Gov. McDonnell is the latest Republican snubbed by CPAC

>>> not the only conservative you will not be seeing at cpac next weekend. first chris christie and now bob mcdonald got the cpac snub. either invited to the conservative political action conference . instead the conference is leaning on party up and comers like mitt romney , sarah palin and of course, the donald . wait, what? represent where the party should rebuild their brand. i'm from virginia and i have to say bob donald is quite conservative. you might remember the transvaginal probes and all of that last year. even that is not conservative enough for cpac . i want to start with al who is the chairman of the american conservative union and how the slate of speakers was supposen. he said c spak is like the all-star game for profoegzal athletes. you have been invited when you have an outstanding year. hopefully he will have another all-star year in the future at which time we will be happy to extend an invitation. the all stars are sarah palin , the donald ? i don't know. for bob donald and chris christie , it's no loss. it elevates both of them in a way. this is not the year to be associated with cpac or with the national conservative movement if that's what it represents. cpac seems to be doing everything it can to make it seem like an out of touch relic of the past. the only thing is they both committed two cardinal sins against conservatism. kristi by embracing the president and donald by funning infrastructure in the states. that explains the snub.

>> clinging to vestages, that sounds like the gop in general. let's move forward and let's cling to the old messengers who will perport the messages and move us forward. let's go to this focus group that are saying the republicans are extreme, old, out of date while the democrats are mainstream, young, and current. if you are not going to get past those ideas which are decades old, by the way, those values, how do you bring in a new coalition and bring in that which democrats are dealing with. they pointed out a great essay and the problem is not gop messaging. the message was understood quite clearly. we understood what they were for. if anything, the problem is the people and the message that they are sending. if you are not going to send you people with a new idea, a new message, you continue to have a problem. it's not the box. it's the pizza.

>> to build on that, if you are not willing to be open to new messages, you are in trouble.

>> it's easy to look at this and say chris cristy is not about their and donald is note there and the movement has not learned anything. the potential flaw in the reasoning is i'm not sure that cpac right now in the year 2013 equals conservative movement as opposed to a few decision makers. i'm not sure who would be deciding for reasons we may not understand. i have an issue with chris christie .

>> trump and palin?

>> i have a feeling if chris christie , this idea of cpac representing the conservative movement , the less i remember, there were boos in the hall as the winner was announced. that's this funky umbrella for the wide array of groups. i'm not sure it means a conservative movement . these things get out of date. the straw poll in iowa was the great barometer. national media would come out every four years and it meant something when pat robertson came out and george bush didn't. he got third place in the caucuses. it means nothing anymore. michele bachmann won last year. if means nothing when pat robertson would endorse a candidate. he endorsed rudy giuliani . i think we may be at the point with cpac where we say yeah, it will get a lot of attention and there will be a lot of people. it means something, but it's a sml to me that cpac doesn't mean.

>> i'm not going to pile on cpac and join the chorus of mocking the conference. it's an important conference and i was looking over the program and there were really great young up and coming conservatives on the program and going to be speaking. voices that need to be heard and diverse groups of people and a lot of women. there is still a usefulness and a purpose to cpac . i still have hope that cpac will become what it needs to be. especially for young conservatives . it's invaluable. i will say that i think what conservatives and cpac need to do in the future is really highlight the good works being done at the state level. in the governor's offices. republicans have 30 governors across the country right now. many of whom are incredibly popular. twice or three times as popular as republicans in congress. they are balancing budgets and doing good things. these are the people that need to be focusing on. that includes chris christie . in terms of messaging, i was reminded by ronald reagan 's speech to cpac . which i revisited in the past few months. i wrote about it this month. it strikes such a useful cord that i really think we could all as conservatives be learning for this year as we go forward. let's play a clip.

>> i am not talking about a vague notion of an abstract american mainstream. i am talking about main street americans in their millions. they come in all sizes, shapes and colors. blue collar workers, black, hispanic and shoe keepers, housewives and professional men and women. they are the backbone of america and we can't move america without moving their hearts and mines as well. .

>> to me, that sounds very much to today's gop . that saddens me because it's possible to have that message. if it was relevant then, it's more relevant now. if it's possible then, it's possible now. i hope that everyone going to cpac and speaking and taking a page from that and i encourage people to listen to the whole speech. it's good.

>> we should be looking for interesting young voices.

>> a lot of them. katie from town hall and daily collar has done a book on that. a bunch of really good young voices who will be on panels and speaking at luncheons. i was looking at the panel discussions and they are good ones. meaty ones that are forward looking. that doesn't mean they are doing everything right. obviously i don't think they are. there is still a lot of good to be gained at cpac . this harsh lesson will agitate maybe change.

>> the good young voices if we with that characterization, they are overshadowed by the palins and the trumps who will pick up the media and not be heard.

>> they will make their selection decisions more carefully.

>> i don't know. we will see.

>> mixed reactions to the death of venezuelan president hugo chavez . he died tuesday of cancer. allies call him a hero and they compared chavez to a saint. here in the states, others are celebrating the possibility of a new chapter in u.s. relations since venezuela is the fourth largest flyer of oil to the u.s. our facebook fans are weighing in on how his death could impact relations. i'm not sure relations will improve. chavez's successor is stepping in without much a do. that pretends not much will change. that's the serious side. now here is colbert's take with another headline that is much more alarming.