Liveblogging the Values Voters Summit

UPDATE: VIDEO OF SPEECH

Transcript of Speech - Click Here

Quotes from Gov. Huckabee:

“We do not have the right to move the standards of God to meet cultural norms, we need to move cultural norms to meet God’s standards.’’

“There were times… when things amongst us were negotiable. But some things are not negotiable, the sanctity of life, the definition of marriage… Let us never sacrifice our principles for anybody’s politics – not now, not ever.’’

“I do not spell G-O-D G-O-P, our party may be important, but our principles are even more important…. It is time for those of us who call ourselves values voters to pledge our lives, our families, our fortunes and our sacred honor to that which is right and which is eternal."

Part of the video(a few mins) of Gov. Huckabee speaking at the event

Jon at huckabee08.blogspot.com is at the Values Voters Summit in Washington D.C and is liveblogging from the event arena itself.

Check out his blog post!

Thanks Jon for being our eyes and ears!

Update: I'm not sure whether he is going to liveblog his speech, but he will definitely give his insights of how the audience reacted and how the speech was in general.

Update: Byron York at NationalReview.com says this: But if ovations at the Value Voters Summit determined who would be the Republican candidate, Mike Huckabee would win.

Update: Erick at Redstate.com says this:
Mike Huckabee is coming. The Arkansas folks in the crowd go nuts. They won't stop cheering.

It's abundantly apparent from the corridors to the reception he gets when he comes in that Huckabee is among his own, more so than Romney or Fred.

He starts with an Al Gore joke. Then he talks about baby boomers now entering the system and what's going to happen when the hippies realize they can now get free drugs.

"I come as one not who comes to you, but as one who comes from you. You are my roots," he says as he sinks in to his speech. He points out that he started out as a Baptist minister. He tells a joke about a lady asking if he was one of those Baptists who was so narrow minded he thought only the Baptists would go to heaven. He says, "Lady, I'm more narrow minded than that. I don't think even all the Baptists are going to heaven."

Now he transcends into "non-negotiable values." Freedom. Family. Faith.

He says we cannot "negotiate, accommodate, or placate Islamic terrorists. We must eliminate." The crowd likes that. "We cannot have the naive idea that if we leave them alone they will leave us alone. That will get us killed," he says as the crowd roars.

Then he goes into immigration and the broken border. He says he thanks God that we live in a place where people want to break into than break out of, but how terrible it is that it is more difficult for us to get on an airplane in our hometown than it is for an illegal to get over the border. Biggest Applause of Any Speech Yet That I've Seen.

He says he doesn't blame those who want to come here. He blames the government that has sat around doing nothing for over 20 years. Again, the crowd goes nuts.

He moves to energy and how bad it is that we are so dependent on energy from others. People in the crowd verbally agree with him. Then he bashes China and the crowd goes wild. Romney should be nervous. So should Fred.

"Our freedom is threatened by a tax system that is out of control." "As we say in the south, not even duct tape and WD-40 can fix it." He goes into Fair Tax. He points out how it would stop the IRS from muzzling ministers in the pulpits from speaking out. The crowd goes wild again.

He brings up the Law of the Sea Treaty. The people clap. He says any judge that thinks he can legislate from the bench "ought to be impeached." My ears are ringing the crowd is so loud.

Thompson and Romney should be worried. We have reached the crowd favorite.

Now he goes into marriage. The crowd goes wild and these, by the way, are not his people. His small group is up front, but the rest of the crowd is not his, but they are now.

"Why are we importing so many to do our work? Because we've aborted over a million Americans." He calls it a holocaust. The crowd gets loud, but not as loud as at other points.

"We don't need to move God to meet the cultural norms. We need to move the cultural norms to meet God." Massive applause. Standing ovation.

Now he's moved on to how faith is threatened in this country. He says there was once a time when some things were negotiable, but the sanctity of life and marriage and our freedom was not and never should be negotiable. "Let us never sacrifice our principles for anybody's politics," he says. The crowd likes that line.

"You know the prophets of old spoke the truth boldly," he says. "They spoke the truth to power. All of you in this room have the power to go back to your states and counties and be true to your faith and convictions."

Now he transitions into sermon. He talks about Jesus (I don't remember Romney talking about the J man). He talks about believing in a God who could light a fire on wood soaked in water. He talks about Jesus raising Lazarus. "I don't ever want anyone to let us replace expediency as new values for our long held values." Someone shouts "Come on Mike!" He crowd starts yelling. They stand. They clap. They cheer. They whistle.

"I do not spell G-O-D, G-O-P. Our party may be important. But our principles are more important." He says we cannot compromise our core beliefs. He says "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time for those of us who call ourselves value voters to pledge our lifes, our fortunes, our sacred honor to that which is right, and true, and eternal."

And then he's gone.

Update: Onemom says this: "WOW!!!! Standing in front of my computer cheering, praising God and tears running down my face! The little I have written here today does not begin to capture the passion, the power and the conviction of Gov. Huckabee’s address this morning."

Update: 'Swamp Politics' covers the event as well.

Update: I'm waiting for Melinda at Stand to Reason blog to comment on Gov. Huckabee's speech as well. Hopefully it will be up soon! I love Greg Koukl and the Stand to Reason ministry.

Update: H/t to Onemom
Mere Orthodoxy covers the Summit.
Active Christian Media says Gov. Huckabee brought down the house.

Update: My thoughts.
As a evangelical Christian, I loved everything he said. The Governor didn't make a political speech. It sounded much like a sermon. Many anti-religious people were able to gather bunch of sound clips for future use in case he gets the nomination. I think we should look at the context and the location where he made the speech. Remember, he was speaking to values voters at a Values Voter Summit.
Most who follow the Governor knows that he knows when to speak, what, and how. He was merely revealing his core values. This is who he is, and why he entered politics after being a pastor for a number of years. I'm sure he is more than willing to accept the consequences for communicating what he believes even if it means losing the nomination.
To those who don't follow the Governor that much, this speech might have been overwhelming. I can tell you that almost 75% of the time the Governor talks about public policy in a secular way. His record as the Governor of Arkansas shows that he's not a radical right-wing Christian, he is a Christian with common sense. He has great communication skills and he is able to articulate ideas in a way that unites both left and right. He always reiterates the fact that he believes in vertical politics and policies that lifts us up, not bring us down.
This man needs our support. I really believe that the resurgence of Mike Huckabee is an act of Providence.

Update: CBN's David Brody titles his blog post : Huckabee's Grand Slam. Very nice post!

Rich Lowry on National Review says the following:
Wow. Let me repeat: Wow. What an incredible communicator. His message has gotten stronger with the accent on Buchanesque nationalist/protectionist notes, and he speaks the language of these kind of voters better than anyone. I found myself getting goose-bumps near the end of his speech when he invoked a long series of Biblical underdogs, beginning with David and his five smooth stones. He made as strong a case as possible for putting all pragmatic considerations aside and going with him. And no one could mistake the shots at Romney, including a reference to candidates who have as many positions as Elvis had sizes to his waist-band. Watch out in Iowa.

MY THOUGHTS: Rich, I don't think Gov. Huckabee can be compared to Buchanan. He is only seeking a balance in how we outsource our resources and basically depend on China for most of our needs. That is a very common-sense view, and let's not put any labels on it. He's merely speaking his mind. He did make a very excellent argument about why the Christian conservative movement shouldn't take the pragmatic approach and blindly support the "most winnable" candidate according conventional wisdom in the media.
I really believe many will compare Huckabee to a Buchanan, or Pat Robertson, or Gary Bauer. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Gov. Huckabee led an entire state for 11 years, won by huge margins and ended his term as a popular governor. Time Magazine named him one of the Best Governors in 2005. He is very formidable and viable.