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Take Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee out of the 2012 presidential mix, says Al Cardenas, new chair of the American Conservative Union: If they were serious about running, "they'd probably be here." Interviewed at the end of the second busy day of his organization's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Cardenas dismissed the chances of the two high-profile no-shows. "Both Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin would be formidable contenders, but are unlikely to be nominees," he told On Calll. "But my sense I they're not serious about running because I would think they'd probably be here if they were."

Various factions are developing among GOP groups over whether the American Conservative Union (ACU), headed by Tom Keene, should have accepted a “homosexual rights” group (GOProud) to be a co-sponsor of its annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which begins February 10th.  Several groups are boycotting the event, such as the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council, The American Principles Project, and the American Family Association.  In addition, politicians Mike Huckabee and Jim DeMint have declined invitations. Past keynote speakers have included Ann Coulter, President Ronald Reagan (14 years in a row!) and Glenn Beck. Last year, shouting matches erupted...

President Reagan's Remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 18, 1983.

I suspect his remark about CPAC and its sponsorship practices is in reference to the criticism social conservative groups have leveled for the inclusion of GOProud as a sponsor. GOProud is a homosexual conservative group that added its name to the sponsor list. You have to wonder if, in fact, Huckabee did not attend in order to comply with the call for a boycott of CPAC by Liberty Counsel and other Christian extremists. Huckabee strongly disagrees with GOProud’s views on homosexuality, which was made obvious in his confrontation with John Stewart....

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has criticized the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), whose recent conference he refused to attend, alleging it has departed from its conservative principles. Speaking on Fox News last weekend, Huckabee said that CPAC has become "more libertarian and less Republican over the last few years, one of the reasons why I [did not attend the event] this year." The former GOP presidential candidate also suggested that the popularity of the Tea Party nation movement and its events all over the country have caused the influence of the CPAC to rapidly decline, and the organization is...

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is over and almost everyone is describing it as one of the best in years. People left feeling invigorated and enthusiastic. Most people had quite a bit of fun as well. Those who attended are now recovering and reflecting on four great days for the conservative movement. It has been described as a conservative Mardi Gras, and even the left called it a “Woodstock for the right.” Read more: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/huckabees-snark-cant-rain-on-cpacs-parade/

Here’s a first-hand story of the effects of illegal immigration. Both my parents died of cancer. Toward the end of my mother’s life, my brothers and I took her to hospitals more times than we care to remember, for life-prolonging procedures – until there was nothing more that could be done. During her final month I took her to the local Hospital Emergency Room one night. We arrived at about 10:30 p.m. and found the waiting room literally filled with non-English-speaking Latinos. None of the people ahead of us appeared to have an emergency or to be in great distress....

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A straw poll of US conservative activists saw Texas congressman Ron Paul emerge as the preferred Republican presidential candidate to run against President Barack Obama in 2012. Some 31 percent of the more than 2,000 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) attendees who participated in the poll voted for the outspoken libertarian. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate in 2008, came in third with 7.0 percent, some way behind former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (22 percent), who had won the CPAC poll for the last three years. There were boos among the crowd as the...

It's that time of year again. Pundits, pollsters and lobbyists are gathering in the nation's capital to tell conservative activists how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. ... This year, the Beltway leaders of conservatism are racing hard to catch up with a parade they did not launch and cannot control. Across America, grass-roots patriots and anti-Obama protests have changed the political landscape in ways conservatism's entrenched Beltway Politburo did not anticipate. ... The greatest threat in 1960 was international – how to deal with the threat of Soviet communism and the "missile gap" – and anti-communism was...

Sarah Palin’s plan to deliver the keynote address – for a fee – at next month’s first-ever National Tea Party Convention is getting renewed attention in light of her rejection Thursday of an invitation to speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. The decision to blow off CPAC – traditionally seen as the year’s must-attend event for the conservative establishment – in favor of a little-known convention is prompting some soul-searching among CPAC supporters, and is being interpreted as a calculated play by the former Alaska governor to cast herself as the potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate of the...