Faithful Democrats
Greetings everyone, I'm Rob Lalka, and I'm here at the Values Voter Summit — an annual conference for the religious right, which has long dominated our nation's values debate. We've heard that the bloc is starting to lose their control over the direction of the Republican Party recently, and particularly with the leading Republican candidate being Rudy Guiliani, that very well may be the case.
I'll be here all weekend blogging the conference for Faithful Democrats, updating you regularly on the happenings here. This could well be a major turning point for the religious right, or maybe not. A few interesting anecdotes are sure to emerge regardless, and I'm here to chronicle some of the more amusing and intriguing details of what happens. Because while the papers might miss the more scintillating stories, you won't want to, so check in regularly for my updates by clicking the link below.
10/19, 9:05p ET: Everything is wrapping up for the evening. Before signing off for the night, I am going to type out a JFK quote that Ben Stein mentioned. And then I'm going to ask all of you to take a moment and decide whether these are really the values made a reality by Values Voters gathered here for the religious right or whether they are found more in the democratic principles that have been brought to bear on today's issues by, yes, Democrats….
“We all ask God to
do great things for this country and for the people we love, and we all ask
God to go to work for this great country and for our great principals and
ideals, and for the people we love in this country, and God answers back,
‘Here on earth, my work is your work.’”
10/19, 8:44p ET: I just have to mention this, as well. The moderator was able to get the crowd riled up by joking that he received a letter stating that "I regret you that I could not join you but I
am currently in Scotland
filming a new movie about the global threat of the Lochness Monster, signed Al
Gore." I'm not going to waste time on this. I'll just include a couple of links for those of you who haven't heard yet that the environment is a real concern:
10/19, 8:40p ET: Romney led off by quoting C.S. Lewis, saying that "Parenthood is the ultimate
career for which all other careers exist." He also came out by saying that we should all take our hats off to Bill Cosby for telling it like it is, which received a strong reaction.
The crowd went wild when he said that he would like to make it
so that parents can take kids out of classrooms where they are teaching about
homosexual couples; and he is espousing a message of small government by stating that "the work of being a parent is hard without the government
making it harder." Then, a mere minute later, Romney declared that he would call for "a Federal Marriage Amendment as the union between a man and a
woman because a federal amendment is the only way we can protect America from
liberal unelected judges." Contrary to the pamphlets that are being passed out, Romney also declared, "I will be a Pro-Life President, just like I have been a
Pro-Life Governor," which actually drew some audible chuckles from the audience. I really do wonder whether the crowd is buying what Romney is saying, although I am surprised that his stump speech doesn't sound too rehearsed.
This isn't a unique speech, though. He's recited these lines many times before. Here's one of them: "Like Ronald Reagan, and Henry Hyde, I am a convert on this
cause. Together we will win this battle
for the sanctity of human life." The Boston Globe covered that here:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2006/12/romney_invokes.html
While we're on the topic, here is what one of Romney's advisers said about the issue, ''He's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly" … the full article is here:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/03/adviser_says_governor_faked_stance_on_abortion
Just in case anyone has forgotten, here's the link to the Salon expose of what came of Henry Hyde and his extramarital affair. Everyone makes mistakes, but it deserves a mention: http://www.salon.com/news/1998/09/cov_16newsb.html
Perhaps the most interesting line of the entire Romney speech came near the end. He stated, "I understand that some people think they can’t support
someone of my faith, but I think that’s just because they’ve listened to Harry
Reid." What is happening here? It's simple, but it's clever. Romney is finding a way to take the question of whether the religious right can accept the fact that he is a Mormon and push it off on the Democrats, thus associating himself with the core conservative Republicans by disassociating himself with the Democrats. He had an opportunity to address the issue with the religious right, but he tried to push the question off on the Left while still not addressing the point that many political pundits have pointed out for years: the many in the religious right refuse to support someone who practices the Mormon faith.
Here are articles for further reading on that topic:
- http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0509.sullivan1.html
- http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2005/08/30/mormonism_may_sour_romney_for_some_in_christian_right/
- http://www.nysun.com/article/40802
- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562941-1,00.html
- http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2006/11/27/mitt_romney_and_whether_a_morm.html
10/19, 8:09p ET: Ben Stein is now on the stage, I'm taking notes and will have more on him as well as more information on Romney as well.
10/19, 7:57p ET: The speech is ending up and Romney is getting a fairly strong standing ovation. There are certainly more people on their feet than when he first came to the stage.
10/19, 7:43p ET: I just sneezed and there was nary a "bless you" from anyone in the crowd. The crowd is too engaged by Romney, perhaps?
10/19, 7:35p ET: Romney just walked on stage, his supporters are all holding up signs at the front and they've obviously filled the first few rows. Not everyone is standing or clapping during the "warm welcome," however.
10/19, 7:28p ET: With a few minutes left until Romney goes on stage, pink sheets of paper have been passed around with copies of a fax sent on October 6, 1994, from Romney for US Senate to "The Members of the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts." Again, to reiterate, this is printed on bright pink paper. It is clear that whomever distributed this is purposefully making this an issue of identity by playing the masculinity card. "I'm just doing it because it is important to me," the 18 year old volunteer who distributed the paper told me… With values like these, who needs anonymity.
Here is the reason this group is distributing this document:
"I am not unaware of my opponents considerable record in the area of civil rights, or the commitment of Massachusetts voters to the principle of equality for all Americans. For some voters it might be enough for me to simply match my opponent's record in this area. But I believe we can and must do better. If we are to achieve the goals we share, we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern. My opponent cannot do this. I can and will."
10/19, 7:21p ET: The blogger next to me just mentioned that he has had stuff stolen while he was in church before, so he has his laptop locked down to the table. On the other hand, I have some faith in these folks of faith.
10/19, 7:15p ET: Although it's not exactly the most
welcoming environment for anyone who uses the word "democrat" in
association with the group for whom he is blogging, I am doing my best
to get by. One of the fellow bloggers asked me whether "Faithful
Democrats" just means that I am even more of a resolute Democrat than
the others. I responded by saying that Faithful Democrats is an online
community of Christians, not some group of absolutist Liberal Zealots. I even
tried to assuage his fears by telling him that I grew up half an hour
away from Jerry Falwell. The poor guy was not assuaged, I have a
feeling. The look he gave me was more of disappointment.
At
least I can leave my laptop in my seat when I leave for a moment,
because if someone is going to steal it at the Values Voter Summit,
then we have much bigger problems than a lost laptop.
10/19, 5:44p ET: Click here
to read the Washington Post's anticipatory piece titled "Rudy and the
Christian Right: A Critical Encounter Saturday," which discusses Rudy
Giuliani's upcoming address to the conference tomorrow morning. Here's
how that article begins:
"The evolution of religious conservatives as a force in American
politics has been one of the most important developments of the past
three decades, and a critical component of the success of the
Republican Party's rise to power. The question now is whether that
movement can survive Rudy Giuliani.
"Giuliani will appear Saturday before the Family Research Council's
Values Voters summit in Washington for what some strategists believe
could be the most important speech of his presidential campaign to
date. It is both a critical moment for the former New York mayor and
for the religious right.
But this conference is about more than just Rudy and the Right, so I'll
be here all weekend blogging from the Values Voter Summit to relate
what has been happening and provide some perspective as well.
10/19, 5:09p ET: A "Rediscovering God in America" handout by Newt Gingrich:
Telling the crowd that he will always be a history teacher, Newt
Gingrich distributed a twelve page handout during his speech. Here's
the first point of interest (more discussion to come in a moment): "Our
two political parties have both failed to represent the American People
effectively, The Republican Party is wedded to a minority mindset,
anti-government, consultant dominated system which makes it incapable
of effectively implementing the will of the American people. The
Democratic Party has become a machine for the imposition of left wing,
labor union trial lawyer, bureaucratic and Hollywood elite interests,
which are actually opposed to the values of 70 to 90% of the American people."
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