Continuing its slide from irrelevance to risible political freak show, the Christian Right in the guise of the Family Research Council is speaking out against Sam Brownback's supportive comments for former New York City mayor and Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.
What the FRC fails to understand is that the Republican Party, for all its rhetorical flourishes, knows in its heart of hearts that it is in deep doo-doo in the run-up to next year's elections. The party is having difficulty recruiting candidates and raising money, partly because of the continued uberpresence of the Christian Right as a player in the party. Of course, the party has only ever given rhetorical support to the Religious Right's key agenda. Other than a Supreme Court candidate or two, or limiting funds to groups that provide abortions overseas, and, of course the awful and hate-named Defense of Marriage Act, twelve years of Republican dominance of Congress did not result in major victories for the Christian Right's agenda, including overturning Roe v Wade and mandating Christian prayers in public schools. I still wonder why these folks continue to support the Republicans.
Now, feeling aggrieved, the lesser lights among the leadership has decided to attempt a king-maker role, and are failing miserably at it. Although Josh Marshall does a good job offering a scenario whereby Mit Romney becomes the Republican nominee, the appeal of Mayor Giuliani is still strong nationwide. Of course, Romney is not a favorite of the Christian Right because of his religious beliefs (a sad indication of the ignorance and bigotry animating the Christian Right). The key here, however, is that in either case - the Christian Right bolts, refusing to support a Republican candidate to their liking; the Republican Party hitches its wagon to this particular dying mule - the results will be an even more stunning defeat for the Republican candidate next November.
Of course, there always exists the possibility that the influence of groups such as the FRC and Focus on the Family is so minimal that, despite their special pleading, conservative evangelicals will not exhibit their distaste by refusing to vote for the Republican candidate, deciding to attempt to eke out a victory rather than go down in flames over a principle. I do believe, however, this is more evidence of the demise of the contemporary Republican Party.
Virtual Tin Cup
