Second Coming: The Strategies of the New Christian Right
Since the election of a Republican majority in Congress in 1994, the Christian Right movement has attained an unprecedented degree of legitimacy and influence in American politics. GOP lawmakers eagerly seek to be pictured with Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed, Jr., who unveiled the "Contract with the American Family." Popular media portrayals, including a Time magazine cover story, refer to a Christian Right strategy of "taking over" American politics as "working." These developments are remarkable when we consider the once declining stature of the Christian Right and the predictions of its demise as recently as the aftermath of the 1992 elections. Yet the success of the Christian Right was neither a sudden occurrence nor an accident of the GOP takeover of Congress. It was the result of a calculated, sophisticated strategy to build a disorganized social movement into a formidable party faction with a grassroots oriented network of activists. This article examines the factors that have contributed to the recent successes of the Christian Right.