Dana Loesch, host of Dana on TheBlaze TV, filled in for Glenn on Monday's Glenn Beck Program, and she opened up about her experience at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in our nation's capital - aka the "armpit of America." Dana, who has attended, spoke at, and broadcasted from the event for several years now, broke down some of the speeches that made the most impact and what attendees seemed to positioning themselves for a 2016 run.

Even though the event primarily attracts right-wing media and personalities, Dana explained that the weekend actually serves as a great opportunity to get candid, on-the-record remarks from politicians who wandering the halls of radio row.

"I like the opportunity to get politicians in the crosshairs of my mic and ask them questions. They can't run away because A) there are hot mics all around them, and B) cameras are everywhere meaning they know they'll look like fools if they run away. It's a smorgasbord of media," Dana said. "You don't gain credibility snowballing it. I've had several interviews get pretty contentious. There isn't any need to be contentious for contentious' sake though."

Texas Governor Rick Perry and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul made the biggest splash with their crowd-pleasing speeches, and Dana viewed Gov. Perry's remarks as a comeback of sorts. Sen. Paul, meanwhile, received a rousing round of applause as he reminded the audience that their privacy is under attack via the NSA surveillance techniques. Ultimately, Sen. Paul came out on top in the straw poll. But, as Dana explained, the poll "isn't so much an indicator of who will actually be a front-runner in the general election but more symptomatic of who can bring the bigger street team."

Check out Dana's CPAC analysis and some highlights from her interview on radio row in the clip below:

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