WASHINGTON — Since 2000, the social-conservative coalition has known this time would come: a 2008 presidential race without the sitting vice president as the Republicans’ standard bearer.
Yet in the past seven years, the Evangelical Christians, abortion foes and traditional-family advocates in the coalition failed to develop or find a consensus candidate to represent their views.
So beginning today, the best-known Christian conservative leaders will meet in Washington through the weekend to hear the GOP presidential hopefuls – none of whom they really approve of.
Dubbed the “value voters summit,” the meeting will hold a straw poll of the expected 2,500 participants Saturday and a closed-door session of leaders Sunday to try to settle on one candidate.
Few think that will occur.
“I don’t really see that happening at this meeting,” said Phyllis Schlafly of the conservative Eagle Forum. “There’s just too many people going in different directions.”
Appearing today at the conference organized by the Family Research Council will be John McCain, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney, and on Saturday, Mike Huckabee and, in a surprise to many, Rudy Giuliani.
Though he leads in national polls, Giuliani, who supports gay and abortion rights, is opposed by many “values voters.” It was the prospect of a Giuliani nomination that prompted conservative leader Paul Weyrich as far back as 2004 to call for conservatives to get behind a single candidate.
But Weyrich laments, “My pleadings went unheard.”
Schlafly said it wasn’t for lack of trying. She blames President Bush for failing to pick a successor after Vice President Dick Cheney said he would not run. Bush seemed to favor former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and retired Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist as possibilities, Schlafly said, but neither of them panned out.
A White House aide said she wasn’t aware of any such plans. But she said Bush is “confident Americans will select a strong Republican to run.”
Schlafly said conservatives checked some hopefuls, including George Allen. But she said he “blew it” in a dinner appearance even before he lost his Senate re-election. Another option, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, wasn’t interested.
Weyrich fretted that ego had led key conservatives to scatter among the different campaigns.
“Romney has some important figures. Thompson has some important figures from the right. Giuliani, it amazes me the kind of people he signed up,” Weyrich said. “Even Huckabee has some. You go down the list, we are split four ways. The net result is what I predicted: that the liberal candidate will get the nomination.”
