Day 1 of CPAC is all but done, and here are some of the highlights:

Venue change The conference moved across the street to the Wardman Park Hotel from the Omni Shoreham for this year, and I've got to say that I'm not so sure that I like the change. It definitely allows more people to be here (organizers are expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000), but the room is set up so that it's nearly impossible to get from one end to the other without going through the kitchen. Here's hoping that gets fixed before tomorrow...

Sneak Attacks The American Conservative Union (the organizers of CPAC) chose to kick it off with a bang today, as they pulled 2 "sneak attacks" on the crowd. The first was the surprise appearance of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who spoke before his daughter Liz. The other surprise appearance came from Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), who said that he actually drove his now-famous truck to DC to introduce former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Attitude One can definitely sense a change of attitude at the conference from last year to this year. Last year, the focus seemed to be how conservatives were going to deal with the Obama administration. This year, conservatives have more momentum on their side and as such, you can tell that the speakers at the conference are going on the offensive.

Marco Mania Marco Rubio, a candidate for the US Senate out of Florida, led off the conference this morning, and many of the speakers after him seemed to be stumping for him as well. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said that he would like to see 30 Marco Rubios in the Senate. The push he has gotten from the nationwide conservative movement could very well push him over the top in the Republican primary, where he will take on Gov. Charlie Crist.

Check back tomorrow, as I'll be talking Tea Party and how young people have shaped CPAC.

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