The Summit has become an opportunity for every conservative politician even thinking about running for President to visit Iowa and pander to Vander Plaats, the man who has used his position of leadership to compare homosexuality to the effects of secondhand smoke and claimed that African Americans were better off under slavery than today. Vander Plaats has run for office unsuccessfully several times, but has carved out a niche of influence on the fringe right of the Republican Party in Iowa's first in the nation caucus.
This year's Summit has attracted Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is hosting this year's summit, along with anti-LGBT hate group the Family Research Council. State Senator Joni Ernst, the Republican Party's nominee for US Senate in Iowa, will also speak.
Having attended the past two summits to live-tweet for Progress Iowa, I have a good idea of what to expect today. Here are a few highlights, some of the worst from past summits:
"I don't think the mark of the beast will come in the form of a 666. I think it will be a rainbow."I'll be posting live updates all day below, and quoting speakers directly. Stay tuned for more unfortunate and extreme rhetoric from this year's Family Leadership Summit, and follow @progressiowa for quotes before they're posted here.Attendees were called upon to vote against pro-choice candidates even if they have to vote for "the devil himself."
Another radio host who is now teaming up with Vander Plaats for their own right-wing talk show said "there is a reason the child killers are on the side of the homosexual lobby."