'Value Voters' Still Motivated By Gay Marriage, Abortion

By Josef Kuhn
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS) Amid a political climate dominated by economic concerns, social conservatives are as concerned as ever about issues like abortion and gay marriage, a leading conservative activist said Tuesday (Sept. 27).

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), spoke about what "values voters" and evangelicals want in a presidential candidate as Republicans court a key constituency in the GOP.

The media have given the impression that the economy will far outweigh social issues in the 2012 elections, Perkins said, but "that's not the case with evangelical voters."

In fact, he said, social conservatives don't see a dichotomy between social and economic issues, listing health care, tax policy, and jobs as "not just fiscal issues."

For example, values voters see big government and deficit spending as the result of policies that arise "when the natural family is looked down upon" and thereby foster dependency.

Perkins spoke less than two weeks before the FRC's political arm, FRC Action, hosts the annual Values Voter Summit, which will feature most major Republican candidates. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman declined to attend.

Perkins indicated that the voters at the summit are not likely to pick a more moderate candidate in the straw poll. "History shows that conservatives win when they actually are conservative," he said.

Perkins said the Republican nomination remains open, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry will have to "work his way back in to being a front-runner," and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has downplayed social issues, "is going to have to shore that up" to get the support of values voters.

 

 

Comments

[Phlan]

01:43 PM on 10/30/2011

For those of you who keep asking:
This is how "They" keep getting away with it.

[Darwincrat]

03:53 PM on 10/28/2011

Family values: Xenophobia, Homophobia, Paranoia, and Misogyny

[floridaviolinist]

02:59 PM on 10/28/2011

"For example, values voters see big government and deficit spending as the result of policies that arise "when the natural family is looked down upon" and thereby foster dependency."

If the "traditional family" model was representative of the economic pulse of the country, unemployment would be at 50%.

How on earth people take "values voters" seriously is beyond me.

[kathy smelser]

01:51 PM on 10/24/2011

this proves that there is no value to the value voters

[iknowscottyknows]

09:14 PM on 10/07/2011

Those without values or morals are motivated by those issues as well.

[SeptimusDSX]

08:53 PM on 10/01/2011

Every time I hear somebody preach about "values" and "morality" in this context, I can't help but roll my eyes. Never figured that hate can be considered a value. If you noticed, those shouting from the rooftops about values have skeletons galore in their closets.

Cheated on your spouse...check, corrupt,crooked thief...check, screwed as many people over as you can...check, hate-mongering bigot...check, selfish...check. If you meet the above criteria, you are good to go.

[gloriaswanson43]

04:03 PM on 09/30/2011

Values voters and the natural family..ugh. What nonsense.

[American in Taipei]

11:17 PM on 09/29/2011

I see your problem, HuffPost. You asked this guy: Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC).

I bet if you asked the Colonel, he'd say that American voters are motivated by fried chicken.

Move on and don't report some hack's opinion as if it's newsworthy, especially when his job is to peddle up support for an issue.

[talkstocoyotes]

01:45 PM on 09/29/2011

These folks have "values" all right -- un-American ones.

[Ioan Lightoller]

08:47 PM on 09/29/2011

Amen to THAT, TTC. Bigotry is an unAmerican value all right--one that right wing politicians use at every turn. Abortion and GLBT getting more rights in this country is not the problem--widespread unemployment, people losing their homes, and a lack of any coherent programmes to combat them are the REAL problems that need fixing. But it is far easier to do nothing and continue to blame abortion and GLBT people for the nation's ills.

[Erin84]

11:51 PM on 09/28/2011

The headline should say "Politicians continue to dupe people with wedge issues."

[WheelsOnFire]

11:38 PM on 09/28/2011

Being against gay marriage is a "value"?

No, it is not. It is discrimination, hatred and bigotry -- fueled by nothing more than sheer animus.

In fact, it is exactly the opposite of a desired value or a value that describes this country.

[WheelsOnFire]

04:58 PM on 10/08/2011

First, there is nothing aberrant about homosexuality -- so you immediately betray both ignorance and bias immediately.

All of the following say that homosexuality is normal:

American Medical Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Counseling Association
National Association of Social Workers
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Child Welfare League of America
American Association of School Administrators
American Federation of Teachers
National Association of School Psychologists
American Academy of Physician Assistants
National Education Association
Royal College of Physicians
Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS)
American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT)
World Health Organization
Chinese Society of Psychiatry

Learn the truth about homosexuality. It will set you free of your bigotry, hatred and discrimination. You'll feel much better.

Second, the percentage of gays in this country is roughly the same as left-handed people. Do you want to take away their special scissors, too?

[charlesdickens]

08:28 PM on 09/28/2011

I really dislike the word "values" when used in this context. I am an agnostic, believe in gay marriage and a woman's right to choose. These are my values, yet I am the antithesis of a "values voter."

[Atwill]

08:22 PM on 09/28/2011

Value voters???? oh you mean people who want to vote against other Americna's rights and freedom of speech. . those values.

[Ioan Lightoller]

09:35 PM on 09/28/2011

Yup! Those are the very ones.

[Atwill]

09:38 PM on 09/28/2011

Shaking my head. "incrediable." A great quote from the movie 1776.

[Ioan Lightoller]

05:14 PM on 09/28/2011

This to all the "values voters" out there: stop trying to control everyone else's lives. If you don't approve of homosexuality, then don't engage in homosexual behaviour. If you don't approve of abortion, don't have one! How difficult is that?! Live your own lives and leave others to live theirs. If they are wrong and your god is right, those who act out homosexuality and who have abortions will have to answer to him. Who died and appointed YOU ALL as judges of your fellow Americans?!

[WheelsOnFire]

11:42 PM on 09/28/2011

Bravo! Brilliantly said.

And to those christians who demand that others follow their bible, I must ask -- why don't you follow the torah? Oh, because it isn't your religion? Well, your christianity isn't my religion -- nor is it the religion of most of the world. And, no, I will not adopt your religion and be drawn into your nightmarish world.

[Aghiles N]

02:43 PM on 09/28/2011

What i don`t understand is the mentality of the people who want to see gay marriage illigalized... do they not know that gay marriage is simply a contract that they sign and if they ban it it wont get rid of either gay marriage or gays. gay marriage will continue to exist even if banned. I think the logical thing to do from the conservatives point of view would be to ban homosexuality not the marriage...

[Ioan Lightoller]

05:07 PM on 09/28/2011

And how do you do that when straight people produce GLBT people? You act as if being gay is some happy-go-lucky choice that people can drop at will. It is not. It has been accepted by the medico-psychological community as a valid sexual orientation. You will not stop homosexuality by banning it. All you will do is to create an underclass of "criminals" made so simply because of who they are and who they love.. The Supreme Court has ruled the anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional, so homosexuality is no longer illegal in the US.

[Atwill]

08:24 PM on 09/28/2011

i would not want you to stop being gay any more then my kid, if they had a anti- gay pill, i'd tell my kid, "Dont you take that shi..." and knock it into the sewer. Loan, you are a wonderful person the way you are.

[Erin84]

11:42 PM on 09/28/2011

I don't think Aghiles' post was anti-gay, and in fact it raises a very excellent point. They can't stop people from being gay and having relationships, so what's the point in banning the opportunity for such couples to sing a marriage contract?

[synergie]

05:49 PM on 09/28/2011

They tried that, it didn't work.

See Ted Haggard.