THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409170357
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The Christian Coalition joined ranks with Republican congressional leaders and prospective GOP presidential candidates Friday in preparation for an all-out assault on Democrats this November and on President Clinton in 1996.
However, former Vice President Dan Quayle appealed to the party Friday to not dwell too heavily on emotional social issues like homosexuality.
Quayle, who has been a favorite of religious conservatives because of his emphasis on family values, condemned journalists for portraying the Christian right as intolerant.
But, speaking to reporters before his address Friday night at the Christian Coalition's annual convention here, Quayle was eager to portray himself as tolerant on two issues that have been a rallying point for the Chesapeake-based Christian group.
Asked how he feels about homosexuality, Quayle replied, ``That's their choice.'' Asked how he feels about women having abortions, he replied, ``That's their choice.''
Although Quayle emphasized that he is still opposed to abortion, he said Republicans must be practical and realize that at this point abortion probably would not be banned outright.
``The political situation has changed in this country,'' he said. ``There's not the political support to make it illegal, so we should focus on reducing the number of abortions, and we want to change attitudes. Maybe there will come a time when people want to choose life instead of abortion.''
Quayle, who is seriously considering a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996, appeared to be trying to broaden his appeal. He knows that he can count on strong support from religious conservatives now that William Bennett, the former federal drug director and education secretary, has decided not to run.
Earlier in the day, speakers at the start of the two-day gathering repeatedly portrayed the conservative Christian movement as a persecuted minority, rising up in defiance of a liberal Democratic establishment seeking to bar them from politics.
``We stand on the threshold of one of the most important elections in post-World War II political history,'' Ralph Reed, the coalition's executive director, told the 3,000-plus cheering Christian activists in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton. ``(Our) message is that we are fed up with Clinton-style liberalism.''
``We are seeing the Christian Coalition rise to where God intends it to be in this nation, as one of the most powerful political forces that have ever been in the history of America,'' declared religious broadcaster Pat Robertson. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, right, presents
Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey - a Democrat - with the
organization's Catholic Layman of the Year award Friday.
KEYWORDS: CHRISTIAN COALITION by CNB