News > Politics — Faithful say their votes carried day” href=”http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20041104-9999-1n4faith.html”>SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics — Faithful say their votes carried day By Sandi Dolbee, UNION-TRIBUNE RELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR
“This is a great victory,” said Cass, who last summer left his East County church to lead the Center for Reclaiming America, a conservative Christian public activism arm of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“It really is showing that America is a conservative nation and, unfortunately for those politicians on the other side of those issues, it’s not going to go well for them for a long time,” he said. …
“The religious right is already crowing about providing Bush’s margin of victory,” Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement issued yesterday.
“The movement’s leaders expect to be handsomely rewarded for that,” he added, noting that seats on the U.S. Supreme Court are likely to open up during Bush’s second term. “The culture war may go nuclear.”
Social conservatives score victories, plan more impact by Matt Stearns and Charles Homans, Knight Ridder Newspapers
“This country was based on biblical principles,” said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, applauding what she called the “pro-life, pro-family” Election Day victories. “This is a sign of what America used to be, and that we’re going back to where we were.” …
The U.S. Senate tilted sharply right with the election of several new senators, including
• Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who has advocated the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions, and
• Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who said pregnant single women should not be allowed to teach in public schools. …
Exit polls indicate that Christian conservatives are a big reason for those wins. About 78 percent of self-described born-again Christians voted for Bush, himself a born-again Christian. A fifth of all voters said moral values were the most important issue in the campaign, and three out of four of those voters went for Bush. …
Look for the judiciary in general and the Supreme Court in particular to be the next battleground where social conservatives flex their muscle, several social conservative leaders said.
“I’ve heard commentators say Bush should pick judges who don’t polarize,” said Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America. “Nonsense … The president shouldn’t be cutting any deals with Democrats.”