Trump Fights Complacency at a CPAC Sapped of Insurgent Energy

The crowd at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference was lower-key and often sparser than in recent years, when the anger and existential dread generated during eight years of a Democratic presidency electrified the conservative movement.

“There’s a different energy here, as opposed to opposition and negativity -- less anger,” Dale Bellis, a conservative activist, said in an interview after addressing the conference on Friday. “Anger and fear many times drives us more than does optimism and hope. And so, yeah, we do need to maintain that edge.”