After Vice President Mike Pence left, the action shifted to the exhibition hall, better known to CPAC vets as the “petting zoo.”

You want Joy Villa-like formal MAGA gowns? They’re here. Right wing atheists? Uh huh. A large transvestite in a Trump sombrero? Look no farther.

There’s also been a generational change. When I went to my first CPAC in the 80s the attendees were mostly Republican Hill rats. They attended to schmooze and drink. Very little policy talk.

Not today. These people are earnest. And we all know how I love earnest types.

They will talk your ear off on ideological minutiae and I haven’t seen a decent happy hour or hospitality suite in sight.

MORE NEWS: Democrats file lawsuit to have Bernie Sanders kept off ballot in Florida

Is that progress? Of a sort.

Also, in a strange retro twist, biggest fanboy heartthrob on the CPAC exhibition floor? Former Wisconsin GOP governor and 2016 presidential candidate Scott Walker.

No, that is not a typo.

Had a chance to talk to a MAGA dating service, chatted with Israelis to the right of Likud, and formed a permanent emotional bond with the crew at Save our States, who are fighting to keep the Electoral College.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

What holds all these disparate groups together are firm beliefs in freedom, capitalism, and America.

And while the Left is falling apart, everybody here is rowing in the same direction. Granted, sometimes with very different oars.