The 2009 Values Voters Summit concluded this weekend in Washington D.C. The Summit featured a star-studded cast of conservatives that included Gary Bauer, Bill Bennett, Mike Huckabee, Ed Meese, Bill O’Rielly, Phyliis Schafly, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitch McConnell. And what kind of Christian conservative political conference would be complete without former Miss California Carrie Prejean, actor Stephen Baldwin, congresswoman Barbara Bachman, and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins.
Part of the festivities was a 2012 presidential straw poll. The winner was Mike Huckabee (29%) followed by Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin, and Mike Pence (all with about 12% each).
Breakout sessions included:
Thugocracy: Fighting the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy
Activism and Conservatism: Fit to a Tea (Party)
Speechless: Silencing the Christians
Global Warming Hysteria: The New Face of the “Pro-Death” Agenda
Obamacare: Rationing Your Life Away
The Threat of Illegal Immigration
Based on these breakout session, here are a few questions I would like to ask the organizers and speakers of the Values Voters Summit.
Can a member of the political left who believes that government is the best way to help “the least of these” be a “values voter?”
Can someone who supports universal healthcare based on the idea that healthcare is a religious right be a “values voter?”
Can someone who believes that global warming is real and has the potential to destroy God’s creation be a “values voter?”
Can someone who believes that all human beings–including illegal immigrants–should be treated with love and care be a “values voter?”
All of these questions can be answered in the affirmative. So let’s be honest and rename the “Values Voter Summit” something like “The Christian Conservative Voters Summit.” Or let’s keep the original name and invite, in addition to the usual conservative suspects, people like Jim Wallis, Ronald Sider, Tony Campolo, Jimmy Carter, Philip Yancey, and Stanely Hauerwas to give speeches. Now that would be a conference that might be worth attending.
THE CHANGING FACE OF DEMOCRATS and the loss of our Libertarian Roots is the subject of a new book by Clay Barham on the history of the Democratic Party. America’s first major political Party evolved drastically over the past 200 years—from a libertarian party to a Rousseau to Marx-leaning liberal, left-wing party. The Democratic Party’s original ideals encouraged a free market, individual freedom, business interests, opposing overseas expansion, and supporting state’s rights and personal sovereignty. What happened? When and how did their policies begin to change? Why did a strongly patriotic party morph into one that blends communism, mercantilism and socialism? Whether you are Democrat or Republican, this narration is a study of history, fact, and the leadership that altered the Democratic Party. It shows that present day Democratic values do not reflect the true principles on which American society rests. http://www.claysamerica.com.