Rick Perry's Presidential Run

by Mary

One question that the Republicans will shake out in the coming months is who is the true candidate for the religious right? Sarah Poser provides her answer:

Bachmann's biography—steeped in inspiration from Francis Schaffer, Rushdoony, and, as I reported earlier this year, "Christian worldview" and anti-communism conspiracist David Noebel—is the product of, as Titus told me, "one of our major purposes, which was to train people in such a way so as to make an impact in the leadership of the country." Bachmann, in other words, is a product of the religious right's deliberate efforts to "raise up" soldiers to exercise a "dominion mandate;" she is, organically, one of them. Perry's effort Saturday, on the other hand, was a staged attempt to convince them that he is committed to their worldview. It's not clear that he has internalized it like Bachmann has, which may make him more Zelig-like and attractive to non-religious voters in states like New Hampshire, or might make him look like a pandering interloper to everyone. One thing is clear, though: the dominionism that we chroniclers of the religious right have talked about for years is now becoming a mainstream topic of scrutiny and conversation. Finally.