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Nathan believes the backlash comes as more evangelicals are beginning to re-examine their political priorities.

"There is a growing trend toward the broadening of the evangelical agenda beyond the hot-button issues of abortion and gay marriage," said Nathan, who sees evangelicals and other conservatives rethinking their views on the Iraq war, poverty, and the environment. He said Vineyard's attention to social justice and outreach programs for the poor have also "really resonated with died-in-the-wool evangelicals."

"I would say the evangelical political conscience is maturing, and it could be that we are beginning to see the emergence of what Carl Henry talked about 60 years ago in The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism—a full engagement on the issues, as opposed to a single litmus paper test," Nathan said.

This broadened agenda is what activists like Wallis have been working for. But it remains to be seen how Democratic Party leaders will react to new congressional members who don't vote pro-choice.

Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, said Democrats learned in 2004 that discouraging pro-lifers was not helping their party. So Democratic strategists recruited a few social-conservative candidates for 2006. Day believes the change started when Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Sen. Charles Schumer supported Bob Casey Jr. in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

"He was the test case that proved successful," Day said. "The DNC was behind Casey and other winning pro-life Democrats 150 percent. It's very encouraging to see that you no longer have to support abortion to get the support of the party."

Day said the growing coalition of pro-life Democrats in the House and Senate—a new total of about 36—will make it more difficult for party leaders to "strong-arm people into voting pro-choice."

John Green said pro-life Democrats did help the party take several key races. But he cautioned that party divisions over abortion could make the big-tent strategy less appealing.

"It depends on how the Democrats act," said Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., an evangelical. "If they tend to the left, it won't take them 12 years to get kicked out. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker because pro-life, conservative Democrats have won, and I think she realizes that." Davis said voters and unyielding pro-life Democrats have sent the party's leadership a powerful message. "It tells Nancy Pelosi that if you don't have the pro-life Democrats in Congress, you can't be Speaker. You can't govern. You can't talk about the minimum wage" and other priorities.

Linking pro-life measures to these platform priorities could be effective. Davis, sponsor of the Pregnant Women Support Act, said he is planning to re-introduce his legislation with one major difference—a $2 per hour increase in the minimum wage. "This will help allow a young lady to afford to keep her baby," Davis said.

But as many conservatives can attest, propelling a party to victory and actually shaping legislation are two very different challenges.

"The Religious Right and the secular Left both lost on Election Night," Wallis said. The goal now? "We have to hold the new Congress accountable."

Sheryl Henderson Blunt is a CT senior writer.

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January 2007, Vol. 51, No. 1