On that same day that a new poll showed Ron Paul placing third in New Hampshire polling, Tony Perkins, who heads the Family Research Council, told CNN on Monday morning that people should probably not pay too much attention to the results of the 2011 Value Voters presidential straw poll over the weekend, which Paul won with 37% of the votes. Why is this significant? Because the straw poll was run by Perkins’ organization

After half a weekend where the top news story was a debate whether his own religion was a “cult,” Mitt Romney took the stage at the Values Voter Summit today and shot back at those who would undermine his political prowess based on his religion, decrying “poisonous language” and, particularly, “one of the speakers who will follow me,” referring to anti-Mormon American Family Association representative Bryan Fischer.

Megachurch pastor and Rick Perry supporter Robert Jeffress made waves today at the Values Voter Summit when he said Mitt Romney was not a real Christian. He added that if Republicans vote for him they are giving credibility to a cult and declared that evangelicals should not support Mitt Romney because of his Mormonism.

The Value Voters Summit is kicking into high gear today, and it seemed inevitable that the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy would be a major issue for speakers. Addressing the crowd, conservative commentator Bill Bennett denied claims that conservatives against the mosque were islamophobes: “we do not fear Islam, but we are angry at Islam.”

Republican Senator James Inhofe took some time at the Value Voters Summit this week to explain in greater detail his ongoing desire to see Don’t Ask Don’t Tell upheld. Arguing that “you don’t have a constitutional right to serve in the military,” he warned that voting for a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell would be the same as voting for “open gay activity” and “abortions in our hospitals.”

Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann gave an impassioned speech at today’s Values Voters Summit, a gathering held each fall by the Christian, right-wing Family Research Council. In it, she apparently takes the Tea Party’s main metaphor—that they are revolutionaries akin to the Founding Fathers who rebelled against British rule—to its next logical step, asking those assembled if they would like to “alter [their] government.” The enthusiastic response Bachmann draws, though, is a bit puzzling, since her speech itself is muddled at best and borderline incoherent at worst.

Two videos of reporters being interrupted live on air at the Values Voter Summit went viral last week.

The interruptions made for interesting TV, and caused a brief confrontation between reporter and attendee. But one attendee says the blame goes to the reporters for their tactics.

Fox News reporter James Rosen did not get such a warm welcome when attempting to broadcast live from the Summit earlier this afternoon (his contempt for the attendee “crowding” his space and asking for his removal is hard to miss.) This avoidance of cameras (Fox or otherwise) seems to be a theme for the Value Voters people — according to Politico not even Bill O’Reilly’s address will not be open to cameras.