Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio will argue their conservative bona fides at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend, a crucial opportunity to persuade undecided movement conservatives to support their campaigns.

The annual conservative conclave comes at a particularly pivotal time for the candidates, held in the shadow of Super Tuesday and the 11th GOP debate, and days away from a string of primaries that could prove decisive in the race.

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There will be little doubt in anyone at CPAC’s mind, however, of Cruz’s conservatism. The Texas senator is known for his doctrinaire conservative ideology and is one of the most popular senators among the conservative faithful — making him one of the most unpopular senators among Beltway insiders.

What Cruz does need to do is convince the audience at CPAC that he can not only beat Trump in the primary, but also defeat Hillary Clinton in a general election. Cruz, who is criticized frequently for his supposed unlikability — and by moderates for his alleged unelectability — will need to convince conservatives, who may not wish to get behind a losing horse.

Trump, however, finds himself in a very tricky position at CPAC. While the candidate is accustomed to large, anti-Establishment crowds, this will be the first time he has faced the crowd as a candidate, and many in attendance will be looking to judge for themselves just how conservative a President Trump would actually be.

The fact that Trump — in preparation for what appears to be his nomination — has been emphasizing heavily his moderate sensibilities in the last couple of weeks could make earning a warm reception at CPAC a herculean task. In the last few days alone, Trump has praised Planned Parenthood and hinted that even his ironclad promise to build a wall is actually up for negotiation — hardly things conducive to drawing support from conservatives.

And the crowd is CPAC is unforgiving. Last year, a couple dozen people stood up and booed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and were escorted from the room.

Unfortunately for Rubio, he has a long way to go in convincing conservatives he is one of them. While “anyone but Trump” might be the rallying cry of Establishment neoconservatives, constitutional and anti-globalization conservatives might be tempted to think “anyone but Rubio.”

In the event that the pro-Rubio wing of the GOP Establishment is somehow successful in stealing the nomination from Trump or Cruz, having made a successful defense of his conservative credentials at CPAC would go a long way to convince anti-Establishment conservatives and populists to vote for Rubio rather than stay home on Election Day.

Rubio spoke at CPAC in 2010 while running for the Senate as a conservative, Tea Party darling. He returns in 2016 to prove he is more than just an empty suit shilling for the Establishment whose failures gave rise to the Tea Party in the first place.