I have argued that on balance, the influence of the religious right probably cost the Republican ticket more than it helped it.
But I have to say, religious conservatives are now being scapegoated in an almost grotesque way.
Kathleen Parker, a conservative who gained noteriety for criticizing Sarah Palin during the campaign, wrote this week that “the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.”

Ooogedy-boogedy?
The rest of the column engages in gross stereotyping of religious conservatives. The party is “increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners” and has surrendered “high ground to its lowest brows.”
So, religious conservatives are crazy, dumb and scary, says Parker.
Meanwhile, Christine Todd Whitman referred to the “social fundamentalists” as “hostage takers.”
Remember when David Kuo wrote that inside the White House the non-evangelical conservatives mocked Christians as useful stooges? Maybe he should have said Useful Ooogedy-Boogedies.
Look, I think it was politically unwise for the Republican Party to lean so heavily in this direction (for reasons I lay out here) but it’s not because these voters are crazy or dumb — they’re not. They’re smart, committed people who happen to hold conservative views. It seems odd to mock them because they had the audacity to actually vote their values.
If Republican leaders listened too much to one group, it’s not the fault of those voters, it’s the fault of the leaders.