A political tip sheet for the rest of us

WASHINGTON — A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012:

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

YOU CALL THAT CONSERVATIVE: Three of the four presidential candidates addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington, each trying to establish their conservative bona fides. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gave examples of how he's lived conservatism throughout his life, declaring himself "severely conservative." Not enough for rival Rick Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator told the CPAC crowd that even if Romney goes on to defeat President Barack Obama, it would be a "hollow victory" because Romney isn't conservative enough. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also addressed the crowd after his wife, Callista, normally a silent, blonde-helmeted presence standing slightly behind and to her husband's right on stage, introduced him. The former House speaker regaled the CPAC audience with promises to slash government spending painlessly, through business-tested efficiency techniques. All slammed Obama's policy requiring church-affiliated institutions that serve the public to provide employees with health care insurance that offer free contraceptives, even though Obama stepped back from the proposal Friday.

THE CHURCH, THE PRESIDENT AND CONTRACEPTIVES: President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly abandoned his stand that religious organizations must pay for birth control for workers. He demanded that insurance companies step in to provide the coverage instead. Obama's compromise means ultimately that women would still get birth control without having to pay for it, no matter where they work. The president had come under fierce election-year fire from the Catholic Church to Congress to his re-election foes. Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York, the head of the nation's Roman Catholic bishops and a fierce critic of the original rule covering hospitals and other employers, at first said the bishops were reserving judgment but that Obama's move was a good first step. The bishops' organization later issued a far more skeptical critique contending that the new approach offered insufficient protections for religious employers and calling that unacceptable. Republicans hoping to oust Obama from the White House were conceding nothing.