"GOP Agenda" leaves Christian conservatives in the cold

A sharp reader pointed me to the Republican Party Web site and its description of President Bush's agenda. In it, talk of the economy, national security, education, social security, health care, the environment, and energy. That's it. What's missing is any talk at all of anything of importance to Bush's Christian conservative base. Nada. Nil. Zilch.

Again, it's not surprising that Bush doesn't want to bring attention to the crazy Christian aunt in the attic. But still, you'd think at some point the religious right would wake up to the fact that the only thing this president has given them at this convention is platform from the dark ages - which sends an incredibly hateful religious right message, to be sure, but is politically meaningless. Hell, the most conservative guy speaking during convention prime time - other than Bush and Cheney - is a Democrat, Zell Miller.

The religious right is clearly feeling the heat. It's no coincidence that this past week we've heard from Gary Bauer, Andrea Lafferty (Lou Sheldon's daughter), and today Jerry Falwell, all trying to assuage their fundamentalist flock that the cold shoulder they're getting at the convention isn't a bad thing, but rather a necessary step for the president to win re-election. Of course, what the radical right is really admitting is that they're now the pariahs of the Republican party, and apparently their leaders have no problem with aiding and abeting their own second-class treatment. Their leaders argue that the president who finds them so distasteful next week in NYC will somehow adore them after the election. I can tell you as a gay man working in national politics for the past 15 years, when the candidate avoids you like the plague during the campaign, he isn't much nicer to you once he's in office.

The gay Republican group, Log Cabin Republicans, spoke this week about how the GOP convention was trying to "put lipstick on the pig" by showcasing party liberals like Giuliani and Schwarzenegger, whereas the party's true leadership and agenda is all conservative. But Log Cabin got it only partly right. The GOP isn't putting lipstick on the pig, it's shoving the pig in the closet.