God-o-Meter

Christian Right Endorsements: The Reagan Approach

Friday May 23, 2008

Categories: John McCain

mccain19.jpgreagan.jpgLike John McCain today, Ronald Reagan had his work cut out in winning over the Christian Right during his 1980 campaign, when a new organization called Moral Majority was mobilizing evangelicals and other conservative Christians in a way not seen since fallout from the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial scared many of those voters away from public life.

Reagan, after all, had been a Hollywood export with a scant church attendance record, a second wife, and a reputation for having signed a liberal (for its time) abortion law as governor of California. So Reagan studied up on how to connect with evangelicals and crafted a line that made the movement love him when he uttered at before a crowd of 15,000 pastors in Dallas: "I know you can't endorse me, but I want you to know that I endorse you."

Fast forward to 2008. Evangelicals are a more powerful force in the GOP than they were during Reagan's 1980 campaign. Rather than endorsing the Christian Right, McCain is going out of his way to make clear that endorsements from the movement's leaders are a one-way proposition: he doesn't endorse them back. And yesterday, McCain flat out told John Hagee and Rod Parsley that he didn't want their endorsements. That's one huge turnaround from Reagan's day.

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Comments
Ray
May 24, 2008 6:05 PM

The christian right no longer has power. They could not get Romney elected. This is a new day. America are hungery,jobless,and homeless. they are one paycheck from a squatter's camp. Middle class jobs are outsourced. The RNC is a bad word. It means povety and squatters home for many Americans,

Ray
May 24, 2008 6:07 PM

It's time for the Christian to repent of their sins and turn to Christ. The RNC can not save them or change this country by passing laws against sin.

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This blog is no longer updated and is closed for comments. We welcome your comments about politics in our Politics forums.

The God-o-Meter (pronounced Gah-DOM-meter) scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn't guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria (Actually, the adjustment criteria are here). Click a candidate's head to get his or her latest God-o-Meter reading and blog post. And check back often. With so much happening on the campaign trail, God-o-Meter is constantly recalibrating!

God-o-Meter blogger Dan Gilgoff is Beliefnet's Politics Editor. A former political correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, he is author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War.

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