XPost: az.general, az.politics   
   From: michelle@michelle.org   
      
   Although the religious right has a lot of influence (aka control) within   
   the Bush administration, it is having problems finding a candidate who   
   is ideologically pure enough for all of its factions to be the GOP   
   nominee in 2008.  This bodes well for the Democrats if the Dems can get   
   together behind a candidate themselves.   
      
      
   Christian Right Labors to Find ¹08 Candidate   
   By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK   
   WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 ‹ A group of influential Christian conservatives and   
   their allies emerged from a private meeting at a Florida resort this   
   month dissatisfied with the Republican presidential field and uncertain   
   where to turn.   
      
   The event was a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a secretive   
   club whose few hundred members include Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on   
   the Family, the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Liberty University and Grover   
   Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. Although little known outside the   
   conservative movement, the council has become a pivotal stop for   
   Republican presidential primary hopefuls, including George W. Bush on   
   the eve of his 1999 primary campaign.   
      
   But in a stark shift from the group¹s influence under President Bush,   
   the group risks relegation to the margins. Many of the conservatives who   
   attended the event, held at the beginning of the month at the   
   Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla., said they were dismayed at the   
   absence of a champion to carry their banner in the next election.   
      
   Many conservatives have already declared their hostility to Senator John   
   McCain of Arizona, despite his efforts to make amends for having once   
   denounced Christian conservative leaders as ³agents of intolerance,² and   
   to former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, because of his liberal   
   views on abortion and gay rights and his three marriages.   
      
   Many were also suspicious of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts;   
   members have used the council as a conduit to distribute a dossier   
   prepared by a Massachusetts conservative group about liberal elements of   
   his record on abortion, stem cell research and gay rights. (Mr. Romney   
   has worked to convince conservatives that his views have changed.)   
      
   And some members of the council have raised doubts about lesser known   
   candidates ‹ Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Representative Duncan   
   Hunter of California, who were invited to Amelia Island to address an   
   elite audience of about 60 of its members, and Senator Sam Brownback of   
   Kansas, who spoke to the full council at its previous meeting, in   
   October in Grand Rapids, Mich.   
      
   Although each of the three had supporters, many conservatives expressed   
   concerns about whether any of the candidates could unify their movement   
   or raise enough money to overtake the front-runners, several   
   participants in the meetings said.   
      
   Finally, in a measure of their dissatisfaction, a delegation of   
   prominent conservatives at Amelia Island tried to enlist as a candidate   
   Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, a guest speaker at the event. A   
   charismatic politician with a clear conservative record, Mr. Sanford is   
   almost unknown outside his home state and has done nothing to prepare   
   for a presidential run. He firmly declined the group¹s entreaties,   
   people involved in the recruiting effort said. A spokesman for Mr.   
   Sanford said he would not comment.   
      
   ³There is great anxiety,² said Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free   
   Congress Foundation. ³There is no outstanding conservative, and they are   
   all looking for that.²   
      
   Mr. Weyrich, a longtime member of the council, declined to discuss the   
   group or its meetings. The council¹s bylaws forbid members from publicly   
   disclosing its membership or activities, and participants agreed to   
   discuss the Amelia Island meeting only on the condition of anonymity.   
      
   For eight years and four elections, President Bush forged a singular   
   alliance with Christian conservatives ‹ including dispatching   
   administration officials and even cabinet members to address council   
   meetings ‹ that put them at the center of the Republican Party.   
      
   But in the aftermath of the stinging defeats in the midterm elections,   
   and with discontent over the Iraq war weighing heavily on the public,   
   some Christian conservatives worry that they may find themselves on the   
   sidelines of the presidential race.   
      
   Both Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney have worked hard to pitch themselves to   
   Christian conservatives ‹ Mr. McCain by delivering speeches at venues   
   like Mr. Falwell¹s Liberty University or a recent abstinence-promotion   
   event, Mr. Romney by leading the charge for a constitutional amendment   
   banning same-sex marriage. But neither has won over many of the   
   movement¹s leaders.   
      
   The conservative concern may also be an ominous sign for the Republican   
   Party about the morale of a core element of its political base.   
   Conservatives warn that the 2008 election could shape up like 1996, when   
   conservatives faced a lesser-of-two evils choice between a Republican   
   they distrusted, former Senator Bob Dole, and a Democrat they disdained,   
   President Bill Clinton. Dr. Dobson of Focus on the Family later said in   
   a speech to the council that he voted for a conservative third-party   
   candidate that year rather than pull a lever for Mr. Dole.   
      
   The Council for National Policy was founded 25 years ago by the Rev. Tim   
   LaHaye as a forum for conservative Christians to strategize about   
   turning the country to the right. Its secrecy was intended to insulate   
   the group from what its members considered the liberal bias of the news   
   media. In recent years the group has brought together a cross-section of   
   the right from Edwin J. Feulner to Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle   
   Association.   
      
   In addition to doubts about their ability to generate enough money and   
   momentum, each candidate who addressed the group also faces initial   
   skepticism from one faction or another on issues like immigration,   
   trade, taxes and foreign affairs.   
      
   ³Right now there is still a vacuum among conservative Republicans,² said   
   Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative who was a Republican primary   
   candidate in 2000. Conservatives, he said, ³want a more provable   
   conservative who also is demonstrating that they can put together the   
   resources necessary to prevail.² He declined to comment on the Amelia   
   Island meeting.   
      
   A spokesman for Mr. Brownback said he would not comment on the senator¹s   
   presentation to the council, citing its rules about strict   
   confidentiality. Several others who attended his speech said he received   
   heavy applause for his emphasis on restricting abortion and amending the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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