Finding Mr. Right, in love and politics
WASHINGTON -- How does a dating guru warm up a room of Republicans? Clearly, by rating the GOP presidential candidates' hotness.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on Thursday, Rick Santorum's name won nods of approval from a pair of young conservative women. Newt Gingrich's hotness-factor just elicited laughs, while the mention of Herman Cain left the room silent. But the two young women who approved of Santorum's appearance, Susan Eckstein and Krista Ordemann, had a clear idea of who topped the list: "Mitt Romney's sons!" they chirped together.
The dating guru, Wayne Elise - otherwise known as "the Juggler" from the best-selling book on seduction, "The Game" - approved of their decisiveness.
"If you don't know what you want, you're never going to get it," Elise told a crowd of about 50 people gathered for his CPAC primer on conservative dating. "You're into politics, right? You know this."
Elise could have been talking about finding the right date or the right presidential candidate, depending on the context.
"If you cast a wide net, you're never going to get the person you really want," he continued. "Most people are afraid of being specific [about what they want]. They don't want to miss an opportunity."
For some CPAC attendees, it turns out holding onto one's conservative values can be a challenge -- both in the search for the perfect mate and the perfect candidate.
Is Rick Santorum conservatives' last, best hope?
Mitt Romney: My conservatism will shine at CPAC
"Up at school and downtown, I'd be having a conversation with a gentleman and I would bring up my beliefs, and they will make me feel like a complete idiot," said Brittany Brzenk, a 22-year-old student from the University of Wisconsin, Platteville. "I had one guy literally storm away from me. I feel like there's no tolerance for the conservative viewpoint."
Added her classmate Nate Thompson, 21, "A lot of liberals deal in absolutes, you're either with them or against them. You can't be on the same team."
However, that "with them or against them" attitude is arguably present in the Republican party as well. That very same day, GOP Sen. Jim DeMint likened Republicans and Democrats to the Giants playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
"Compromise works well in this world when you have shared goals," he said at CPAC. "When you have a shared goals, you can sit down together. We don't have shared goals with the Democrats."
That kind of fierce conviction has made it hard for a lot of conservatives to embrace a presidential candidate like Mitt Romney, who has been criticized by many conservatives for changing his position over time on issues like abortion.
Cain says he dropped out to "put family first"
Bachmann: Running for president was "educational"
DeMint: "We don't have shared goals with the Democrats"
"I hear this all the time, that we've got to vote for Romney because he can beat Obama," said Thompson, who's leaning towards supporting Rick Santorum. "For me, that's putting aside your principles. I can't do that."
Thompson and Brzenk drove 17 hours from Platteville to CPAC to find solace in the company of other young conservatives. The conference draws thousands of conservatives to Washington each year, and a large portion of those attendees are college students.
Brzenk observed that Democrats typically "collect and rally more." CPAC, she said, "is how we get together to be able to express how we feel about things, find like-minded people and stand up for what we believe in and try to make a difference. This is a great opportunity for us to get together."
Thompson and Brzenk demurred to respond when asked if they were looking for a conservative love connection at CPAC, but Brzenk admitted, "I honestly find it really attractive when a guy is Republican. It's OK if we don't have the same viewpoints, if it's coming from the same place, you know you're not going to get scrutinized and you can actually have an intelligent conversation."
If two conservatives are looking for more than just a conversation, Elise suggested taking a Polaroid camera around town and taking pictures of one another. "That's a fun date," he said.
One middle-aged man attending Elise's dating primer had quite a different suggestion for impressing a conservative date: Taking her to a gun club.
"A lot of women haven't done it," he said. "It's something different that no one's done before."
If the same tactics work in politics, Romney may want to brush up on his firearm skills.
