A number of presidential hopefuls made their pitch to an influential evangelical audience this weekend at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C. The goal of this weekend’s strategy session was to win back the White House and keep the majority. With more than a million members, the Faith and Freedom Coalition knows it will need more evangelical soldiers to join the fight. Despite high turnout in the past, CEO Ralph Reed said the GOP must do its part, too. “We’re not the Republican Party of prayer; we’re not a super PAC for a future nominee. That’s not us,” Reed told CBN News. “We’re a faith-based organization that registers, mobilizes and turns out Christian voters and we do our job and we do it very well, thank you very much,” he said. “What we cannot do is we can’t do the job of the candidate.” More than a dozen potential candidates came there hammering issues near and dear to their audience. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, talked to CBN News about balancing liberty and virtue. “Just being free is not enough. And in fact if you are free and you have all of your liberty — if you have no structure to your life, if you have no tradition, if you have no faith to sort of be the underpinnings of society — then it really may not work,” Paul said. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, also made a prediction. “I believe 2016 will be the religious liberty election…In fact, just this week, I think the EPA has named religious liberty an endangered species,” he said. The key for these speakers is to make a good impression that will stay with voters. “They’ve all given good speeches: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Ben Carson,” potential voter Michele Rivera said. There are so many presidential candidates out there. It really is hard to keep track, but one person who came isn’t a presidential candidate just yet, but he’s getting ready and he’s attracting a lot of buzz. He’s Ohio Governor John Kasich. Kasich brings a strong resume. He’s a popular governor with a successful record from a key swing state who likes talking about his Christian faith. CBN News asked what sets him apart from the other candidates. “Well, look, it’s experience and record. Amateur hour is over…It’s not about ‘tell me’; it’s about ‘show me,’ and I think it’s time that we’re able to support somebody that has a solid record of accomplishment, because that’s what we need in America. No more on-the-job training,” he said. Kasich surely won’t be the last to jump in. Three governors — Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and Bobby Jindal — are set to make moves in the next few weeks. It will then be up to primary voters to trim this ‘standing room only’ field into a stand-out candidate they believe can put the GOP on the road to success.
