The Return of Ralph Reed, and the Prospect of Evangelical Politics

The New York Times just ran a story on former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed entitled “A Political Revival for Ralph Reed.”  It’s worth reading.

Behold this selection:

Hardly bashful these days, Mr. Reed suggests that his party needs him. He said that “a couple good friends, fairly senior in the party” told him, “You need to do something.” They said, “Since you left the Christian Coalition, we haven’t had a lean, mean operation focused on the grass roots.”

Mr. Reed is pursuing these grand, some say grandiose, plans with a nonprofit group that he has described as “a 21st-century version of the Christian Coalition on steroids.” As the name implies, the Faith and Freedom Coalition hopes to rope in a broader constituency. His “sweet spot,” he says, is the millions of people who were fired up by the fiscal concerns of the Tea Party and share the cultural values of evangelicals.

The whole thing’s worth your time.

(Image: Chip Litherland, NYT)