taking my call. san francisco, california, republicans line. despite election loss in 2012, i thought there was a lot of enthusiasm and energy. i did have a concern. the republican party is embracing a philosophy of libertarianism with rand paul. i like what rand paul has to say. i think he's a nice guy and a good senator. it is concerning that we are becoming like libertarian groups, very antiwar, militant peacenik types. i don't feel like the conservative movement should be going in that direction. i certainly feel a little bit more negative about that, but overall, i think it is important that we had energy and

enthusiasm despite a terrible year last time. more positives than negatives. democrats line, kyle in phoenix, arizona. caller: it was amazing to me. it's so clear to me that the republican party hasn't learned anything from the last election, and they are just the whole narrative further to the right. we're going to push away moderates. it's not a winning strategy for them. it's amazing that they keep getting lunatics up there like whatever her name was emma the was,y inflammatory one -- the really inflammatory one, and coulter. -- anne coulter. host: what did you think about the straw poll?

it was obvious that was mostly because of the demographics of the crowd. if paul's beliefs were looked at, he would get torn apart. posted by the american conservative union. the 40th annual conference. they just held their straw poll. marco rubio came in second to rand paul, followed by rick santorum and new jersey governor chris christie. you can see more details. here's the "huffington post" story. we also heard from sarah palin, and political commentator ann coulter. all the c-span coverage you can find at our website, c-span.org.

a caller on independence line. gradeependent's line .aller: ♪ caller: it was excellent. i enjoyed rick santorum. socialble to tie in the issues of abortion, illegal immigration, and traditional marriage with our fiscal situation. a lot of people don't see the connection between the two. there is, especially the illegal immigration. i enjoyed ted cruz, because he gave an overview of -- overview of everything. but we need to do right now especially is make sure that we follow our immigration laws, and we do not have immigration reform. we have enforcement. if we don't, and these people stay in our country, we are

going to have a continuing administration like we have right now because they will always vote democratic. host: donna from iowa is next on the line for republicans. caller: i heard this he packed people, and i thought it was a great conference. the one thing i missed to all of addressedat no one the death test, where your doctor will have to make a decision whether they're going to continue to serve you as a patient or you get denied care. i wish someone had addressed this. other than that, i thought the conference was wonderful. host: william is on the line for independents. i have a question.

host: go ahead. .aller: my statement is this i love the channel. 7.watch c-span 247/ i liked the conference because , they'reers there talking about principles and values, things of life we got to hear in this united states. here's the thing. they want to create jobs, right ? they want to put everybody back to work. 25 million people out of work. at the same time, it would

create a better nation because we would have the money to spend. this is where my point comes that, we have rules in this united states. we have rules that tell us that that theygeneration, are making more money on the street than they are finding any work. we have laws that say that if you commit a crime in these united states, no matter your , we're going to take your rights away is given to you by the constitution. host: we're going to move onto henry, michigan, democrat's line. caller: i find it very disconcerting that these people the departmentut

of education. al cárdenas was on c-span this morning, talking about how important education was. cpacning to this conference, i am cognizant of the fact that we have people in this country who don't want to see this country succeed. they're not creating jobs, they're talking about people being unemployed, but i don't see their publicans passing any bills or helping the president .ut in any way infrastructure, we are looking like a third world country. i don't understand these republicans. if they love this country so much, i don't understand why they don't want to see as progress. then again, it's all about politics, all about power. ted cruz is dangerous. i'm glad we have a drone program. host: thanks, henry. patricia is on the air. caller: i was impressed, and i

have to agree with the school of thought that we need more conservative candidates. listening to the people who keep picking the losers is not a winning strategy. and coulter, sarah palin, beautiful, funny, witty -- how come the conservative women are so much better looking than those old nags on the left? a caller on our democratic line. caller: i was surprised that rand paul won the straw poll. i feel it heard the same old --toric this time around like we heard the same old rhetoric this time around. but a different tone, as if they noticed that the party is in trouble. i'm scared that ted cruz said he wants to cut the department of education, but i thought his speech was great. that's all i have. host: elizabeth will be our last

call, from oregon, on the republican's line. caller: this has given me a new hope to take back our country, america. i am tired of being told to sit shut up and sit down, we're going to take your big gulp away from you. i'm excited about the fact that we are going to start conversing with each other, conservatives, on the social media basis. this is what is going to take. i love america. i've been depressed. this is given me a new hope for america. a young generation is coming up, and a wonderful conservative state of mind to run our country. i am very blessed for all of these people who have taken this into consideration, and thank god for rand paul. marco rubio, and