THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996 TAG: 9602090501
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: BY THOMAS B. EDSALL, THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: DES MOINES LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Patrick J. Buchanan's success in Louisiana and in an Alaska straw poll, along with the rise of publisher Steve Forbes, is working to push pragmatic Christian conservative leaders toward the candidacy of Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole, R-Kan.
But not without considerable anguish. The Buchanan victory in Louisiana poses a fundamental dilemma for the leaders of a movement that has become the single most powerful force in the Republican Party:
Does the Christian right remain a revolutionary insurgency, determined to support candidates on conservative principle rather than electability, or has it become part of the party establishment, willing to compromise in pursuit of victory?
Ralph Reed, executive director of the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, has not endorsed a candidate, but he framed the dilemma this way:
``I would fully anticipate that the religious community would divide between what might be called the pragmatic Christian voter, who believes that Bob Dole is the only winnable candidate who could defeat Forbes and (President) Clinton, and a more mission-oriented, pro-family activist whose primary interest is to push the party further to the right.''
Dole has long been seen as insufficiently committed to the interests of social conservatives, but he has gone to great lengths over the past year to make the Christian right more comfortable. He also has promoted the notion that his nomination is inevitable; Ione Dilley, head of the Iowa Christian Coalition, endorsed Dole because ``I think he's the candidate who will win the final Super Bowl. . . . He can best handle Clinton.''
A Buchanan aide who did not want to be identified dismissed widespread suggestions that Buchanan is too polarizing a figure to win the nomination, but agreed that ``we are a revolution. Our appeal is to the (Christian) grass roots and not to the leadership. We unfortunately have seen many leaders be picked up by nice royalty fees, and have sold out the pro-life cause.''
Some, but not all, leaders of the conservative Christian movement remain convinced that Buchanan cannot win the nomination, much less the general election. Because of Texas Sen. Phil Gramm's stumble in Louisiana, where he was supported by key leaders of the state's Christian Coalition, they see Dole as the only acceptable alternative for the right.
``There is no other place to go,'' one key national leader said. Another strategist for the religious right said: ``That is where Dole holds the cards. He is going to be with us 95 percent of the time, and he can move the ball.''
This view is not unanimous. Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council, said Buchanan's Louisiana victory is a warning to leaders of the Christian right.
``I don't believe that any of us who are heads of pro-family or social conservative groups can deliver these voters. They are motivated by issues of the heart.''
The dilemma between establishment and insurgency is unlikely to be resolved in Iowa, where leaders of the Christian Coalition and other key elements of the social conservative movement remain split, largely with Dole, Gramm and Buchanan. by CNB