CONSERVATIVES GATHER - WATCH YOUR BACK – AT 8:36 A.M. ET:  A big conservative to-do starts today, and presidential wannabes are testing the waters.  But, behind the scenes, the conservative movement is showing the strain of dissent.  From WaPo:

A wide field of Republican potential presidential hopefuls will descend on Washington on Thursday for the conservative movement's biggest annual party, where they will navigate the tussle for attention between social conservatives and newly empowered tea party activists.

A year out from the Iowa caucuses, the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference is widely viewed, as it is every four years, as a forum for presidential message-testing.

This year, following the growth of the tea party movement and the huge gains Republicans made last year by focusing almost exclusively on economic issues, would-be candidates almost certainly will try to prove their credentials as fiscal conservatives who are ready to cut government and taxes, reduce the deficit and ease the burden of regulations on free enterprise...

...But possible 2012 contenders will be tested on social issues, too. About half a dozen interest groups dedicated to such issues as banning abortion and same-sex marriage are boycotting CPAC's three days of speeches, panel discussions and sales of conservative-themed tchotchkes because of the participation of GOProud, an organization that supports fiscal conservatism as well as gay rights.

COMMENT:  Frankly, it's a bit of a mess, and not very attractive.  Sarah Palin isn't attending the conference, and said on radio that she's troubled by the boycotters. 

There is no mention of foreign policy in the preview, which is baffling. 

These are movement conservatives, and they have enormous influence, but cannot, by themselves, win a national election.  How they maneuver may well determine the Republican presidential fate in 2012.

February 10, 2011