Religious right groups and their members have been in a funk for a couple of years now. After the 2004 election, the Dobson wing of the GOP thought it finally would get everything it wanted from Washington, which would be dominated by its like-minded allies. Two years later, the movement’s to-do list had very few check marks, and Democrats now control Congress.
Worse, the same group of people aren’t terribly excited about the future. Looking ahead to 2008, Dobson, Robertson, Falwell, et al., assumed they’d have a key role in helping chose the next Republican presidential nominee. Instead they’re left with John McCain (which Sister Souljah-ed the religious right in 2000), Rudy Giuliani (who disagrees with them on every social issue that matters to them), and Mitt Romney (who was pro-choice and pro-gay up until five minutes ago).
As Time reported, the religious right is feeling more than a little antsy.
It wasn’t so long ago that conservatives believed that George Bush’s presidency would usher in a political realignment that would last for decades. But as the right looks forward to the next election, something close to panic is setting in. Surveying the leading G.O.P. contenders for 2008, direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie pronounces “not a one of them is worthy of support from conservatives.”
Says Craig Shirley, a public relations executive who represents many conservative groups and who has written a book on the Reagan revolution: “There’s anger, there’s angst, there’s dismay in the conservative movement.” Some activists, Shirley adds, have even begun talking quietly among themselves about forming a third party. (emphasis added)
Frankly, I have a hard time imagining this ever coming to fruition. Speculation about the creation of an even more right-wing theocratic party pops up every few years, and while Karl Rove and others apparently worry about it, there’s rarely any serious follow-through.
That said, is there anything we can do to help push this along?