Massachusetts: George W. Bush

Mitt Romney is still the man, at least among the mostly young, mostly rabid conservatives at CPAC; he won the conference's straw poll for the next Republican Presidential nominee with 20 percent of the vote. That's three years in a row for Mitt.

As CPAC closes out to the dulcet tones of the right's dear leader, Rush Limbaugh, I have decided to update my ranking of the 25 most likely people to win the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, made two months ago. I'll get to that below.

Just to wrap up for now about CPAC, however... The message from what I've seen is: Republicans -- and particularly George W.

The annual CPAC conference is underway; I've only been able to watch some of today's speeches so far. The biggest issue, from what I can tell, is the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," which as you may know is the Democrats' secret plan to rid the airwaves of all conservative and Christian broadcasting. Never mind that Barack Obama has stated that he opposes bringing back the doctrine, and the US Senate -- including Democrats -- just voted overwhelmingly for a silly amendment opposing the doctrine. Among the conservatives at CPAC, it's a major talking point and huge applause line. Also, abortion. And homosexuals.

Congressman Mike Pence -- my dark horse candidate for 2012 GOP Presidential nomination -- got a good speaking slot; he said that the US is joining Europe in "an avalanche of socialism.

Congressman Barney Frank sharply criticized how President George W. Bush's administration has spent the first half of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout and said that Congress is currently keeping the administration from having access to the second half.

"We were very unhappy, many of us, with the way that the Bush administration spent the money," Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Congressman Barney Frank is slated to spear on CNN's Late Edition on Sunday, according to the network.

Frank, a Newton Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, will discuss President George W. Bush's decision to provide $17.4 billion in loans to the U.S. auto industry. Frank will be on with House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia.