Watching Mitt Romney’s speech at the Values Voters Summit tonight, God-o-Meter had an easy time casting a verdict; The Massachusetts Governor hit out of the park with the audience here, easily outshining any of the candidates to speak so far: Fred Thompson, John McCain, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, and Duncan Hunter. Quoting C.S. Lewis, citing Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson—twice—and pledging that his wife would treat tackling out-of-wedlock births as her top priority as first lady, Romney, more than any other candidate, has studied the words and actions of past Republican who’ve been successful with evangelical voters and has replicated them. Some big applause lines:

And when you consider the source of most of society’s social problems – from teenage pregnancy to drug use to crime – you will find that they stem from the breakdown of the family.
I believe that the most important work for the future of America is the work that goes on within the four walls of the American home.
I will work with the people in this room, as I have for the past four years, to champion a federal marriage amendment to protect marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The First family represents America to the world, and just as important, it represents America to your children and grandchildren. We will live up to a higher standard. Our family is far from perfect, but we’ll always try to make you proud.

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