3:50p: There is controversy stirring over the online vs. onsite straw poll- that the combined total does not accurately reflect the sentiment of the Briefing, since it is thought that at least three candidate support groups tried to influence the online vote. So the vote totals have also been made available separately.
Here is the outcome of the presidential straw poll of the onsite votes cast, those who actually heard all the candidates speak:

1. Huckabee (488)
2. Romney (99)
3. Thompson (77)
4. Tancredo (65)
Total: 952

The question was additionally asked, which candidate would you least likely like to see elected….

Again, the total online/onsite votes varied from the onsite votes alone, but the responses were both interesting, beyond, of course, the fact that Hillary ranked #1 on both. But surprising to me was that Giuliani made both lists:
Total online/onsite:

1. Clinton

2. Giuliani
3. Obama

4. Edwards/Romney tie

Onsite total only:

1. Clinton

2. Obama

3. Giuliani
4. Kucinich

2p: Results of the straw poll, announced by FRC president Tony Perkins:

This is the 2nd largest straw poll conducted in this election cycle. There was a total of 5,775 votes cast, combined online and onsite.
Top four candidates:
1. Romney (1595)
2. Mike Huckabee (1565)
3. Ron Paul (865)
4. Fred Thompson (564)
Top four issues values voters identified as issues they cared about the most:
1. Abortion
2. Marriage
3. Tax cuts
4. Permanent tax relief for families

FRC created ivotevalues.org to help Christians vote their values.
1:50p: Prolifenews.tv is now streaming the Briefing live.
1:34p: The results of the values voter straw poll are coming up after this session on Christian filmmakers.
There’s Eduardo from Bella on stage! Here is his testimony that they just showed at the Briefing:

Is it cold in here, or did Hillary blow into the room?…
Remember in that movie, Moonstruck, when Nicolas Cage told Cher, “I’m totally falling in love with you,” and Cher yelled, “Snap out of it!” Well, I’m saying the same thing to you, snap out of it [re: the 2006 election]! A candidate is not going to ride in here on a white steed….
The only thing a brokered convention is going to ensure is the Clintons return all that stolen furniture back to the White House. [laughter] I’m just kidding. But I do wish they’d return all the “W” keys. [laughter]…

As social conservatives, you will have no more influence during the political season than you do right now. Do you realize that? The Hillary train has left the station. So this is it, before Thanksgiving, before the primary. They – the elites – are listening to you now because you have influence….
It is insane for this party not to nominate a candidate who will bring together Reagan’s three legs of the stool – social conservatives, foreign policy hawks, and fiscal conservatives….
Do not cave in to the elites now…. They’re going to tell you that you have to swallow this bitter pill…. But if you don’t believe it, don’t be shamed into doing something that violates your conservative principles….
A conservative columnist said on t.v. last night that Christian values voters had “matured” beyond the pro-life litmus test…. that we would be motivated by this: ABC, anyone but Clinton. Do they forget what the GOP looked like in the late 70s and early 80s before our core issues were on the table?…
Beating Hillary is going to require bringing that coalition back…. The question is, who is the best person to bring that person together?… and which among the candidates is the most divisive?…
The dinosaur media is clearly hoping for the political equivalent of a subway series… because that’s the world they live in…. And what you have to ask yourselves is that in the end, your team, your views, your values, will only be respected by an individual who identifies with them. It’s as simple as that….
Don’t buy them telling you to drop your support for traditional marriage, the life issue to win votes….
I want to thank all of you for standing up, year after year when some of those people told you to go away…. You know the elites have been wrong time after time…. I’m here today to tell you to do what is right.

[Photo courtesy of Peter Shinn]
11a: FRC has listed many of the bloggers here. Time for lunch. Laura Ingraham will speak at 1p CST in place of Sean Hannity.
10:35a: Judge Robert Bork, who was infamously “borked” as a Supreme Court nominee:

Roe v. Wade, an opinion of 51 pages, did not contain one single line of legal argument…. 7 justices wanted a right to abortion, and that was that….
There is one more looming danger [of judicial activism] I’d like to address. McCain-Feingold is the start of the restraint of political speech… It is unbelievable that President Bush signed that bill and the Supreme Court upheld it….
It’s very funny that Harry Reid attempted to smear Rush Limbaugh, and Rush Limbaugh turned it around on him and stuck it in his ear. It’s very funny but I think ominous that you could get 41 senators to sign a letter like that, or calls to restore the Fairness Doctrine, also called the Hush Rush Doctrine. I think there’s a dislike of free speech on the left. It’s been a long time since the government attacked a private citizen’s free speech….
There is a more looming danger. The Court has begun injecting itself into our war against radical Islamism…. President Bush’s capacity to enact war has been strangled by law…. Judicial gutting of presidential discretion in the collection of intelligence….
The attitude of the current court majority – a slim majority, but enough for now – is summed up by Kennedy… “In any given year we make more important decisions than the legislative affairs, including perhaps, foreign affairs.” Ominous.
The stakes are so high I am concerned by conservatives who say they will withhold their vote…. I share that concern. I don’t like pro-choice candidates. But the object should be to overturn Roe. The defection of enough conservatives to ensure victory of the Democrat, will mean that Roe is entrenched for the next 20-30 years. It’s good to stand on principle, but it’s also good to stand on objectiveis. And it’s good to exercise tactical objectives.

10:11a: Mike Huckabee is up. Lots of energy in the crowd for him. Standing O, cheers, signs….

I come today not as one to you but as one from you….
We need big ideas. I want to abolish the current income tax and enact the Fair Tax, which would also unmuzzle preachers from discussing politics.

Huckabee is hitting a home run.

I’d like to do at the national level what we did at the state level in AR, that is making it constitutionally clear that life begins at conception, because that’s what defines us as a civilization and as a culture. We care about the intrinsic value of every human life.
Why are we importing so many people for the work force? That’s because we have aborted so many peopole who would have worked in the work force.
It is not the responsibility of the taxpayer to accomodate sexual promiscuity. We do not have the right to move the standards of God to meet new cultural norms; we need to move the cultural norms to meet God’s standards….

He’s preaching. He’s reminding us of those in the Bible who were outnumbered, but – David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, Abednego, Elijah, Jesus….

I don’t ever want us to think expediency and electability replace our values…. I don’t ever want us to think G-O-D is spelled G-O-P….

10:09a: A panel on the topic, “Spin City: Countering the Media’s Primetime Bias,” is up. They are Myrna Blyth, author of the bestselling book, Spin Sisters: How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness – and Liberalism – to the Women of America; John Fund, columnist for OpinionJournal.com; and Rich Lowry of National Review….

RL: We’re the kind of people who put our “Run, Hillary, Run” bumper stickers on our front bumper….
According to the media [re: its optimism] , things are always darkest before they fade to black.

Back to reaction on Giuliani. I spoke with Janet Folger. She called Tier 1 the “Fear Tier” and Tier 2 the “Social Values Tier.” She was nonplussed by the GIuliani speech and is very pro-Huckabee. Also very anti-Romney. She said none of the Fear Tier could beat Hillary. Said only Huckabee could. Is totally against a 3rd party candidate.
My thought: Giuliani was authentic, honest, somewhat contrite, humble. He gave a great speech. He obviously had a Christian help write it who understood how Christians respond to requests for forgiveness (although he never asked for ours directly, only God’s). It alleviated my wild fears of him as president. He said he was not a pro-abortion activist and would advance pro-life initatives. BUT, it did nothing to change my resolve to do my part to help us coalesce around and nominate a conservative candidate.
9:37a: During the Michael Steele speech I went out in the grand foyer to get a sense of the crowd on the Giuliani speech. Tons of media cameras and microphones. I myself was even interviewed. Fellow blogger Mere Orthodoxy: “The speech helped, but the nagging questions are still there and won’t leave.” He has more in-depth analysis. More on this later. Up now is a panel on the new media.
Highlights of the just completed Mark Levin (radio talk show host) speech:

We are engaged in an unarmed, quiet Civil War….
We stand for children, they stand for abortion clinics….
In a capitalized society it is the moral order that keeps it together….
I am against a 3rd party candidate. We already handed one Clinton the White House with a 3rd party candidate in 1992. Do we want to do it again?
But I do agree that the Republican Party and the conservative movement are suffering from years of neglect, since Ronald Reagan, frankly.

8:05a: Rudy Giuliani is up. Lots and lots of press….

I’ve come here to speak about our shared values….
When we talk about values, we end up talking more about what we are against than for….
Christianity is all about inclusiveness….
It was love that the first Christians displayed that attracted thousands to their faith….
Christians were defined by what they were for, and not what they were against.
I’m running for president because I think I can bring us together….
I see a country truly committed to promoting a culture of personal responsibility…
This summer I presented 12 commitments to the American people. See if they don’t define your vision for the future of this country….
You know we have areas of disagreement, but we have many more areas of agreement….
I come to you today with an open mind and heart and I ask you to do the same.
I find it difficult to believe what I read that I’m an activist for social causes…..
I’ll protect the values that we share….
Because I find myself too often to reach the ideals of my religious beliefs, I find it difficult to talk about my faith. I have a certain reluctance to discuss them at detail.
But my belief in God and on His reliance is at the core of who I am.
Isn’t it better that I tell you what I really believe than pretending to change my political beliefs?
If I come out here and I take a poll and try to figure out what you all believe and then I repeat to you what you all believe, then I’m a follower….
Ronald Reagan used to say my 80% friend is not my 100% enemy….
With me, you will always know where I stand. I will not bend and sway with the political winds….
In NY [as mayor] we drove pornography out of Time Square and other public spaces….
People of faith should not be marginalized in our civic debate….
The crime of preying on children via the Internet is growing and needs much better attention….
We need to stand up to those who try to drive religious displays out of public life…
I’m a strong supporter of school choice. Parents should be empowered to take responsibility for their child’s education, because parents understand their children better than government bureaucrats.
I studied religion and seminary for 16 years and several times came close to entering the seminary. I know that’s hard to believe. [laughter]
It takes a family,not a village to raise a child. [applause and laughter]
Choice will make our education the best in the world….
When we promote a culture of personal responsibility, government becomes more responsible.
I have made a commitment to decrease adoptions…. decrease abortions [laughter] and increase adoptions. We did everything we could to encourage adoptions in NY. We increased adoptions by 133%. We found that abortions went down by 18% during that time.
People of good conscience can come to different conclusions on whether abortion
We can have the same goal of decreasing abortions. We can all agree to move in the direction to setting specific goals to decrease the # of aboritons in America.
Here’s how I would get there.
First, I’ll veto any reduction in the impact of the Hyde Amendment or any other like that.
I will support any reasonable suggestion that promises to reduce the number of abortions.
I support parental notification and the partial birth abortion ban. I will remove the bureaucratic red tape to make adoption easier,both here and abroad. I will make the adoption tax credit permanent.
I will promote new ways to lower abortions.
Each one of the brances of government must respect the limitations on it by the Constitution. So it is important that judges respect their role in interpreting the law and not creating the law.
I will appoint men and women [to the bench] who understand that.
Look at the members of my judicial advisory board… Ted Olsen… Miguel Estrada… These are the people I would turn to for advice for appointments to the federal judiciary. If you need a yardstick… I would appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of Thomas, Alito, Scalia or Roberts.
You and I know I’m not a perfect person. I pray for forgiveness… I feel my way deeply, although I don’t display it, maybe because of the way I was brought up.
At it’s heart religion is about love, forgiveness and inclusion. It’s beautiful…. At some times in our lives we need forgiveness. If we expect perfection from our politicial leaders…. We lose respect for our political leaders not for that but if they’re not honest.
… advancing toward a culture of life by increasing adoption and decreasing abortion….
I’ll continue to extend my hand to you and hope that you’ll take it….

7:55a: It doesn’t look like C-Span or www.prolifenews.tv is broadcasting live this morning, so the only option to view the speeches is by registering at AFA.
Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education and host of Morning in America, is up. He is speaking on terrorism.
Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to speak at 9:10a EST (8:10a CST).