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Ralph Reed: Christian Conservative or Political Opportunist?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/18/politics/18reed.html?oref=loginThe New York Times reports that "In 30 years of culture wars, few conservative
Christian standard bearers have traveled further in American politics than Ralph
Reed. The former head of the Christian Coalition has been a high-priced
communications consultant, a top Bush campaign adviser, chairman of Georgia's
Republican Party and now a candidate for lieutenant governor here
."
"But as he completes his journey from Christian advocate to professional
politician, Mr. Reed, 43, finds himself carrying some baggage: his ties to an
old friend, the Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"In Washington, federal investigations of Mr. Abramoff, a close ally of Tom
DeLay, the House majority leader, have revealed that Mr. Abramoff paid Mr.
Reed's consulting firm more than $4 million to help organize Christian
opposition to Indian casinos in Texas and Louisiana - money that came from other
Indians with rival casinos."
Furthermore, "Some of Mr. Reed's past patrons - including the Rev. Pat
Robertson, the Christian broadcaster who set Mr. Reed on the national stage by
hiring him to run the Christian Coalition - say his work with Mr. Abramoff's
Indian casino clients raises questions about how he has balanced his personal
ambitions with his Christian principles."
"The Christian Coalition, they may have some shady background," said Robert
McIntyre, the treasurer of the Spalding County Republican Party, who still wore
a Ralph Reed sticker on his lapel. "I was being loyal to Ralph Reed, but since
now some things have come up, I need to listen. I am now wavering."
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