Is CPAC doing the GOP more harm than good?

If the GOP is doing some soul-searching after losing the presidential election, the Conservative Political Action Conference didn't get the memo. Consider, courtesy of a recently leaked schedule, the three speakers who will be given the most speaking time: Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, and Donald Trump.

Officially, organizers aren't doling out longer time slots to anyone, with the exception of Ted Cruz, the newly elected senator from Texas, for the keynote speech. And according to National Review, "a source familiar with CPAC stressed that all of the speakers were given about the same amount of time to talk, and that the minute-by-minute schedule remains a draft." Plus, even according to the leaked draft, it's not like Palin (16 minutes) and Trump (14 minutes) have that much more time than, say, Marco Rubio (11 minutes) or Rand Paul (13 minutes).

And yet... Palin and Trump? They don't exactly scream "brand-new GOP," especially considering a key politician who was snubbed altogether by CPAC: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

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Granted, CPAC has always been more about rallying the base than grooming establishment candidates. But if CPAC's mission is really to "promulgate and crystallize the best of the conservative thought in America," do they really need the host of Celebrity Apprentice? Commentary's Peter Wehner weighs in:

Michelle Malkin also jumped on the anti-Trump train:

You'd think that Palin and Trump might help sell tickets. And packed rooms full of passionate supporters are definitely a priority for the American Conservative Union, organizers of CPAC. Still, from the outside, it's hard to see the exclusion of politicians like Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in favor of Tea Party favorites like Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin as anything less than a battle for the party's soul, according to Bernie Quigley of The Hill:

Of course, not everyone agrees that CPAC should embrace more moderate speakers. Several conservatives have bemoaned the exclusion of Pamela Geller, the woman behind the controversial anti-Islam ads in New York City's subways. Scott Conroy at Real Clear Politics spells out why this ideological divide matters:

Regardless of how it affects the GOP's national reputation, CPAC itself, which kicks off on Thursday, is doing just fine: Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells NPR that nearly 10,000 people are expected to show up.