Over the last 10 days or so, much as been reported about a meeting or conference of evangelical leaders to be held at the ranch of a judge in Texas. That meeting happened yesterday. There have been literally dozens of newspaper and online articles published leading up to the meeting, and afterward, with all of the accompanying speculation and anticipation. Their goal? To decide upon the “conservative alternative” to Mitt Romney. Really? They must think all Americans are completely ignorant.
Senator Rick Santorum (Photo credit: AP)
Saturday in The Dallas Morning News, Robert Jeffress (yes, that one) was quoted:
“The fat lady hasn’t sung yet, but she’s in the green room warming up. It looks like Gov. Romney is going to win the nomination,” said Jeffress, who was not at the meeting but made headlines last year when he warned that Mormonism is a cult.
Jeffress cautioned that while some say evangelicals will have no choice but to vote for Romney, millions could stay home as they did in 2008 unless the former Massachusetts governor gives Christian conservatives a reason to turn out for him. He suggested that Romney, should he become the nominee, strongly promise that he will appoint anti-abortion judges to the U.S. Supreme Court.
From the many reports I read about the meeting of over 150 leaders, they cast votes (more than one time) to choose one of the “not-Mitt” candidates still remaining. Their selection was Rick Santorum, to the chagrin of Mr. Gingrich (I wonder why they decided against Newt? — a real head scratcher!).
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council says conservatives are looking for a candidate who will repeal the nation’s health care law, fight for pro family values and address the national debt.
Governor Romney was the first to declare he would seek to repeal ObamaCare — and forcefully. Which other candidate has better family values than Governor Romney?
This National Journal piece gives a good sense of the jockeying:
“We have been successful as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney,” Santorum told reporters in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Later, he said in a statement that every candidate had “coveted” the endorsement. “It is time to coalesce behind the full spectrum conservative in this race who will fight for their values and won’t waiver when times get tough,” Santorum said. That was a reference to himself. The next sentence was a reference to Romney: “Now is the time to stop a moderate from becoming our party’s nominee.”
Newt Gingrich and his camp disputed Santorum’s interpretation of the results. Former congressman J.C. Watts, Gingrich’s national campaign co-chairman, said Santorum and Gingrich were separated by only nine votes on the first ballot. “It is clear that 100% of those attending are not for Governor Romney, but in fact are splintered in whether to support Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum,” Watts said in a statement. He called it “misleading” for the Santorum campaign to claim an endorsement from all 150 leaders at the meeting.
[emphasis added]
A SIMPLE TEST OF LOGIC:
Facts First: Any person that does a small amount of research, and dives below the soundbite images painted by Gingrich, Perry, and Santorum regarding Governor Romney, discovers that he governed as a conservative in every way. One of the best examples is regarding his pro-life record. In every decision he made or action he took as governor, was always on the side of life. Proof ——> HERE. There are many examples of Governor Romney’s proven conservatism, not least of which are the numerous Tea Party leaders and organizations that have enthusiastically endorsed him over all other presidential candidates.
Now the Logic: Ask yourself this question — If Mitt Romney were an Evangelical, would that meeting have been convened? Take your time as you contemplate your answer to this simple question. Remember, Mr. Newt Gingrich was included as a possible choice by these evangelical leaders — a serial adulterer whose last affair lasted in secret for six years during the time Gingrich publicly scolded President Clinton for his extramarital relations. In fact, Mr. Gingrich came in second in the voting at this ranch meeting!
Again, would that meeting have been convened at all by 150+ evangelical leaders had Mitt Romney’s religion been Evangelical? The obvious answer is clearly “no” it would not have even been considered.
What if Mitt Romney were Evangelical and had won both Iowa and New Hampshire? I can tell you this: Had Governor Romney been Evangelical, he would have won Iowa by tens of thousands more votes than the 8-vote margin he received. Santorum only came close because of the clarion call “to preach Santorum” from the pulpits the Sunday prior (ala Huckabee 2008 surprise). Interesting, is it not, that the IRS let those instances alone?
Conclusion: If GMR were Evangelical, he would have won Iowa by a HUGE margin. If GMR were Evangelical, the Texas ranch meeting of 150+ evangelical leaders would never have happened. If GMR were Evangelical, the primary race would be effectively sealed after his winning two unprecedented states.
If this logic is anywhere near the truth, then what was yesterday’s meeting all about? These “leaders” traveled from all over the nation to meet out at the ranch, spending an enormous amount of time and money. They all reported that the meeting made no mention of Mitt Romney or his religion. Right.
That meeting had nothing to do with conservatism.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” — John Adams
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Victor is a businessman working in the healthcare industry. He and his wife of 33 years have five children and four grandchildren. Vic has been blogging for Mitt Romney since 2007.
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You’re preaching to the choir, Vic! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said, and said well. While it is a shame that bigotry exists, I have to think back to the 2008 campaign. America has come a long way since then. Back then, the country was only waking up to the idea that a Mormon could be voted into the White House. If IA and NH are an indication, much the the bigotry has been resolved. I believe the more people see GMR, the more they will lose their canned ideas about his faith. Mitt is a fine example of the values Americans, even evangelicals, hold near and dear. I have faith his earnest desire to serve the people of this country will shine through. People see truth and they respond to it. I hope in four more years, Mr. Romney will be halfway through his term, and America will see for themselves that his faith was nothing to be afraid of.
Cain drops in polls, numbers go to other man, both (shall I say three) of them experienced the same
thing in the nineties . No more please, we can do it.An ex adulterer in the oval office and a first lady who had an affair with a married man. These type of persons will be making history that will be read by our children and granchildren a century later .Is this the kind of role model that we want our children see? Hypocracy is the buzz word here.
Protect our children. They are not political ( pandering, expediency, etc), and they need a God fearing leader in the white house as their role model.
Ummm, very interesting article. Religion on sale! Very sad.
The good news is that they’re confused and divided which is helpful for Gov Romney. These church leaders do influnece the church goers so, Gov Romney has to work extra hard convincing people he’s carrying God in his heart and wears on his sleeve. Sooner or later, he may need jesus tatoo.
What part of conservatism these people don’t understand???
I just watched Gingrich on ‘Meet the Press’ and all I could think is….WHEN IS MITT’S CAMPAIGN STAFF GOING TO MAKE AN AD FEATURING GINGRICH AND PELOSI, SITTING ON THE COUCH TOGETHER???
RENEE: They don’t need to. Gingrich is self-imploding and taking Perry with him. Logically, Santorum is the anti-Mitt. Except his record is about as close to Conservative as the rumors of Mitt’s moderism is. That is, Santorum has some very egregious anti-conservative decisions on his record.
On the topic of the article, they didn’t need to discuss Mitt or his religion at this conference. They were selecting the anti-Mitt. They were agreed that they are all bigoted…. er, I mean that they disagree with the LDS faith and the no “Mormon” should ever be POTUS… because the Constitution states there is a religious litmus test, or something opposite actually.
Spot on, Vic. They aren’t choosing the “most conservative” they are looking for “anyone that fits their religion”.
@Machtyn, there was a time people said a black man would never be president too. I think the country is coming around.
bulls-eye.. Modern Pharisees and Sadducees..
Whoever supports Rick Santorum because he says he’s a conservatives needs to do their homework. They are making a mistake Santorum’s record shows he’a a big government candidate. http://bit.ly/zWSIhg. Why choose a candidate that has been in DC forever and voted to create the things they are now running against. Perry is the only candidate that has current experience in creating an environment for job growth in a bad economy and plans to do so. * Cut, Balance, and Grow • Energizing American Jobs & Security.Supports a flat tax, a balanced budget, job creation, domestic energy, a secure border and get America working again, He is a conservative of conviction, not of convenience. Has signed 6 balanced budget during his term as governor and the only one to do so since WW11. A Perry-Romney ticket would be a winner
so how can they get away with doing this and not have their tax exempt status revoked? can you imagine if the mormon church did this with all their leaders? world wide?
It makes bigotry stand out in bold.
Thankfully, it is nearly over, less than a week to SC. As long as Mitt keeps being sane and competent, the others will look more and more desperate.
It really is so hypocritical to say you want someone exactly like Romney, but not Romney. But it has nothing to do with religion… no sirree.
When Mitt is President, I hope he can govern. These nuts are, well, nuts. And they hate Mormons more than they love their country.
Rick Santorum is not more conservative than Mitt. Not at all.
Religious Leaders mostly, dividing the nation into Denominational Sectors, preaching the spirit of contentions.
It’s true what they say about my home State. Most of my friends did not vote for Gov. Romney in the Iowa Caucus because of the Church he attends. How sad, how pathetically sad. Mitt Romney would have won the Iowa Caucus by over an additional 20,000 votes had he been a Methodist or a Baptist. I am ashamed that so many people in Iowa share a bigoted mindset. When based strictly on the issues, by Candidate X, nearly 100% of my friends would support that person to become the Republican nominee. I can only hope and pray that the rest of the Country will remember what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, and adding… ”or what Church he attends.” America needs Gov. Romney in the White House. He is bright, articulate, and compassionate. He is a man of integrity. He has strong family values. He has been faithfully married to ‘one’ wife for over 42 years. He can make tough decisions under pressure. His understanding of the many foreign and domestic issues ranked the highest of all the candidates. Gov. Romney’s detailed plans to restore our Country are realistic. He is the real deal. The Presidential Election on November 6, 2012 will be the most important election in over 150 years. American jobs and American values are at stake. Gov. Romney is the leader we can trust… to do what he says he will do.