Sarah Posner joined GRITtv with Laura Flanders to talk about her experience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this weekend. She says the "annual gathering of conservative activists" in Washington, D.C. is significant because it gives Americans a chance to see Republican presidential hopefuls in action.

Posner says the extent of homophobia and Islamophobia at the conference was striking, noting that the fact that a conservative pro-gay organization GOProud was included in the conference and attempts to be more inclusive of Muslims created tension at the event. On Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) winning the CPAC presidential straw poll again, Posner says we shouldn’t take this as the right’s final vote for their candidate in 2012: Paul supporters have come out in force in many of the past years, but that does not mean Paul enjoys wide support among conservatives. Also important to realize, Posner says, is that the booing and shouting at Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld’s on-stage appearances does not mean conservatives now care about prosecuting former Bush-era officials for war crimes.

—Kevin Gosztola