Guerillas and bodybags and sharks - oh my!

Church & State, Jan 2002 by Boston, Rob

A Short History Of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition

'Nonpartisan' Christian Coalition Formed

Robertson announces formation of the Christian Coalition, saying the non-partisan group will work to train Christians to shape government policy and "make government and the media responsive to our concerns." (October 1989)

'One Precinct At A Time'

Robertson hires Ralph Reed, a 29-year-- old GOP activist, to run the Coalition. Reed tells the Los Angeles Times, "What Christians have got to do is take back this country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time and one state at a time. I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians.. and Christian values." (May 1990)

Big Bucks From The GOP

The "nonpartisan" Coalition accepts a $64,000 donation from the Republican Senatorial Committee and uses it to intervene in a North Carolina Senate race between Republican Jesse Helms and Democrat Harvey Gantt. [At a closed-door meeting of Coalition activists in November 1991, Reed brags that after Helms called Robertson for help, he blanketed the state with 750,000 voter guides and helped Helms win.] (November 1990)

Mainline Christians: 'Spirit of the Antichrist'?

On his "700 Club" television program, Robertson blasts other Christian denominations. "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that and the other thing," he observes. "Nonsense! I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." (Jan. 14, 1991)

Read: 'You're In A Body Bag'

In an interview with the Norfolk Virginian Pilot, Reed outlines the Coalition's stealth politics, a strategy that encourages Religious Right candidates to tout popular positions such as lower taxes and hide their controversial religious agenda. "I want to be invisible," he says. "I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag. You don't know until election night." (November 1991)

Guerilla Warfare

Reed defends "stealth politics" in the Los Angeles Times. "It's like guerilla warfare," he says. "If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under the cover of night." (March 1992)

George Bush: Dupe Of Lucifer?

Robertson's book, The New World Order, begins to attract attention. In the volume, Robertson asserts that a centuries-old conspiracy of worldwide leaders directed by Satan has engineered human history. Robertson asserts that President George Bush may be "unknowingly and unwittingly carrying out the mission and mouthing the phrases of a tightly knit cabal whose goal is nothing less than a new order for the human race under the dominion of Lucifer and his followers." Critics point out that the book is based on long-discredited anti-Semitic works from the 1920s. (June 1992)

Coalition Backs Bush

Despite his charges about Bush being a dupe of Satan, Robertson supports Bush's re-election bid and says the Coalition will distribute 40 million voter guides. (November 1992)

Reed Stashes Body Bags In Locker Room

In a six-page letter to CC activists, Reed recommends dropping war metaphors when describing political struggles. He suggests substituting sports metaphors because they "sound playful." (December 1992)

FEC Investigation Launched

The Federal Election Commission investigates the Coalition's role in the '90 Helms race. Reed tells reporters he has no memory of Helms asking Robertson for help. (June 1994)

Reed Takes Credit For GOP Congress

Reed appears on Robertson's "700 Club" and suggests the Christian Coalition and its voter guides should get the credit for the Republican takeover of Congress. (November 1994)

Membership Numbers Slip

Reed claims Coalition membership has hit 2 million. An analysis of postal records by Americans United shows the group's membership actually fell in 1995 - to 310,000 - a drop of 40,000 in less than a year (January 1996)

Death Penalty For Gays?

Despite Reed's call for Coalition activists to stop gay bashing, Americans United notes that the Coalition's Christian American magazine is promoting and selling a book called Legislating Immorality, which says the Bible requires the death penalty for homosexuals. (January 1996)

Ex-Staffer: 'I Was A Tadpole In A Tank Of Sharks'

Coalition financial officer Judy Liebert is fired after alleging a series of financial irregularities at the group. Speaking of her relationship with Reed, Robertson and company, Liebert later tells the Virginian-Pilot, "I felt like a tadpole swimming in a tank of sharks." (May 1996)

'Dirty Little Secrets' Of Coalition Voter Guides

Political science professor Larry J. Sabato and journalist Glenn Simpson analyze Christian Coalition voter guides from 1994 in their book Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics. Sabato and Simpson write that the guides were deliberately slanted to favor Republican congressional candidates. (June 1996)

Reed's Reading: 'Satanically Empowered Vatican'?