At CPAC, Trans Issues Dominated. But Do Voters Care?

From the speeches at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), it would be easy to assume that transgender issues were the most pressing subject in American politics. In speech after speech, panel after panel, speakers hammered home the dangers of "gender ideology" and the importance of banning underage gender transitions and keeping school sports and bathrooms sex-segregated.

At CPAC, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.) warned about a "billion-dollar industry that mutilates the genitals of children." Presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that President Joe Biden was making soldiers take "gender pronoun classes." Conservative commentator Michael Knowles said, "Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life." While their comments seemed to rile up the audience at CPAC, how do such statements play with the broader Republican base—or the independent voters they'll need to sway in 2024?