Word: reed
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Reed tries to keep his eye on the long term. "I'm asking myself where do I want this movement located in the political system in the year 2025," he told Time. "If I fall for the temptation of acting as a power broker within a given political party, then 25 or 30 years from now I will be where the labor unions are today...
...this point, Reed has steered the Coalition solely into the arms of the Republicans. It is supposed to be nonpartisan, but it clearly plays favorites. Former Coalition staff members hold key positions in the campaigns of Dole...
Alexander, Gramm and Pat Buchanan. None work for Bill Clinton. Democrats are concerned the Coalition may be eating into their dwindling base. Voters are looking for more morality in their politics, and the Coalition is providing it. "Thanks in great part to people like Ralph Reed, they have become a mainstream constituency," said Democratic consultant Mark McKinnon, who is based in Austin, Texas. "I have been advising my clients that we get ourselves in a lot of trouble by attacking the religious right. Instead of inciting them, we ought to try to co-opt them. We need to show...
Still, acclaim for Reed and his Coalition is far from universal, even within the Republican Party. Senator Arlen Specter launched his campaign for President with a broadside against Reed and his alleged "intolerance." Congresswoman Marge Roukema, a moderate Republican from New Jersey, said flatly, "Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition will create a lot of trouble for the Republican Party." And, in fact, if Reed succeeds too well at moving the party in his direction, he stands to alienate the middle-of-the-roaders, whose votes, while notably absent in Republican primaries, tend to decide general elections...
Meanwhile, powerful figures on the religious right feel the Republican Party isn't right enough for them, posing a danger for Reed if he continues to accommodate himself to the party's moderate elements. In March, James Dobson, head of the powerful Focus on Family organization, fired off open letters to party chairman Haley Barbour, complaining bitterly about the lack of immediate payoff from the November election. Fearful of compromising with "anti-family" elements, Dobson argued that it was time to fold the all-inviting "big tent" of the Republican Party. In contrast, Reed argues for a more inclusive Coalition...