Christian Conservatives Threaten Third Party Run

James Dobson

This isn't a news flash, but it is probably best stated openly and in the beginning of the primary process. Focus on the Family does not own the Republican party. Neither does any other religious organization. If the word coming from the Christian leaders is accurate, then the Republican party is likely dead in the water in 2008. I don't think it is accurate, but if it is, we deserve another Clinton Presidency.

The news says that religious leaders are considering a third party run if Giuliani gets the Republican nod. This is the lingering stench of the Chafee effect in the party: A vital cog in the wheel threatens to defect if it doesn't get greased. After controlling the senate at political gunpoint for some years, Republicans were happy to see the Senator from Rhode Island cleaning out his office.

They won't be so ready to concede the defection of the Christian right, but if it is necessary, I hold that we should show them the door in a civil fashion, remaining open to reconciliation. For too long, we've been held to a standard that doesn't suit Republican ideals. Our first priorities should be small government, individual liberty, strong national defense and ardent federalism. Instead, we've been a party obsessed with keeping a segment within happy.

Within those ideals, there is room for debate about the issues that animate the Christian right. However, we do not have to allow those discussions to supplant our governmental ideals. Not one person that I know is arguing to stymie their voice and input, and I know few backers of abortion and euthanasia.

Unlike Democrats, who would crawl over broken glass on their knees to beg Ralph Nader not to run, I have many friends who agree that an amicable divorce might be best for the party in the long run, but not in the middle of a war. If Christian conservatives find the ideals of social libertarians unbearable, perhaps they should consider the Malaysian alternative. The fact is, we are in the middle of another great struggle.

A resurgent Russia is back to its bully-boy tactics. China is threatening to expand its vision of global domination. Europe is in ethical shambles and the developing world is spawning new dictators on a regular basis.

This is not the time to split the party. I have a good idea that the people making threats know that. So I say to them with respect: If you think that you need to do so, leave. Go form a third party and I wish you the best with your endeavors.

We'll be back together by necessity soon enough, and if you think the abortion problem is bad, wait until you see the casualty numbers from the world war.