Conservative voters will kick off a three-day conference in Washington on Friday with an event targeting Hispanic voters.
The one-hour event, called “Messaging and Mobilizing the Hispanic Community,” may seem odd for the Values Voter Summit’s inaugural event, considering all the criticism Texas Gov. Rick Perry has attracted for granting tuition breaks to students who are illegal immigrants.
But Republicans are hoping that their socially conservative values — not their views on immigration — will attract Hispanic voters in this election cycle, political analysts say.
The rest of the Values Voter Summit’s schedule, which includes speeches by every Republican presidential candidate and a number of GOP leaders in Congress, focuses primarily on abortion, Christianity and gay marriage. Few of the events relate to the economy.
Scheduled events include:
- “Straight Talk on Gay ‘Marriage'”
- “How the Welfare State Erodes the Family”
- “Why Christians Should Support Israel”
- “Saving America’s Children from Pimps and Perverts: The Protected Innocence Initiative”
- “The Meaning of Life: From Pre-Natal to Grave”
- “Divorcing God: Secularism and the Republic”
- “Exposing and Defunding Planned Parenthood, America’s Abortion Giant”
- “How Young People Can Save Freedom with Reagan-Style Activism”
