Politico: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blasted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Saturday as outdated, nearly corrupt and unrepresentative of the conservative movement.
Huckabee, a 2008 Republican presidential contender and potential 2012 candidate who had spoken at the conference for years, said the reason he blew it off this year was that the meeting has become dominated by libertarian activists.
“CPAC has becoming increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years, one of the reasons I didn’t go this year,” Huckabee said in an interview with Fox News, where he is a paid analyst and has his own show.
He was responding to a question about whether he was upset by his single-digit showing in the conference’s straw poll, which was won by libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
But it wasn’t the only criticism the Arkansan leveled at CPAC.
Huckabee said the rise of the tea party movement had “taken all of the oxygen out of the room,” rendering the venerable conference far less relevant than it had been in previous years.
“Where CPAC was historically the event, the tea parties are having their ow nevents all over the country and a lot more truly grassroots people are getting involved because of the tea parties,” said the former governor.
If I had to guess what is really sticking in Huckabee’s craw, it would be because he is bitter about becoming less relevant in 2012. Huckabee is GOP old school. He was probably counting on his 2008 showing to propel him to the top in 2012, but now finds that the political sands have shifted and the old paths to the nomination are no longer guaranteed. Add on the Maurice Clemmons issue and Huckabee’s 2012 chances diminish further.
Bashing CPAC won’t help Huckabee’s situation, grassroots bloggers are already getting ticked off, see Da Techguy, The Lonely Conservative and Left Coast Rebel, just to name a few.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Politico
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