Reply #73: One more article .... Christian Coalition fading fast

[RedEarth]

Christian Coalition fading fast
Grass-roots religious group now based in S.C. has lost leadership, influence
By LEE BANDY
Staff Writer

Rocked by financial debt, lawsuits and the loss of experienced political leaders, the Christian Coalition has become a pale imitation of its once-powerful self. Some say the group — now based in Charleston and headed by a South Carolinian — is on life support, having been eclipsed by higher-profile, better-funded groups such as Focus on the Family. “The coalition as we knew it doesn’t exist,” says Lois Eargle, former chairwoman of the Horry County Christian Coalition.

The 16-year-old organization once was a political juggernaut. But it has been in steady decline since it lost one of its most effective national leaders, executive director Ralph Reed. Reed left in 1997 to form his own political consulting firm in Atlanta.

“He was a great media figure, able to convey his particular message,” says Corwin Smidt, professor of political science at Calvin College, a Christian liberal arts school in Michigan. “But he was also a very bright young man and was able to articulate and make arguments effectively on behalf of the coalition.

“Today, the coalition doesn’t have anyone of that caliber. Once Reed left, the organization never recovered.” During Reed’s tenure, the politically conservative coalition began distributing millions of voter guides containing candidates’ records on hot-button issues such as abortion and gay rights.

In 1994 alone, the group mailed 30 million postcards opposing President Clinton’s sweeping health-care proposal and made more than 20,000 phone calls to urge support for the balanced budget amendment — two issues that helped Republicans win control of Congress that year.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/12676171.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp