 To this day, the words "Christian Coalition" are likely to evince a strong reaction from those who hear them — on both sides of the ideological aisle.
To many self-proclaimed liberals, the organization is viewed as one of the main culprits of what Hillary Clinton called a "vast right-wing conspiracy." To many socially conservative believers, though, especially those who embraced public-policy activism in the 1990s, the Coalition is remembered as one of the decade's most active and effective engines for advancing pro-family laws and electing pro-family lawmakers.
But what happened to the group that billed itself as "giving Christians a voice in their government again" — and famously succeeded on that promise? In 1994, the Christian Coalition was credited with helping Newt Gingrich orchestrate the takeover of both houses of Congress — remember the Contract with America? — yet just a few years later it existed in little more than name only.
Joel Vaughan, who spent a decade working in key posts for the Coalition, documents the group's fortunes and misfortunes in his new book, The Rise and Fall of the Christian Coalition: The Inside Story.
"Christian Coalition's fall was not the result of the decisions, actions or mistakes of any one person, just as its ascent was due to the work and talents of many," he writes. "These pages neither cast blame or laud praise."
But they do shed light — particularly on the Coalition's two chief personalities, Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed, and the legacy they left behind.
CitizenLink sat down with Vaughan, who now serves as special assistant to Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, to find out what he hopes the legacy of his book will be.
1. Your title could lead someone to think this is a tell-all book. It's not. I'd call it a "tell-how" book: how to grow an organization and how to avoid having one fall apart on you. What's the difference, in your mind, between a tell-all book and what you've done?
When I first started writing the book it was a G-rated, "tell-most" book. But I quickly realized there wasn't going to be a huge market for that. So it evolved into more of a handbook on running a nonprofit organization: what to do right, what can go wrong and what to avoid. The book has generated significant interest in the academic community, which is something I never expected, but am delighted with. I think it'll probably mean the book will have a longer lasting life than it would if it was just a flash in the pan "exposé."
2. The "rise" part of the equation, you lay out several reasons for, but one that really stands out is Ralph Reed and his strategy, his personality, his way with the media. What was the key to Ralph's success and, in turn, the success of the Coalition?
Ralph was a cross between Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox's character in the popular '80s TV comedy Family Ties) and Pacman. He was conservative. He had great ideals. He had the fire in the belly, and he gobbled up everything before him. Ralph was so much like the story in the book of Numbers about Joshua and Caleb. He looked into the land, he saw the giants, and he knew we could take that land with God's help and with Pat's enormous clout and fundraising ability. And I jokingly write that I think Ralph thought the giants would eventually be working for him.
3. The "fall" part of the equation, some of it was financial difficulties, some of it was legal difficulties. But the one that caught my attention was some of the professional and personal conflict; you even cite Mark 3:25 – "a house divided against itself cannot stand." In the last analysis, what do you think was the most devastating thing for the Coalition?
The most devastating thing was the obfuscation of the mission. In 1999, after the fall-out over the Clinton impeachment, we just didn't do anything anymore. We existed only for the purpose of existing. Our most talented people started leaving. The replacement leadership (post Reed and Don Hodel) which was, I think, hastily chosen although with good intentions, was really in way over its head. And it was like a man-eating snowball was chasing it downhill.
The citation from Mark is literally true. It's very similar to situations when churches "split." We had a state directors' meeting in early 1999, and people went around during the meeting choosing up sides saying, "Are you with us or are you with them?" And it was disastrous.
4. One of the things that leapt out at me is a quote that you had from Ralph where he says, "The most urgent challenge from pro-family conservatives is to develop a broader issues agenda. We've limited our effectiveness by concentrating disproportionately on such issues as abortion and homosexuality. These are vital, moral issues and must remain important, but to win at the ballot box we must speak to the concerns of average voters in the area of taxes, crime, government waste, health care, and financial security." That's something we still hear today. Do you think we've moved the pendulum in that regard as a movement or is that still an issue we need to address?
I think we have moved along, but I think it's ever before us. Ralph never wanted the Christian Coalition to be a one-issue or a two-issue organization. In 1993, we commissioned a poll of our membership, asking them, "What do you consider the top two issues facing America?" We fully expected those issues to come back with abortion among them. But consistently the top two issues were the same two the Clinton campaign had gotten elected on: education and the economy.
When we got those results, it fit with some things Ralph had already thought. Our first voter guides, for instance, had six or seven or eight issues. It wasn't a one-issue voter guide. Ralph even authored an article for a magazine then published by The Heritage Foundation called Policy Review, where he laid out five principles for how the religious conservative movement needed to broaden itself in order to reach a wider base. And he was right on. I think organizations today are doing that. I think Focus on the Family Action is certainly doing that.
5. One of the remarkable things that hit me as I read the book was you really have worked alongside the top Christian conservative folks of the last quarter century: Robertson, Reed, Hodel; here at Focus our own Dr. Dobson and Jim Daly. You've been behind the scenes, behind the closed doors, seen them up close and personal. What's the one thing, if you had to find one thing, that all of them have in common?
The one thing I see in common is those men are all very driven. They're all motivated in their own way.
There's a common statement in Pat Robertson's background – "What do you think about when you shave every morning?" And he literally thinks about his role in bringing the return of Jesus Christ. "What can he do to bring Christ back quicker?"
Dr. Dobson is more about families, more about spreading the Gospel through the family; more in a relational way, generation to generation, whereas Pat is more about proclaiming it widespread.
Don Hodel is the most self-sacrificial servant leader I think I've ever seen. And it took him to great heights. At age 47 he was a Cabinet secretary under President Reagan. And he took all of his jobs basically because nobody else would, and when he would accept the job he'd say, "Well, I'll do this until you find someone else." And he just kept getting promoted, all the way to the Cabinet. And he jokes that he couldn't hold a job.
Ralph Reed is probably the most driven person I've ever known. He's a brilliant strategist. He can come up with a plan to get things done. I've often said that you never would tell Ralph "no" when he asked you to do something because you would have to go through the embarrassment of watching him do it himself better than you could have done it.
And I'm very excited now to be working for Jim Daly, who came from a starkly different background from any of these others, but who is one of the top emerging leaders in Christendom, not only in this country but probably in the world. Focus on the Family reporting.
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