Yeah – I know – CPAC has been over for two days, so this is a little late. However, I spent all day yesterday sleeping after running on sleep deprivation for the entire conference – so now I’m finally alert and have had time to digest the experience.

I’ve already written about the most of the speeches I heard and candidates I met, but honestly the busiest and most educational part of the conference didn’t start until several hours after Glenn Beck’s cloing remarks.  

The best place to start is where Alex left off in his now-infamous post about his run-in with Ryan Sorba (a tar baby of an issue on which I will  refuse to comment). To jog your memory, Alex wrote:

After deliberating for a few seconds, I decided to let Adam Brickley and a couple of guys from The Lobbyist walk to Murphy’s, where the FrumForum party was being held, by themselves. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet this guy.

Indeed I did find myself following The Lobbyist‘s  RJ Caster and Nick Brown to Murphy’s Irish Pub, where I purchased my usual poison and planned to make a brief appearance before heading home for some overdue shut-eye.

…At which point I ran into Robert Stacy McCain and saw my entire evening turned upside down.

For those of you who don’t know, Stacy is a wildman who blows through CPAC like a tornado and draws a lot of people into his orbit (For the record, Stacy, this is meant as a compliment). And after talking with him for a few seconds, he said that he had someone he wanted me to meet back at the hotel bar. This was unexpected and spur-of-the-moment,  but when Stacy McCain tells you to follow him (especially at CPAC), you follow.

Back at the hotel, we met up with Alabama congressional candidate Les Phillip (Parker Griffith’s primary opponent), his campaign team, and a who’s who of conservative bloggers including Stacy’s trusty sidekick Smitty, Da Tech Guy, and Little Miss Atilla. This was when I figured out that I was in over my head – but in a good way. After chatting for a while, the remnants of the group (including both Phillip an McCain) found their way to a mind-blowing Greek restaurant which shall remain nameless.  

The next few hours were spent eating  well, laughing, and discussing old political war stories (I was the youngest person and only non-Southerner in the group).  Somewhere around 11:30 PM we rolled out of the restaurant – loaded down with far too much Spanakopita, lamb, rice, and various other accouterments. Stacy, Les Phillip, and company rolled on to the annual post-CPAC “Reaganpalooza” - you can read all about that in Stacy’s recap. On many nights I would have followed them, but in this case I had sleep-deprivation headache, and overly-full stomach, and a need to get home before public transportation shut down. So, I may have departed early, but I still need to thank Stacy McCain for dragging me along for a wonderful night on the town. 

It’s also worth noting that Les Phillip is a total class act in person. He was very quiet and thoughtful compared to the rather brash set of bloggers and campaign operatives that made up our little group – but he was very congenial and very real. I definitely think he belongs in Congress, and while I hold no malice toward Parker Griffith, Les has definitely secured my support in that primary – and I think anyone who has met him will say the same. I have said it before and I will say it again - I see no need to “purge” Congressman Griffith, but it’s not about Griffith. This is about the fact that Les Phillip is a good man and a first-rate political leader – one who deserves a seat in out nation’s halls of government.

So, thanks to Stacy McCain for the evening and thanks to all of the wonderful people who made may CPAC what it is. I came away very enthused about the direction of the conservative movement, and with a few new names to add to my list of preferred candidates. Out of all the people who made the rounds through the blogger’s lounge, three in particular caught my eye. They are (no particular order):

Les Phillip (AL-5)

Joel Pollak (IL-9)

Katherine Jenerette (SC-1)

If you can, please donate, volunteer, blog, or tweet for these fine candidates – and expect to hear more about them from me.