He is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for biblical worldview in everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me, He is working with me.

DeLay's leadership could be the subject of thrillers: laundering money, creating K Street to make lobbyists an arm of the Republican Party, working with Jack Abramoff to cheat one Indian tribe and take gambling money from another ... the list goes on and on. To read articles on DeLay click here.

U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown of Ohio -- as of January 1, he'll be Senator Brown of Ohio - posted an article on December 11, 2003 describing DeLay's style of leadership: Democracy Crumbles Under Cover of Darkness

Never before has the House of Representatives operated in such secrecy:

At 2:54 a.m. on a Friday in March, the House cut veterans benefits by three votes.

At 2:39 a.m. on a Friday in April, the House slashed education and health care by five votes.

At 1:56 a.m. on a Friday in May, the House passed the Leave No Millionaire Behind tax-cut bill by a handful of votes.

At 2:33 a.m. on a Friday in June, the House passed the Medicare privatization and prescription drug bill by one vote.

At 12:57 a.m. on a Friday in July, the House eviscerated Head Start by one vote.

And then, after returning from summer recess, at 12:12 a.m. on a Friday in October, the House voted $87 billion for Iraq.

Always in the middle of the night. Always after the press had passed their deadlines. Always after the American people had turned off the news and gone to bed.

From The Religious Right's 800-Pound Abortion Gorilla (Talk To Action, August 6, 2006)

As a well-compensated favor to one of his "dearest friends," Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay has actively promoted [forced abortions] in the Marianas Islands for years ...
Human rights worker Eric Gregoire told ABC News, "With 11,000 Chinese workers here, I have never seen a Chinese garment factory worker have a baby."

Ralph Reed, another casualty of the Abramoff scandals, deserves much of the credit for the spectacular rise of the Christian right to political power. As executive director of the Christian Coalition in the nineties, he helped elect many of the people who were finally defeated yesterday. He worked through evangelical churches and then used the same methodology to help re-elect George Bush in 2004. Reed's own political career came to an abrupt halt when he lost in the recent primary for lieutenant governor in South Carolina.

Indiana: Republican John Hostettler authored bills that passed in the House of Representatives. They were designed to give dominionists a stronger hand by stripping the courts of power. Hostettler, who lost last night, was on a "little theocratic rampage." (Thank you Bruce Wilson for that quote. See Mr. Stripper Is in Trouble, Talk To Action, 9/27/06.) He lost by 22 percentage points.

Oklahoma: U.S. Rep. Ernest "Jim" Istook (R), has written legislation to allow teacher-led school prayer. He lost his bid for governor to incumbent Brad Henry. The race was not even close, with Henry at 66 percent and Istook 34.

Ohio: Rod Parsley, senior pastor of the 14,000 member World Harvest Church outside of Columbus, Ohio traveled the state mesmerizing crowds with his calls for a "Christocracy." The Ohio Reformation Movement he co-founded sought to register 400,000 voters in that state. With a Democratic sweep of the state, Parsley and his Patriot Pastors apparently did not ignite a Martin-Luther type Reformation. They supported Ohio's Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell for governor, flying him around in World Harvest's airplane to speak in churches. Blackwell lost by almost 24 percentage points.

Michigan: Dick DeVos, Republican candidate for governor spent $35 million of his own money to win the gubernatorial race. By many indicators, he should have won because Michigan's economy is suffering due to the problems of big automakers. DeVos was easily defeated by incumbent Jennifer Granholm, 56 percent to 42 percent. DeVos helped found the Council for National Policy, a secretive Religious Right umbrella group, and has heavily funded the Family Research Council. His company, Amway, has been called a cult that sponsors religious/political revival type rallies.

Kansas: Attorney General Phill Kline, vowed to imprison doctors who provide abortions. He appeared at the Family Research Council's "Values Voter Summit" in September, where he promised to press a Religious Right agenda if returned to office. Kline attempted to build a church-based political machine in Kansas where he lost his reelection bid to his Democrat opponent by 16 percentage points.

Kentucky: Anne Northup, a Republican who used "faith-based" grants to win religious voters in 2002 and 2004, lost by 3 percentage points.

South Dakota:  A state-wide ban on most every form of abortion failed to pass 55-45 percent.

What do these election results mean for the Christian Right?

While the war in Iraq certainly dominates this election, the results could also signal a reaction to a government dominated by a biblical worldview. We might be seeing the beginning of a coalition made up of libertarians who resent government intrusion in our personal lives, traditional Republicans like John Danforth who are speaking out against the influence of the Christian right in their party, and evangelicals who are beginning to realize they are being manipulated by the GOP.

Paul Weyrich fears for the future of the Republican Party. He doesn't think it can exist without the Christian right. He wrote Republicans who think as does Jack Danforth:

Do you want to return to the way it was before the religious right became part of the GOP coalition? If that happens, the Republican Party will be dead. Its majorities in both the House and Senate soon would evaporate and the party would be unable to elect a President, as in 1976, when Gerald Ford was defeated.

Does this mean we can forget about the Christian right?

I think that would be a mistake. We should all celebrate, but let's remember what happened in 1989. The Moral Majority had disbanded and it seemed that the Christian right was going away. But instead, it morphed into the Christian Coalition and came back stronger than ever. For now, we should breathe a deep sigh of relief, but not turn our backs. Because of our ignorance, we were very close to losing our Democracy.

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