Neither Mitt Romney nor his wife Ann
Romney are expected to attend this weekend's Values Voter Summit –
which is hosted by the Christian conservative Family Research Council
(FRC) – but Mr. Romney addressed the crowd on Friday through a
videotaped message.
“We need a president who shares our
commitment to conservative principles and our respect for traditional
values,” Romney said in the brief video. “We will uphold the
sanctity of life, not abandon or ignore it and we will defend
marriage, not try to redefine it.”
The GOP presidential nominee argued
that “culture matters” and vowed to protect it.
“In short, culture matters and this
president will protect her culture and preserve the values of hard
work, personal responsibility, family and faith,” Romney said.
“Above all, we must preserve the American spirit of one nation,
under God. As president, I'll support the expression of religious
faith in the public square.”
Earlier in the day, Romney's running
mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, echoed similar sentiments in
addressing the crowd, and also
promised Romney would “defend marriage.”
Ann Romney was invited to speak at the
confab but reportedly declined.
BuzzFeed's
Chris Geidner reported that Romney's video message was not made
available to the press, despite an FRC spokesman's promise to do so
“shortly.”
UPDATE: The video was released on
Saturday. It is embedded on this page.