The Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins speaks at last year’s Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit showcases conservative leaders and is sometimes a focal point of controversy. (Photo courtesy Gage Skidmore/flickr / UW Election Eye).
Posted by Will Mari
Washington, D.C. — Some might say the Republican Party will have experienced three conventions this year.
First, there was the mini-convention for Ron Paul and his people the weekend before the actual GOP convention last month in Tampa, Fla. UW Election Eye has encountered fervent Paul partisans all around the country, and they have been a very motivated bunch in their sometimes-quixotic libertarian quest for their man’s nomination.
The rally in Florida was a chance for them to vent some of their frustration at the process, some of which spilled over at the ”big-tent” convention itself. But normally these are occasions in which disparate groups, as at all political-party gatherings, have to play well together, or appear to. As my colleagues showed in their coverage of the Democrats’ convention last week in Charlotte, S.C. they’re about presenting united fronts and compromising for the sake of potential victory.
But then there’s the Values Voter Summit. It’s not about party unity. It’s instead the go-to protest space for social conservatives. Primarily hosted by the Family Research Council, it’s been the place for disenchanted socially conservative “values voters” — those worried about the impact of the recent HHS mandate on faith-based non-profits, abortion and same-sex marriage — to make their collective voice heard. That sometimes includes odd, but still telling, straw-poll winners in off-years. And if Mitt Romney loses the nomination, it’ll probably only grow in importance as a magnet for those politicians wanting to appeal to conservative activists.
Paul Ryan, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint, and Michelle Bachmann, among others, are slated to speak this year.
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