Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson told delegates to the organization’s national meeting that he plans to double the size of the grass-roots organization to “put a pro-family conservative … in the White House” in the next presidential election.
Opening the two-day “Road to Victory” conference, Robertson said, “We have been exposed to some of the most terrible corruption at the highest level in our land. There is no way we can tolerate broken laws, the selling of favors to foreign nations. We must return to rectitude in the affairs of this nation.”
To thunderous applause, Robertson pledged, “we are going to have a pro-family conservative sitting in the White House, so help me God.”
Robertson called for conservative Christian unity behind one candidate. “We need to come together on somebody who reflects our values and has the stature to be president… We need to be like a united front… We have to get a responsible person and we have to realize some strategy.”
Robertson also urged his allies in the Republican Party to return to the moral issues that concern the Christian Coalition. “We hear a lot about tax cuts,” he said. “But we don’t hear very much about the kind of America we’re longing to create.”
Randy Tate, new executive director of the coalition, echoed Robertson’s theme of disappointment with elected officials. “Leaders have inspired us with their words and ultimately failed us when they left here,” Tate said. “The solution is to find men and women who share our hearts, men and women who don’t just sound like us but are like us.”
Tate added, “Gone are the days we’re going to idly stand back when we will tolerate being treated as second-class members of a coalition when we will just hope our message is respected.”
Tate criticized Congress for getting bogged down in esoteric financial and governance issues that don’t connect with the American people. He said most Americans don’t worry about how many cabinet offices there are, but instead “worry about whether their kids are going to be safe in their schools and whether an education system will undermine their faith that is taught by their parents.”
Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition’s first executive director, turned over the reins to Tate and Don Hodel, but emphasized that the Christian Coalition is more than the work of one man. “There were several people who said I built the Christian Coalition,” Reed acknowledged. “God built the Christian Coalition.”
House Speaker Newt Gingrich addressed the Christian Coalition’s national meeting, thanking the group for helping him pass tax cuts and welfare reform.
– E.P. News
