All of the Republican presidential hopefuls (except RINO Jon Huntsman) addressed the Values Voters Summit in D.C. this weekend. While every candidate presented solutions for the dire economic condition of the country, they also addressed the moral bankruptcy of America including their support for religious liberty, the sanctity of life (anti-abortion) and the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.
For background on the high priority the candidates place on Culture War issues, read Presidential Candidates: Abortion & Marriage Top Issues and also read Presidential Candidates Address Christian America as well as Proved: Tea Party Movement is Christian
UPDATE 10/10/11: 'I Felt Like Moses,' Says Herman Cain
Get a load of this ridiculously inaccurate depiction of the campaign by the Washington Post . . .
-- From "Values Voters summit kicks off in values-light season" by Rachel Weiner, Washington Post 10/7/11
This weeked, social conservatives are gathering in Washington, D.C. for the Values Voters summit, a big three-day confab organized by the Family Research Council. But the high-profile event comes during a campaign in which social issues have been all but ignored.
Social issues have not turned into wedges between the candidates as is typical in GOP primaries. Earlier this year, most candidates refused to sign an influential Iowa conservative group’s controversial gay marriage pledge. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has not taken heat for his past support of abortion rights; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has received little criticism for his multiple divorces.
And those religious voters, while likely wary of Romney, may not be fully satisfied with Perry either. While Perry held a high-profile Christian event just weeks before entering the race, he has largely avoided social issues since his announcement. His team has argued that only attacks related to jobs and the economy will resonate with voters.
The candidate most tied to social conservatives, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, has never really gotten much traction. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), an evangelical with appeal to the movement, has collapsed in recent weeks. She gave a speech on abortion rights earlier this week; all the questions were about her staff depatures.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
To understand the media frustration, see links at the very bottom of this blog post (down).
From "Rick Perry picks up key supporter at Values Voter Summit" by Kim Geiger, Los Angeles Times 10/7/11
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, called Perry “a proven leader” who embodies the three attributes that matter to social conservatives: a “genuine commitment to biblical values,” competency to govern, and electability.
Jeffress called Perry “a genuine follower of Jesus Christ,” in a not-so-subtle swipe at Romney, who is Mormon.
“For more than a generation, our culture has emphasized a message of self-indulgence at the expense of social obligation,” Perry said. “…The fabric of our society is not government or individual freedom. It is the family. And the demise of the family is the demise of any great society.”
Perry also won a standing ovation when he declared that he “was proud to sign a budget that defunded Planned Parenthood in Texas.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "GOP campaigns court ‘values voters’ at D.C. summit" by Daniel Burke, Religion News Service 10/7/11
Several GOP presidential candidates sought to kick-start their stalling campaigns on Friday (Oct. 7) by preaching a gospel of low taxes and conservative Christian values to a summit of Tea Partiers, religious right activists and beltway insiders.
Perry also highlighted the anti-abortion positions he has taken as governor, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 3,000 social conservatives here.
[Rick] Santorum, who placed seventh among GOP candidates in a recent Washington Post/ABC poll, cast himself as a veteran culture warrior who has consistently fought for socially conservative values.
A Roman Catholic, Santorum devoted much of his speech to recounting his successful push in the Senate to pass the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which President Bush signed into law in 2003.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Herman Cain Rocks the House at Values Voter Summit" by Molly Ball, The Atlantic 10/7/11
Many other speakers got standing ovations, but only Cain provoked church-like shouts of "Yeah!" from the crowd. When Newt Gingrich came up to speak after Cain, a good portion of the crowd got up and wandered out of the giant ballroom at the Omni Shoreham Hotel here in Washington.
The Cain surge has also provoked a round of media hand-wringing over whether, and how much, to "take him seriously" as a contender, or whether it was still safe to treat him primarily as a man trying to sell books and perhaps get himself a television show.
The pundits, he noted, say "Herman Cain cannot get the nomination, Herman Cain cannot win the presidency because he doesn't have high name ID. He doesn't have a katrillion dollars. He's never held office. Let me tell you what the American people are saying. They don't care about a katrillion dollars -- America wants to raise some Cain, not raise some money!"
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Cain grabs the Values Voter spotlight" by Josh Lederman, The Hill 10/7/11
The audience at this convention for socially conservative voters leaped to their feet time and again, screaming and chanting along with the businessman who just weeks ago was largely unknown to voters, but has now climbed to the top tier of candidates in the presidential race.
Cain minced no words in laying out his views on social issues at a conference focused on opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and departure from Christian values.
"I believe in life from conception, period, no exception. I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman," he said.
The same day that Romney gave a major foreign policy speech aimed at bulking up his hawkish credentials, Cain laid out his philosophy, invoking former President Ronald Reagan, and calling his philosophy "peace through strength and clarity."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Media Discover America is a Christian Nation and then read how the media react to their discovery
UPDATE 10/10/11: Summit organizer explains candidate Ron Paul's organizational prowess and his win of the straw poll (video)
