Pander to the Christian Coalition? Answer: No!

In 1988, Pat Robertson ran for President of the United State. Yeah, I know it is a scary thought. But Robertson was a serious contender for the Republican nomination. He finished second in the Iowa caucuses. But after that his campaign failed.

Many Democrats were happy to say adios to Robertson. But what many of us didn't know was that this was just the beginning of one of the largest political movements since the Civil Rights movement.

Robertson, along with Ralph Reed, took Robertson's mailing list and created the Christian Coalition. Since the late 1980s, the Christian Coalition has been in pain in many Democratic asses.

In recent debates, many Democrats have been asking if our party should include people who support many of the Christian Coalition's values. The simple answer is yes (I know my title says no, but I am getting to that). I feel that the Democratic Party needs to be the big tent party and needs to make everyone feel welcome. Though the likelihood of someone who is very conservative even entering our party is pretty slim. Still, we need to make all sane people (yes, sane people, we should never allow Nazis, Klansmen, etc) feel welcomed our party.

But should we pander to the Christian Coalition as an organization. The answer is no. First of all, the Christian Coalition was created by Pat Robertson, a REPUBLICAN, and Ralph Reed, another REPUBLICAN. This group is purely a Republican organization, no matter how non-partisan they want to look (and that is mostly for tax reasons). The Christian Coalition is about as independent as Bill O'Reilly claims to be.

Second, the Democrats shouldn't pander to the CC because they will never agree 100% with them. Lets say the Democrats have a candidate running for office. Yes, he might be pro-life and against gay marriage. But will that same candidate be opposed to stem cell, support prayer in school, the posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings, public vouchers for private schools, and the score of other CC issues? The answer is likely no.

On the other hand, the likelihood of a Republican supporting 100% of their issues is pretty high. Therefore, they will support the Republican candidate.

Democrats (like Hillary, argh) shouldn't be wasting her time with these voters, because they will eventually disagree with some of their views and, therefore, support the Republicans.

The Christian Coalition IS a Republcian organization, and don't forget that. Too try to get the support of this group is just plain dumb.