a few dozen paul backers -- many of whom donned red "stand with rand" t-shirts -- quietly made their way down the middle aisle and out the door during bush's speech. once outside the main ballroom at the gaylord national convention center, where bush was speaking, they rowdily gathered and denounced the man many see as the republican party's leading candidate for president in 2016.









"we're here at cpac, and i almost think it's a joke having jeb bush here because he doesn't stand for conservative principles," said timothy simons, 21, the connecticut chairman of young americans for liberty and one of the paul supporters who walked out.









"i was part of the walkout, and i'll tell you why," said allen skillicorn, vice chairman of the kane county republican party in illinois. "if jeb bush is nominated, hillary clinton will be the next president of the united states. ... how is he any different?"









"i barely know any jeb bush supporters that are our age," said charlton, who was decked out in paul gear. "no one our age is getting out there and saying, 'jeb bush is the one who will help us bring freedom back to america.'"









ben levitt, 23, said he came to washington all the way from canada just to check out cpac. he said he may live an hour from the u.s. border, but he has plenty of views about jeb bush and why he's no different than his brother and father.









"more wars, more debt, more government," levitt said of what the bushes are about. "i mean, a fiscal conservative can't really say, 'oh, i really love george w. bush.' you just can't. i loved it for eight years. i loved the iraq war and all that. i finally saw the light, so to speak, and got really into ron paul and that message."









inside the auditorium, bush was well aware that many young conservatives were hostile to him, a fact that was underscored by the tough questions he got from moderator sean hannity. bush refused to cede potential voters, however, saying of those who were booing, <u+201c>i<u+2019>m marking them down as neutral. i want to be your second choice."









his session was dedicated almost entirely to domestic policy, a departure from many of the other speeches by would-be 2016 presidential candidates at cpac. bush touted florida's economic growth under his leadership from 1999-2007, and gave examples of policies he had enacted that would please conservatives.









on immigration, bush stressed the importance of securing the u.s. border, and he emphasized that immigration policy should be focused on "economic-driven immigrants" who bring specialized skills. he also spoke frankly about the need to create a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the united states. "the simple fact is that there is no plan to deport 11 million people," bush said. "we should give them a path to legal status where they work <u+2026> and contribute to our society.<u+201d> some in the crowd cheered, but there were plenty of boos, too.
rand paul supporters walk out of jeb bush speech
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