Mitt Romney, Courtesy of Creative Commons

Republicans have been emboldened by the past election, yet still hope that the yearly Conservative Political Action Conference meeting can help determine who will be the party’s figurehead going into the 2012 presidential election. With the influx of the tea party, the straining division at the conference has made that question difficult to answer.

At the center will be a mock election for the Republican presidential candidate. Although it has no bearing on the actual primaries, with the Iowa caucuses about a year away, the results of the straw poll have taken on a heightened importance.

Surprisingly, two of the party’s expected presidential candidates, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, are not going to make appearances at conference, each citing scheduling conflicts as the reason for their absence.

Both potential candidates have large public presences—Palin on TV and social media outlets, Huckabee with his Fox News talk show—that may make their attendance less necessary.

This turns all eyes onto the biggest name speaking at the event, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. He won the conference’s straw poll back in 2007, though lost the primary to John McCain.

Romney will need to prove his conservative credentials, especially in light of his history as a moderate. At issue is the health care reform package he supported as governor that bears a close resemblance to Obama’s plan, much despised among Republicans.

“I think Romney's health-care plan and his unwillingness to distance himself from it is a real albatross on his candidacy,” Matt Kibbe, a Washington-based conservative advisor, told the Washington Post.

Although the convention has traditionally been a forum on social issues, the tea party influence in the Republican Party has brought an emphasis on fiscal policy as well. There are sessions focusing on reducing government size and spending, as well as talks led by tea party favorites like Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich.

But social issues still remain on the agenda, and the annual controversy regarding views on gay advocacy has again taken root.  GOProud, an organization of openly gay individuals who support fiscal responsibly has been invited back, prompting a couple of conservative family values groups to boycott the event.

It underscores the changing demographic of the event.  Of the 10,000 expected attendees at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, about half of them are likely to be college aged. That percentage is unlikely to be the same of the audience watching the broadcast on C-SPAN.

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