Foreign Policy
Spring 1999

Onward Christian Voters

 

Prior to every election since 1990, the Christian Coalition has distributed voter guides and “scorecards” in more than 70,000 churches throughout the United States. The scorecards track how often candidates vote in line with the coalition’s position on issues such as abortion, education policy, and judicial nominations. According to the Washington-based People for the American Way—which monitors the activities of the Religious Right and opposes its agenda—the coalition distributed 33 million voter guides before the 1994 election and 45 million before the 1996 election. Although the scorecards are purportedly nonpartisan, a lawsuit filed by the Federal Elections Committee has charged the coalition with illegally influencing elections by disbursing the cards, which consistently give the highest marks to Republicans. In 1998, for example, the House gop average was 88.7, with top-ranking officials such as Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Tom Delay (R-TX) scoring a perfect 100. In contrast, Democrats averaged 19.3 percent, with many scoring zero.

The coalition’s political fortunes soared with the election of the Republican-led 104th Congress. Since then, among members of Congress elected in the 1994 and 1996 elections, a significant percentage have scored high marks on the scorecards [see below]. However, despite the Religious Right’s pouring millions of dollars into Republican coffers, the 1998 elections were an unqualified disappointment for the movement. Twenty-two of its 28 “favored sons” lost their races, and only 54 percent of “conservative Christian voters” cast ballots for Republicans, compared with 67 percent in 1994.

103rd Congress
	House	Sen
Percentage scoring 100:	16.8	17
Percentage scoring 80+:	30.8	26
104th Congress
	House	Sen
Percentage scoring 100:	26.7	26
Percentage scoring 80+:	43.4	36
105th Congress
	House	Sen
Percentage scoring 100:	25.5	17
Percentage scoring 80+:	42.3	43

Return to article