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Ralph Reed, founder of the company, said that this is not an accident.
Reed stated that the goal was to create a truly multiracial, multiethnic and faith-based movement over the next decades. He spoke during a lunch table with a few reporters.
Participants listened to Christian worship music, at times in Spanish, and learned how to vote in the midterm elections. This message and movement are resonating well with Black pastors such as W.J. Coleman, Lewisville, Miss.
He told NPR that while many people are aware they are conservatives, the words ‘conservative’ or ‘Republican” have been made an unsavory word. “But, if you remove that from the equation many more minorities will find themselves being that.”
Recent Supreme Court decisions are being handed down in their favor aEUR” against abortion rights and for public prayer aEUR” and Republican Party’s rising stars like Florida Republican Governor. Ron DeSantis and others are ready to take on the progressive politics that corporate America offers.
Reed has been active in evangelical GOP politics for over three decades. Reed is currently the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s chief executive, but his most notable accomplishment was the founding of the Christian Coalition in the early 1990s. He is a controversial figure. He was involved in scandals surrounding Jack Abramoff, a disgraced former lobbyist, during the 2000s. However, Reed was not charged with any wrongdoing.
After embracing Donald Trump in 2016, he found his way back into national prominence and helped to turn the white evangelical vote in Trump’s favor.
Reed’s stock has been rising as Republicans see a red tide coming in the race for Congress control. Reed stated that they are focused like a laser beam on turning out the largest pro-life and faith-based vote in midterm elections in their lifetimes.
Reed noted that the Christian Coalition had a database of 8,000,000 voters when he founded it. Reed’s current database contains 46 million voters. He stated, “We will knock more doors, touch more votes at the door, than we have ever touched, in the history, of the organization, and than I believe have been touched, right in my career, by any outside organisation on the center,”
Reed is optimistic, and that’s a good thing.
His organization is a reference point for any Republican candidate who might be considering running for the presidency. Trump spoke at the Nashville gathering last month. Ambitious politicians are making moves to win over evangelical voters, due to the powerful influence they have in primary politics.
Florida GOP Governor is one of those potential presidential candidates. Ron DeSantis recently pursued the Walt Disney Corporation’s special tax status within his state. This was after the Walt Disney corporation opposed a new state law that prohibited educators from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with children under 4. Reed stated that this was a “watershed moment” in conservative movements.
He said, “For that not only to happen, but to happen like this, and for DeSantis not only to pay no political price but to become a beneficiary political, and then for Disney basically to go radio silent and just accept it, was incredible.”
The Disney fight has empowered activists to take on institutions that were once their political allies more aggressively. Disney didn’t respond to our request for comment.
He said, “If the Disneys and Deltas and Coca-Colas of this world aren’t careful, they’re about to take the best friend that they’ve ever had in economic policy and regulation aEUR”, and policies that would help them grow their businesses aEUR”, and make them enemies.
According to the Pew Research Center, Reed sees issues that involve sex and gender as an opportunity for the Republican Party’s new approach to reaching Black and Latino voters. These voters attend church at a higher rate than White voters.
He said, “They really, truly play and resonate powerfully within these minority communities.” “It would not be for everyone, but it would be minimum 25% in the black community and minimum 30% in Hispanic communities.
Reed spoke with reporters just days before the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe V. Wade. However, the outcome was predictable after the draft opinion had been leaked. Reed did not believe that abortion would be a major issue in November. He noted that historically, only 5% of voters have listed abortion as their top reason for voting.
He stated that he believes the election will be about “what we all know it to be about: the economy, inflation, and high prices.”
A Republican-controlled Congress, empowered to pursue a more conservative social agenda, could have a significant impact come November.
