Christian Coalition

views updated

Christian Coalition

In preparation for his campaign for the presidency in 1988, religious broadcaster Marion G. "Pat" Robertson created an effective grassroots organization known as Freedom Council in several states. Though defeated, Robertson made a surprisingly strong showing and determined to create a more permanent political organization that could help elect Christian candidates to public office and gain substantial power within the Republican Party. The result was Christian Coalition, launched in 1989 with the assistance of its first executive director, Ralph Reed. Under Reed's leadership the organization grew steadily until, in 1996, it claimed a membership of 1.9 million in two thousand chapters across the country, and a budget of $26.5 million. Critics questioned the membership figures, but no one doubted that the organization has had a significant influence and impact on American politics.

In founding Christian Coalition, Robertson asserted that atheistic and humanistic forces had transformed America from a Christian nation into an "anti-Christian pagan nation" and that he hoped the new organization could help reverse that change. Key causes have included opposition to gay rights, abortion, and pornography; a tax cut for middle-class families with children; vouchers that could be used to enable children to attend private religious schools; and efforts to protest anti-Christian bigotry and to defend the legal rights of Christians. In the service of its "pro-family" agenda, the organization seeks to inform Christians of timely issues and legislation; to represent them before local councils, state legislatures, and Congress; and to train them for effective political action.

In addition to providing detailed instruction as to how committed activists could seize control of local and state-level political organizations and mobilize voters on behalf of candidates and key issues, Christian Coalition has specialized in producing and distributing voter guides that, though ostensibly nonpartisan, draw sharp distinctions between candidates they favor and those they oppose. In the 1996 and 1998 general elections, the organization claimed to have distributed upward of forty million voter guides, often in the form of leaflets placed on the windshields of cars in the parking lots of evangelical churches. In 1994 and 1996 an estimated 40 percent of candidates backed by Christian Coalition were victorious. In 1998, however, Coalition-backed candidates fared much more poorly. More significant than individual elections, however, has been the organization's impact on the Republican Party. A 1995 survey conducted by Campaigns & Elections magazine found that Christian Right forces had "dominant strength" in the Republican Party in eighteen states and "substantial" influence in thirteen others. Christian Coalition was widely regarded as the political organization most responsible for this development, and its annual "Road to Victory" conference is considered an important opportunity for conservative politicians to establish or strengthen ties to evangelical supporters. The close ties between Christian Coalition, officially a nonpartisan organization, and the Republican Party led to a lawsuit by the Federal Election Commission and a review of the organization's tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service, which revoked that status in 1999.

Christian Coalition's future was somewhat difficult to predict at the end of the 1990s. Contributions dropped from $26.5 million in 1996 to $17 million in 1997. Also in 1997, Ralph Reed resigned his position, turning the reins over to new executive director Randy Tate, a former Republican congressman from Washington state, and former Reagan cabinet member Don Hodel, who served as the organization's president. Hodel resigned in February 1999 and Pat Robertson reassumed the post of president. Under the recent leadership, ties with the Republican Party have been somewhat deemphasized in favor of a new strategy called Families 2000, in which the organization seeks to achieve its goals by working more closely with local churches. Other changes included discontinuing a minority outreach program known as the Samaritan Project and severing ties with the Catholic Alliance, a largely unsuccessful attempt to recruit like-minded Catholics into its ranks.

Ralph Reed's remarkable skills as a political organizer and his pragmatic willingness to accept partial victories and limited gains and to use a rhetoric less harsh and threatening than that of some of his colleagues contributed mightily to Christian Coalition's early success. However, it offended some who regarded him as too willing to compromise on issues they held dear. In adjusting its tactics and public image in the post-Reed era, the organization was faced not only with striking an acceptable balance between the demands of its constituency and the tolerance of the general public toward hard-line moral and political positions, but also with competition from other conservative organizations. The most notable of these were Focus on the Family, headed by influential radio broadcaster and author James Dobson, and the Family Research Council, led by Gary Bauer.