Major conservative conference comes at crucial time for GOP

Washington (CNN) - Take a political party trying to find its way, add thousands of conservative leaders and activists gathered from across the country, mix in the first real cattle call in next race for the White House, and controversies over who is allowed to speak and you get CPAC 2013.

The Conservative Political Action Conference touts itself as the largest and oldest annual gathering of conservatives. The three-day event is considered a good gauge of the mood of the conservative movement, but it's also increasingly criticized as more political carnival than conference.