DUDE, WHERE'S MY CANDIDATE?

Republican presidential candidates - all of them except John McCain - have descened on Washington this weekend for the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is one of the many candidates trying to claim the mantle as the "true conservative" in the race.

Using a play off of the group's acronym, CPAC, Huckabee took a shot at the top-three announced candidates - Rudy Giuliani, McCain, and Mitt Romney - for being Johnnie-come-latelies to the conservative cause.

``Maybe this weekend it might be renamed the conservative presidential anxiety conference,'' Huckabee said, reflecting the mood of the annual convention, to ripples of chuckles. ``The theme might be 'Dude, where's my candidate?'" "I'd like to think that maybe he's standing in front of you," Huckabee said. - Associated Press

James Joyner of Outside the Beltway is covering CPAC on site and has been updating his blog regularly. Check it out there and if there is anything really earthshaking we'll weigh in on that ourselves later