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WASHINGTON (AP) Hillary Rodham Clinton is the one figure uniting religious conservatives frustrated by a leaderless Republican Party that's divided over foreign policy, immigration and social issues.

The prospect of another Clinton White House stirred anguish at the Values Voter Summit this weekend where hundreds of conservative activists debated the GOP's future and warned that the acknowledged but unannounced 2016 Democratic front-runner would cement what they see as President Barack Obama's attack on religious freedom.

"Never forget she will be Barack Obama's third and fourth term as president," Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an unsuccessful GOP presidential candidate in 2012, said Friday night.

She was among the high-profile Republicans, including past and prospective White House contenders, at the annual conference attended by some of the most prominent social conservatives and hosted by the Family Research Council, well known for its opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

This year's gathering expanded its focus to religious freedom or the persecution of Christians and their values at home and abroad. It was a message that GOP officials hope will help unify a fractured party and appeal to new voters ahead of November's elections and the next presidential contest.

But it was Clinton's name that was as much a rallying cry as the theme of religious liberty.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a prospective presidential candidate, challenged Clinton to "come and debate" Denver nuns who run nursing homes for the poor, called the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged. The nuns have challenged the Obama health law's requirement that some religious-affiliated organizations provide insurance that includes birth control.

"She can do that and she can explain why we should be fighting nuns," Cruz told 750 social conservatives at a banquet in Des Moines on Saturday night, after saying much the same at the Washington gathering. Many in the Iowa crowd burst into laughter at Cruz's comment.

In Washington, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a once and perhaps future contender, described Clinton as "tenacious."

"She's got all the skills and would be an incredibly formidable candidate," Huckabee told reporters, suggesting that Clinton is politically vulnerable. "She's got to go out and defend Barack Obama and her record in the first four years she was secretary of state."

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Hillary Clinton uniting religious conservatives

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Chelsea Clinton has given birth to a baby girl, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky.

A Clinton spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that she was born Friday night.

She was born at 7:03 p.m. at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, ABC News has learned.

Her parents, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said Saturday in a statement that they are "blessed, grateful, and so happy to be the grandparents of a beautiful girl."

"We are thrilled to be with our daughter and her husband as they welcome their daughter into the world," the statement continued. "Chelsea is well and glowing. Marc is bursting with pride. Charlotte's life is off to a good start."

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The former first daughter announced that she was pregnant in mid-April.

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Bill and Hillary Clinton 'So Happy' to Be Grandparents

Its not true that the latest member of the Clinton political dynasty is wearing a baby beanie that declares Hillary 2016 and a onesie that reads Grandma rocks Iowa! At least we havent seen the photos yet.

Still, that little Democrat (one can only assume family party loyalty) likely is the first new-born to be the top news item at Politico.com. Headline Its a girl: Chelsea Clinton gives birth.

Well get to the most important historical point first, as pointed out by Time: If Hillary Clinton runs in 2016, she will be the first serious presidential contender who is also agrandmother a title the former first lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State has called the most exciting yet.

Did we mention the babys name? The announcement came on Twitter and Facebook, where former first daughter Chelsea Clinton wrote that she and husband Marc Mezvinsky are full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky.

Little Charlotte may never have an interest in political office, but it wont be because her grandparents didnt.

Marc Mezvinskys mother Marjorie Margolies served a term in Congress from Pennsylvania. Ms. Margolies ex-husband Edward Mezvinsky Charlottes other grandfather is a former congressman from Iowa. (Edward Mezvinsky also pleaded guilty to 31 of 69 felony charges of bank fraud,mail fraud, andwire fraud, for which he served five year in federal prison, but we wont dwell on that today.)

In other words, all four of Charlottes grandparents have been elected to high political office. Might there be such a future for Charlottes mother?

Now I live in a city, in a state, in a country where I support my representatives at every level, Chelsea has said (again, from Politico). If at any point in time that stopped being true, where I had a question about their ethics or their competencies, and I thought I could make a disproportionately positive contribution in the political arena in the same way that I feel very grateful I can do now through the [Clinton] Foundation, Id have to ask and answer that.

Sufficiently vague, but not exactly Shermanesque.

Chelsea Clinton grew up in the public eye as a teenager in the White House, later graduating from Stanford and Columbia universities. She worked in finance in New York and in public health, earning a doctorate from Oxford University.

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Hillary Clinton becomes a grandmother. Now will she announce for 2016? (+video)

Eight years after shying away from the historic nature of her campaign, Hillary Clinton is putting women at the center of her agenda as she contemplates a second bid to become the nation's first woman president.

In recent weeks, Clinton has trumpeted equal pay for women in speeches and panel discussions across the country.

And this week, she announced a new $600 million effort through the Clinton Global Initiative to help disadvantaged girls attend secondary school.

The effort suggests that if she runs for president, Clinton has decided to take the opposite tack from 2008, when top strategists such as Mark Penn suggested she not emphasize the issue during her first White House bid.

In the post-mortem of that campaign, Clinton aides saw the failure to embrace the historic nature of her bid as a fatal mistake that contributed to her loss in the Democratic primary.

Even worse, they witnessed Barack Obamas campaign use the fact that voters would be electing the first black president to its advantage, making the electorate feel a part of bringing about a change movement.

The fact that it didnt happen last time is indicative of everything that went wrong, said one longtime Hillary ally who worked on the 2008 campaign. Now, shes being more true to herself, doing what shes always done and always believed. Its not about Mark Penn writing a policy memo.

Internal memos leaked to The Atlantic after the2008campaign show Penn wanted to portray Clinton in the mold of Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady and former prime minister of the United Kingdom.

He wanted to cast her as a strong leader regardless of gender, and sought to play down the fact that she was a woman.

Of voters, he wrote in one memo: They do not want someone who would be the first mama, especially in this kind of world. But there is a yearning for a kind of tough single parent someone who can combine the toughness they are used to with the negotiating adeptness they believe a woman would bring to the office.

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Hillary Clinton puts women's rights at center of her agenda

ChelseaClintonhas given birth to a girl, she said in a statement on social media, giving former President BillClintonand former Secretary of StateHillaryClintontheir first grandchild.

Hillary Clinton posted a photo on Twitter on Saturday afternoon, showing the Clintons holding their granddaughter. In the tweet, she said the elder Clintons "are over the moon to be grandparents! One of the happiest moments of our life."

"Marc and I are full of love, awe and gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter, CharlotteClintonMezvinsky,"Clintonsaid in the post on her Twitter and Facebook profiles early Saturday, referring to her investment banker husbandMarc Mezvinsky.

Later on Saturday morning, Charlotte's new grandparents shared their excitement about the birth in a joint statement.

"We are thrilled to be with our daughter and her husband as they welcome their daughter into the world," the senior Clintons said.

"Chelsea is well and glowing. Marc is bursting with pride. Charlotte's life is off to a good start," they said.

ChelseaClintonannounced her pregnancy in April while sitting side-by-side with her mother in armchairs on a stage at a New York City event on empowering women.

It remains unclear how the birth of the firstClintongrandchild will affect the political ambitions of HillaryClinton, who is considering a run for theWhite Housein 2016.

In 2011, former PresidentClintontold reporters inDavos,Switzerland: "I would like to have a happy wife, and she won't be unless shes a grandmother ... It's something she wants more than she wanted to be president."

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Hillary Clinton tweets photo with granddaughter after Chelsea Clinton gives birth