Sojourners Magazine - July 2004
The Right Stuff
Many people think the Religious Right has faded into obscurity and political powerlessness. In fact, it just might be stronger than ever.
by David Batstone and Mark Wexler
In the mid-1990s, following Bill Clinton's second electoral ride to the White House, the vibrancy of Religious Right organizations appeared to be on the wane. Outside the sanctuary of the fundamentalist church, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson had become public caricatures of intolerance and zealotry. Pundits in the media and the liberal church deemed the movement torn, shattered, and perhaps dead.
How then, less than a decade later, has the Religious Right become a powerful sector of the Republican Party, holding veto power over most any GOP maneuver?
"The Religious Right has been institutionalized within the Republican Party," confirms Kenneth Wald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida at Gainesville. "Just look at the leaders of the GOP."
Note the top seven ranking Republicans in the U.S. Senate: Bill Frist, Tennessee; Mitch McConnell, Kentucky; Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania; Bob Bennet, Utah; Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Texas; Jon Kyle, Arizona; and George Allen, Virginia. Other than party affiliation, what do these senators all have in common? Each has earned a 100 percent rating on the Christian Coalition's scorecard, voting in accordance with that organization's positions on key legislation.
A similar pattern exists among the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, who in part controls whether an issue will be even debated on the House floor, also receives a 100 percent on the Christian Coalition scorecard.
Yes, the Religious Right is alive and well. Over the past quarter century, it has grown from an adolescent, grassroots movement to a mature political player closely integrated into the Beltway mainstream. The results of a recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press illustrated the historical shift in political classification of white evangelical Protestants. In 1987 and 1988, 34 percent identified as Republican while 31 percent identified as Democrats. Currently, 43 percent view themselves as Republicans against 22 percent as Democrats.
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Embedded in those double signals lies the kink in Bush's electoral coalition. An overstated alignment with the Religious Right puts Bush in danger of losing social libertarians and moderates. These constituencies for the most part have come to terms with integrating a social conservative stance within the Republican Party. But this does not mean that the social libertarians, who reject government entanglement with personal matters of the bedroom, will be completely on board for an all-out attack on gay rights.
On the other hand, if Bush underplays his commitment to the Religious Right and its defense of "traditional family," he may anger that movement to the point of abstention on Election Day. Republican insiders are convinced that 4 million white evangelicals veered away from the polls in 2000. Karl Rove, Bush's political strategy guru, lamented in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in late 2001 that this group was not sufficiently energized to vote, but that "they are obviously part of our base." The Republicans are banking on the same-sex marriage issue to energize this sector of the electorate in the 2004 election.
By continuing to offer its support to Republican candidates, even after years of perceived neglect, the Religious Right's insider-outsider coalition is seeking an overdue political payoff. If Bush is re-elected there is a distinct possibility that one, if not three, of the Supreme Court justices could retire during his second term. The opportunity to change significantly the judicial system is the treasure that the Religious Right most ardently seeks.
Rove has been working the back doors of the movement's organizations, telling the strongest, the Family Research Council, that the Republicans are "creating a culture of life" in the U.S. courts. With this culture shift a slew of conservative initiatives could return to the Supreme Court's plate. If a couple of the swing votes retired - Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor being the most prominent - and were replaced by conservative ideologues, then there might be enough votes to overturn Roe vs. Wade, affirmative action, the Texas sodomy decision, and the ban on imposing the death penalty on the mentally retarded.
"You could see a series of very critical culturally liberal decisions reversed in a short period of time, which would [mean] that for Christian conservatives backing Bush was a smart wager," says Wilcox. "Getting involved in politics, making it very partisan, putting all of its faith in one party - it would have all paid off."
David Batstone is executive editor of Sojourners. Mark Wexler works for the Foundation for Autistic Childhood Education and Support (FACES) in northern California.
The Right Stuff. by David Batstone and Mark Wexler. Sojourners Magazine, July 2004 (Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 18-24). Features.