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Estate mogul-TV celebrity joins potential hopefuls such as Bachman, Gingrich at conservative event.
Trump
WASHINGTON — Thousands of conservatives, roused by GOP election gains they engineered, descended on the nation’s capital Thursday, eager to help a Republican challenger deny President Barack Obama a second term.
But just who?
Nearly a dozen potential presidential candidates, in various stages and sincerity of considering a 2012 run, were auditioning before 11,000 conservatives.
The three-day Conservative Political Action Conference marked the unofficial start of the GOP presidential nomination fight. Not a single Republican has entered the race and each day seems to bring a new contender in a crowded field that lacks a front-runner to take on the Democratic incumbent.
The latest one isn’t exactly new to the game: Donald Trump, the estate mogul and host of TV’s “The Apprentice.” He showed interest in the past in running, in both 1988 and 2000, and said this week he’s seriously thinking about 2012. He followed up those remarks with a surprise, last-minute appearance at the conservatives’ gathering.
“This is about making Barack Obama a one-term president,” said Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a tea party favorite who’s flirting with a bid. The keynote speaker, she didn’t say whether she planned to enter the race for real.
Neither did former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
He did give a glimpse of his likely platform, using his speech to criticize Obama’s policies as a “war on American energy” and to promote his alternative. Gingrich proposed replacing the Environmental Protection Agency with an Environmental Solutions Agency that he said would reward innovation, could help create jobs and boost national security.
Hearty applause followed when Gingrich lambasted comparisons between the current president and the 40th president, a hero to conservatives: “Barack Obama is no Ronald Reagan,” he said.