Republicans want some of Obama's coalition of voters, but what price will they pay for them?

By Lexington

TO CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference now in its 40th year. To call the mood serious would not do it justice. The conservatives gathered here are hungry, in the narrow-eyed, intently-focused manner of lions who spent all day stalking prey but missed at the last moment. Not only are they hungry, but they can see a vast, tempting herd on the far horizon: the diverse voter coalition that handed President Barack Obama victory last November.

The conference's opening day has seen open competition between party heavyweights with credible claims to running for the presidential nomination in 2016.