This past weekend, the Conservative Political Action Conference was held in Washington, D.C. The top names in the conservative world were there to rub elbows and slurp sodas. This conference gave a glimpse into the next few years of conservative politics and showed the ever-growing divide on the right.

One point that needs to be made incredibly clear is this: being a Republican, at this point in time, does not necessarily make you a conservative, at least in the minds of these conservatives. When we think Republican, we should think family values, resistance to any federal government and a slight cult-like worship of capitalism. Although right now, when I think Republican, I think out-of-touch old guys who talk to themselves while trying to put a wrench in any form of American democracy.

CPAC is not the Republican Party, though — these are the conservatives on the far right. In the past, this distinction was much harder to make, but lately the conservatives have been so extreme they are alienating parts of the party that once brought them glory. After the joke that was the CPAC, Ronald Reagan is probably Reagan-smashing in his grave.

It became quite clear the conservatives were drawing a fine line between themselves and the Republican Party when news broke that Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) was not invited to speak at the CPAC. Although Christie has been criticized for his praising of President Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy and does not exactly play nice with anyone, I feel it was unbelievably foolish for Christie to not be included. Christie, in my opinion, is the closest thing to a frontrunner for the 2016 election.

Endorsing a candidate like Christie would be a hard one for the conservatives. Although Christie is a staunch Republican, he does whatever he needs to do to get things done. This can-do attitude is not one the conservatives share. The conservative-dominant Republican Party needs to push Christie. If they fail to do so and have another out-of-touch conservative, they have no chance of winning the 2016 election.

This problem is becoming more and more evident. There are no more sensible Republican insiders. There is no more room for moderates on the side of the conservatives.

I identity myself as a Democrat, but when it comes down to it, I am a liberal more than anything else. I do not see myself hypnotized like the “blind followers of Obama.” I see myself as a patron of equality between classes, a lover of a large federal government and a hater of the War on Terror. However, I am not so naive as to assume one day we can all share our money in social programs, disassemble all weapons and go pass around some legal marijuana in a national peace circle. I feel this is a practicality that is dominant within both the Democratic Party and liberals in general.

There is no longer such practicality on the far right, and that puts a barrier between the moderate and conservative sides of the Republican Party. When the Republican Party has these conservatives that throw around terms like “legitimate rape” or “falsified birth certificate,” they make a sensible Republican take a step back to evaluate their party. With the looks of the conservative side these days, more and more voters are going to vote either for a Libertarian candidate or not at all.

The Republican Party needs to realize these extremists are not paving the way to the White House so much as they are to the nut house. It will be vital for the party to promote someone the average person can relate to and can therefore feel comfortable in placing their vote. If they keep putting Sarah Palin at the podium to smile and sip a Big Gulp, they will see an even bigger decline in their party. Although it has long been a party that stood for what is considered conservative, they must distance themselves from the blinded and extreme conservative side. Without this, they have no hopes of beating the Democrats in the next election.