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Marco Rubio Skipping Boycott-Saddled CPAC This Year

Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Marco Rubio may have keynoted CPAC as a senate candidate last year, but now that he’s a senator he’s not going to show up at all.

According to Alex Leary at the St. Petersburg Times blog The Buzz, spokesman Alex Burgos said Rubio (R-FL) will “return to Florida for a working weekend capped off by the Pinellas County Lincoln Day Dinner” during the conference.

Burgos also denied that Rubio’s decision not to attend was part of the boycott by a number of social conservative groups who object to the inclusion of the gay conservative group GOProud in the conference.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) joined the boycott last week, because, as his spokesman explained: “With leading conservatives organizations not participating this year, Senator DeMint will not be attending. He hopes to attend a unified CPAC next year.”

CPAC, GOProud, Marco Rubio
Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.

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