Consternated Conferences

The conservative movement’s factions also pushed back against the often puzzling decisions of the American Conservative Union board, which controls CPAC. The gay conservative group GOProud was excluded from the proceedings for the second year in a row; the Competitive Enterprise Institute, breaking from its normal focus on libertarian economics, used its privileges as a cosponsor to hold a panel featuring GOProud’s executive director and several conservative defenders of gay marriage. It attracted a standing-room-only audience.