Washington Outlook
Edited by Richard S. Dunham
The Religious Right Isn't Weaker--It's Just Different
Recent history has been hard on the Religious Right. Two Christian conservatives failed miserably in their 2000 Presidential bids. The Reverend James Dobson, influential leader of Focus on the Family, has renounced Washington to tend to his flock in Colorado Springs. The Christian Coalition, hemorrhaging money and members, is poised to join the Moral Majority on the political scrap heap. And on Dec. 5, Pat Robertson, the crusade's most visible champion, resigned as the coalition's president.
So it's understandable why some pundits are declaring the once-mighty movement dead. But that's premature. It's the end of an era--not of the Religious Right. The reason: The social conservative campaign that TV evangelists like Robertson and Jerry Falwell helped launch 25 years ago is being transformed from a top-down movement led by controversial religious leaders into a mainstream political force with a grassroots focus. It is insinuating its allies into institutions of power--from government to industry to college campuses--and has become a crucial component of the GOP's base. Rather than ministers-turned-pols, the new face of the Religious Right is small businesspeople and PTA officials who lobby at the local and federal level for education reform and tax cuts for families.
In many ways, the most prominent spokesman for Christian conservative causes these days is President Bush. He has shut off federal funds for groups that support abortions overseas and often speaks of the importance of spirituality in his life. He has given social conservatives a seat at the policy table through regular briefings with Bush political guru Karl Rove. And he has named a number of Religious Right allies to key positions within the Administration. Among them: Attorney General John Ashcroft, a born-again Christian and lay minister; Kay Cole James, former dean of Christian Regent University and now director of the Office of Personnel Management; and University of Chicago bioethicist Leon Kass, a cloning foe who heads a White House council on bioethics.
"EMBARRASSMENTS." Many conservatives are pleased by the departure of Robertson, 71, and marginalization of Falwell, 68, who blamed the September 11 attacks on gays, pagans, and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others. "Robertson and Falwell became embarrassments to the movement," says former Christian Coalition lobbyist Marshall Wittmann.
Filling the vacuum will be people like Ken Connor, 54, president of the Family Research Council, a think tank and lobbying group with a $10 million budget; Beverly LaHaye, founder of Concerned Women for America, an advocacy group that claims 500,000 members; and Rick Scarborough, founder and president of Houston-based think tank Vision America. "We're not going to be led by giants any longer," says Michael P. Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Assn. "Instead, you will see a coalition. It's harder for the Left to attack you when there's a variety of leaders." Still, adds conservative mainstay Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation, "leadership problems will take care of themselves if you have troops."
Besides trying to restrict stem-cell research, forbid partial-birth abortion, and push for more tax cuts, the new breed must reverse the decline in voter turnout. While 15 million fundamentalists voted in 2000, the GOP had expected 4 million more. Says Rove: "We may be seeing...some return to the sidelines of previously involved religious conservatives."
Will the new leaders be able to rally the faithful? It won't take long to find out. Republicans are counting on them to deliver the votes needed to keep control of the House in 2002.
By Lorraine Woellert
CAPITAL WRAPUP
The House after Armey
House Majority Leader Dick Armey's surprising Dec. 12 retirement announcement will consolidate conservative dominance of the House Republican caucus, but it also is likely to elevate a key ally of President Bush. Squeezed out once again are GOP moderates, who hold no top leadership roles.
Even before Armey officially announced his departure, the No. 3 GOP leader, Majority Whip and fellow Texan Tom DeLay, had scared off all serious rivals for the No. 2 job. Dems are gleeful that such a hard-liner will be the top House Republican spokesman and strategist. With the House already beset by partisan squabbling, DeLay's promotion could make the poisonous atmosphere positively lethal--and give Dems more ammo for the 2002 campaign.
The early favorite to replace DeLay as chief GOP vote-counter and arm-twister: staunch conservative Representative Roy Blunt (Mo.), an early and ardent supporter of Bush. During the 2000 campaign, the low-key Blunt served as Bush's liaison to House Republicans. His ascension would give the Prez a stronger voice on the Hill.
Family considerations may have played a role in Armey's retirement. His son, Denton County Judge Scott Armey, is a possible candidate in his father's newly redrawn, heavily GOP district. With a filing deadline early in 2002, Dick Armey's exit could give Scott an edge over other contenders.
By Richard S. Dunham
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Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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