Freedom Writer - January 1995

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Right victorious nationally

By Skipp Porteous

Around mid-morning on Election Day, November 8, 1994, an Atlanta woman 
called me at my Massachusetts office. Having just returned from voting, 
she reported that virtually everyone in the line in front of her at 
the polls held in their hand a Christian Coalition voter guide. The 
"non-partisan" voter guides were handed out on the previous Sunday, 
two days before the election. Nationally, Pat Robertson's Christian 
Coalition distributed 33 million voter guides through churches and 
Christian-owned businesses. According to Market Research Institute, 
of the 75 million voters who turned up at the polls, as many as 33% 
identified themselves as born again Christians. Within that group 
of over 24 million, almost 70% -- approximately 17 million -- voted 
Republican. 

Surveys showed that many voters crossed party lines in selecting their 
candidates of choice. Because many Democrats voted for the Republican 
candidate, it is clear that voters generally chose the conservative 
candidate over the liberal candidate, regardless of party. So, unwittingly, 
some Democrats and moderate Republicans helped the Religious Right 
take another major step towards not only controlling the Republican 
Party, but the nation as well.

In the closely watched Virginia Senate race, Religious Right favorite 
Oliver North failed in his bid. Unable to put Iran-Contra behind him, 
North lost because of North. North's high-profile Senate campaign 
was premature for the Christian Coalition. The Coalition is not yet 
set up to run candidates at the national level.

This may be the last chance for the right-wing fringe in the GOP to 
push their agenda and bring the party further to the right. Georgia 
Congressman Newt Gingrich, the House Speaker in waiting, warned against 
attempts to block his radical agenda. If Republicans fail to embrace 
his program, Gingrich predicted that voters "will move toward a third 
party in a massive way." 

While exulting in the Republican landslide in November, the Religious 
Right is worried about "big tent Republicanism," i.e., fiscal conservatives 
with liberal social agendas. Moderates will certainly resist extremism 
from the Religious Right. Too much pressure from the hard right within 
the Republican Party might stall the ultra-conservative agenda; unsatisfactory 
progress may indeed drive right wing GOP members to a third party.

Waiting in the wings is Howard Phillips' U.S. Taxpayers Party. This 
ultra-conservative party's platform was largely written by Christian 
Reconstructionist Rus Walton, and is strongly backed by Operation 
Rescue's Randall Terry. 

What can we expect in the months ahead? My crystal ball says: Turmoil 
within the GOP; an end to the National Endowment for the Arts; Religious 
Right darling, Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, to run for the presidency; 
Ralph Reed will outgrow the Christian Coalition, and possibly run 
for John Warner's Senate seat in Virginia; and more rumblings about 
a third party.

Finally, while it is alarming that as many 17 million white evangelical 
born-again voters fell into lockstep with Pat Robertson, it is reassuring 
that 7 million born-againers did not -- that one-third of born-again 
voters disagree with Pat Robertson.

_Sidebar: [ref002]GOP candidates receiving a 100% rating from the 
Christian Coalition_

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Copyright 1995 IFAS
The Freedom Writer / ifas@crocker.com

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