Paul, along with Senator Ted Cruz, met privately with Christian leaders at the conference. Gidley explained he was curious what social conservative kingmakers like Bob Vander Plaats, the CEO of The Family Leader, would make of Paul after talking to him one-on-one. “I remember, when they came out of the meeting, I said, ‘How’d he do?’ and he said, ‘Rand Paul wouldn’t answer the marriage question.’”
Paul is seen as being solid on the issue of life. He is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest (but has said that in cases where the life of the mother is at risk, exceptions can be made). But, he believes that marriage should be decided at the state level—”soft,” if you’re a social conservative. “He’ll be able to placate concerns from some Christians,” Gidley said. “But on fundamental issues like marriage, that’s going to be more difficult to do.”
In the time since his shaky speech and that meeting, Paul has found a way to discuss faith that both distracts from marriage and seems more comfortable for him: by weaving it into political issues he is already passionate about.
When Paul returned to the Summit in 2013 (following a social conservative credibility-boosting trip to Israel) he honed in on a message about Christian persecution. “I want to tell you about a war the mainstream media is ignoring. From Boston to Zanzibar, there is a worldwide war on Christianity,” he confidently declared. “The President tries to gloss over who is attacking and killing Christians,” he charged, noting that “the answer is not convenient and does not fit the narrative we have been told about radical Islam.”
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