Post by Seany-D on Nov 5, 2004 10:37:47 GMT -5
Evangelicals want big payback for election turnout
By Susan Baer
Sun National Staff
Originally published November 5, 2004
WASHINGTON - Gratified, emboldened and feeling in large part responsible for the re-election of George W. Bush, Christian conservative leaders like Robert Knight had a message for the president this week regarding those who want him to unite the nation by taking a more moderate tack.
"Mr. President: Ignore them, honor your base and let's roll up our sleeves and get some things accomplished, such as filling the Supreme Court with judges who know when life begins," Knight, the director of the Culture and Family Institute, wrote to Bush in a commentary.
After Tuesday's election, in which evangelical Christians turned out in large numbers for Bush and a plurality of voters said "moral values" was the issue that mattered most to them, religious conservatives believe they have a greater opportunity to press their agenda, expand their coalition and mend what they see as the fraying social fabric of the nation.
"We're elated beyond measure," said Tom Minnery, vice president of Focus on the Family, an influential conservative Christian group.
In light of Bush's re-election, as well as strengthened Republican majorities in Congress and the defeat of Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, religious conservatives are dusting off their wish lists with optimism and great expectations for the next four years.
At the top of their lists: a Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion; taking another stab at amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage; conservative appointments to federal courts across the country and passage of a number of abortion-limiting bills.
Christian conservatives believe that Bush now has a clear mandate for conservative leadership, "a covenant with the people who support him," said Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for America.
And they believe Republicans in Congress will be more inclined to honor that mandate.
'An old saying'
"Going into the midterm elections [of 2006], Republicans would do well to deliver on the confident hopes of millions of American conservatives who were the difference on Election Day," said Rep. Mike Pence, a conservative Indiana Republican. "There's an old saying ... 'You gotta dance with what brung ya.' What brung George Bush to a second term was American conservatism."
If waltzing with conservatives means Bush alienates moderates and liberals and falls short of his post-election pledge to unite the country and "serve all Americans," he - and his supporters - have earned that right, some say.
"You can heal wounds by making the tone of the debate more civil, but you can't heal wounds by ignoring the fact that there are disagreements," said conservative activist Gary Bauer. "I would encourage the president to firmly and consistently push the values he campaigned on."
Already, conservative leaders are playing their strengthened hand.
Specter warning
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican expected to take over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, warned Bush against nominating Supreme Court justices who would seek to overturn abortion rights or are otherwise too conservative to win confirmation. (Republicans will have 55 senators, but that is still five votes shy of the 60 needed to end filibusters against candidates.)
After conservatives, both in and out of Congress, blasted Specter for his comments, the senator issued a statement yesterday softening his remarks. He said he "would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue," and noted that he had supported every one of Bush's nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor.
Aside from looking for appointments to the Supreme Court in the mold of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, evangelicals are expecting Bush to have more success winning Senate confirmation of federal judges sympathetic to their values.
Some issues
"Abortion, same-sex marriage, civil liberties - most of these things do get down to the courts," says Bauer, who unsuccessfully sought the 2000 presidential nomination.
Bauer said Democrats who held up Bush's conservative judicial appointments in the first term will now "take a look at South Dakota," where Daschle was defeated this week, "and decide they need to give the president a great deal of leeway in who he nominates to the courts."
Religious conservatives are also hopeful that a number of bills they have championed might have a better chance of passage. They include a measure to ban all forms of cloning, including for medical or research purposes, and another to limit the federal court's ability to remove Christian symbols from public places.
Abortion measures
Several abortion-limiting measures have been introduced, including those that would prohibit teenagers from going to another state to avoid parental consent laws on abortion, make federal funds available to nonprofit pregnancy counseling groups for ultrasound machines and offer women anesthesia for the fetus and information about fetal pain.
Pence said another proposal gaining momentum in conservative circles is the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, which calls for a change in the tax code allowing ministers to talk about politics without losing their church's tax-exempt status.
Evangelicals hope the president's proposal to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage, which failed in the Senate earlier this year, also might eventually pass.
Same-sex marriage
Many believe that the same-sex marriage issue galvanized religious conservatives and brought record numbers of them to the polls, especially in the 11 states - including Ohio - where anti-gay marriage initiatives were on the ballots. All passed with sizable margins.
Bauer, in fact, said he believes Bush may have won the election a half-year ago when voters saw the mayor of San Francisco and a court in Massachusetts allow same-sex couples to marry.
"It was such a shock to most Americans, it resulted in a very difficult election for Senator Kerry and the Democrats," he said.
Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun | Get home delivery
By Susan Baer
Sun National Staff
Originally published November 5, 2004
WASHINGTON - Gratified, emboldened and feeling in large part responsible for the re-election of George W. Bush, Christian conservative leaders like Robert Knight had a message for the president this week regarding those who want him to unite the nation by taking a more moderate tack.
"Mr. President: Ignore them, honor your base and let's roll up our sleeves and get some things accomplished, such as filling the Supreme Court with judges who know when life begins," Knight, the director of the Culture and Family Institute, wrote to Bush in a commentary.
After Tuesday's election, in which evangelical Christians turned out in large numbers for Bush and a plurality of voters said "moral values" was the issue that mattered most to them, religious conservatives believe they have a greater opportunity to press their agenda, expand their coalition and mend what they see as the fraying social fabric of the nation.
"We're elated beyond measure," said Tom Minnery, vice president of Focus on the Family, an influential conservative Christian group.
In light of Bush's re-election, as well as strengthened Republican majorities in Congress and the defeat of Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, religious conservatives are dusting off their wish lists with optimism and great expectations for the next four years.
At the top of their lists: a Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that legalized abortion; taking another stab at amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage; conservative appointments to federal courts across the country and passage of a number of abortion-limiting bills.
Christian conservatives believe that Bush now has a clear mandate for conservative leadership, "a covenant with the people who support him," said Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for America.
And they believe Republicans in Congress will be more inclined to honor that mandate.
'An old saying'
"Going into the midterm elections [of 2006], Republicans would do well to deliver on the confident hopes of millions of American conservatives who were the difference on Election Day," said Rep. Mike Pence, a conservative Indiana Republican. "There's an old saying ... 'You gotta dance with what brung ya.' What brung George Bush to a second term was American conservatism."
If waltzing with conservatives means Bush alienates moderates and liberals and falls short of his post-election pledge to unite the country and "serve all Americans," he - and his supporters - have earned that right, some say.
"You can heal wounds by making the tone of the debate more civil, but you can't heal wounds by ignoring the fact that there are disagreements," said conservative activist Gary Bauer. "I would encourage the president to firmly and consistently push the values he campaigned on."
Already, conservative leaders are playing their strengthened hand.
Specter warning
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican expected to take over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, warned Bush against nominating Supreme Court justices who would seek to overturn abortion rights or are otherwise too conservative to win confirmation. (Republicans will have 55 senators, but that is still five votes shy of the 60 needed to end filibusters against candidates.)
After conservatives, both in and out of Congress, blasted Specter for his comments, the senator issued a statement yesterday softening his remarks. He said he "would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue," and noted that he had supported every one of Bush's nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor.
Aside from looking for appointments to the Supreme Court in the mold of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, evangelicals are expecting Bush to have more success winning Senate confirmation of federal judges sympathetic to their values.
Some issues
"Abortion, same-sex marriage, civil liberties - most of these things do get down to the courts," says Bauer, who unsuccessfully sought the 2000 presidential nomination.
Bauer said Democrats who held up Bush's conservative judicial appointments in the first term will now "take a look at South Dakota," where Daschle was defeated this week, "and decide they need to give the president a great deal of leeway in who he nominates to the courts."
Religious conservatives are also hopeful that a number of bills they have championed might have a better chance of passage. They include a measure to ban all forms of cloning, including for medical or research purposes, and another to limit the federal court's ability to remove Christian symbols from public places.
Abortion measures
Several abortion-limiting measures have been introduced, including those that would prohibit teenagers from going to another state to avoid parental consent laws on abortion, make federal funds available to nonprofit pregnancy counseling groups for ultrasound machines and offer women anesthesia for the fetus and information about fetal pain.
Pence said another proposal gaining momentum in conservative circles is the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, which calls for a change in the tax code allowing ministers to talk about politics without losing their church's tax-exempt status.
Evangelicals hope the president's proposal to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage, which failed in the Senate earlier this year, also might eventually pass.
Same-sex marriage
Many believe that the same-sex marriage issue galvanized religious conservatives and brought record numbers of them to the polls, especially in the 11 states - including Ohio - where anti-gay marriage initiatives were on the ballots. All passed with sizable margins.
Bauer, in fact, said he believes Bush may have won the election a half-year ago when voters saw the mayor of San Francisco and a court in Massachusetts allow same-sex couples to marry.
"It was such a shock to most Americans, it resulted in a very difficult election for Senator Kerry and the Democrats," he said.
Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun | Get home delivery
