by Fran Eaton
So exactly what can social conservatives in Illinois gather from yesterday's Florida GOP primary, where overwhelmingly -- according to this author -- Christian Coalition-esque candidates are being rejected in the Bible Belt.
Citing Ralph Reed's loss in Georgia and other key social conservative losses in the past few months, traditional family values are out, moderation is in.
This isn't to say social conservatives and the organizations through which they speak and act -- like the Christian Coalition -- won't again rise to prominence. But for now, Republican voters across America are tending toward moderation on social issues. They are instead showing more concern for things like immigration, energy costs, security and their own financial futures.
So here's a memo to prospective Republican candidates for president in 2008: If you're looking for an army of organized evangelicals to carry you to the White House, you'd better put on your X-ray glasses. Right now, they're hard to see.
What say ye? Where's Illinois in this cycle?
My take is that Illinois evangelicals are not organized, and never have been. Illinois missed the Reagan Revolution. Now, it appears, Illinois evangelicals and conservative Catholics missed the Bush Morality Era.
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