McCain to skip 'Values Voters' event
Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2008 7:20 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
At last year’s Values Voters Summit - a gathering of almost 2000 Christian political activists - Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were breakout hits. And John McCain? He spoke to a polite crowd that later voted him dead last in their straw poll.
At this year’s conference, Romney will be a headliner tomorrow night, Huckabee appears by video Saturday, and McCain… won’t be there at all. Despite being in Washington D.C. for the day on Saturday with no public appearances, the Arizona senator isn't expected to take up the offer to speak at the summit, organized by the Family Research Council’s legislative arm and co-sponsored by the likes of Focus on the Family and Gary Bauer’s “American Values” group.
J.P. Duffy, media director for sponsor FRC Action, said that the invitation to speak is still open, and that the group's scheduling office reached out to McCain's campaign after the senator's schedule indicated that he would be in town during the conference.
"Sen. McCain obviously talks to all kinds of voters all the time." said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers, who pointed to the GOP nominee's recent appearance at Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum as an example of his outreach to evangelicals. Rogers said that there will be other forums and opportunities for McCain to reach out to "values voters" throughout the course of the campaign.
