Neither you nor I are in the bubble but I ask anyway: do they really think clinging to the guy who lost is the way to go ?
Except they're clinging to the guy that they think won.
Here's the thing...
If you were talking about garden variety MAGAchud voters, you could say they were clinging to the guy that they think won.
But, you figure the people (at least most of them) attending CPAC would be smart enough to recognize that Trump lost. They may not speak out, in order to placate the MAGAchuds and keep them from rebelling from the party, but people like Lady Lindsey or Kevin McCarthy are experienced politicians, capable of at least some political analysis. I doubt people like them would BELIEVE Trump actually won.
For the majority of republicans, the smart thing to do would be to remain silent... don't criticize Trump, but also don't go out of your way to gush over how he's the "Future of the Republicans".