The Trouble With CPAC

Covering CPAC was like stepping through the looking glass.

It was like a lot of political conferences I've seen, just with the context flipped. Usually, these conferences are mix of pragmatists and true believers. Ideally, that blend yields a message with broad appeal, but that's firmly rooted in shared principles. That's when everyone "gets it." CPAC's reality was far short of that ideal. The conference was a mass exercise in not "getting it."

I have to admit, I got a little excited during Mitt Romney's speech at CPAC. It began so well, in a sense. I wrote yesterday that I heard (and saw) very little about jobs and job creation at CPAC. Then, Mitt Romney took to the stage and changed that. But, it turned out, only for a moment.

I was only half-listening to Romney until I heard the "J-Word" — the equivalent of a four-letter word at CPAC, it turns out, because it's only mentioned in the context of slamming the president and the Democratic congress for "failing" to create jobs. The problem is, that's where it ends at CPAC.

Believe it or not, the appearance of Donald Trump at CPAC was not the most surreal moment of my first day at the conference. That came later, but not by much.

more »

No, I'm not jumping ship or anything like that. I'm just at CPAC looking for something, anything about how conservatives plan to create jobs. Let's just say I'm still looking.