Values Voter Summit

Values Voter Summit MC: Press Loves Occupy Wall Street, Hates Us

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 7, 2011, 2:20PM

If you've ever been to a Values Voter Summit, you've heard the calming baritone of Gil Mertz, the Family Research Council's regional director of development and the MC at every VVS.

Each time Mertz opens or closes a session at VVS, he offers this advice to the crowd: "Don't be the weird one." He means don't be the out-there birther, etc the so-called "unscrupulous" members of the press corps will undoubtedly find as they seek to slander the crowd here. It's a common, repeated refrain at a VVS and it raises a chuckle everytime Mertz says it.

This year, Mertz added a bit more tongue-not-really-in-cheek attacks on media bias into the mix.

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Values Voter Summit

Eric Cantor: 'Increasingly Concerned' About Occupy Wall Street 'Mobs'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 7, 2011, 9:57AM

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor took to the stage at the 2011 Voter Values Summit in Washington to do a little fear-mongering about the growing Occupy Wall Street protests.

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Family Research Council

Family Research Council Labeled 'Hate Group' By SPLC Over Anti-Gay Rhetoric

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 24, 2010, 11:18AM

Tony Perkins

The Family Research Council is perhaps the most prominent voice in conservative social politics and the hosts of an annual rite of passage for many Republicans who hope to run for president. And now, FRC is on the same Southern Poverty Law Center list of hate groups as the Ku Klux Klan.

The SPLC gave the Family Research Council the designation due to anti-gay speech from its leaders, which the SPLC says includes calls for gay men and lesbians to be imprisoned.

Labeling the Family Research Council a hate group puts one of Washington's most powerful social issues advocates into the company of groups like the Nation of Islam and the now mostly defunct Aryan Nations in the eyes of the SPLC, which tracks 932 active hate groups in the U.S.

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Values Voter Summit

Mike Pence Sweeps Straw Poll Voting At Values Voter Summit

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 18, 2010, 3:52PM

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) is the valueiest politician around. At least that's what participants in the 2010 Values Voter straw poll think. Pence, whose 2012 presidential aspirations are no secret, swept both the presidential and vice-presidential polls.

Pence gave a raucous and engaging speech to the crowd here Friday, which Family Research Council president Tony Perkins told me was at least partially responsible for his double win. Pence, of course, wasn't the only presidential hopeful to address the crowd yesterday. Rick Santorum spoke, too, though his sixth place finish suggests (by Perkins' logic) that people here were unmoved by his morality-focused speech. Mitt Romney tried to slay 'em in the aisles with a series of one-liners that seemed to amuse the crowd here. He came in third in today's results.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Morals, Morals, Morals! Conservatives Gather For Values Voter Summit]

Last year's winner straw poll winner, Mike Huckabee, also addressed the crowd yesterday, ripping into the health care reform law with what can only be described as true relish. He finished second in the presidential poll.

Sarah Palin, who didn't show up here at all, finished fifth in the presidential poll and second in the veepstakes. Because Pence won both polls, Palin was declared the winner of the VP straw poll, meaning -- if it means anything -- that participants here hope to have Pence/Palin bumper stickers on their cars come 2012.

"What a dream ticket," Perkins told the crowd.

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Values Voter Summit

Gingrich Calls For Federal Ban On Shariah Law In US

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 18, 2010, 12:05PM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

The second morning of speeches at the Values Voter Summit here in DC was dominated by a man who is swiftly becoming the nation's spokesperson for Islamophobia -- former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Fresh off the release of his Islam-focused film "America At Risk," Gingrich told the crowd at VVS that it's time to take federal action to prevent Shariah Law from infiltrating courtrooms in the US.

"We should have a federal law that says sharia law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States," Gingrich said to a standing ovation from the audience. The law will let judges know, Gingrich said, that "no judge will remain in office that tried to use sharia law."

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Morals, Morals, Morals! Conservatives Gather For Values Voter Summit]

Gingrich made a not-so-subtle reference to the right wing meme about freshly-minted Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan which claims that Kagan is "sympathetic" to Shariah and -- as some suggested during her confirmation hearings -- might allow it to be recognized as law in the United States.

But beyond the Kagan hit, Gingrich's anti-Shariah talk inserted him directly into the most extreme end of the Islamophobic push-back against mosque projects all over the country.

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Values Voter Summit

Christine O'Donnell Does DC: 'You're Not The Boss Of Me' (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 17, 2010, 5:54PM

Christine O'Donnell

There was no moment more anticipated on the first day of the Values Voter Summit here in Washington today than Christine O'Donnell's time at the podium. By agreeing to appear as a last-minute addition to the VVS schedule, Delaware's upset Republican nominee for Senate was able to upstage such GOP notables as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, who spoke earlier this morning.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Morals, Morals, Morals! Conservatives Gather For Values Voter Summit]

When it finally came time for O'Donnell to take the stage in the mid-afternoon, the plucky ultra-right winger didn't disappoint. From death panels to tea party shout-outs, the speech had (basically) it all.

Here's a pretty good example of how it all went down:

"The ruling class elites may try but they will never have the last word on liberty," O'Donnell said. "There's something about our national DNA that insists on shouting at those who would be our masters, 'You're not the boss of me!'"

O'Donnell said that Thomas Jefferson may have written something similar in the Declaration of Independence, though she admitted he maybe did it "a little more eloquently."

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Values Voter Summit

Mitt's Open-Mic Night At Values Voter Summit (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 17, 2010, 3:30PM

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)

Some say it's a sign that Mitt Romney is trying to folksy up his rich guy image. Some say it's the perfect video definition of the phrase "don't quit your day job." Whatever your thoughts, it's the sign of things to come.

Addressing the crowd at the Values Voter Summit this morning, Romney banged on President Obama and Democrats in a speech that should probably be seen as a prequel of his 2012 Republican presidential primary stump speeches. To keep the audience engaged, Romney spat out a series of one-liners that felt as pre-written as their delivery was clearly rehearsed. We've assembled them for you here.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Morals, Morals, Morals! Conservatives Gather For Values Voter Summit]

So is Romney funny? Well, this was the funniest joke from his speech today. You be the judge.

"Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Obama," he said. "Their numbers have been going down a chute faster than a Jet Blue flight attendant.

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Values Voter Summit

Values Voter Summit Kicks Off With Attacks On Gays, Abortion Rights (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 17, 2010, 1:25PM

Michele Bachmann

The opening morning of the Values Voter Summit here in Washington followed a predictable script: President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are destroying America, and they're doing it by making it easier for homosexuals to live openly and for women to exercise their right to choose.

There were attacks on health care, spending and taxes, too, but this is the VVS after all, so the fear of ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the specter of government funding for abortion took center stage in a way not seen at most high-profile Republican events this year.

"Washington is assaulting America's values," Mitt Romney told the crowd packed into the ballroom here at the Omni Shoreham hotel. "Values like the sanctity of life and the preservation of marriage."

You can follow my live coverage of the event here. And watch it live here.

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Values Voter Summit

Huckabee Opposes Insurance For People With Pre-Existing Conditions (AUDIO)

Brian Beutler | September 17, 2010, 12:49PM

Fmr. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R)

When Republicans attack health care reform, Democrats like to counter by accusing Republicans of wanting to repeal a law that requires insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. According to Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, that's exactly right. People with pre-existing conditions, he explains are like houses that have already burned down.

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Values Voter Summit

Moralists Unite: Values Voter Summit Kicks Off In DC Today

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 17, 2010, 8:35AM

Mitt Romney

Hey, remember when Republicans talked about family values? Those halcyon days when every third word out of the GOP was "traditional" or "the children" instead of "bailout" or "the Constitution doesn't allow for taxes if you really read it closely"?

The Family Research Council remembers. And this weekend, it's setting the party's collective WayBack machine to "before the Tea Party." Starting this morning, some of the most powerful names in conservatism will descend on (or is that ascend to?) the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC to talk about morality. I'm sure the deficit will come up at some point, but it's really not the point.

I'll be there all day. Follow my live coverage here. And watch it all live here.

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Values Voter Summit

The Values Voter Summit: A Celebration Of The "Religious Right"

Eric Kleefeld | September 21, 2009, 12:57PM

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)

The Values Voter Summit concluded over the weekend, showcasing the religious right (and more on the proper usage of that label later on) and its fervent opposition to President Obama.

Mike Huckabee won the presidential straw poll, a key test of religious right voters, but it was with a weak plurality in a very divided field: Huckabee 29%, followed by Mitt Romney Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin and Mike Pence, all with about 12% each. That said, it's natural in some ways that the GOP should have no obvious frontrunner at this point in the cycle, and this isn't really a huge problem -- but don't mistake these numbers for a major Huck win.

Huckabee was obviously a big hit, and really did play into the worldview of good versus evil. For example, he besmirched the very motives and patriotism of their political enemies, and of those who tell the the GOP to be less conservative and more moderate: "I'm not sure the center makes a whole lot of sense when it's coming from people who certainly don't have our interest, or our country's interest, at heart."

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Tom Coburn

Coburn Aide: If Boys Knew Porn Will Turn Them Gay, They Won't Want Playboy

Eric Kleefeld | September 21, 2009, 11:47AM

In an infamous moment at the Values Voter Summit over the weekend, captured on video by Dave Weigel, Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) chief of staff Michael Schwartz made the case against pornography. "All pornography is homosexual pornography," said Schwartz, quoting an ex-gay friend of his, "because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards."

Schwartz then explained the side benefit of this finding -- that if boys know pornography will make them gay, they'll never touch it, taking advantage of what Schwartz sees as a natural homophobia. "And if you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he's going to want to get a copy of Playboy?" he said. "I'm pretty sure he'll lose interest. That's the last thing he wants!"

MO-SEN

Roy Blunt: "You Have To Play The Ball Where The Monkey Throws It"

Eric Kleefeld | September 18, 2009, 3:37PM

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who is currently a candidate for Senate in 2010, just told an interesting story to the Values Voters Summit, explaining the state of pandemonium in Washington.

A long time ago in India, Blunt said, a group of British occupiers set about building a golf course from what was formerly a stretch of wilderness. Much to their surprise, as soon as the first balls were played, monkeys would run out and play with them. The monkeys might throw a ball from fairway to sand, from sand to fairway -- or even back at the golfer.

Eventually, the golfers had to agree to a new rule, never before used in the game. "You have to play the ball where the monkey throws it. And that is the rule in Washington all the time," Blunt said, to the applause and laughter of the crowd.

"You know the world is turned upside down," he added for context, "when Al Franken is in the United States Senate, and Tom DeLay is going on Dancing With The Stars."

Late Update: Here's the audio, courtesy of Fired Up Missouri: