When ATC Joe writes this, I agree:
I’m not saying the evangelicals are bad, or that they have some sort of organized program to intimidate people into endorsing their views, but they do have a tendency to overreach when they meet with some success in their agenda. I’m convinced a large part of what the public sees as overreach on the part of the Bush administration is driven by the administration’s own evangelicals, or the debt they feel they owe them for their support in last year’s election.
This is a mistake, and it’s one that’s not going to be easy to fix. A public disavowal of the evangelical bloc at this time would hurt the administration severely.
Such a break needs to happen, though, and it’s something that can’t be done too quickly. The gradual nature of this distancing is one of the factors that leads me to believe the next administration will be led by a Democrat. That has ramifications I don’t like, but it may be what’s necessary to bring conservatism back to it’s roots, which is something I’d certainly like to see.
I do believe that conservatism has lost its roots, and it sorely needs to move back towards them for the good of our nation.
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Cross-posted to Random Fate.