Andrew Reports

Sullivan was there, and he has this to say about the meeting of people who lay claim to his conservative ideology:

Here's a video of Coulter calling John Edwards a "faggot" to her adoring crowd at CPAC. Romney said before her: "I am happy to hear that after you hear from me, you will hear from Ann Coulter. That is a good thing. Oh yeah!" But he did follow it with a remark that I don't have in my notes, but in my memory, took the edge off the praise. I think he said something along the lines of: "It's always good to hear from the moderates." Very deft - as was his entire performance. I'm sorry I missed Giuliani. People in the crowd told me that there was stony silence during his entire talk. Some attributed it to respect, others to a lack of enthusiasm. The big passion at CPAC is between Brownback and Romney, with some love for Hunter and Tancredo. That's the base. It's a party that wants nothing to do with someone like me. All I heard and saw was loathing: loathing of Muslims, of "illegals," of gays, of liberals, of McCain. The most painful thing for me was the sight of so many young people growing up believing that this is conservatism. I feel like an old-style Democrat in 1968.