For the second consecutive year, Orlando has hosted the annual CPAC (Conservatives Pandering About Culture) gathering. Nothing surprising, just embarrassing and infuriating. The usual faux-patriot blather, plus the red-meat rhetoric that condemns the “radical left,” a certain “stolen” election, pandemic restrictions and “tyrannical” mandates, “woke” gender confusion, Marxist agendas and Critical Race Theory. Plus paeans to law and order, gun rights and a border wall. The official theme: “Awake Not Woke.” The Trumpy trappings included “Trump Won” banners and MAGA caps, gun-shaped purses, TRUCKER T-shirts and Oaf-Keeper optics.
It was also a de facto bully pulpit for the Sunshine State’s highest-profile, politically-pandering residents: Retiree Donald Trump, “America’s Governor” Ron DeSantis, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, about whom there has been speculation among GOPsters that he has presidential ambitions for 2024 or 2028. Seriously. Dems would probably hope Scott gets nominated. Something about a geeky, charisma-challenged, former Columbia/HCA CEO with massive Medicare and Medicaid fraud on his watch. Jeb Bush never looked so nostalgically normal.
Trump outtake: “Joe Biden has turned calm into chaos.” Had almost forgotten about the pre-Biden “calm” of the Trump years.
BTW, Ukraine never came up, and a CPAC (2024) presidential poll of 2,500 participants had Trump first at 59 percent and DeSantis second at 28 percent.