President Trump delivered a powerful and colorful speech at CPAC Saturday night, giving new voice to some traditional themes: finishing the battle to Make America Great Again, and going after the deep state, globalists, neocons, and many other parts of the establishment political class status quo. 

As I have said several times, I am not picking winners or losers right now. I am proud of my three years as Mr. Trump’s economic adviser, I cherish my relationship with the former president, and I agree with him that the more the merrier — i.e., the more GOP primary contestants, the more fun everybody is going to have. 

Hopefully, the survival of the fittest will produce a GOP candidate to trounce President Biden and his far-left administration. Nothing personal, Mr. Biden, you understand that: It’s just that we have some serious disagreements about the direction of policy and the country. 

One thing is for sure: In the former president’s CPAC speech, he launched into a very important litany of issues, providing more in-depth policy analysis than anyone so far in the race. 

He thrashed China, promising greater tariffs and saying he will try to remove it from Most Favored Nation status. He said he believes that the Wuhan lab leak compels China to pay America and the rest of the world for the horrific costs of Covid.   

Mr. Trump would leave the World Health Organization. He would attempt a peace deal in Ukraine. He chastises Europe and NATO countries for not paying their fair share for the Ukraine war. Mr. Trump also made a strong pitch to return to energy independence, arguing that if America opens the spigots for fossil fuels, oil prices would have settled at around $30-$40 a barrel, and there would have been no Russian invasion of Ukraine — because Vladimir Putin could never have afforded it.  

He was harshly critical of Mr. Biden’s retreat from Afghanistan, and he even found time to criticize Mr. Biden’s economic regulations that are strangling business, as well his spending and borrowing policies that have generated record inflation. Essentially, Mr. Trump argued that he’s brought the country back once, and he sees his mission as doing it a second time. 

There were a couple of new wrinkles in his agenda — including the creation of what he called 10 “Freedom Cities,” as well as a new baby bonus to create a new generation of baby boomers. Parenthetically, Harold Ford and I, along with the late Jack Kemp, argued for this concept many years ago. I still think it could work, if done properly. 

Essentially, Mr. Trump offered a governing agenda and, as I said, he went much further than anybody else in the race — or frankly anybody else contemplating running. That doesn’t mean others won’t develop and present their own agendas, but so far only Mr. Trump has put it on paper. 

As you know, I’ve argued again and again that the GOP needs to renew and restore its traditional role of economic stewardship of prosperity: cutting taxes, minimizing regulations, completely overhauling the unmanageable federal budget, and opening the fossil fuel spigots. Add in sound money to fight inflation. 

Mr. Trump hasn’t yet flushed out all of his ideas, but he gave some pretty strong hints Saturday night. I’m sure all the GOP candidates understand the problem of affordability in today’s high-inflation environment. They also understand the problem of security with today’s high crime rates; the problem of dealing with Mr. Biden’s open borders; the problem of paying for groceries, rent, and utilities; the problem of young single mothers with jobs but facing homelessness; the crazy idea that the blue-collar plumbers and pipefitters should pay for the student loans of the well-to-do. 

As a former Trump adviser, Kellyanne Conway, has said many times: Whoever has the best plan for the economy is going to be the likely GOP nominee. That person has to have a plan, though. That person must make the difference between socialist Democrats and capitalist Republicans as clear as possible. 

The candidate can’t be bashful in labeling Democrats as the part of bigger and bigger government, a leviathan that is shutting down opportunity and attempting to create an even greater welfare state. Polls show clearly that most people believe they are worse off than they were a year ago, or two years ago. This is what big-government socialism has accomplished. 

The economy is in decline. The Reagan boom is long gone. The brief Trump revival has been largely overturned by Mr. Biden. If Republicans speak plainly to all groups of people, most particularly middle American working people living in industrial states, they can reclaim the White House and grab the Senate along with it in the 2024 election cycle.  

But they’ve got to be clear, bold, and optimistic. Mr. Trump gave it a good shot on Saturday night at CPAC.  

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business News.