BusinessInsider, headline, "Mike Pence declined an invitation to CPAC, where Trump is the headline guest and the MAGA crowd has taken over."
The CPAC 2021 speaker index; as to cause to decline a slot based upon the Lay down with dogs, get fleas, principle. Cancun Cruz will be speaking. Missing constituent heartache is one thing; missing CPAC is another.
It looks, I may have missed it, but it looks as if Ann Coulter will not be a speaker. Q? Whether or not Q speaks we do not know. Almost any one of that bunch listed could anonymously be Q.
McConnell and Mitt absent too. Latest of "The Week" magazine covers. Too bad we no longer have Paul Ryan to kick around too. Is Angry White Men and Angry Evangelists lopped together into a single basket a coherent base? Is it only a personality clash between Trump and the new Mike Pence (and/or Trump and the same old, same old Mitch, who gets on without a foot really in either of those Angry camps, but is allied to each whether he likes it or loves it).
Liz Cheney? Double check the roster, but expect her absence.
UPDATE: This CPAC 2021 page -
https://cpac.conservative.org/speaker/mike-pence/
- final paragraph. It is as if Pence was invited, but had a schedule conflict, or felt compelled to spend more time being with family.
FURTHER: Some clarity as to Pence; Breitbart reporting:
A source familiar with Pence’s thinking told Breitbart News not to read too much into this decision, noting he is spending the immediate timeframe after his term in office focused on family and getting pieces into place–like accepting senior positions at the Heritage Foundation and Young America’s Foundation, as Breitbart News reported. Expect Pence to be very vocal in the coming months ahead, this source said.
In the meantime, former President Donald Trump will be making his first post-presidential appearance at the conservative gathering in Florida next weekend, according to reports.
Trump has been keeping a relatively low profile since he retired from the White House to Palm Beach, Florida, in January, but reemerged last week to conduct a series of phone-in interviews to commemorate the death of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.
Trump has a long history with CPAC, which played a key role in his emergence as a political force.
[italics added] "focused on family?" It's what James Dobson would want, isn't it?