American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas responded to criticism that this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference will not include two popular Republican governors, saying in a statement published Tuesday that the right-wing confab slated to begin this week will include “a select number of those with whom we disagree.”
This year’s CPAC has drawn nearly as much attention for who won’t be participating than it has for its actual lineup of speakers, which includes Donald Trump, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney.
Despite their high approval ratings at home, neither Govs. Chris Christie (R-NJ) nor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) were invited to the conference for perceived slights to the conservative cause. For Christie, it was his embrace of President Barack Obama in the immediate aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. McDonnell, meanwhile, recently agreed to a compromise with Democrats on a transportation bill that included new tax revenues.
In a statement provided to Real Clear Politics explaining why Trump received an invitation but Christie and McDonnell did not, Cardenas said it was “impossible to invite everyone we would wish to the conference,” which will begin Thursday and conclude on Saturday.
From RCP:
This year we have invited leaders who are focused on furthering conservative ideals, and we even invited a select number of those with whom we disagree,” Cardenas said in the statement. “We at the American Conservative Union have an almost fifty year history of fighting for our shared conservative values and we look forward to the next fifty.
