For three days in early 2012, as a hotly contested presidential primary consumed the Republican Party, the Conservative Political Action Conference basked in the spotlight.
Thousands of conservative die-hards and hundreds of reporters descended on Washington that February for the annual gathering of the political right. The lineup that year not only featured marquee speeches from the leading remaining presidential hopefuls, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum; it also offered a venue for that cycle’s unsuccessful candidates to take a bow before the GOP base and for some rising Republican stars to test the waters for 2016.
But at this year’s CPAC, which began Wednesday amid the throes of a presidential race once more, there’s little space in the agenda for 2024 also-rans or to showcase the party’s future. Nor is there a spot for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is still competing for the GOP nomination. Instead, it’s a four-day fete with one man at the center: Donald Trump.
The roster of speakers includes MAGA influencers, right-wing conservative media personalities who regularly flatter the former president and people who served in Trump’s administration. Trump himself will address the conference Saturday before heading to South Carolina to watch the results come in for the state’s GOP primary.
Yet despite the event landing on the same day as the South Carolina primary this year, the former president is expected to use the CPAC stage to focus on contrasting his record with that of President Joe Biden in a preview of a likely general election matchup, a Trump adviser told CNN.
This year’s Trump-centric CPAC will also serve as the unofficial kickoff to the GOP vice presidential stakes. Some of the most talked-about potential running mates will address the CPAC audience in what can only…
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