Political Animal reviews the scorecard and finds no real success for the Religious Right after all these long years.
The culture war is all but over, and far-right evangelicals have precious little to show for their efforts. After about three decades of fighting, the culture warriors are hard pressed to point to any progress at all.
Anti-gay animus is not only waning, four states now allow gay marriage. Abortion is still legal and a majority of Americans are still pro-choice. School prayer isn't even on the political world's radar screen anymore. Pornography is not only a multi-billion industry; it's more accessible than ever. The single fasting growing segment of the American spiritual landscape is non-believers and those with no religious identification.
In 1998, President Clinton's approval rating went up after getting caught in a sex scandal, and in 2008, the first admitted adulterer to ever run for president sought and won the Republican Party's presidential nomination.
Not only does the Republican Party establishment largely ignore its theocratic wing, but there are growing fissures in evangelical Christian communities, with a growing number of evangelicals, especially younger ones, rejecting the Dobson agenda and political worldview.
Of course, they'll always have those two elections of W to be proud of.
Maybe we should license Christians.
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