Conservatives get early look at potential '16 field

• Values Voter Summit attracts social conservatives
• Sens. Ted Cruz%2C Rand Paul%2C Marco Rubio among featured speakers
• Event comes as President Obama%27s health care law has been hotly debated

WASHINGTON – Social conservatives attending the Values Voter Summit that begins here Friday may consider its timing to be a fortunate coincidence.

The three-day gathering of activists opposed to issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion comes as President Obama and Republicans in Congress squabble over raising the nation's debt ceiling. It's a fight entwined with the battle to fund the government after 11 days of partial shutdown, which began when some in the GOP insisted on changes to Obama's health care law and Senate Democrats insisted on a continuing resolution without conditions.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the summit gives social and religious conservatives an opportunity to remind lawmakers to stand firm.

Republicans will hear the message "hold the line," said Perkins, who once called Obamacare a "rare strain of flesh-eating bacteria."

The annual summit, now in its eighth year, has become a showcase for the Republican Party's up-and-coming stars and a proving ground for White House hopefuls. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, all Tea Party favorites considered top presidential contenders in 2016, will be among the featured speakers Friday.

A presidential straw poll will be conducted at the summit.

Cruz, who became the face of defunding the Affordable Care Act during his 21-hour protest on the Senate floor, intends to speak about the debate over the health care law and the power of grassroots.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another possible Republican presidential contender, is not on the schedule of speakers. Perkins told The Hill that Christie, who has been stressing his work with Democrats as he runs for a second term in New Jersey, would have a difficult time courting social conservatives.

After Republicans failed to win the White House last year, there has been much focus on the party retooling its message and approach. Exit polls showed that white evangelical voters and voters who went to church weekly supported Republican Mitt Romney, while blacks and Hispanics, Jewish voters and those who don't strongly identify with a religion were won by Obama.

Perkins said Obama's re-election should not be taken as a sign that social conservative issues are waning. The problem, he said, was Romney.

"In 2012, we put forth a major effort, not because of the candidate (Romney) but because we knew what we had in Obama," Perkins said. "It wasn't enough in the end and what it showed was the Republican candidate did not connect with the base."

The Republican National Committee has stepped up its outreach to voters of faith and recently hired Chad Connelly, a former chairman of the South Carolina GOP and a Southern Baptist, to help lead that effort. Mike Mears, who used to work for the Family Research Council and other conservative groups, is working with faith-based organizations, think tanks and Tea Party groups and soliciting their advice to help the RNC as it works to elect more Republicans.

The summit is also attracting notice from groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and NAACP, which say the Family Research Council and American Family Association -- the event's host and one of its sponsors -- have long records of anti-gay rhetoric and actions. Their coalition earlier in the week wrote a letter calling on members of Congress and other public officials to "not lend the prestige of your office" by speaking at the event.

Other groups signing that letter include the National Council of La Raza, People for the American Way, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Faithful America and GLAAD.

Follow @ccamia on Twitter.