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March 28, 2006

A battle for the soul of the souless

Conservative Christians have been group that's pushed the Republican Party into its current "winner take all" position in government. And now that the bill is coming due for all their help, secular and economic Republicans are feeling the heat:

Economic conservatives and secular Republicans complain their message is being drowned out by Christian conservatives preoccupied with banning abortion and gay marriage and limiting stem-cell research.

On the other side, ``values'' advocates say they have provided the party with crucial support, particularly in 2004, when they mobilized religious conservatives to go to the polls to help re-elect President George W. Bush.

Such concerns are turning long-simmering Republican tensions over the role of religious conservatives into an election-year split in a party already strained by differences on the Iraq war, immigration and government spending.

``There is a great deal of concern about this seeming attempt to couch everything in religious terms,'' said Christine Todd Whitman, the former governor of New Jersey. ``We're not a narrow-minded nation, and at least some of the people trying to define the Republican Party are coming off that way.''

If anything, religious conservatives deserve a greater Republican commitment to their agenda, said Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council.

``We had reason for people all across the country to be engaged at unprecedented levels,'' said Perkins, whose group is organizing a ``values voter'' summit in September. ``It made a difference in states that were very closely divided.''

Since the Reagan Administration, the GOP has talked itself into the idea that "getting something for nothing" is not only possible, it can be implemented. Massive tax cuts and continued spending are what Republicans do, borrowing money and putting the nation into massive debt.

Milking Christians for their votes and support is really just an extension of that idea.

Oh sure...they'll throw them a bone every once in a while: ban a few stem cell lines from research, toss money into a gay marriage initiative..stuff like that. But now that Conservative Christians are stealing their thunder and interfering with the echo of the economic sound chamber--GOP leaders are ready to wrangle back the reins.

The Republican Party leadership has allowed their party to be pushed hard to the right in order to please the Tony Perkins and James Dobsons of the organization. But the mile Perkins and Dobson want to take is a far lot more than the inch the economic conservatives are willing to give.

We're watching a battle for the soul of the GOP. Why anyone would want to fight over such a nonexistant piece of real estate is another matter...but power is power, eh?

The Democrats are used to battling each other. Its practically a prerequisite to joining up. But the Republicans are a disciplined, lockstep organization. Independent thought is unwelcome and unmanageable. This is likely to be an ugly, bloody battle.

We're about to see the different factions of orcs go to war over Mordor. Not even Peter Jackson could make this more entertaining.

Posted by Carla at March 28, 2006 09:09 AM