FamilyFoundationBlog.com

Here’s a reminder to our readers in Fairfax County: There is a special election tomorrow, in the 37th Senate district, which is made up of precincts in the Braddock, Sully and Springfield supervisor districts. The election is to fill the seat of Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli, who resigned from the Virginia Senate after his election victory in November.

Polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. and voting is at your normal polling place. Click here to see if your precinct is in the district. Bring your voter registration card or a picture ID.

Voting is a sacred responsibility that we need to exercise every time we have the opportunity. People of faith turned out in record percentages for November’s election and we elected three pro-life, pro-family candidates to the three top offices in the state. This election could be nearly as important since the Virginia Senate is so closely divided (a 21-19 Democrat majority). The last election for this seat was decided by only 92 votes, so your vote does make a difference.

To see where the candidates stand on issues important to the family and to people of faith, click here, to visit tffaction.org. We have prepared voter guides especially for this election in English, Spanish and Korean. You can also watch footage, by clicking here, from a candidate forum hosted last week by the Fairfax Family Forum. Be an informed voter, and support the candidate that stands for the values that you believe in. (Click here the to read about the role of the tax issue as well as how one candidate’s “home” is a room in a friend’s house, and click here to read the role of social issues.)

Thank you for making the commitment to go out and vote tomorrow. Please pass this link to your like-minded friends and family members in the 37th district.

Today, pro-family Virginians are celebrating yesterday’s election of candidates whom we believe hold to, and will govern by, values you and I share. After months of working hard either for candidates or organizations like The Family Foundation to educate voters, seeing the fruit of that labor is sweet indeed.

Exit polling found that evangelicals made up more than one-third of voters yesterday and 83 percent of those voted for the pro-life, pro-family candidates. Those numbers surpass the high water mark of pro-family involvement in any Virginia election to date!

No one can question that our Winning Matters campaign had an incredible effect on voter turnout. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the campaign by donating financially, distributing Voter Guides, Report Cards, holding voter registration drives, and a multitude of other activities. Your efforts made a huge impact yesterday.

But now, the work begins.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as thrilled as you that Virginians sent a clear message to President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (not to mention Mark Warner, Jim Webb and the like) that we reject the debt riddled policies they are pushing. I’m excited that we have a Governor-elect, Lt. Governor-elect and Attorney General-elect who share our values. But I also know that we’ve been here before, in the days after elections, thinking that the work was done only to learn that it was far from over. We need to hold all of our newly elected officials to their promises.

Even with a larger conservative majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, the obstacle that our pro-family, pro-life agenda has faced for several years – the Virginia Senate – stands between us and our goals. While we hope members of that chamber also get the message of last night’s election results, they have two years before they face the voters. If history is any indication, they are hoping that you will have forgotten by then.

The first opportunities to affect the Senate will come with two special elections in the next few weeks. With Ken Cuccinelli’s victory last night, there will be an election to replace him in his Fairfax Senate seat. In addition, Senator Ken Stolle won election to sheriff of Virginia Beach, meaning that there will be an election for that seat as well.

Here is the commitment I’m asking you to make today: we will not stop, we will not rest, until the Senate of Virginia reflects our values! We will not stop working until that chamber joins the rest of our leaders in supporting common sense pro-life and pro-family proposals.

We have the opportunity in the upcoming session to give all 40 members of the Senate the chance to vote on legislation that reflects our values – and if they reject those values again, we have to make them pay the price at the ballot box in 2011.

I also encourage you to pray for all the newly elected candidates. In particular, over the next few months Governor-elect McDonnell will select key advisers, cabinet members and a multitude of officials on boards and commissions. Please pray that he appoints qualified, principled conservatives to those positions, the impact of which will go on well after he leaves office. It is often said that “personnel is policy,” so selecting those he will take counsel from in the years ahead is crucial for the new governor.

But today, celebrate. Enjoy a hard fought victory. Then get ready to join The Family Foundation as we look only to the future.

So, the votes are cast and the election is over. Already, media pundits are talking about what it means. In today’s Washington Post, I am quoted concerning the expectations pro-family Virginians have for Governor-elect Bob McDonnell. Now it’s your turn. What do you expect? Vote and leave us your thoughts.

Last week former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee spoke at our Annual Gala. Now the host of one of cable television’s most popular shows, Huckabee, he recorded a message for our sister organization TFF Action about Tuesday’s election. He stresses the importance of pro-family, traditional values and the importance of participating in the democratic process. We hope you take a minute to listen to it and share it with as many people as possible.

A Message From Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee About Tuesday’s Election.

At our Gala Monday evening, the loudest applause line of Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb’s address was when she said that pro-family Virginians expect that the next governor of Virginia to submit a budget that ends taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood. In a radio interview the next day on the Laura Ingraham Show, Republican candidate for governor Bob McDonnell stated that he would do just that.

Now, Planned Parenthood is going berserk over McDonnell’s comments, despite the fact that The Washington Post today claims that Planned Parenthood didn’t receive any taxpayer money in this year’s budget. For several years The Family Foundation has worked with other pro-life organizations to end the taxpayer subsidizing of Planned Parenthood, often finding it difficult to uncover how much money they receive or through what agency or program.

While Planned Parenthood alleges that the money they receive is used for “women’s health care,” the fact is that this is a $1 billion a year organization that performs more than one-quarter of all abortions in the nation, with roughly one-third of its income coming from taxpayers.

Oddly, for an organization that claims to be about “health care,” it is run by a hard-core partisan Democrat, Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards and former chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The truth is, it is nothing more than a partisan organization that uses its taxpayer funding to bludgeon pro-life candidates across the country and to promote abortion on demand. This year, Planned Parenthood endorsed McDonnell’s opponent, Creigh Deeds, who supports taxpayer funding of that organization. in fact, Planned Parenthood endorsed all three Democrat statewide candidates.

The fact is that, regardless of their position on abortion, most Virginians do not like the idea of their tax dollars paying for abortions and, by extension, organizations that perform them. Planned Parenthood has plenty of its own money; it doesn’t need any from the taxpayers.

Regardless of who you intend to vote for on Tuesday, polls showing large gaps in the statewide races are no excuse to not vote. Every pro-family, pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-traditional values Virginian must take the responsibility of voting seriously and exercise that sacred freedom at every opportunity. We urge you to ignore the polls and news stories and vote on Tuesday.

The Family Foundation has produced one million non-partisan Voter Guides to educate voters for this year’s elections so that citizens can be prepared when they vote. If your church has yet to distribute these guides, we urge you to contact us at 804-343-0010 so we can get them to you in time. Sunday is the last opportunity to educate your fellow church members concerning where candidates stand on pro-family issues.

Please click here to review the statewide Voter Guide that includes the races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Read the Voter Guide and study where the candidates stand. Also, please forward this blog post link to your family and friends and on your social networking sites, so others can be informed.

We also urge you to watch our online Video Voter Guide and share it as well. You can even  download it to a disk to show at your church. This is another way in which we are trying to educate Virginians prior to this year’s crucial elections.

Samuel Adams, one of our nation’s leading Founding Fathers, said:

Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote . . . that he is executing on of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.

We I trust that you will vote on Tuesday, and that your vote will reflect your values.

The nearly 1,300 pro-family Virginians who gathered at the Greater Richmond Convention Center last night at The Family Foundation of Virginia’s Annual Gala were treated to a fantastic evening of inspiration, motivation and topped off by a wonderful keynote address by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The host of the Fox News Channel hit Huckabee was in great form with an inspirational speech filled with philosophy, morality, Biblical principles, humor (lava soap, anyone?) and capped with a moving exposition as to what happens when people ignore the tragedies around them (see Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog). 

Just a week before election day, it was abundantly clear that pro-family citizens are excited about the future and are mobilized to act. The energy in the convention center was palpable. From the beginning of the program with an inspirational rendition of our National Anthem by eight-year-old Alana Springsteen to the final special music by April Lee, no one could leave room last night not feeling excited about the future of Virginia and the future of The Family Foundation.

Governor Huckabee combined humor with personal stories and an emotional challenge to the crowd, encouraging them to fight for our freedom, regardless of the cost. Touching on his time as a pastor and then as a politician, he made it abundantly clear that there is no time when Christians should abandon politics and government. Instead, we must continue to fight for our values to ensure a prosperous future.

As Family Foundation of Virginia President Victoria Cobb told the audience:

We look forward to election day this year with cautious optimism. One might even say we look forward to the future with hope for change. Yet, while we may anticipate electoral victory, we realize that it is just one small part of the cultural renewal that we seek, and there is so much more to be done. The Family Foundation has had one of the busiest years in our history, but the results on Election Day are not the completion of our work – just a new beginning. 

The Family Foundation Gala has become the largest pro-family gathering of its kind in Virginia and Governor Huckabee’s message was perfect for the evening. Joining the him in the program were our emcee, and new Chaplain to The Family Foundation’s Pastors For Family Values, Bishop Earl Jackson; Speaker of the House Bill Howell, who introduced Governor Huckabee; and Pastor Jonathan Falwell of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, who gave the invocation and voiced strong support for the Family Foundation’s work.

Also last evening, Delegate Glenn Oder (R-94, Newport News) was honored with The Family Foundation’s Legislator of the Year Award for his leadership on payday lending reform (see The Shad Plank). Delegate Oder showed principled leadership and an ability to work with a diverse coalition of organizations and legislators to get results on a tough issue. The compromise bill he was able to craft has significantly reduced the number of payday lending stores in Virginia and helped protect families from predatory lenders.

Since we announced Mike Huckabee as the keynote speaker for The Family Foundation of Virginia’s Annual Gala on Monday, October 26, in Richmond, the response has been outstanding. We have more than 700 reservations already, exceeding the 600-plus people who attended last year.

We anticipate a capacity crowd, so if you want to attend, please purchase your tickets or sponsorships now, by visiting our Gala Web page, here.

With the popularity of Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate, and now host of cable’s number one rated weekend show, Fox News Channel’s, Huckabee, this year’s Gala stands to be the largest gathering of pro-family Virginians in the commonwealth. As one of America’s most powerful and eloquent speakers in the defense of unborn life, the former governor is sure to highlight an unforgettable and inspiring evening.

Another aspect of the Gala in which you may consider participating is the Gala program. It is an excellent opportunity for pro-family small business owners or family-friendly organizations to promote their company to like-minded conservatives, while also supporting the work of The Family Foundation. The deadline for receiving program ads is Friday, October 9.

For more information on the Gala program, call (804) 343-0010, e-mail Hillary@FamilyFoundation.org or click here to see program details.

Thank you in advance for your support of The Family Foundation of Virginia. We hope you will choose to be a part of this year’s Gala in some form and benefit from the inspirational message from Mike Huckabee.

Be A Part Of A Remarkable Evening

The Family Foundation of Virginia Gala with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as keynote speaker

The Greater Richmond Convention Center, Monday, October 26

Private sponsors reception at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 7:00 p.m.

If you cannot be in Washington today or tomorrow (maybe you were there last weekend) for the annual Values Voter Summit, the American Family Association and FRC Action have made it possible to view all the great speakers live via Webcast! Don’t miss a litany of great conservative, pro-life, pro-family leaders speak, including Gary Bauer, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (our Gala speaker), Phyllis Schlafly, Star Parker, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Bill O’Reilly, Ken Blackwell, Bishop Harry Jackson (who has spoken at several of our events) and many more.

To register for free, click here or click here! 

The summit also will feature a health care town hall meeting with members of U.S. House of Representatives that you will not want to miss. The Values Voter Summit is the largest meeting of social conservatives this year and doesn’t end until Saturday evening. So, please, register and log on to the (virtual) Values Voter Summit and forward this link to family and friends.

Our Winning Matters campaign — the voter identification, registration, education and mobilization projectof both The Family Foundation and The Family Foundation Action — is in full gear. It has been, actually, for some time, and a great deal already has been accomplished.

We have nearly a dozen full- and part-time staff hard at work across Virginia. With the help of pastors and other committed Christians, they are  identifying, informing and mobilizing pro-family, values voters to cast values-driven votes on Election Day.  

The first phase of Winning Matters is identifying eligible voters in Virginia according to their values and making sure they are registered to vote. Sadly, statistics tell us that nearly half of self-proclaimed evangelicals are not even registered. Thus, they ignore a critical responsibility and minimize the effectiveness of pro-family citizens in the political process.

While it may sound over-used and outdated, one of the best methods for identifying and registering like-minded individuals is through churches. Every day our field staff meets with pastors from some of the more than 5,000 churches we have identified across the Commonwealth, and encourages them to conduct voter registration drives prior to the October 5th registration deadline.

Many pastors still do not practice this basic civic process in their churches. Some pastors still do not understand that it is not a political activity — in fact in Virginia, voters cannot even register by political party.

Therefore, Winning Matters encourages all churches to host a voter registration drive either on Sunday, September 13, 20 or 27.

Beyond churches, the process of voter identification has become an incredibly precise science in recent years, especially with the Internet. Anytime you visit a Web site to shop, read political news or participate in other special interests, you leave a fingerprint. These consumer behaviors can be predictive of one’s potential vote. This type of “micro targeting” was extremely effective in the California marriage amendment campaign. Our Winning Matters campaign is capitalizing on all of these established practices to do our part to find conservatives who might not be registered to vote.

In a less high-tech way of demonstrating this, believe it or not, we have individuals who support us or who have signed an issue petition who are not registered to vote. As part of Winning Matters, we will cross check our entire list with registration rolls and will send a letter and a voter registration form to any who need them.

After all the identification and registration is completed, Winning Matters will move into phase two — education. We will provide an update on that portion of the campaign after the October 5 voter registration deadline. In the meantime, if your pastor is not familiar with Winning Matters, or you know of other people who maybe instrumental in activating your church into this civic action, or even know individuals who are not registered to vote, forward them this link so they can learn more about Winning Matters.