海角大神

John Bloom and Kevin Williams 鈥� two white, middle-aged conservative activists wandering CPAC, the conservative movement鈥檚 annual bacchanal for white, middle-aged conservative activists 鈥� want the same thing: to bring more African-Americans into the Republican Party.

The two, however, diverge wildly about the paths the party needs to take to get there. Mr. Bloom envisions attracting black voters by holding up deeply conservative African-Americans such as former Rep. Allen West of Florida and long-shot candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor E.W. Jackson. Mr. Williams believes the answer is for the party to become more inclusive and temperate, to reach African-Americans where they are now.

In other words, the two men are pretty much听where the Republican Party is today: older white guys who know what needs to happen (make the party younger, more diverse) but who can find no agreement on how to get there.

Bloom鈥檚 calling card at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is a small square of paper with three rhinoceroses on it.听Whenever conservatives invoke the horned megafauna, the implication is clear: It鈥檚 a vehicle for the derogatory title, RINO, or Republican In Name Only.

Photoshopped onto the middle of the three massive mammals is the head Bloom鈥檚 governor, Bob McDonnell (R) of Virginia, who recently signed off on a sweeping reform of the commonwealth鈥檚 transportation funding that included plenty of new taxes.

Not only is Bloom happy that Governor McDonnell wasn鈥檛 invited to address CPAC this year (he鈥檚 been a staple in years past, but the transportation bill was a no-go), but he鈥檚 also outraged that McDonnell is the keynote speaker at a private prayer breakfast on Friday morning.

鈥淚鈥檝e gotten fed up with the Republican establishment,鈥� says Bloom, who works in a Newport News, Va., shipyard. 听

Calling out Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky, among others, Bloom says: 鈥淭here are people in here who still shouldn鈥檛 be here.鈥�

Bloom鈥檚 solution to the party鈥檚 problem? Hold up conservatives who are both minorities and deeply conservative, and allow them to take the message into new communities. 听

鈥淚f we get three old, angry white guys 鈥� we鈥檙e done [in Virginia鈥檚 2013 elections]," says Bloom, nodding ruefully over his shoulder to the main CPAC stage.

There, Virginia Attorney General-cum-GOP-gubernatorial contender Ken Cuccinelli had just finished a speech that could be well described as vintage 鈥渁ngry white guy.鈥澨�听

That鈥檚 the opposite view of Williams, a member of his local Republican committee in Trenton, N.J. He says CPAC鈥檚 shunning of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is a bad idea, citing another well-worn adage at conservative gatherings: President Ronald Reagan鈥檚 rule, as Williams puts it, holds that 鈥淚f we agree with each other 80 percent of the time, you鈥檙e still my friend.鈥�

Williams spent six years making a film, 鈥淔ear of a Black Republican,鈥� about his party鈥檚 unwillingness to reach out to black voters. The results were not encouraging.

鈥淣obody wants to do it,鈥� he says. Party mandarins 鈥渁lways say, 鈥榶eah, let鈥檚 do it, let鈥檚 do it,鈥� but 鈥� it鈥檚 about the money and resources. Our money and our resources have been going to the South, the Midwest, and the West. We give up on the coastal states.鈥�

This debate between purity and openness at the grass roots echoes to the pinnacle of big-bucks political power.

Al Cardenas, chairman of The American Conservative Union, which puts on CPAC every year, came down on the side of the purists by withholding invitations from Governors Christie and McDonnell this year.

鈥淩eagan rejected calls to broaden the base of our party 鈥� a political party cannot be all things to all people,鈥� Mr. Cardenas said in his opening remarks.

He continued by quoting Reagan, who spoke at the first CPAC 40 years ago. 鈥淚f there are those who cannot subscribe to the principles, let them go their own way.鈥�

A panel discussion late Thursday evaluated the so-called Buckley Rule 鈥� a concept laid down by former National Review legend William Buckley that holds that conservatives should support the most conservative candidate who is likely to get elected.听The panel reached a similar but less restrictive conclusion.

In recent Senate races over the past several elections, far-right candidates with deep-pocketed donors locked horns with candidates backed by the more staid party establishment and their own Daddy Warbuckses. Those battles led to chasms of mistrust within the Republican Party and a host of embarrassing losses that many strategists conclude cost Republicans either narrow control or a much larger minority in the US Senate.

Steven Law, the head of Crossroads GPS, the most powerful Republican "super PAC," argued that the choice between a 鈥渃onservative鈥� candidate and an 鈥渆lectable鈥� one is often a false dichotomy.

Instead, the party should avoid trying to boost weak candidates who tilt toward either side of the ledger with outside money.

鈥淪ometimes, when you support somebody you become a life-support system,鈥� Mr. Law said. 鈥淚f a candidate can鈥檛 fundamentally do it on their own, we ought not to be backing them.鈥�

With others nodding in assent, former California GOP chairman Ron Nehring argued that the way to avoid the problematic weighing of ideological purity versus electability was a practical concern: The party is too weak, Mr. Nehring said, and needs to train better candidates.

鈥淛ust because you are conservative does not make you a good candidate. These two wheels spin independently of one another,鈥� Nehring said, laying out a three-fold path to good candidates: philosophy, personal narrative, and political competency.

鈥淲e need good solid candidates who are good on the playing field,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 take that nomination back if they fumble the ball in October.鈥�

John Gizzi, a columnist at conservative Human Events magazine, concluded that the issue isn鈥檛 so much about who wins a knock-down, drag-out primary fight but how the party repairs itself in the aftermath.

鈥淭he argument is not so much about being for the party or against conservatives, but that those who were so upset about not nominating a particular candidate that they didn鈥檛 rally around their opponent,鈥� Mr. Gizzi said.

This spirit of transition, of trying to find the sweet spot between tradition and change, was evident nearly everywhere at CPAC. An afternoon panel featured 鈥渕illennial鈥� young conservatives, and Cardenas highlighted the fact that 鈥渕ost鈥� of the weekend鈥檚 emcees were under 35 while most of the panels featured much-older guests. 听

The conference鈥檚 theme? 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Future: The Next Generation of Conservatives.鈥� (Last year's was 鈥淲e Still Hold These Truths.鈥�)

The organizers thought through the new-kids-on-the-block theme. The Top 40 pop music that filled interludes between speakers on the main stage (Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida bounded on stage to the tween anthem 鈥淲hat Makes You Beautiful,鈥� by One Direction) was a far cry from, say, the golden oldies mixes played at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., last September.

But as with any generational handover, the transitions weren鈥檛 always smooth.

As four white men filed onto the main stage Thursday to discuss America鈥檚 military engagements, the hit song 鈥淪ome Nights鈥� by Fun piped through the speakers.听But as the nervous, under 35-emcee haltingly urged the panelists to take their seats, the song lingered a bit longer than anticipated, hitting its chorus: 鈥淚'm still not sure what I stand for. What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don't know anymore."