Colorado Politics

Western Conservative Summit draw stars, but none from the White House

They’ve all been to the Western Conservative Summit before: White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, to name a few of the Trump administration in Denver.

But this year one of the nation’s largest gathering of conservative advocates and experts, held annually in Denver, has only President Trump’s lawyer on the roster. Jay Sekulow is scheduled to speak Saturday night at the Colorado Convention Center.

The summit is Friday through Sunday. Friday night attendees will hear from former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner,  along with conservative writers Katie Pavlich and Cal Thomas.

Saturday’s speakers include former Reagan Education Secretary Bill Bennett, former Colorado Congressman Bob Beauprez, former South Carolina Sen. Jim Demint and U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Windsor.

At different points during the program on Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night, Colorado Politics will be onstage to individually question each Republican who has announced his candidacy for Colorado governor next year.

Sunday morning, before summit wraps up at noon, participants from across the country will cast votes in a straw poll on which Republican should lead the state. (Democrats were invited to participate in the onstage discussion and straw poll, but declined, Hunt said.)

Last year, as his general election campaign ramped up, Trump spoke at the Summit. He was introduced by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor turned 2008 vice presidential pick.

“I think we’ve got some star power,” said Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute think tank, which puts on the summit. “I wish we’d gotten more Trump administration officials to come out, and I’m scratching my head as to why they aren’t. Most of them have been here before.”

Last month, Hunt even touted a Twitter hashtag, #GetTrumptotheSummit.


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