Value Voters Debate

The Value Voters Debate, held on September 17th, 2007, pit many of the socially conservative members of the Republican Party against each other in a contest to win the votes of one of America's most important voting blocs. Mike Huckabee won the debate, although all candidates stood up for strong Christian values, relative to Democrat candidates, who did not show. The debaters were, in order of votes received,

(Present)

• Mike Huckabee 63%
• Ron Paul 12%
• Alan Keyes 7%
• Sam Brownback 5%
• Duncan Hunter 4%
• Fred Thompson 4%
• Tom Tancredo 2%
• John Cox 1%

(No-shows)

• Rudy Giuliani 1%
• John McCain 1%
• Mitt Romney

Structure

The debate took the form of first a question and answer session, where prominent "panelists" would pose questions to candidates. Conservative luminary Phyliss Schlafly was among the panelists, and she received wide praise from the candidates. Also present was the Discovery Institute.

This session was followed by a series of questions in which the candidates were invited to respond "yes" or "no" to politically charged questions. Almost all candidates voted together on major issues, with the exception of Ron Paul, whose personal style distinguished him from the others.