M.I.A.s: Thompson, Giuliani, Romney & McCain

Janet Folger, organizer of the Values Voter Debate, stands in front of empty podiums before the event Sept. 17, 2007, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Four of the 11 lecterns remained empty during the debate as so-called "top-tier" candidates declined to participate. (WND photo)

Values voter debate too real for GOP frontrunners

Janet Folger, who was one of the key organizers of last night's Values Voter Debate in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, wrote in her article on WorldNetDaily.com, “Last night, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Tom Tancredo, businessman John Cox, Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Ron Paul, Rep. Duncan Hunter and Ambassador Alan Keyes … faced 53 questions from pro-family leaders at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.” I watched the entire debate last night over the internet thanks to the American Family Association.
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I was impressed with the quality production and excellent moderation by Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily.com. I was captivated by the depth of the probing questions and the corresponding thoughtful answers. What a stark contrast to the pitiful pandering by the Democrat candidates to the overt homosexuals and lesbians at the Debauchery Debate (the homosexual honoring “Visible Voters" ‘08 debate) last month.

What was the real reason that the so-called front four GOP candidates were not present at this important debate? If nearly all of the Democrat candidates show up for the homosexual love-in, then why in the world did the four quasi-conservatives not show up for the Values Voter debate? Could it be they were flat afraid to take positions, or expose themselves to the truth? I am especially disappointed with Fred Thompson. But alas, he apparently is as much of a fake conservative as the other no-shows.

A couple of the best quotes from the debate in regard to four M.I.A.s were: “How can we expect these no-show candidates to take on Osama bin Laden and other world leaders when they’re afraid to show up and answer questions from Phyllis Schlafly?” Rabbi Aryeh Spero of the Jewish Action Alliance queried. While Rick Scarborough, the president of Vision America, commented: “If you care about our votes, you need to care about our values enough to show up.”
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The questions and answers covered most of the key issues which I feel are most important to me personally and to our country as a whole. Topics such as abortion, homosexuality, trade, taxes and immigration were covered in many of the questions. I enjoyed having key conservative leaders personally asking the tough questions so near and dear to them.

I was most impressed with Tom Tancredo, Mike Huckabee, who won the straw poll of the 340 delegates present at the debate, Duncan Hunter and Alan Keyes. Out of that group former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, probably has the best chance on moving on to contend with the four pretenders (Thompson, Giuliani, Romney & McCain) for the GOP nomination. I was also greatly impressed with the sincerity and the passion of these seven candidates. They all to a certain extent were more statesmanlike and more principled than all of the other Democrat and Republican candidates running.