--- title: Four Big Questions at CPAC 2015 description: The annual confab offers a good look at the grassroots zeitgeist canonical: https://time.com/3723315/cpac-conservative-political-action/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-26T02:21:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:02.386Z article:section: Politics og:title: Four Big Questions at CPAC 2015 og:description: The annual confab offers a good look at the grassroots zeitgeist og:url: https://time.com/3723315/cpac-conservative-political-action/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta01506647e312c78/69878138cd1bba66d66f56bb/mark-peterson-cpac-republicans.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: CPAC Mark Peterson Candidates og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Four Big Questions at CPAC 2015 twitter:description: The annual confab offers a good look at the grassroots zeitgeist twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta01506647e312c78/69878138cd1bba66d66f56bb/mark-peterson-cpac-republicans.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Four Things to Watch for at CPAC This Year > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0a51c31a-1e62-4e0d-a21d-ed885c267a9e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/) Feb 26, 2015 2:21 AM UTC  A reporters asks CPAC attendees to pick their favorite candidate, in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 26, 2015. A reporters asks CPAC attendees to pick their favorite candidate, in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 26, 2015. Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/) Feb 26, 2015 2:21 AM UTC The conservative grassroots will gather by the thousands just outside of Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the annual ritual known as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Part political rally, part marketing bonanza and part youth bacchanal, the event is one of the few in which the far-flung factions of the party come together for a three-day blitz of speeches, panels and policy sessions. For movement outsiders and American voters, the conference offers a compressed glimpse of the conservative zeitgeist, and a platform for the party’s presidential candidates to rouse the faithful in the coming campaign. Here are four story lines to watch as the event kicks off: **How will Chris Christie and Jeb Bush be received?** The party’s two establishment-backed candidates have been warmly received at CPAC before, but the knives may come out now that their all-but-certain presidential campaigns have attracted the money and muscle of the Acela corridor elites that the grassroots distrusts. Both candidates will be interviewed by conservative broadcast personalities — Bush by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, and Christie by radio host Laura Ingraham. Bush is out to show that the “moderate” moniker he’s been tagged with by opponents is inaccurate, and will try to steer the conversation to the conservative record he compiled as the two-term governor of Florida. Christie, meanwhile, will have to defuse questions over his temperament while addressing his complicated fiscal record in his state. **How has the media onslaught affected Scott Walker?** In recent weeks, the Wisconsin governor has been embroiled in a controversy over President Obama’s patriotism and faith, but the media-driven debate may only have bolstered his standing with the conservative grassroots. Walker’s well-received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January propelled him to the top of the (largely meaningless) early primary polls. Can he summon the same magic far from the heartland? Another strong showing would help shore up Walker’s support as he battles establishment competitors in the race to vacuum up the party’s top bundlers and operatives. A weak showing would reinforce the emerging narrative that the Wisconsinite may not be ready for gauntlet of a national campaign. **Where is the party on foreign policy?** The GOP’s isolationist and neocon wings will share the same stage this weekend, as Congress debates a war resolution against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) as well as President Obama’s rapprochement with Cuba. A public spat between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before his visit to Capitol Hill next week is likely to be a topic that plenty of speakers touch upon. **Who will win the straw poll?** The conference is capped by a candidate straw poll, which for two years running has been captured by Kentucky Senator and presumptive presidential candidate Rand Paul, who tends to play well among younger activists. The results have never augured much, given that candidates can stack the halls with their supporters by hawking discount tickets (which are required to vote) and swag giveaways. But even if imperfect, it’s still a measure for gauging who’s rallying the right. ### LIFE's Best Convention Photos: The GOP  Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida. Lynn Pelham—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Go-go girl and delegates during the 1968 Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, Florida. Lynn Pelham—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Arizona politician and future U.S. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst (left) confers with Nebraska's Richard Herman during the 1964 GOP National Convention in San Francisco. Bill Ray—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (center) During the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Martin Luther King Jr. leads a demonstration calling for a strong Civil Rights plank in the GOP campaign platform.leading Negro demonstration for strong Civil Rights plank in COP campaign platform Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene during the 1960 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Michael Rougier—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1956 Republican National Convention, San Francisco, California. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Left to right: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, at the 1956 GOP National Convention, San Francisco, California. Hank Walker—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1956 Republican National Convention, San Francisco. Leonard McCombe—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Chairman of the Republican National Committee Arthur E. Summerfield on the telephone during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago. George Skadding—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Control booth, 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago. Cornell Capa—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Bertha Baur, a prominent figure at conventions for decades and a long-time member of the Republican National Committee, in an elephant hat at the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago. Francis Miller—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Pennsylvania Governor John Fine (left) and Arthur Summerfield chat in private during the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Republicans hold an informal conference in a kitchen during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago. Cornell Capa—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vice-presidential nominee Richard Nixon and his wife Pat talk with photographers during the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1952 GOP National Convention in Chicago. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1948 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Scene at the 1948 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. Gjon Mili—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Pennsylvania delegates to the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago pull cold beers from a tub of ice after a caucus meeting. Thomas McAvoy—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Delegates listen to Herbert Hoover during the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Gordon Coster—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  A model wears a bathing suit in a fashion show at Ohio senator Robert Taft's headquarters during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. William C. Shrout—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  A young Republican rests on a sofa in the Hotel Adelphi during the 1940 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. ("Van" is Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, long considered a front-runner for the GOP nomination; instead, the Republicans nominated Indiana's Wendell Willkie, who lost the election to the Democratic incumbent, FDR.) David E. 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