2016 GOP contenders woo religious conservatives at Values summit
09/26/14 01:40 PM—Updated 09/26/14 08:35 PM
By Jane C. Timm
WASHINGTON — Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee sought to win points with Christian conservatives Friday at the 2014 Values Voter Summit, just months before the 2016 Republican presidential primary battle begins in earnest.
Cruz’s sermon-like speech won the crowd’s support easily — the sheer excitement in the packed ballroom suggested the Texas lawmaker will fare well in the presidential straw poll to be held here on Saturday. Meanwhile, Paul, Kentucky’s junior senator, tried to sell the crowd on how his libertarian politics are necessary for virtue and family values.
Santorum, on the other hand, saw a lesser reception. Perhaps it was due to the after-lunch billing or just today’s speech, but the crowd was more unresponsive during his speech, his ninth appearance at the nine-year-old Summit.
He earned just five moments of applause during his address, whereas Cruz’s speech was punctuated by regular applause, hoots, and hollers. Santorum had social conservatives behind him in a big way in 2012, so his reception may signal a decline of his social conservatives’ support of the former senator.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cruz-paul-woo-religious-conservatives-annual-summit
The republicans should change their mascot from an elephant to a pander bear.
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