followed by Brownback, Gingrich and McCain. It pays to recall that the man who won the straw poll at the 2000 CPAC conference was George W. Bush.

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