Can the Religious Right Give Ted Cruz the Win?

[rug]

Conservative Christian leaders anointed the Texas senator at a secret gathering. Will their support propel him above Trump?

Jonathan Merritt | Dec 22, 2015

In August 1980, Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan stood before a crowd of 15,000 evangelicals in Dallas, Texas, and declared: “I know you can’t endorse me. But...I want you to know that I endorse you.” Shortly thereafter, various leaders of what would become known as the religious right would endorse Reagan, and their support would help make him the 40th president of the United States.

In December 2015, several dozen religious right leaders gathered yet again—this time in secret, at a Sheraton hotel outside Washington, D.C.—to determine which candidate would earn their endorsement. After four rounds of balloting, one candidate finally emerged with the 75 percent supermajority of votes needed to earn the group’s support for the presidency. They passed over soft-spoken Ben Carson, beloved by many Christians, and former Southern Baptist Pastor Mike Huckabee, and then on the fifth round, several votes shifted and their favor fell upon Ted Cruz, the junior U.S. senator from Texas.

Can the support of conservative Christian leaders propel Cruz above the seemingly impervious Donald Trump and land him the Republican nomination? There are millions of evangelical Christians in America—up to a quarter of the electorate, depending on which definition you use—and they are joined by many conservative Catholics.

And yet, the nation has come a long way since 1980. The religious right of 2015 is just a shell of its former self in terms of both cultural influence and the ability to mobilize voters. The support of conservative Christian leaders is nothing to sneeze at, but it is not breathtaking, either. Cruz will need more than the support of this shrinking, aging, and mostly white niche to win the White House.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/can-the-religious-right-give-ted-cruz-the-win/421563/

[LonePirate]

1. Fine by me if they nominate Cruz. He loses by bigger margins than Trump. Not only that, but ...

The Repubs will not be able to claim they would have won if they had nominated a true conservative. He is as right wing and fundamentalist as the others. He is their dream candidate and he will give us Dems 400 EVs plus all of Congress to go along with it. Heck, maybe he should be our dream opposition candidate.

[niyad]

2. would not be at all surprised.

[Android3.14]

3. More like, can Hillary suck the oxygen out of the room so the religious right can win the primary?

Count on it.

[Blus4u]

4. Unfortunately they appear to have more power now

in both state and federal government. And to me, that is scary as hell!
Thanks for the posted. More people need to know about dominionism.


Peace

[struggle4progress]

5. I should think it would be easy to organize effectively against Cruz

[rug]

7. It is for anyone who doesn't buy the crap that all religions are evil.

Those chattering that religious people who are not conservative are enabling people like Cruz make the fight against Cruz and company more difficult. Doubtless, there are those among them who know e4xactly that.

[rug]

6. Dupe.