Thomas Frank was right

The religious right remains the bitch of the avaricious right: Bill Frist hasn't scheduled a single vote on "family" issues this year and the social conservatives are restless.

The Family Research Council (FRC), one of the most prominent pressure groups representing Christian evangelical voters, dropped the Senate from its annual congressional scorecard because the chamber voted on not one bill the group cares about. [The Hill]

But Frist's 2005 wasn't a total wash for conservative values:

Frist has won many big victories for conservatives, the aide added, such as shepherding Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to confirmation, limiting federal spending on hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast and threatening to strip Democrats of filibuster power over judicial nominees. Faced with this “nuclear option,” Democrats acquiesced in the confirmation of long-stalled conservative nominees. [Emphasis added]

And it's not like Frist hasn't been trying:

The Senate was going to vote on legislation affecting the interstate transportation of minors [for abortions] but Hurricane Katrina “hijacked” the calendar, a Frist aide said.

Besides, Frist has been working very hard on behalf of at least one family, his own.

[Via Mike Liddell.]

Comments

[Dicky Neely]

I'm sure it's no secrret that Frist is one of many on the left and the right with presidential aspirations and he has been, clumsily so, trying to maneuver his way to broader appeal after sucking up to the neo-cons and religious right.
He is a miserable, charismatically challenged example of a public servant and probably has little real chance of being president. The only thing that scares me is I used to say the same about Ronald Reagan and G.W.!

[John]

Don't worry, Dicky. His charisma is more like Bob Dole's than Ronnie's or Dubya's. He still hasn't evaded his legal troubles either. I'm pretty sure his star is no longer on the rise, but you are right in that you never can tell with politicians.

[1984 Was Not a Shopping List]

Personally, I think that

>limiting federal spending on hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast

is satanic.

[Njorl]

It will be interesting to see how long the Republicans can string them along. I think the backlash against any significant gains by the religious right would drive the Republicans out of power. I also think if they lose the religious right, they will lose power.

I think the same is true for the bigotry wing of the party.

How long can you dangle the dog biscuit in front of the bitch before it eats it, walks away, or bites you?

[pansauce]

The Family Research Council (FRC), one of the most prominent pressure groups representing Christian evangelical voters, dropped the Senate from its annual congressional scorecard because the chamber voted on not one bill the group cares about.

So now they decide that they didn't actually care about Terri Schiavo? Jeebus, I wish they'd make up their minds.

[theogon]

The religious right are bond traders, not day traders. They want to reap dividends in Supreme Court form - of course, that's not guaranteed either. Whether Alito is lying now and telling the truth in the 1980s, or visa versa - an open and probably unanswerable question until he sits on the court - will say who's played whom.

What makes me hopeful is the possibility that either way could lead to a breakdown of the money/church alliance, with the former leaving the latter if Roe is overturned and the latter leaving the former if not. The possibility, anyway.

[Squashed Lemon]

I still think somebody smart needs to completely deconstruct rightwing dogma insid out. Otherwise, we will always have to deal with these pesky type of critters.

How powerfull their idea can be? Their central idea is several thousand years old and most of their institution doesn't last 3 decades. so...

[Troutsky]

The Repubs have learned they can string the evangelicals along for till they are really needed (where else would they go?) and at the last minute they need only stomp on a few gays or back Intelligent Design and the Taliban falls right back in line.They are not overly burdened with powers of discernment.

[Troutsky]

The Repubs have learned they can string the evangelicals along for till they are really needed (where else would they go?) and at the last minute they need only stomp on a few gays or back Intelligent Design and the Taliban falls right back in line.They are not overly burdened with powers of discernment.

[gordo]

Troutsky--

It's not clear that the Republican Base (multi-millionaires) will be able to pull the same trick indefinitely. They got Robertson and Dobson on board for the Meiers nomination, and Meiers still got torpedoed by the religious conservatives.

Traditionally, religious conservatives (many of whom are liberals on a lot of issues) don't turn out to the polls in high numbers. There was a surge of political activity in the 1920s, but when the Democrats failed to deliver for them, the religious right went back into political hibernation.

Usually, only a segment of religious conservatives are energized during any particular time. The recent convergence of political activity among conservative Protestants, Catholics, and Jews is an anomoly. If the Republican Base is banking on this coalition holding together, they're going to be very disappointed, very soon. Right now, Frist is faced with the ugly reality of relying on the support of a group that is demanding legislation that would alienate the majority of Americans.

Republicans were able to string the religious right along through the 80s and 90s by claiming that they were being held back by either the Democratic congress, or by an activist Supreme Court, or by Clinton. Now they're reduced to saying they were held back by the weather.