Mike Huckabee Trades Fire with CPAC
"The tea party has certainly taken all of the oxygen out of the room," at CPAC, Huckabee said Saturday on Fox News, where he is a contributor.
"Where CPAC was historically the event, the tea parties are having their own events all over the country, and a lot more truly grassroots people are getting involved because of the tea parties."
He said the conference has become "increasingly more libertarian and less Republican over the last years," which may explain Rep. Ron Paul's victory in the straw poll. He said its libertarian leanings is one reason he did not attend CPAC this year.
Huckabee also accused the conference of soliciting donations with a "pay-for-play" model.
"It's kind of like, who will pay money to be able to be a sponsor and get time in the program," he said. "That's one of the things that has hurt its credibility in the last couple of years."
The American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC, took issue with Huckabee's accusation.
"I can only assume that the Governor has been misinformed as to how CPAC operates," American Conservative Union chairman David Keene said in a statement to CNN. "Our cosponsors meet several times before each conference to suggest topics and speakers who they believe should be invited. Many of those invited are from groups that are neither co-sponsors nor financial supporters of the conference itself."
Keene said Huckabee was invited to this year's conference but declined the invitation because of scheduling conflicts.