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Will the Republican party take a strong pro-family stand? Will there be a third-party candidate? Will the economy mean as much to voters in 1996 as it did in 1992? Or will concerns about morality and family values take center stage?

These questions are but a few examples of what candidates, political activists, and voters will have answered when the 1996 presidential election occurs a year from now. For Christian conservative activists, the 1996 election provides the long-anticipated opportunity to defeat President Bill Clinton, whose politics, policies, and past have been under attack since Inauguration Day.

Although the number of candidates for the GOP presidential nomination seems to change monthly, one reality has not changed: politically conservative religious activists are solidly Republican. A recent Luntz Research poll of 1,000 members of the 1.7 million-member Christian Coalition shows that only 5 percent are Democrats, while 68 percent are Republicans.

Since the Christian Coalition strengthened its relationship with the GOP-controlled Congress in 1994, the Pat Robertson-founded group is emerging as a major force in presidential politics. No fewer than seven Republican candidates made room on their schedules to address the coalition's Road to Victory conference in September.

While many conservative Christians are thrilled at the powerful achievements of the Christian Coalition, other believers are worried about its influence, and a few actively work against the coalition's agenda.

"We are very concerned about the perception that there is one voice for Christianity out there, and it belongs to Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition," said Patrice Hauptman, spokesperson for the Interfaith Alliance, an interdenominational group formed as a counterweight to the Christian Right.

"We want candidates to know that there are Christian voters who oppose what we regard as pandering to the Right and its extremist agenda." At 10,000 members, the Interfaith Alliance is minuscule in comparison to the Christian Coalition, but according to Hauptman, the group has recently been growing at a rate of 2,000 a month.

Meanwhile, as religious conservatives build a grassroots network nationally, the Clinton administration has not remained idle. A steady stream of religious leaders, including evangelicals, have made their way to the White House for closed-door sessions with the President.

Don Argue, who recently met with President Clinton, said as head of the National Association of Evangelicals he will focus the NAE's efforts on emphasizing the moral issues and not toward endorsement of candidates or political parties. He said, "We intend to speak to issues of moral values where the Scripture speaks."

Beyond a stance on the issues, politically active Christians are faced with the central question: Is it better to maintain the purity of one's position—and potentially lose—or soften one's views to gain support and perhaps win?

Yet, some leaders do not see a painful choice between principle or pragmatism. For Ron Sider, founder and president of Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA), Americans are too narrowly focused. He finds that shortcomings are not in short supply when he examines the candidates and their positions.

"I would like to have [the next president be] consistently pro-life; someone who places empowering the poor at the center of his concerns; who is truly committed to preserving the environment and the sanctity of life; whose life and rhetoric are genuinely profamily," Sider told CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

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November 13 1995, Vol. 39, No. 13