The 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) – held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D. C. – comes to a close today. Presidential straw poll results will be released at 4:15 pm prior to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s keynote address.
As the Republican White House nomination remains anyone’s guess, the four major candidates continue to court vital support. Former U. S. Senator Rick Santorum, R-PA, seems to have the hot hand, coming off a clean sweep of three small primaries on Tuesday. Coordinated through Students for Life of America, Santorum met with pro-life high school and college students Friday morning before his prime time speech.
Ron Paul opted against speaking at the largest and oldest gathering of conservative activists. Instead, the Texas Congressman focused on his campaign, making a stop in Maine just before its Saturday evening caucus. Likely because of Paul’s absence, it appears that there were less libertarian-leaning youth at this year’s function. Paul was the winner of the 2010 and 2011 CPAC straw polls.
The Occupy crowd made their presence, albeit smelly and unkempt, felt. Radical protesters staged a demonstration outside the Conference near the Metro transit entrance. Police officials arrived armed in riot gear, i.e. shields and pepper spray, as a precautionary measure.
Back on the trail, twenty-one delegates are at stake in Maine. Mitt Romney, who spoke on the main stage Friday afternoon, migrated north in advance of the primary contest. He is expected to have a great showing. The next large elections will occur in Michigan and Arizona on February 28.
