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about, like me,:).
Giuliani Exposes Evangelical Rift Over Loyalty to Republicans
By Hans Nichols Enlarge Image/Details
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- When thousands of evangelical Christians gather at the Values Voters Summit today to judge -- and potentially condemn -- the Republican presidential candidates, the ghost of an 18th-century French philosopher will be haunting the corridors of the Washington Hilton.
``I am asking them to at least consider Voltaire's question: Do you make the perfect the enemy of the good?'' said Richard Land, a leader of the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention, based in Nashville.
The evangelical movement, which has been a major force in the Republican Party since helping Ronald Reagan's presidency, is struggling this year. The movement's leaders can't agree on which candidate is best suited to stop the current front-runner, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has a record of support for abortion and gay rights.
They are also divided on whether to field a third-party candidate if Giuliani wins the Republican nomination, which may deliver the White House to Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, who is leading the Democratic pack.
There has always been a difference of opinion between ``standing on principle and being pragmatic enough to win an election,'' said Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition. ``That tension has been brought into full relief by this election cycle.''
`Mystified'
The pragmatists are ``mystified'' that Christian conservatives aren't more concerned by the prospect of a Clinton restoration to the White House, said Gary Bauer, who ran for his party's nomination in 2000 on a pro-life platform.
If Clinton, 59, wins, ``her administration would declare war on social conservatives,'' Bauer said. ``She'll go after conservative talk radio, she'll go after Christian radio.''
At the other end of the spectrum is James Dobson, founder of the Focus on the Family, an evangelical organization in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He, along with 50 other influential movement leaders, pledged two weeks ago to vote for a ``minor- party candidate'' if both the Republican and Democratic nominee is pro-choice. <snip>
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