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I'm speaking with a Thompson Associate now, and he points out: Today the Fred Thompson campaign announced the addition of Shannon Royce, an experienced social conservative coalitions director and former Executive Director of The Arlington Group, who will be joining the Thompson Campaign to serve as Grassroots and Special Projects Director. The Associate says, "If Bill Wicherman is the salve for Mitt Romney, Shannon Royce is the howitzer for Fred Thompson."

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today the Fred Thompson campaign announced the addition of Shannon Royce, an experienced social conservative coalitions director and former Executive Director of The Arlington Group, who will be joining the Thompson Campaign to serve as Grassroots and Special Projects Director. Shannon Royce most recently served as Executive Director of the Arlington Group where she managed a coalition of over 70 organizations advocating on numerous pro-family initiatives. In that capacity, she coordinated coalition efforts on behalf of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. A former Legislative Assistant to Senator Slade Gorton and...

Earlier this week, former Sen. Fred Thompson met privately in Washington, D.C. with senior members of the Arlington Group, a coalition of social and religious conservatives. The meeting, according to Arlington Group members present, included members who had previously met with Thompson at a private meeting in the spring, prior to Thompson's speech before the Council on National Policy. At the meeting this week Thompson answered questions and discussed his views on social issues, as well as his own faith, for more than an hour. "He's impressive, and a number of us want to help him," says a member of...

GROUP HUG Earlier this week, former Sen. Fred Thompson met privately in Washington, D.C. with senior members of the Arlington Group, a coalition of social and religious conservatives. The meeting, according to Arlington Group members present, included members who had previously met with Thompson at a private meeting in the spring, prior to Thompson's speech before the Council on National Policy. At the meeting this week Thompson answered questions and discussed his views on social issues, as well as his own faith, for more than an hour.

Thompson's refusal to back a nationwide ban on gay marriage has irritated potential supporters. Fred Thompson is failing to meet expectations that he would rally widespread support from Christian conservatives, and he almost certainly will not receive a joint endorsement from the loose coalition of "pro-family" organizations, according to leaders of the movement. Many religious conservatives, faced with a Republican primary top tier that lacked a true kindred spirit, initially looked to Thompson as a savior. But the former Tennessee senator has disappointed or just not sufficiently impressed the faith community since his formal campaign launch earlier this month. While...

For months, social conservatives have viewed Fred Thompson as a Reaganesque savior in a dreary field of GOP presidential hopefuls. But the former Tennessee senator's early days on the campaign trail have left some prominent evangelicals underwhelmed. "I'm personally not that impressed," says Paul Weyrich, a veteran strategist who cofounded the Moral Majority. One sticking point: Thompson's stance on a same-sex marriage ban. On the trail, he has declined to endorse a constitutional amendment blocking gay marriage, instead backing a broader amendment that would bar states from imposing their laws on other states. "The [marriage ban] approach has been tried...

After more than a year of fretting, it looks as if many members of the Arlington Group, an informal roundtable of the country's most influential culturally conservative groups, are fast settling around Fred Thompson as their presidential candidate of choice. Thompson is not an evangelical, but he has, evidently, sounded solid enough in his private meetings with individual Arlington Group members, a series of which have taken place over the past few weeks. The Group does not endorse as a whole -- that's not how it's set up -- but its views generally reflect the views of conservative, politically active...

Employing essentially the same game plan they used to win referendums against same-sex marriage in 11 states last November, evangelical Christian groups said they plan to run a multimillion-dollar church-centered campaign to rouse support for a thoroughly conservative successor to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Conservative religious leaders said the campaign will target 20,000 pastors and congregations using Christian talk radio, satellite television broadcasts, direct-mail advertising and aggressive grass-roots organizing. "This is the moment that social conservatives have been awaiting for more than a decade -- a real chance to change the philosophical balance of the Supreme Court" and...

Christians give Bush ultimatum to ban gay marriage Conservative Christian leaders who played a key role in securing President George W Bush's re-election have given the White House an ultimatum over outlawing same-sex marriages. In an indication of tension among Mr Bush's backers, a new coalition of powerful Christian groups issued their warning last week in a letter to Karl Rove, the President's chief adviser. Mr Bush has said that "nothing will happen" for now on the proposed federal amendment leading to a constitutional ban on gay marriages. He did not mention the amendment in his inaugural address and the...

A coalition of major conservative Christian groups is threatening to withhold support for President Bush's plans to remake Social Security unless Mr. Bush vigorously champions a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The move came as Senate Republicans vowed on Monday to reintroduce the proposed amendment, which failed in the Senate last year by a substantial margin. Party leaders, who left it off their list of priorities for the legislative year, said they had no immediate plans to bring it to the floor because they still lacked the votes for passage. But the coalition that wrote the letter, known as the...

Feb 19, 11:54 AM (ET) By Alan ElsnerWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's political director has told a group of prominent conservatives that the president would soon publicly endorse a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.Bay Buchanan, sister of former Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, told Reuters she was one of several conservatives who heard the message from political director Karl Rove two weeks ago."We were told by Karl Rove that the president would support the constitutional amendment -- not just that he would endorse it but also that he would fight for it," Buchanan said.Specifically, Rove told the alliance of...

Last spring, the Rev. Donald E. Wildmon of Tupelo, Miss., decided to hold a summit meeting of the Christian conservative movement. Mr. Wildmon felt the movement was losing the culture war, he recalled in an interview on Friday. Since plunging into political activism nearly 30 years ago, Christian conservatives had helped Republicans take control of Washington but did not have enough to show for it, Mr. Wildmon said. At the same time, the election of Republican politicians had drained some of the motivation out of its grass-roots constituents. So Mr. Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association and a crusader...

The Arlington Group -- a coalition of more than 20 pro-family groups -- is welcoming the president's commitment to support a federal marriage amendment. But they plan to remain vigilant to ensure he makes good on the promise. A list of those organizations that make up the Arlington Group reads like a "Who's Who" of pro-family groups -- Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, American Family Association, Coral Ridge Ministries. Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, American Values, Traditional Values Coalition, Faith2Action, Bott Radio Network, and many more. Leaders from those organizations met with Bush Administration leaders...