Panic stations for radical Christian right

In a behind the scenes meeting in Florida, members of the extreme self-styled Christian right appear to have decided that there isn't a single Republican candidate they can support in '08.

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 group, a  "secretive club," according to the New York Times report is the Council for National Policy, made up of the more extreme members of the right including people like James Dobson of "Focus on the Family," Jerry Falwell, and Grover Norquist, Karl Rove's old roommate.

Although little known outside the conservative movement, the council has become a pivotal stop for Republican presidential primary hopefuls, including then-Gov. George W. Bush on the eve of his 1999 primary campaign. But in a stark shift from the group’s 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.

John McCain has already blown it with the far right.  (He's blown it with the left too -- even Maureen Dowd who says he's off-balance, "like a cat without whiskers.")  What about the rest of the group?  No matter how rightwing they are, they're not extreme enough.

Many conservatives have already declared their hostility to Senator John McCain of Arizona, who once denounced Christian conservative leaders as “agents of intolerance,” and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, a liberal on abortion and gay rights issues who has been married three times.

But many were also deeply suspicious of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts; the council has been distributing to its members a dossier prepared by a Massachusetts conservative group about liberal elements of his record on abortion, stem cell research, gay rights and gun control. Mr. Romney says he has become more conservative.

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 and raise enough money to overtake the frontrunners, several participants in the meetings said.

Finally, in a measure of their dissatisfaction, a delegation of prominent conservatives at Amelia Island attempted to enlist Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina to enter the race. 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 group’s entreaties, people involved in the recruiting effort said. A spokesman for Mr. Sanford said he would not comment on the matter.

“There is great anxiety,” said Paul Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation and an elder statesman of the conservative movement. “There is no outstanding conservative, and they are all looking for that.”

Call me old-fashioned, but none -- not one -- of the above from Dobson through Weyrich is a genuine conservative.  Some may be ex-conservatives  But until we get used to regarding them as the radicals they have become, we won't fully comprehend how dangerous their goals are --  what they're willing to do to achieve them. 

Any sign of diminution of their grip on power is welcome and very important.