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Values Voter Summit Friday Evening Session – Show biz and questions By Jeffrey A. Rendall, for ConservativeHQ.com, 10/19/07
After a particularly inspiring afternoon session at the Values Voter Summit, expectations were high going into the evening program.
You didn’t need to look at the schedule of speakers to figure out that Mitt Romney was in the lineup, as a large group of Romney supporters came early to the ballroom and seated themselves right in front of the podium. As Romney was introduced, they erupted in applause, giving the meeting the aura of a campaign event, or even a political convention. Romney acted like he grasped the importance of this occasion, and for the most part, was up to the challenge of facing a potentially skeptical audience – delivering a well crafted speech chock full of issues and the bare outlines of policy proposals, touching on the concerns of the Values constituency without over-solicitous pandering. Unlike his fellow candidates, Romney employed a teleprompter and spoke like a man who knew how to use one – he came across as very natural, and for the most part, likable. Fred Thompson might consider taking some speaking lessons from Romney, for the ex-Massachusetts Governor comes across as bright and energetic. He’s only a few years younger than Thompson, but there’s no comparison in the ever important ‘style’ category. Romney began with a ‘family’ theme, declaring that he’s “pro family on every level,” then talked about the need for two-parent households. This focus on the family (pardon the pun) served to introduce his opposition to same-sex marriage while also allowing him to get his wife Anne involved. Romney claimed that if he’s elected president, that Anne’s ‘job’ will be to promote a pro-family agenda. “I promise to use the bully pulpit to spread the message: before they have babies, they should get married.” It was a harder push on a targeted message to this audience, and they seemed to buy it. It’s hard to believe that six months ago all we heard about was Romney’s flip-flopping, but now people have apparently accepted his various explanations for his multiple changes of heart. Romney’s either very sincere or a very good actor. He also touched on some pocketbook issues for families, namely lifting the tax burden on savings for college or investments for middle class families. His business background gives him credibility in this realm. He didn’t completely duck the Mormon issue, though he only spent a few lines on it – making a joke that people probably view Mormons negatively because of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who also is Mormon). The one knock on the speech, as was pointed out by a colleague, was that Romney sounded a bit like John Kerry in the sense that he was promising something for everyone. It’s great to be ambitious and upbeat, but when you promise the moon and aren’t sure you can deliver it, you get into trustworthiness problems down the road. But overall, Romney passed the test that this meeting presented. We’re close to getting beyond his Mormon faith issues, and his repeated explanations of his evolutionary abortion stance are now begrudgingly accepted. Romney’s quickly establishing himself as the only top-tier candidate who conservatives can at least take a look at without feeling an intense pain in the mid-section. As Romney left the stage, the program shifted gears into entertainment mode, as it was Ben Stein’s turn in the spotlight. Following a rather humorous introductory video, Stein was pictured writing ‘standards’ on a chalkboard while he discussed the scientific community’s rejection of Intelligent Design theory. I don’t think Intelligent Design had been mentioned all day long, so it was a good time to introduce a new topic in a manner that grabbed a person’s attention. The gist of the video was a critique of academia for its total rejection of any idea that would upset the accepted scientific orthodoxy. “Freedom of inquiry and speech is too dangerous as far as science is concerned.” Following the video, Stein gave a brief but inspiring speech, saying that he ‘wins the lottery’ every day by waking up in the greatest country in the world, the United States of America. He dispelled the notion that he lives amongst ‘stars’ (of the Hollywood variety in California), saying the real ‘stars’ are the ones wearing body armor and serving in the military. This was greeted with enthusiastic applause. Everyone feels a debt of gratitude to our military folks who are sacrificing so much – regardless of your individual views on the merits of the war. Stein ended with a thought: “Here on earth, God’s work is our work.” Following Stein was conservative movement icon Phyllis Schlafly, who brought down the house with her straight-forward presentation of ‘questions’ that the presidential candidates need to answer in order for us to consider them for president. She essentially read the text of her speech, but it was still delivered in a fluid and effective manner, never missing an opportunity to allude to the Bush Administration’s many shortcomings, and also pointing to the failure of the top-tier to address many of the concerns of conservatives. Considering the Romney supporters were still seated right in front of her, hopefully they were getting the message that not everybody is completely satisfied with their candidate – there’s much more to be done. Schlafly touched on six areas that every candidate needs to address and be committed to in order to receive conservatives’ support: 1. Respect for life. 2. Respect for traditional marriage. 3. Protecting parents’ rights. 4. Opposition to extremist judges. 5. Stopping illegal aliens from entering our country. 6. Caring about the protection of American jobs. The female icon of the conservative movement drew the love and admiration of the Values Voter audience, and her tireless promotion of America and protecting our sovereignty was one of the highlights of the entire day. Schlafly urged all conservatives to keep pressing the candidates to provide answers to these very important questions. Gary Bauer finished the day’s program – a fitting speaker to conclude a day that conservatives should be proud of. Bauer looked out at the gathering of over 2,000 conservatives and said “you’re Hillary Clinton’s, Harry Reid’s and Nancy Pelosi’s worst nightmare.” If only conservatives could coalesce around one candidate, you’d get a vibe that the movement would finally be able to move forward again after being set back by George W. Bush and the big government Republicans. There’s continued respect for Bush amongst these Values Voters, but they’re still demanding more – as well they should. |
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