America's Evangelicals Feel 'Used' by the Republican Party

Evangelicals in the US are no strangers to politics but as the 2006 mid-term elections approach there is a growing sense in some corners of the evangelical movement that they are being used by the Republican Party.

While politicians in the US are keen to court evangelicals for their votes, the lack of progress that the Republican Party has made in the White House, Senate and Congress, has not gone unnoticed by many evangelicals who dedicate hours upon hours of their own time in distributing flyers and rallying support.

The feeling among evangelicals is a creeping dissatisfaction with the Republican Party which they say is failing to act aggressively on fulfilling its campaign promises.

According to one Christian organisation, the 2006 mid-term elections are demonstrating to the Republican Party they can no longer take the faith communities vote and support for granted.

Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states, "If Republicans lose the House or Senate, they only have themselves to blame. They have failed to energise and empower faith and value voters which provide a critical base of support for the Republican Party.

"Many evangelicals I have talked with feel used and taken for granted by the Republican Party. Their feeling is the Republican Party courts them during elections and then abandons and ignores them after the election is over.

"Many faith and value voters feel there is little to show in the area of real change in Washington, after years of republicans controlling the House, Senate and the White House. And, this translates into a lack of passion and energy for the mid-term elections.

"Comments I often hear are things like, 'Why should I pass out literature in the freezing cold or the pouring rain? Or, spend hours manning a phone bank for candidates that delivers so little.'

"Republican leadership can no longer assume that the faith community will vote for them just because they are 'republicans'.

"Values voters are interested in results and real change. Not partisan politics."