The first Morning Jolt of the week covers a lot of territory… starting with everything you need to know about this weekend’s CPAC:

Your Listening Assignment: The NR/Ricochet Podcast Interviews at CPAC
My colleagues and I spent a good portion of CPAC chasing down movers and shakers in the conservative movement and interviewing them for podcasts. We taped a slew on Friday, so at your leisure, peruse and listen…
7. Jay Nordlinger talked to former Ambassador John Bolton.
8. Jay interviewed founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist.
9: Jay interviewed Texas Governor Rick Perry, who continues to be the One Direction of CPAC, attracting a big crowd of adoring fans everywhere he goes.
10: Jay interviewed Kellyanne Conway, the Founder and President of the polling company, inc./WomanTrend.
11: Jay interviewed former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on her childhood, her life in corporate America, and her past and future aspirations in politics.
12: I interviewed Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center about his CPAC speech declaration that “cultural fascism” stalks America.
13: I interviewed Daniel Bongino, the former United States Secret Service agent who was the Republican Party nominee for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District in the 2014 elections. He’s also the author of Life Inside the Bubble: Why a Top-Ranked Secret Service Agent Walked Away from It All
14: Charles C.W. Cooke – a.k.a. Charlie — talks to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough about the scene at CPAC and his views on the 2016 race.
15: Our Charlie talks to reality TV stars the Benham Brothers about cultural forces that caused the cancellation of their popular TV show from HGTV.
16: Jay interviewed Col. Allen West, author of Guardian of the Republic, Fox News contributor & former U.S. Congressman about 2016, the state of the military, and how Republicans can do a better job of attracting African American voters.
17: I interviewed Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback about how he survived as an alleged “dead man walking” in last year’s reelection campaign, what he’s done as governor that’s made Democrats furious, the difficulties of working with the Obama administration, and whether he misses life as a presidential candidate. (Spoiler alert: No.)
18: Jay and I interviewed Bob Ehrlich, who was a Republican governor of Maryland before it was cool… before it went mainstream.
19: I interviewed AEI President Arthur Brooks about his upcoming book “The Conservative Heart” and why conservatives actually aim to make people happy.
20: Jay and I interviewed Jason Beardsley of The Underground Movement and Jay Redman of Wounded Wear, both distinguished combat veterans, working with Concerned Veterans for America.
21: Saving the most fun for last, I interviewed actor Kevin Sorbo about his new film “Caged” about human trafficking, last year’s surprise hit “God’s Not Dead“, and the real most important question at CPAC: In a fight between Hercules and Xena, who would win?
Like last year, our Amy Mitchell played the indefatigable traffic cop at our busy booth on radio row, and Scott Immergut of Ricochet made it all come together and sound terrific under constantly-shifting circumstances. God bless them.
Other must-read CPAC coverage…
Our Patrick Brennan notes that about two-thirds of participants in the conference’s straw poll oppose the National Security Agency’s use of telephone metadata to investigate terrorism.
Michael J. New writes that the panel discussing abortion was packed and optimistic.
Joel Gehrke on Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s message to CPAC in the keynote address.
Brendan Bordelon on whether CPAC attendees think Donald Trump is serious this time.
I told you Rand Paul was going to win the straw poll. The victory in the CPAC straw poll is a Paul family heirloom, handed down from a father to son. Andrew Johnson writes, “Paul organizers have mastered securing a strong presence at CPAC, as evidenced by his previous success: the conference is full of supporters donning t-shirt, stickers, and signs backing the senator.”
My friend and podcast co-host Mickey White describes CPAC through a rookie’s eyes.
While the conservative grassroots were at CPAC, big GOP donors were at the Breakers hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, meeting some of the 2016 contenders like Scott Walker, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush – and our Eliana Johnson is there, letting you know how they’re pitching themselves to some of the biggest donors in the party.