Cpac

RICHMOND — Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli II is scheduled to be the opening speaker at the annual CPAC conference next week, as the man he hopes to replace was not invited this year. The conservative attorney general, who has grabbed headlines and drawn support for challenging the federal health care law, climate change and pushing for tougher laws for abortion clinics, is among nearly 40 people listed on the Conservative Political Action Conference Web site as featured speakers.

As case studies go, this one was blistering. The Republican National Committee's Growth and Opportunity Project report, a scathing post-mortem of why the Republican party lost the 2012 election and what it must do to rebuild itself, examined all the ways in which the Romney campaign and the GOP went wrong. There were failures in communicating the party's message. Flaws in its organizational structure. Key voters it failed to reach. Yet for all the sound advice the report provides for a way forward (namely, taking a more...

If this week's Conservative Political Action Conference were a papal conclave, black smoke would be billowing from the chimney at the Gaylord Convention Center. The cardinals of the conservative movement, assembling for their annual confab, skipped the usual recitations of their common creed in favor of an emotional and inconclusive argument over what had gone wrong with their movement, how it could be fixed, and who, in a puff of white smoke, could lead them to spiritual renewal.

You could be forgiven for thinking that there were two Republican parties on display over the last few days at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington. On one side was the "compromise equals surrender" crowd led by Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.) with an assist from Sarah Palin and her Big Gulp soda . On the other was what passes for the party establishment, represented by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.)

Mitt Romney's Friday speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference was his latest attempt to persuade his party's base that he is one of them — but a far cry from the message he delivered at the same gathering just a year ago. The difference explains what has happened to Romney and his party during the Republican presidential race. Romney arrived to CPAC in February 2011 as the nominal, though hardly dominant front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. The GOP contest was slowly taking shape at the time, and...

For most of the past year, Mitt Romney has been off the stage. While Sarah Palin has commanded headlines, while other Republicans have jumped into intraparty controversies over purity and as GOP leaders have vied with one another to bash President Obama the loudest, Romney stayed largely out of the fray. That is about to change. The former Massachusetts governor has spent much of the past year working on a book called "No Apology" that will be published next month.

Just 15 months after a huge election victory, members of a fractured conservative movement gathered on Thursday to agree on one thing: If they don't get their act together soon, the country will really be in trouble. "Being America has changed the world and made it better," Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) told the crowd on the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference . But that basic identity will be at risk, he said, if Republicans let President Obama win reelection.

You could be forgiven for thinking that there were two Republican parties on display over the last few days at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington. On one side was the "compromise equals surrender" crowd led by Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.) with an assist from Sarah Palin and her Big Gulp soda . On the other was what passes for the party establishment, represented by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco...

"How many of you," Scott Rasmussen asked the crowd at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, "have ever mocked or made fun of the president's call for hope and change? Raise your hands. " Most people in the Marriott Wardman Park hotel ballroom raised their hands. There were cheers and whoops. "With all due respect," the conservative pollster and commentator told them, "I'd like to say that's really stupid. " This time, there was uncomfortable laughter. "Voters are looking for hope and change as much...

If there was any doubt about the huge amount of discord within the Republican Party, the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference should put it to rest. The suburban Washington gathering of the most conservative elements of the GOP this week featured speaker after speaker picking fights with other Republicans and offering criticisms — sometimes indirect and often direct — of party figures such as Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Karl Rove, former president George W. Bush and...

If there was any doubt about the huge amount of discord within the Republican Party, the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference should put it to rest. The suburban Washington gathering of the most conservative elements of the GOP this week featured speaker after speaker picking fights with other Republicans and offering criticisms — sometimes indirect and often direct — of party figures such as Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Karl Rove, former president George W. Bush and New Jersey Gov....

Conservatives, here's one way to win elections: "If you want to win the politics, win the culture war first," said filmmaker Andrew Marcus , director of "Hating Breitbart. " The advice came at Friday's Conservative Political Action Conference's panel on "Getting Hollywood Right" — a discussion on why liberals dominate the movie and television industries. The answer: They're better at it. "In the words of my friend Andrew Breitbart , ‘If you can't sell freedom and liberty,...

If this week's Conservative Political Action Conference were a papal conclave, black smoke would be billowing from the chimney at the Gaylord Convention Center. The cardinals of the conservative movement, assembling for their annual confab, skipped the usual recitations of their common creed in favor of an emotional and inconclusive argument over what had gone wrong with their movement, how it could be fixed, and who, in a puff of white smoke, could lead them to spiritual renewal.

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell on Friday delivered a political homily at a prayer breakfast convened by Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition in association with the nearby Conservative Political Action Conference, urging conservatives to practice the biblical virtues of humility and faith if they hope to win at the ballot box. McDonnell, a Republican who was snubbed by the CPAC meeting next door at National Harbor, told about 200...

The future of the Republican Party took some shots at its recent past on Thursday, as two top potential 2016 White House hopefuls made a conspicuous effort to distance themselves from the past two GOP presidential nominees. Speaking to activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Sens. Rand Paul (Ky) and Marco Rubio (Fla) offered sharp, and only slightly veiled, critiques of Mitt Romney and John McCain, the two most recent men to carry the party standard...

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II delivered a populist message to a conservative audience Thursday, as Virginia's gubernatorial race enters a crucial phase when moderate voters are up for grabs. Cuccinelli (R) was the first speaker to address the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday at the Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor, using the national platform to promise that he would "defend our most sacred principles" in his campaign against...

4 DAYS: The 168 members of the Republican National Committee cast votes for their next chairman. No clear front-runner has emerged, and incumbent Mike Duncan, former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael S. Steele, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis and South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson are considered potential winners. 31 DAYS: The annual Conservative Political Action Conference begins in Washington. While it's not likely to carry the drama of last year's event -- when former Massachusetts...

From its founding four decades ago, the Conservative Political Action Conference, set to begin Thursday in Washington, has come to function as an annual gut check for the political right. At the CPAC gathering in post-Watergate 1975, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan famously exhorted the demoralized group to raise "a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people. " And CPAC was where, on the heels of his landslide...

8:30 a.m. The Labor Department reports on jobless claims for the previous week. Read the report at postbusiness.com. 10 a.m. Prince George's County is expected to unveil its budget. Find details at postlocal.com. Afternoon President Obama meets with members of the Senate Republican Conference and the House Democratic Caucus in separate closed-door meetings. 7 p.m. The Washington Capitals visit the Carolina Hurricanes.

From its founding four decades ago, the Conservative Political Action Conference, set to begin Thursday in Washington, has come to function as an annual gut check for the political right. At the CPAC gathering in post-Watergate 1975, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan famously exhorted the demoralized group to raise "a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people. " And CPAC was where, on the heels of his landslide...