Moralists Unite: Values Voter Summit Kicks Off In DC Today

[Joanne98]

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.

All the big boys from the moral side of things are here: Bill Bennett, Gary Bauer, Liberty University Law Dean Mat Staver (perhaps best known for telling Newsweek just after the 2008 election that President Obama is not the anti-Christ, but he "can see how others might" think he is), Sean Hannity, Phyllis Schlafly, anti-abortion heartthrob Lila Rose, the xenophobic Bryan Fischer and many, many more are scheduled to speak. Of course the star is FRC's president Tony Perkins, the man who keeps hope alive for the moral warriors of the right, batting down any chance that the GOP will shift too far away from it's traditional, religious-moral core.

And despite the tea party's public arm's-length distance from social issues out on the campaign trail, virtually all of it' political stars will be glimmering from the podium, including the newest and brightest star of the week, Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell. She'll be joined by tea party heavyweights Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and wannabe tea party heavyweight Newt Gingrich. Other political contenders scheduled to appear include Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/moralists-unite-values-voter-summit-kicks-off-in-dc-today.php?ref=fpb

[Doctor_J]

1. Newt Gingrinch expousing "values"

it doesn't get much more ironic than that.