Evangelical powerbrokers hosted a secret meeting in Iowa for conservative religious leaders last week to take a second look at some of the
candidates who might be a viable alternative to Mitt Romney
According to a source, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Ron Paul all spoke at the event, which brought together some of Iowa's most influential
evangelical pastors. Organized by the powerful Christian activist David Lane, the two-day conference was a feeble attempt to recapture some of the
evangelical energy behind Mike Huckabee's Iowa caucus win in 2008.
Since 2008, Lane has been the driving force in reenergizing and mobilizing the Christian Right. But he has flipflopped his support between the
Gingrich and Perry and excluded candidates like Bachmann and Herman Cain, fracturing conservative Christians as pastors split their support among the
candidates.
The surprising beneficiary of these divisions is actually Ron Paul, the libertarian stalwart who can't seem to break 19% in Iowa polls.
Last week's conference gave Paul exposure to Iowa's Christian leaders, the gatekeepers to the Iowa caucuses. Unlike Perry and Gingrich, Paul has an
active field organization in Iowa, and consistently polled at the top of state polls. But he has struggled to expand support beyond his cultlike
base.
With evangelical support split between his lower-tier rivals, however, just a small portion of the Christian vote could be all Paul needs to break his
ceiling and become a real contender in the 2012 race.
Read more: www.businessinsider.com...
David Lane has not endorsed Ron Paul, most likely for his belief in gay marriage. But it sounds like Paul does have the support of at least some of
the other leaders which is great news for the campaign. The Christian vote is very important in Iowa and even if they're split on who to vote for,
Paul benefits.
This makes tonights Family Forum Round-Table Debate very important because the Christian community takes the candidates values very seriously.
And if you didn't already hear, C-Span was supposed to cover this live but backed out and will instead televise the Democrats Jefferson-Jackson Day
Dinner in Des Moines. The Forum will be streamed live here...
www.citizenlink.com...
Source
Also...
Live video at 11 a.m.: Ron Paul meets with Register editorial board
Live Stream
I believe this is 11 a.m. Iowa time.
Peace