THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130292
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO LENGTH: 103 lines
Even before the opening gavel sounded Monday morning, Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed was already proclaiming victory at the Republican National Convention.
``In February 1995, I stated that if the Republican Party was to build on the (congressional) majorities that it won in 1994 and win the White House, it was essential that it generate support from pro-life Christians and Catholics,'' Reed said Sunday with a self-assured grin.
``We can say today, `Mission accomplished.' The Republican Party has adopted the most conservative and pro-life platform in history.''
After 18 months of cajoling and threatening the Republican Party, Reed is claiming two major victories for the Chesapeake-based coalition founded in 1989 by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
The group, he said, warded off efforts to weaken the party's anti-abortion stand and in the nomination of Jack Kemp for vice president and succeeded in getting an abortion foe at the bottom of the ticket.
Few doubt the influence of the coalition, which boasts more than 500 members among the 1,900 delegates at the convention and proclaims that more than two out of three delegates share its anti-abortion stand.
Rival liberal organizations such as the Interfaith Alliance in Washington are protesting that the GOP has been ``hijacked by a collection of religious radicals.'' On Sunday, they protested the coalition and held a prayer vigil at Balboa Park.
Along with the ever-growing influence comes a critical challenge that could determine Reed's role as power broker in the GOP. At issue is whether the coalition can generate enthusiasm among its 1.7 million members for presumptive nominees Bob Dole and Kemp, who are first and foremost economic - not religious - conservatives.
Also in question is whether Reed, 34, can persuade evangelicals to compromise on thorny social issues such as abortion to make Republican candidates more appealing to the general public.
``This is a classic dilemma for Reed,'' said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at American University in Washington who recently wrote a book on the Christian right. ``He must become known as a team player if he's to remain as a power broker in the Republican Party. But the more he seeks to become a Republican leader, the more risk he faces alienating his evangelical activists.''
Reed has sought to convince conservative Christians that the social and economic aims of the GOP are intertwined. For example, he has embraced Dole's calls for a $500 per child tax credit and 15 percent cut in income taxes as pro-family measures. The coalition made similar proposals last year in its ``Contract With the American Family.''
``I've always rejected the false dichotomy between the social agenda and the religious agenda,'' he said.
But Reed's efforts to promote compromise on abortion have thus far received chilling response from evangelicals. In May, for example, he wrote that the GOP should consider dropping its longtime platform plank calling for a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Drawing intense criticism from other religious right leaders, Reed quickly backed away from the proposal.
``Ralph is going to have to be really careful not to end up a leader without a following,'' Gary Bauer, director of the Family Research Council, said at the time.
Bauer amplified his comments this week. ``Abortion is the biggest motivator,'' he said. ``No candidate who is wrong on abortion will ever get the support of Christian conservatives. I don't want our movement to be seen as playing politics with abortion or any social issue.''
Reed, while insisting he is firm on social issues, is taking a more pragmatic approach. ``We recognize that the Republican Party is not a church and that its purpose is not to propagate the Gospel but to elect candidates.''
Dole, while amassing a solidly conservative record on social issues during his four decades in Congress, has sought to stress his independence from the coalition as the general election approaches.
He initially tried to insert language in the party's anti-abortion plank expressing tolerance for Republicans who disagree on the issue. But Dole backed off under intense pressure from evangelicals.
Earlier this week he said he would not feel bound to the GOP's platform if he becomes president.
``This is Bob Dole's platform,'' Reed replied. ``There's not a single item in it that he hasn't supported.''
While on the surface, there is some tension between Dole and Reed, sources say they have worked together closely behind the scenes. Dole and his representatives have consulted periodically with Reed and Robertson. And from the start, Reed and Robertson have been publicly supportive of Dole's candidacy.
This fall, the coalition plans to register 1 million evangelical voters and distribute 45 million voter guides in churches across the nation. Although the group claims to be nonpartisan, its outreach to Christian conservative voters is bound to help Dole and other Republican candidates. The Federal Election Commission recently filed suit against the coalition, saying its activities were in-kind political contributions to the GOP that should be publicly disclosed.
On Wednesday the coalition plans a massive rally with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former vice president Dan Quayle.
And in case debate over the anti-abortion platform breaks out this week, the coalition has established a computerized war room near the convention to quell it. Reed will be able to communicate to supporters in the hall through a system on hand-held digital read-out machines, floor whips and runners.
Not that he's expecting to use them, however.
``We anticipate a joyous, happy week full of harmony,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Ralph Reed is solidifying his role in the GOP at the convention
while keeping his evangelical roots in mind.
KEYWORDS: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION 1996
CHRISTIAN COALITION by CNB