The Values Voter Summit 2008, hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group, the Family Research Council (FRC), is scheduled for September 12 - 14, and will be held at the Hilton in the nation's capital.  In its promotional efforts, the FRC has pointed out that the Cox News Service, in an early-August piece titled "90 days left: Events that may alter contest," called the upcoming Summit an "event that may alter the contest" and will provide "clues to the enthusiasm for the McCain-led GOP ticket among Republican-leaning evangelicals." (In the piece, however, Scott Shepard, writing for Cox News Service lists the Summit as one of "plenty of events that could alter the contest between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.")    

Regardless of how the importance of the Summit is parsed, it will be a significant conservative gathering.  

Ironically, the Values Voter Summit plays host to a convicted Watergate felon, an admitted mega-gambler, a thrice-married man, forced to resign as Speaker of the House over a series of ethical missteps, a columnist paid by the White House for positive coverage of Team Bush's agenda, and a Congresswoman who, responding to a comment about creating an energy policy to help save the planet by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, said that "[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she's just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet -- we didn't need Nancy Pelosi to do that."

I recently discussed the Values Voter Summit, and related political issues, with Boston, who has been attending Religious Right-sponsored events for more than twenty years. (The Family Research Council did not respond to our e-mail questions.)

"In the 1990s, I used to attend the Christian Coalition's `Road to Victory' conference," Boston said. "The Values Voter Summit is essentially the same thing; a highly partisan gathering designed to rally the Religious Right faithful to make sure they are sufficiently enthused to support the Republican ticket in November. In off years, it functions as a type of beauty contest -- a chance for attendees to hear GOP hopefuls speak and get a sense for which ones meet the ideological purity test of James Dobson and Tony Perkins.

"Last year, every major Republican hopeful showed up, so clearly they viewed the event as important," Boston, the author of "The Most Dangerous Man in America?: Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition" (Prometheus Books, 1996), pointed out. "With the collapse of the Christian Coalition, the FRC is the biggest game in town when it comes to the Religious Right."

The Values Voter Summit 2008 is brought to you by Perkins' FRC Action, "The Legislative Action Arm of the Family Research Council," and co-sponsored by Dobson's Focus on the Family Action, American Values, home to former GOP presidential hopeful Gary Bauer, the Alliance Defense Fund, and Bishop Harry Jackson's High Impact Leadership Coalition.      

'Are we losing America?' Summit organizers ask

In a one-minute promotional video, the Family Research council laid out the raison d'être for the Summit:

Are we losing America? Radical activists redefine marriage. Your tax dollars put towards abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Your parental rights erased. Your religious liberties expunged. Your basic freedoms eliminated. Are we losing America? Unless we act now, the answer is YES! That's why this year's Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC is so vital. This September, you'll discover how you can make a difference. We'll equip you to protect the tradition of marriage, the innocence of your children, and the sanctity of your faith.... Are we losing America? We don't have to.

As of late August, confirmed guests included: Perkins; Bauer; Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN); Actor Stephen Baldwin; Dr. Ted Baehr, head of MovieGuide; best-selling author and radio talk show host, William Bill Bennett; former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, now Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment, FRC; former Watergate felon Chuck Colson, now Chairman, Prison Fellowship; CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs; Jonathan Falwell, the son of the late Jerry Falwell, who is now Senior Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Virginia; Frank Gaffney, Founder and President, Center for Security Policy; Maggie Gallagher, President, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who now heads up American Solutions for Winning the Future; David Horowitz, President, Freedom Center (former the Center for the Study of Popular Culture);  film critic Michael Medved; Fr. Frank Pavone, President, Priests for Life; former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney;  and, Phyllis Schlafly, Founder of Eagle Forum. Both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have been invited to the Summit.    

"I've noticed that the Family Research Council has dramatically ratcheted up its attacks on Obama and the Democrats generally," Rob Boston said. "Perkins even attacked [Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi over offshore drilling, even though I don't believe that issue is mentioned in the Bible. Perkins and other Religious Right leaders are working overtime to demonize Obama, knowing that if he elected, Obama might get the chance to replace as many as three Supreme Court justices."

When asked whether the Summit would energize the GOP base behind McCain, Boston pointed out that it would "certainly motivate that portion of the base that is intimately connected with the FRC and prone to attend events like this."

"However," Boston added, "The challenge has always been to extrapolate that to larger national stage. Usually, about 2,000-3,000 people attend this event. I've talked to attendees, and it's not hard to see that they are extremely conservative, even by evangelical standards. The tough question is determining what percentage of the electorate these people really represent. There has been much talk lately about a new breed of younger evangelicals who are less interested in the familiar issues of opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. While Obama and the Democrats are making a play for this crowd [it is unclear if] they really exist in significant numbers. Can their votes make a difference? I really don't think we'll have the answers to these questions until we see the exit polling data after Election Day."

Boston told me that despite writing about the Religious Right for years and regular attending their meeting and conferences, he continues to be "amazed at how crude, ugly and mean-spirited many of the speakers can be. Add to that the extolling of ignorance that you often hear blasting from the speakers' podium and you have quite a package."  Oddly enough, "these people think they are better, more moral and more ethical than everyone else -- especially progressives, whom they heap with scorn and disdain. I leave the Values Voter Summit every year more determined than ever to fight the Religious Right. It's a stark reminder of what is at stake and just how narrow the Religious Right's vision for this nation is. "

Regarding Palin's attendance at the Summit, Boston pointed out that given her popularity in the evangelical community, he would "be real surprised if she doesn't show up."

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