Washington DC — Who knew Antonio Bandaras had the great chops to do a vocal duet with Carlos Santana? Their tasteful contribution was easily the most sophisticated and highest quality musical performance of the evening.

What more can be said about Santana — The sole high profile lead guitarist survivor of the ’60′s San Fran scene? (Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead must also be mentioned but is technically a rythym ace). Santana’s graceful guitar lines worked wonderfully with with Bandaras’s incredibly well done spanish crooning.

The tepid applause from the Hollywood crowd was disappointing. Beautiful, enjoyable music for those of us who could care less about who wins what.

Washington, DC – Republicans gathered this past weekend for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. – a premier annual venue for activist, conservative Republicans across the country who help influence and decide presidential primaries. These are important, dedicated opinion leaders who have toiled for decades to enjoy what they do today: an ascendant conservative GOP slowly but surely gaining power at the local, state and federal levels.

From a national standpoint, many attendees said Newt Gingrich did particularly well, and a large crowd showed up for a Newt stem-winder – and he did not disappoint. Gingrich, without question, is on an upwards path in the GOP world because there is a focus back on his ideas and issues agenda – not his personality. Gingrich’s star is back on the rise, as is Virginia GOP Senator George Allen, who appears to be emerging as a conservative favorite in the nascent but active 2008 presidential primary.

From a New York State perspective, Secretary of State Randy Daniels emerged as a big winner in the buzz department due to the fact that Human Events, an influential conservative digest, wrote a glowing, laudatory piece on him the day before the CPAC conference convened.

Daniels, who told Human Events that he intends to run for Governor in 2006 if incumbent George Pataki opts to forego running for a fourth term, is said by the publication to be “light years ahead in pursuit of the nomination than either of the two fellow GOPers mentioned for Governor – Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue and Rep. John Sweeney, who, the article points out, maintains an 88% lifetime rating form the American Conservative Union (ACU).

The fact the Daniels camp was able to orchestrate a positive article in a major national conservative publication the day prior to the gathering reflects an impressive level of media sophistication, observers said.

Following the CPAC event, Empire Page had the opportunity to interview Mike Long, Chairman of the New York State Conservative Party, who was in Washington for the annual conference. The following are excerpts from the interview.

EP: As the 2008 contenders have already begun beating the bushes here at the CPAC Conference and in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and elsewhere, has anyone caught your eye?

Long: Yes, one of them would be Senator Allen from Virginia, who I think is slowly making a name for himself in conservative circles. I think he possesses the same core beliefs – he’s his own man – but I think he possesses the real basic core beliefs of the Reagan Republican philosophy. I think he’s very firm and presents himself in a soft effective way, not in an arrogant way, and he’s able to hold his ground. I recently saw him on Nightline and when times didn’t look good for him – the positions he was taking [on Iraq] – he held his ground, and he does so intelligently and by using core convictions. I like him, and he’s impressive.

EP: NY GOP Chairman Steve Minarik has been taking quite a bit of heat on a variety of fronts as of late. Do you have any advice you’d like to offer?

Long: I don’t give other chairman advice as a general rule. One has to be true to themselves – if he’s comfortable with his statements and actions, he’s got to take the fight on. But both he and I have a problem – and he is a good conservative. We both have a problem because I think he is more conservative than most of the elected members of the Republican Party – and he has a real problem in the City of New York where he’s got a so-called registered Republican running for reelection as Mayor, and he’s about as far from being a real Republican as you can be.

EP: It sounds like Conservatives have no enthusiasm whatsoever for Mayor Bloomberg

Long: I don’t know how any Republican or any Conservative could support Mayor Bloomberg. After all, he gave us a large tax increase on almost everything – personal income taxes, city sales taxes, property taxes… he’s for gay marriage, he’s wrong on all the social issues, and he’s walking away from the President of the United States on even entertaining the possible reform of social security for the future of our country, and the future of our young people. He’s a Republican in name only; he’s worse than a Republican in name only – he’s a Republican as a matter of convenience. On a personal level, he’s a nice person – that’s true, but he’s certainly wrong on every issue, and I don’t know how any real Republican can be supporting him for Mayor.

Gordon Hensley conducted interview for empirepage.com, and appears courtesy of empirepage.com.

Washington, DC — The consultants who helped dismantle John Kerry’s presidential bid have now been hired by a new group, USA Next, to attack the "non-partisan" American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as the obstructionist, liberal conglomerate it is — and it’s about time.

AARP, which is basically a big business posing as seniors’ advocates as a ruse to sell insurance and other health-related products to seniors, has no idea what’s about to hit them.

Today’s New York Times reports the potent combination of GOP consultants Chris La Civita, Rick Reed from Greg Stevens’s media shop, and Creative Response Concepts — the best pr/advocacy operation in DC run by Greg Mueller, has been retained by USA Next. Any GOP campaign operative who’s been out on the hustings in the past two decades understands the sham nature of AARP, and how they go about surreptitiously collaborating with state-level Democrats to sink Republicans running in Senate, House and Gubernatorial elections.

AARP’s "support" for President Bush’s Medicare prescription drug benefit was simply a tactic permitting AARP to claim they’re bipartisan. AARP represents everything wrong with Washington, and its self-righteous, non-truthful bloviating about how the Bush Social Security reforms will hurt seniors deserves to get hammered.

David Certner, AARP’s director of federal affairs, tells the Times that past efforts to attack AARP have not had "a significant impact in the past." Yet, AARP has never been challenged and attacked like they’re about to be.

Let the TV ads begin. 

Super Bowl halftime shows? Who cares? Janet Jackson’s fashion faux pas? Big deal. For once, halftime was cool. Paul McCartney was a great choice for entertainment as he performed a tasteful though abridged-for-live-tv set.

Hey Jude, the closer, was just gaining power as it was cut off for time. With a skilled, experienced band — the one he uses for touring and tonite — McCartney is just fantastic. Hats off to Sir Paul.

Go Philly.

Finally — following Bob Weir’s brief touring hiatus to recuperate from "exhaustion" following last year’s lengthy spring tour and two long summer swings with the Dead, Ratdog is back out on the road where they belong.  

The Anaheim House of Blues, not the most friendly venue I’ve experienced, was the first stop of a brief four show Southwest run before unleashing a full swing through the midwest, mid-Atlantic and northeast. 

Here’s the setlist, courtesy of ratdog.org:                         

2/4/2005 House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
I: Jam > Here Comes Sunshine > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Easy to Slip > Supplication, Little Red Rooster > Bird Song > It’s All Over Now > She Says > Liberty
II: Jam@3 > Blackbird@3 > Friend of the Devil@3>5, When I Paint My Masterpiece@5>6 > Jam > Playin in the Band > Jam* > Row Jimmy > Two Djinn > Foolish Heart > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower
E: Touch of Grey
First "Row Jimmy"

Besides being the best, tightest, highest energy, most creative band on the jamband circuit (i’m quite biased) Weir and Ratdog present the most contemporary, relevant take on Grateful Dead music. Can’t wait for the spring tour. (Photos courtesy of ratdog.org.) 

While much of the President’s State of the Union speech was pedantic and lacking in the raw rhetorial punch of previous Bush SOTU’s, the closing was amazing; the Norwood moment and the President’s conclusion were the lofty, powerful photo and prose, respectively, that will move him forward again in public opinion.

Significantly, and which should be a big subhead, were Bush’s comments about freedom and its relationship to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iran and others. Very significant — and a continuing thread from the Inaugural speech. Nice move.

The Social Security pitch was sufficient but the combat will continue around the 50 yard line.

The Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi "response" was pathetic — solipsistic wax figures melting in the spotlight of the bigtime. Andrew Sullivan said "vapid". Exactly.

In other notes: Trent Lott was particularly effective in his Hardball interview with Chris Matthews; he had the confidence in his eye so lacking in the past months since he was chopped down in the ritualistic DC manner.

Chris Matthews dissed the lovely Laura Ingraham when he said "the grownups will now stay" when she departed after the first segment, leaving just Howard Fineman and Joe Scarborough.

By far, the best analysis duo was on CNN, with Paul Begala and Torie Clarke, two of the coolest, best people in the DC political/media scene. In fact, since Crossfire is cancelled, allow DCSpectator to be the first to suggest a show with Paul and Torie. Their chemistry and analysis worked in a complementary manner. Get them on the air on their own show.