DENVER — After a rough week at the Supreme Court, conservative activists gathered to lick their wounds and plan a way forward.
The Western Conservative Summit, now in its sixth year, brought six of the many GOP presidential hopefuls to Colorado for the weekend. While the candidates each had their own unique focus, they all lamented the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on Obamacare and gay marriage. They were speaking to a receptive audience.
“What the court says is that if you don’t toe the line you will be viewed as someone who doesn’t respect others’ civil rights,” Rick Santorum said on Friday. “Because you will be a bigot. I know that’s hard to hear, but that’s how the law will look at you now.”
Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Scott Walker all echoed Santorum’s discontent with the Supreme Court. Huckabee said it had become “the extreme court.” Carson lamented that the government views healthcare as something “they cram down our throats,” whether the people like it or not.
Native Coloradan Ladonna Lee is a Christian who believes that gay marriage is a scriptural issue. Although it was already in effect in Colorado, she was upset to see the federal government involved.
“The court has decided to be the legislative branch rather than the judicial branch applying the Constitution to issues of the day. This is a government ruling, but we scripturally know the definition of marriage to be different.”
On Friday, Hillary Clinton claimed that the GOP was “the party of the past, not the party of the future.” Family Research Council head Tony Perkins claims that the Republican Party has not lost the millennial voting bloc, which will likely play a part in 2016 presidential election.
“There is an understanding among millennials about freedom of religion. I mean we’ve already been working with them,” Perkins said. “That’s what’s at risk the court has moved now to solidify the redefinition of marriage and I think millenials have a very important role to play in this to say ‘ok, so marriage has been redefined,’ but are millenials going to tolerate among some in the progressive moment, those who will silence anyone who has a counter view? Those who have a counter view of morality are going to be relegated to the back shadows of culture.”
Perkins said conservatives would spread their message through alternative media sources and gatherings such as the Western Conservative Summit, social media and word of mouth. He said that people will soon see this “tolerance is really absent.”
“There certainly are ways to reverse this decision,” Perkins said of the Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling. “We’re looking at the various options available. Quite frankly, the first response, which has already started, is working at the state and federal level to protect religious freedom.”
Attendees were upset about the ruling upholding the Obamacare subsidies for healthcare.gov customers, too. But not all of them were despairing.
“I was not that surprised,” said Tom Bearden, the director of the National Indian Asian Republican association of Colorado. “Obamacare was so poorly written, eventually someone would have to clarify. In the long run it may help the Republican Party because Obamacare is a failure, and will continue to be the longer we have it and more and more citizens will realize that’s not the way to reform healthcare.”
“On … issues that are important [it’s] never wrong to do the right thing, even if there is political fallout. If you truly believe something its worth fighting for, it’s worth it,” Perkins said. “And that’s where I believe social conservatives are in this next election cycle, they are looking for someone who believes enough [in] what they say to act on it.”
