NEW YORK - A black-tied Donald Trump took the stage at the New York State Republican Gala with a relaxed confidence. He was in his city, standing before his people in a hotel that he helped to build decades ago.
"Welcome home," a woman yelled as the Republican front-runner grinned.
On the campaign trail, Trump will often try - sometimes too obviously - to pepper his remarks with local observations, talking cars in Michigan and tractors in Iowa. At the Thursday night Manhattan dinner, which featured all three GOP presidential candidates ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday, Trump just talked about himself and the projects he has worked on across the city.
He began with the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the 1970s when the city was in a bad stretch. He spoke extensively about the difficulties of preparing ice in a skating rink without a freon leak, as he did at Wollman Rink in Central Park. He told old stories that made the crowd laugh, he name-dropped, he wondered why "all of my construction friends" were seated in a back corner. He even deemed politics "boring." And he forcefully defended "New York values," a concept that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has tried to use against him.
Trump was restrained as he trumpeted the virtues of his city. He glanced down at prepared notes and started listing what he considers "New York values." At that, a woman in the historic ballroom shouted: "Yeah baby," waving her white cloth napkin in the air. Trump made no mention of Cruz, seeming to assume everyone in the room knew about Cruz's earlier attack line deriding Trump for supporting "New York values."
New York values, Trump said, means a work ethic, devotion to family and energy so big that if former Florida governor Jeb Bush moved to town "he'd have much more energy than he has right now." New Yorkers are builders who make things happen, he said, and who are courageous and have a tremendous sense of community service.
"New York values were on display for all to see in the aftermath of 9/11, a strike at the heart of the city and our nation," Trump said, seemingly to read from a rare script. "In our darkest moments as a city we showed the world the very, very best in terms of bravery and heart and soul that we have in America."
Trump added, "These are the values that we need to make American great again. We need these values to bring America together again and to heal America's wounds again."
Trump's appearances at the gala prompted hundreds of protesters to gather outside the hotel with signs declaring him racist, Islamophobe and a capitalist, while also calling for an increase in the minimum wage. Hours before he spoke, organisers said that 10 protesters were arrested outside, according to local reports. Trump noted that he had seen the protesters on his way into the hotel and was struck by their professionally produced signs.
Trump's closing comments made him sound more like a mayor-for-life than a presidential candidate: "Enjoy the hotel. Enjoy this great, great city." He received warm applause and many in the room stood, while half a dozen people rushed up to the stage to see their local celebrity up close.
The reception Cruz received was strikingly different. Guest chatted with each other and some milled about the ballroom as the senator delivered a variation of his stump speech, struggling to keep the audience's attention or at times even be heard over the noise.
Cruz made no mention of his previous diss of "New York values," but began his speech --- as he usually does on the campaign trail -- by declaring "God bless the great state of New York." He later called New York City "hallowed ground" because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Referencing Trump, Cruz said, "I haven't built any buildings in New York City, but I have spent my entire life defending the Consitution and the Bill of Rights."
Cruz ticked through many of his policy priorities, from job growth to a flat tax to foreign affairs. Then he made an electability pitch that seemed designed to cut into Trump's support here. Cruz warned that if Republicans nominate a candidate with unfavourable ratings among key demographic groups, the party cannot take back the White House.
"The choice we face is simple: We either unify or we die," Cruz said. "If we remain divided, we lose."
But it was Ohio Gov. John Kasich who made what seemed to come across to this crowd as the more convincing case on electability.
"I am the only candidate who beats Hillary Clinton on a consistent basis -- every single time. Every time," Kasich said, drawing applause.
He cited a recent state-by-state electoral college projection that showed Trump and Cruz losing badly to Clinton, but, ini Kasich's words, "I crushed Hillary Clinton."
Shortly before the gala began, Kasich won the endorsement of George Pataki, a former three-term New York governor and unsuccessful presidential candidate. In his remarks, Kasich did not single out Trump or Cruz for what earlier in the week he denounced as campaigns leading down a "path of darkness." But, he warned, "If you feed on the negative attitudes of people, you're going to have high negative ratings. Go and try to sell something when people don't like you and don't trust you."
Source: Washington Post
