Gov. Mike Pence calls for dramatic increases in defense spending at CPAC event

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The nation should dramatically increase defense spending and let states take the lead on domestic issues, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence told a national gathering of conservatives Friday.

Pence, one of a number of potential presidential candidates who spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, said 2016 could be the first foreign policy national election since 1980.

"Weakness arouses evil," Pence said. He accused the Obama administration of reducing the size of the military and compromising America's place in the world.

"The errors of this administration are almost too numerous to recount," he said.

Pence said those errors include the 2010 Affordable Care Act, executive actions that shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, and pending regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Conservatives, Pence said, need to "put the promise of federalism and state-based reform back at the center of the conservative agenda."

"Let's empower the states with renewed flexibility to develop positive, substantive alternatives grounded in our conservative principles," he said at the CPAC event, the largest annual gathering of conservatives. Pence addressed CPAC many times during his 12 years in the House.

Friday was his first appearance as governor and as a potential presidential candidate.

Pence got a laugh from the audience when he noted that some people say next year's GOP presidential nominee should have experience as a governor.

"I am certainly sympathetic to that," he said with a smile.

But he said the right nominee won't promise to run Washington the same way a state is run.

"Washington is not a state, literally or figuratively," Pence said. "I'm listening for someone who says, 'Send me to Washington, D.C., and I'll fight to make it more possible for the next person leading my state to govern with more freedom and flexibility.'"

Although Pence has said he won't make a decision on a presidential bid until the 2015 legislative session wraps up at the end of April, he has not been raising money, hiring staff or taking other steps needed to fully explore his chances.

Pence was the keynote speaker for the conference dinner honoring Ronald Reagan during the four-day gathering at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center just outside Washington. The setting was fancier but not as well-attended — either by convention-goers or national media — as daytime CPAC forums where other potential presidential candidates spoke.

Pence was not among the dozen potential candidates whose names were included on a recent Quinnipiac Poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers released this week.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led that poll 2-to-1 lead over his nearest rival.

Walker also got a good reception when he spoke at CPAC Thursday, touting his success ending collective-bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin and blasting President Barack Obama's leadership.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, by contrast, was interrupted by shouts when he took the stage Friday. A small number of people walked out in protest.

Throughout the conference, attendees and speakers criticized Bush's support for Common Core educational standards and a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policies. Those issues were at the heart of Bush's conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News.

But as Bush answered questions, he was applauded several times and drew cheers from the crowd, including when he called Obama a "failed president."

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has won CPAC's straw poll the past two years, got a warm reception Friday when he called on "lovers of liberty" to "rise to the occasion" to defeat government overreach on issues ranging from health care to counterterrorism surveillance.

The University of Virginia's Center on Politics ranks Bush and Walker as the top two possible contenders for the GOP nomination. Paul is in the third tier and Pence is in the fourth.

Pence has federal and state governing experience and is well-liked by conservatives, the center says. But he has low name recognition nationally and could not run for re-election as governor while seeking the presidency.

In addition to his CPAC speech, Pence was invited to this weekend's Club for Growth's economic conference in Florida and will address the Republican Jewish Coalition's spring conference in April.

Asked recently whether the trips are part of an exploration for a presidential bid, Pence said he appreciates "the opportunity to travel a little bit, talk about the success that we're having in Indiana, as well as talk about my belief that whoever is leading our party, we need to be solutions conservatives." ​

USA TODAY reporters Catalina Camia and Martha T. Moore contributed to this story.

Email Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.