Weigel

CPAC 2011: The Year of the Stunt

The year before a presidential election, historically, is an explosive year for CPAC. Potential candidates spend big to bring in supporters and stuff the straw poll ballots. The story of each day is a ranking or assessment of how the candidates did.

It’s odd: This year, each day has been marked by a weird stunt, with the involvement of GOProud. Yesterday, it was Donald Trump and his fleet of limos. (Well, two limos.) Today it was Jimmy McMillan, the “Rent is Too Damn High” guy, who was also accompanied by new handlers, and who spent at least an hour staging press conferences where he responded to questions by waving around, or taking off, a shoe.