"... the fact that they felt compelled to pander to the far right in Iowa spells trouble for their party, our caucuses and the condition of our political discourse."

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Fear and hatred fuel political opportunism at Family Leadership Summit
By Matt Sinovic, August 20, 2014

On Aug. 9 in Ames, I witnessed a preview of the 2016 Republican presidential caucus at the third annual Family Leadership Summit. I was deeply troubled by what I saw and heard.

The summit featured a marathon of 21 speakers who showed absolutely no respect for families or values that don't fit their narrow-minded view of the world. Iowa values were nowhere to be found during the summit. Instead, politicians and opportunists used fear and hatred to fuel the anger of the Republican Party's extreme right-wing base.

A parade of candidates who are considered potential contenders in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus attended the summit to gain support from the far-right crowd, as well as their host and ringleader, Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Family Leader. Vander Plaats has endorsed the last two caucus winners, helping bring both Mike Huckabee (2008) and Rick Santorum (2012) from the back of the pack to the winner's circle.

To win his approval, every potential candidate outlined his agenda, each more extreme than the next. Huckabee and Santorum both spoke at this year's summit and were joined by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sen. Ted Cruz.

Perry reminded us how presidential candidates from Texas tend to replace substance with swagger, when on immigration he called for tighter border security without a mention of what to do about the refugee children who are already in the United States.

Jindal claimed there's a "rebellion" brewing in response to President Obama. Huckabee warned that we're being "held hostage by nine people in black robes" — despite the universal praise given throughout the day for the recent Hobby Lobby decision by the Supreme Court.

Cruz called for abolishing nearly every federal program ever, without mentioning what he would support, if anything. And Santorum one-upped them all, by calling for an end to highway projects and legal immigration. It's not enough for Santorum to crack down on illegal immigration. For him, legal immigrants pose just as much of a threat to American workers losing their jobs.

Iowa politicians participated in the summit as well, to pander to the right-wing crowd. U.S. Rep. Steve King claimed that marriage has been undermined, even though Iowa legalized same sex marriage in 2009 and has seen public opinion swing dramatically in favor of every citizen having the freedom to marry.

Gov. Terry Branstad co-hosted the summit, alongside the Family Research Council, an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBT hate group.

And State Sen. Joni Ernst spoke, tacitly granting her approval by association, while continuing her campaign theme of saying as little as possible about any issue whatsoever.

The politicians speaking were topped only by the opportunists, who for the most part seemed interested in selling their books and soliciting donations. Author (and former Republican political operative) Joel Rosenberg warned that America is on a "road to collapse" and the "road to judgment," comparing our culture to Nazi concentration camps.

Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said our economic freedom can't exist without religious freedom. He cited studies but failed to mention which studies those were.

Josh Duggar, a reality TV star, asked attendees to donate to his group, FRC Action. Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was recruiting donors for the Senate Conservatives Fund. Alveda King, conservative activist and niece of Martin Luther King Jr., spent nearly all of her speech promoting her book.

Each speaker riled up the crowd, whipping them into a frenzy then taking advantage of their agitated state for their own personal benefit.

I have attended each of the past three summits hosted by Vander Plaats, and should have known it would be a long day when, for the third year in a row, he warned the attendees to not "be the weird one" when speaking with any reporters covering the event. In retrospect, he should have given that advice to the speakers.

The 2016 caucuses are still more than 16 months away, and many of the 2014 summit attendees may not even run for president. But the fact that they felt compelled to pander to the far right in Iowa spells trouble for their party, our caucuses and the condition of our political discourse.

Iowans are tolerant, accepting, and value the rights of every citizen. Those are the family values we possess, not fear and hatred of those we call our neighbors. Unfortunately, those values were not on display by any of the speakers at last week's summit.
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