Quite a lot has been made of last weekend’s “Values Voter Summit”. It was the largest DC gathering of Christian conservatives since the late 90s. All the major Republican presidential candidates attended. The media was all over it. Many are saying it is the return of the religious right.
Not so fast.
While the VVS convened a lot of people, the Christian Coalition events from 93-98 convened many more people and more importantly they convened their members. The Coalition was such a powerful political force because it helped unify and direct the previously diffuse and competing (if not warring) factions of the Christian conservative movement.
So while the VVS got attention, no one should mistake a two-day conference for a resurrection of religious right at its most powerful.