Steve King fires up CPAC crowd with conservative rhetoric

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) fired up the crowd at Thursday's Conservative Political Action Conference with red-meat rhetoric the right loves to hear.

The five-term lawmaker, who faces a tough reelection bid this fall, accused President Obama and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of forcing top-down priorities on Americans.

"I want my liberty back," King declared Thursday, earning strong applause from the crowd.

King compared the Capitol Hill janitors who replaced the lightbulbs in his office with lower-energy bulbs to the East German communist secret police, describing them as "Nancy [Pelosi]'s Stasi troops," and complained of a water-saving showerhead in his shower.

"I drilled it out and now my 12-minute shower is now a three-minute shower and I have nine minutes every day to beat up on the liberals," he said to strong cheers and laughs from the highly partisan crowd.

King is facing a redrawn congressional district that leans slightly Republican after spending a decade in a ruby-red district. Former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack (D) is running against him and has had very strong fundraising and national support.

Despite her challenge, King has refused to moderate his language in order to appeal to centrists in his district, as his hard-line speech made clear.

"It's the truth that makes it hurt, and we need to give it to them over and over again," he said.

---