Why CPAC has a golden opportunity to reestablish itself as the ‘go-to conservative conference’

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Washington Secrets. Join us as we bring coverage from CPAC in Dallas for the rest of the week. Today, we look at the broader conservative movement and whether CPAC can regain its lost influence and energy and ask Matt Schlapp why he has moved the event to Texas. Plus, just what was the book that Markwayne Mullin used at his swearing-in ceremony …

Conservatives converge on Texas this week with awkward questions about Iran, midterm elections, and the future of Trumpism without Donald Trump looming over them.

Threaded through all of that is another question: Is the annual Conservative Political Action Conference still the premier gathering of the Republican movement?

Josh Hammer, a political commentator who is speaking at the conference, said Turning Point USA had become the “hot new game in town,” putting CPAC in a tough spot.

“Well, now all of a sudden, Charlie