2008 Watch: Christian Right To Hold GOP Accountable

A recent article in USA Today highlights a claim by various Christian Right groups that any GOP candidate seeking the presidential nomination will have to go through them. Although it might seem counterintuitive, Democrats should welcome the Christian Right's growing influence in the GOP. As the recent fights over judicial nominations has shown, mainstream Americans are growing tired of the Christian Right's agenda. Although much is made of the ascent of the "values voter", White Protestant evangelicals are a minority in America, and their percentage of the population is shrinking as immigration diversifies the religious makeup of the country.

Bush has only used evangelicals successfully because he has kept them on a short leash, promising them the moon, and giving them pretty much nothing. (Where's the anti-gay marriage amendment, for example?) The hard Right desperately wants to break free of these restraints. Should they succeed in forcing their reactionary agenda upon the Republican party, the moderates that make up the bulk of the electorate will flock to the Democrats. 2008 could be 1964 all over again.