Ralph Reed
Age: 53
Home: Duluth
Political highlights:
1989-97 — executive director of the Christian Coalition
2004 — southeast regional chair for George W. Bush re-election campaign
2006 — lost Republican primary for Georgia lieutenant governor, tainted by ties to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal
2009 — founded Faith and Freedom Coalition
Longtime Georgia political strategist Ralph Reed drew most of the Republicans running for president to his annual training conference this week, where their messages were spiced with appeals to religious conservatives.
And prayer – not policy – was the lens for the presidential hopefuls in discussing the Charleston, S.C., church shooting with more than 1,500 activists at Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference Friday.
“This type of conduct is something that only our display of our own love and good faith that’s in our heart can change,” said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is making moves for a presidential run but has not formally entered the race. “Laws can’t change this.”
President Barack Obama and other Democrats have said the slayings of nine people should make the nation once again consider stronger gun control measures, though Congress has defeated such efforts in recent years. None of the presidential candidates directly broached the subject of guns Friday in relation to the church shooting.
“I don’t know what was on the mind or heart of the man who committed these atrocious crimes, but I do know what was in the heat of the victims,” said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who launched his presidential campaign this week
Later he added: “At times like these, in times of great national mourning, people of faith, all of us must come together and at least reflect on this and fortify our strength, love of Christ, love of God, to be able to continue to go forth.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal led the prayer himself, speaking of how “we grieve deeply” for the victims.
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the only big-name African-American in the presidential field from either party, noted that he had recently spoken to slain state Sen. Clementa Pinckney.
“These things hit so close to home, and if we don’t pay close attention to the hatred and the division that’s going on in our nation, this is just a harbinger of what we can expect,” Carson said.
The sixth annual conference by the Duluth-based group is a mix of speeches, training and networking for activists from across the country.
Reed, the former leader of the Christian Coalition, founded Faith and Freedom in 2009 and has grown the group into a national presence that mixes religious values with the fiscal conservative focus of the tea party.
While there are no Georgians running for president this time, the conference did have a Peach State flavor. Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican, used his biggest national platform yet to press his case on tackling the debt and building a stronger military.
“I’m just a business guy,” said the freshman former Fortune 500 CEO who won last year in his first bid for elected office. “I’m trying to bring common-sense solutions up here. I tell you one thing we don’t have is the sense of urgency yet to get at this crisis.”
Friday night, former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran was slated to receive the group's annual "Courage in Leadership" award. Cochran became a social conservative cause celebre when he was fired by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed after writing a book that was critical of homosexuality.
Over the three-day Faith and Freedom Coalition event, which ends Saturday, 13 Republican declared or expected presidential candidates were slated to address the group.
The presidential hopefuls tailored their speeches to a social conservative audience. Christie drew cheers for blocking state funding for Planned Parenthood. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum spoke about his push, while a member of GOP leadership, for a vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich put a faith-driven spin on his advocacy for the poor and drug addicted in his state.
“Don’t fracture; don’t divide; give hope; unify; lift everyone,” was his advice for the crowd and the GOP at large.
Carson had perhaps the loudest reception of the day, giving a mostly biographical speech leavened with humor about his remarkable surgical career. He did not really talk about running for president, though he did denounce the Affordable Care Act and declared that he stands “vehemently against political correctness.”
Bush spoke about his conversion to Catholicism, where he found “serenity” along with his Mexican-born wife, Columba.
Bush said his policies in Florida were driven by his faith, from imposing new restrictions on abortion to trying to keep Terri Schiavo alive in a national fight over euthanasia in 2005.
“How strange in our time today to hear that our faith and our moral traditions are spoken of as some kind of backwards or oppressive force,” Bush said, “when really it’s the moral foundation of our country, the greatest country on earth.”
The line came a day after Bush took some heat for downplaying religion's role in public policy when asked about Pope Francis' new encyclical on climate change.
Bush also signaled his opposition to same-sex marriage, ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court decision due within days that could legalize the practice nationwide.
“We should not push aside those that do believe in traditional marriage,” Bush said. “I for one believe it’s important, and I think it’s got to be important in the long haul, irrespective of what the courts say.”
The crowd then interrupted him with applause.
