VVS2014 - Presidential Hopefuls Look To "Win the Crowd"

At this past Voter Values Summit in DC, conservative lawmakers sought to win the day as the 2016 Presidential Primary has seemingly started. Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul, and Gov. Bobby Jindal are a few of the speakers that are likely to compete for the nomination.

Cruz was the headliner.  He excited the mostly-Christian conservative crowd early Friday morning with non-stop applause in a packed ballroom that was ecstatic to hear Cruz’s sermon-like speech. His speech focused on the future by predicting the turning point for the country beginning with a Republican president entering the office in 2017 and repealing every word of ObamaCare.  Cruz made it obvious that he will run in 2016 with hints at his desire to debate Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Follow behind Cruz speech was Sen. Rand Paul, whose views aren’t normally a favorite amongmany Christian conservatives, but he  explained how liberty is necessary for family values to exist. “What American needs is not a politician with more promises, what America really needs is a revival.. Liberty is exactly essential to virtue.”

Paul, an anti-abortion Republican, showed a video proving his pro-life leanings, stating “I’m one who will march for life and who will stand up in defense of life as long as I’m privileged to hold office” Paul then segued his focus to foreign affairs, blasting how foreign aid is funneled to America’s adversaries, to a positive response.

Sen. Rick Santorum spoke for the ninth time at the Values Voter Summit, yet his familiarity with the event couldn't whip the crowd up as much as Sen. Cruz, only receiving polite applause in comparison. Comparing the French Revolution with Obama presidency, Santorum's speech focused on mobilizing activists to make things happen. Mentioning his group Patriot Voices, Santorum reminded the crowd that the fight must happen in the upcoming weeks before the November midterms.

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana didn’t excite the crowd until he turned his towards jabbing liberals with verbal barbs like “If you like your religious liberty, you can keep your religious liberty.”

Jindal said that Obama's redistribution of wealth "with more government spending and managing the slow decline of America." is not the American dream.He continued on saying by tweaking Bill Clinton presidential campaign slogan of 1992: “Think the key to a strong America is economic strength and our democratic system of governing,” he said. “Here’s what I believe: As America’s culture goes, so goes America. Not – ‘It’s the Economy, Stupid,’ rather – ‘it’s the Culture, Stupid."

So who won the day? Senator Ted Cruz won the straw poll in the summit for a second year in a row. With 901 votes from social conservatives, Cruz, a tea party favorite gathered over 25% of the votes (228 votes to be exact), but that total was a drop from the previous year. But the big winner may have been Dr. Ben Carson an independent, non-politician who didn’t speak at this year's summit, who came in second with about 20% (179 votes) and coming in third was GOv. Mike Huckabee at 12% (108 votes)

For Vice president, the two leaders flip-flopped positions, with Carson earning 22% of the vote (201) while Cruz received 14%(123). Coming in third was Gov.Bobby Jindal with 11%(98 votes)

Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden both got one vote but that was from some joker. Lets hope that person doesn’t actually vote that way in 2016!

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To learn more about the author, check out the "About Us" page. Behind Enemy Lines Radio is a national Award-Winning radio show / podcast broadcasting live out of the belly of the Democratic beast - "The People's Republic of" New York City that airs on multiple radio stations as part of the Talk America Radio Network. It is also an "Insider" column on Newsmax featuring show hosts Gene Berardelli and Russell Gallo. The show is also available on multiple networks across the internet, with more being added regularly.