The Conservative Prescription for Romney: More Social
Issues

     To "values voters," the problem with Romney's
     campaign is not enough red meat -- and not enough
     Paul Ryan.

by Molly Ball
Sep 14 2012
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/the-conservative-prescription-for-romney-more-social-issues/262414/

The mood at the Values Voter Summit, the Family Research
Council's annual gathering of social conservatives in
Washington, is nervous. A row of metal detectors, manned
by very thorough TSA workers, guards the entrance, a
reminder that a gunman with a backpack full of Chick-
fil-A charged into the organization's lobby and shot a
security guard last month. Between that and the fact
that the Republican presidential ticket is behind in the
polls, the right-wing persecution complex is at a
particularly high pitch.

In the seven years the summit has been held, this is the
first not to feature Mitt Romney, but he sent in his
stead Paul Ryan, the vice-presidential nominee. And
that, for this audience, was even better. "In this
election, many millions of Americans count themselves as
values voters, and I am one of them," Ryan said, to
cheers.

Despite his reputation as primarily a fiscal wonk, Ryan
is adept at speaking this crowd's language -- far more
so than Romney. Ryan's speech segued smoothly from
calling for stronger leadership in foreign affairs to a
case for less government intervention in the economy to
an anti-abortion clarion call. "'We're all in this
together' -- it has a nice ring. For everyone who loves
this country, it is not only true but obvious," Ryan
says. "Yet how hollow it sounds coming from a politician
who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most
helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child
waiting to be born."

Ryan got a rapturous response -- a standing ovation.
After the conference broke for lunch, I ran across Bryan
Fischer, the radio host and evangelical activist known
for his anti-gay and anti-Mormon rhetoric. He fears that
Romney is going to lose -- and the reason, he believes,
is that Romney is not coming across as a strong social
conservative.

"You'll notice the applause for Mitt Romney was polite
but not enthusiastic," Fischer said. "The response for
Paul Ryan was enthusiastic. That's because we know that
social values are part of his DNA -- part of the
wallpaper of Paul Ryan's soul." The Romney campaign, he
said, has "put a sock in Paul Ryan's mouth," and needs
to un-muzzle him if it wants to succeed.

Fischer is a fringe figure -- after being denounced from
the podium by Romney last year, he is not on the Values
Voter program this time -- but the idea that Romney
would benefit from greater emphasis on social issues was
common among both speakers and attendees at the summit.
While many in the professional Republican class worry
that Romney is insufficiently focused on his core
economic message, and unduly prone to taking up
distracting side issues, for this group, just the
opposite is true.

While some Republicans worry that Romney is too prone to
taking up distracting social issues, for this group,
just the opposite is true.
Pundits will tell you the election is about the economy,
"and it is," said Rep. Eric Cantor, the House majority
leader. "But for all of us who know that this country
values liberty and freedom, we know that this election
is about something more. This election is going to
determine whether or not the very moral fabric of our
country will be upheld."

I met Ronald Goss, a 66-year-old retired law-enforcement
officer who now runs a ministry in Locust Dale,
Virginia, with his wife. He offered to send me a free
eight-by-10 black-and-white drawing of Jesus, eyes
closed, snuggling a lamb. The campaign, he said, is
"ugly," and not focused on the right things. "Protecting
life, for one thing," he said. "We do not believe in
murdering babies. We need to bring America back to the
principles it was founded on."

What Tony Perkins, the Family Research Council's
president, noticed about Ryan's speech was that he got
heckled. Three times, protesters shouting slogans about
getting corporate money out of politics stood up to
disrupt Ryan, only to get promptly shouted down with
chants of "U.S.A.!" and hauled out by guards. To
Perkins, it's clear Ryan is a target for the
steadfastness of his views.

"He tends to get the hecklers, just as Sarah Palin did,"
Perkins told me. "People want to silence him. They don't
want his voice to be heard. That makes it even more
important that we listen."

Romney, Perkins said, will win by tapping a well of
voters who aren't showing up in any of the current polls
because they didn't vote last time. "They were not
excited by John McCain and didn't feel threatened by
Barack Obama," he said. But this time, he said, they
will vote.

The president of the council's PAC, Connie Mackey, said
she understands why the economy gets the most attention.
"People are out of work, and that's central," she said
in an interview. But she, too, would like to see more
attention paid to social issues, which she says would
especially help Romney as he struggles to win women's
votes. "There's a depth of caring on the part of the
unborn," she said.

Nonetheless, Mackey was surprised, and not pleasantly
so, to see the election so close. "I think it's closer
than they'd like it to be. I think they could be doing
better," she said of Romney and Ryan. "Given the
economy, the slow turnaround, the stimulus going to
companies that failed, the American public seems to be
polling a lot closer than I would have guessed."

Mackey didn't have a theory as to why Obama isn't toast
-- she just didn't understand it. But like many on the
right, she is looking forward to the next potential
turning point in the campaign.

"I think the debates will be crucial," she said.




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