Conservative Christians - What's Their Political Game Plan?

[quote] Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion.   James C. Dobson and many of his allies say they are deeply disappointed in President Bush and Congressional Republicans.   "There is a growing feeling among conservatives that the only way to cure the problem is for Republicans to lose the Congressional elections this fall," said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail pioneer.[end quote]   Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans - New York Times.

I'm not sure I understand the strategic thinking here.  If the Democrats were to retake Congress, it would guarantee at least two years of constant, hostile, heavily-publicized congressional investigation of everything the Bush Administration has ever done.  That in turn would increase the chances that the Democrats would retake the White House in 2008 — with its attendant impact on social-policy legislation, nominations for the Supreme Court and lower courts, etc.    At least in the near term, I don't see how staying home in November would help conservative Christians advance their causes.   I can see three possible explanations for their comments:

1.  These conservatives are publicly rattling their sabers about staying home as a scare tactic, to try to push the White House and Congress into enacting more social-conservatism legislation before the 2006 midterm elections — but come Election Day, they'll swallow their pride and turn out to vote, rather than risk losing Congress to the Democrats; or

2.  They figure that 2006 is already a lost cause, and that one or both houses of Congress is going to go Democratic no matter what, so they're trying to make hay while the sun shines — they want the GOP to ram through whatever social-policy legislation they can in the time they have left; or

3.  They're serious about staying home in November, because they're looking ahead, not to 2008, but to 2012 or even 2016.  Remembering the post-Watergate era and the Nixon-Ford-Carter progression, they may be betting that their best long-term strategy is to let the Democrats run the country for a few years, in the hope that by then the voters will be ready for a new Ronald Reagan, whoever that might turn out to be.

Comments

[David Huff]

...in the hope that by then the voters will be ready for a new Ronald Reagan, whoever that might turn out to be.

Oh please Lord, not that. I'm not sure the Federal budget could take it...