With everything going on in the world, it feels strange to sing, “Happy days are here again.” Russia has invaded Ukraine. Food and gasoline prices are skyrocketing. Inflation is eating away at financial livelihoods. Global financial markets have shed several thousand points to fall into correction territory. Yet in Orlando, happy days return. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is back. The optimism for a brighter future combined with a cold reality of how to get there is back.

Thousands of patriotic Americans who descended on the Potomac for several decades enjoyed the warm weather and hospitality of CPAC in Florida for the second straight year.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offered a full-throttled comparison of his successful run in Florida with the Biden administration’s disastrous failure. The Florida governor has been the leading anti-mandate Governor, and CPAC attendees enjoyed being free and maskless. DeSantis describes 2022 as “the year that America fought back” against crippling liberal mandates.