The CPAC proved that the GOP is full of mayhem

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A GOP free-for-all
By Dana Milbank

From the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC):

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The conservative movement is united in one way: its antipathy toward anything that has to do with President Obama. In the 2014 midterm elections, that will likely be enough to allow Republicans to keep the House and possibly win the Senate.

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Take away the shared contempt of Obama, and there was little left. After strolling past the talk-radio booths (sponsored by Koch Industries), participants could hear sessions on "The American Dream vs. The Obama Nightmare," and "Health care After ObamaCare: A Practical Guide for Living When No One Has Insurance and America Runs Out of Doctors."

The booths in the CPAC exhibit hall made very clear what the conservatives are against: anti-U.N., anti-AARP, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-union, anti-abortion, anti-bilingualism, anti-lawsuit, anti-gay marriage.

There were "pro" booths too: pro-Cruz, pro-Sarah Palin and pro-Rand Paul. But that only underscored the party’s, and the movement’s, lack of agreement on its leadership.

It isn’t so much a split - the "establishment" has gone so far to co-opt the tea party that the lines between them are blurry - as a lack of agreement on who should be leading the party and in which direction. Should it be the uncompromising Cruz (he also was on the agenda at the "Uninvited" splinter convention)? The get-it-done Christie? The internationalist Marco Rubio? The libertarian Paul? The anti-union Scott Walker? Or Ryan the social engineer? (Ryan spoke of how a "brown paper bag," rather than a free school lunch, meant a child "had someone who cared for him.")

When you have 26 conservative combatants, you don’t have war; you have mayhem.
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