mr. watkins it's great to see you and how important is this conference for republican presidential contendersstart with that? >> well, it's an early indicator whether or not you are viable as a republican because you have to win the nomination first before you can be the party's candidate. so being invited to the cpa c convention and certainly passing the test with conservatives is an important thing inside the party. >> reporter: christie has not always been invited. >> last year he was not invited because he took the photos with president obama but it goes to show you how much things can change a year in politics, someone who was not invited last year or two years ago today is not only invited by tomorrow could be the darling of the party. with the 30% that said they would never vote for him it could change easily in a year. >> not even just a year, how about a couple of months, right. >> right. >> reporter: let's look at the cbs news "new york times" poll released last week about potential republican presidential contender and showing jeb bush in the lead with 41% of republicans saying the