CPAC is now only a shadow of its former self

Matt Schlapp speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference

(Image credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images)

published 16 February 2024

'Should conservatives care about CPAC?'

Henry Olsen at National Review

The Conservative Political Action Conference has outlived its usefulness, says Henry Olsen. CPAC used to be an important annual event where conservatives of all stripes "gathered to meet, debate, and network." But under its embattled chair, Matt Schlapp, "it has devolved into a MAGA carnival where only one part of the conservative movement is welcome and dogma has replaced debate." Something needs to "topple CPAC from its decaying perch," the way Amazon replaced Sears.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.