Focus on the fundies: With Supreme Court vacancy, Christian Right looks to cash in chips

By [1980], white evangelicals, who four years earlier had supported the election of [Jimmy Carter,] a Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher, a man quite open about the central role of faith in his life, instead voted overwhelmingly for his defeat, switching their loyalties to Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party.

Now, with an opening on the Supreme Court that offers President Bush the opportunity to alter the course of American jurisprudence, the alliance between Republicans and religious conservatives has reached a defining moment.

The Chicago Tribune article goes on to say that religious right leaders are growing impatient with Bush and "If we don't get a decent nominee, we've got to ask ourselves what we have been doing."

Meanwhile, a Colorado congressman -- curiously, his district includes Littleton, the location of Columbine High School -- suggested:

"...if [a terror attack] happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

"You’re talking about bombing Mecca," Campbell said.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded.

fundamentalists, Christian right,conservative, religious right, Supreme Court