Christian Coalition. Emerging from the failed bid of Pat Robertson, (1930– ), a prominent television evangelist, for the
Republican party's 1988 presidential nomination, the Christian Coalition by the early 1990s had become the flagship institution of the religious right. Much of its success was attributable to Ralph Reed, who was handpicked by Robertson in 1989 to establish a new organization of political conservatives dedicated to mobilizing opposition to
abortion, homosexuality, and pornography, and supporting tax cuts, “parental rights,” and prayer in the schools. Learning from and building upon the Reverend Jerry Falwell's defunct
Moral Majority, Reed created a politically savvy organization with strong grassroots support. By 1997 the coalition claimed 1.9 million members. But Reed enjoyed less success in constructing a broad‐based conservative coalition: white Protestant charismatics, fundamentalists, and evangelicals dominated his organization.
The Christian Coalition waged many campaigns at the local level, in school board, city council, and mayoral elections. But it also wielded substantial clout national by helping boost the arch‐conservative victory in the North Carolina senatorial election in 1990 and mobilizing public support for the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the
Supreme Court in 1991. The Christian Coalition's most visible success came in 1994, when it contributed much to the Republican sweep of congressional elections.
Reed stepped down in 1997 to launch his own political consulting firm. Whatever the Christian Coalition's future, its key role in the political maturation of the religious right was indisputable.
See also
Conservatism;
Fundamentalist Movement;
Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement;
Pentecostalism;
Protestantism;
Reagan, Ronald;
Religion.
Bibliography
William Martin , With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, 1996.
Justin Watson , The Christian Coalition: Dreams of Restoration, Demands for Recognition, 1997.
William Vance Trollinger Jr.
