Conservatism is Alive and Well

Conservatism is still alive and kicking liberal butt, at least that’s the view held by those attending the 2011 Values Voter Summit.

The Values Voter Summit is a 3 day annual political conference held annually in October “…for American social conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States.”

Values Voter Summit is sponsored by the Family Research Council (FRC) a right wing Christian group made up of numerous conservative organizations. The FRC was founded in 1981 by noted Christian talk show host, Doctor James Dobson.

In one of the more recent summits, 38 organizations were in attendance with about 2,000 more individuals participating.

The topics on the table for discussion were gay marriage, abortion and Christianity and the list of speakers at the Washington, D.C. summit read like a Who’s Who of the Republican Party and conservative right wingers. Most major presidential candidates were there as well as other conservative speakers including:

· House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)

· House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.)

· Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R)

· Family Research Council President Tony Perkins

· Glenn Beck

· Laura Ingraham

· Mark Levin

· And many other prominent Republicans vying for presidential nomination as well as a number of conservative media talk show hosts.

Also on the agenda were subjects of prime concern for Americans such as limiting government, reducing spending, upholding traditional American values, the economy and jobs.

The Values Voter Summit has always been on the frontlines of removing gay and lesbian rights in addition to “…restricting women’s access to reproductive healthcare, undermining the free exercise rights of non-Christian religions and breaking down the wall of separation between church and state.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins declared “These issues are front and center. The social issues are intertwined with the fiscal issues. People understand the reason we have big, expensive government is because we have neglected and in many ways discouraged family formation and that core economic foundation, which is the family.”

The summit topics were controversial and sometimes contained a hint of humor, to say the least. One prominent speaker made a tongue in cheek comment about if people wanted to know who the left hated all they had to do was look at who they were bashing.

Businessman Herman Cain, a rising star among the Republican presidential hopefuls, prior to the summit, was chastised by Muslim groups for his stance about not appointing Muslims to the Cabinet if elected. He has also made controversial statements about homosexuality saying it is a choice, but would listen to any scientific evidence proving otherwise.

Both the FRC and the American Family Association (AFA,) another group sponsoring the Values Voter Summit, have been accused of being hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a far left Jewish Organization. The organization made the charges because of their views on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.

However, there is little doubt the economy and jobs are the main issues on the minds of voters for the 2012 election year. People are concerned and desperate for leadership on how to rebuild the battered economy. And that’s what the Values Voter Summit say they represent.

With 2012 being a presidential election year, the summit held a mock election. Republican hopeful Ron Paul of Texas won hands down as the conservative favorite, garnering 37% of the vote.

Florida businessman Herman Cain scored second with 23 % and former Pennsylvania Senator, Rick Santorum, trailed with 16 %. Surprisingly,Texas Governor Rick Perry received only 8 %.