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- THE WEEK, Page 13NATIONPolitical Exorcism
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- G.O.P. centrists organize to wrest the party back from the
- religious right
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- Ultimately, it may come down to a matter of passion vs.
- Passion. Twenty Republican centrist leaders who think they can
- muster enough of the former to check the growing power of the
- latter have announced the creation of the Republican Majority
- Coalition. The group's main goal is to excise controversial
- moral questions, like abortion, gay rights and school prayer
- from politics generally and from the next G.O.P. platform in
- particular.
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- Though it boasts prominent names, including Senators Arlen
- Specter, Nancy Kassebaum, John Chafee and Warren Rudman, the new
- assemblage faces rough going. Other moderates, reluctant to
- anger religious activists, declined to join the effort. Even the
- pugnacious Specter cautioned afterward that "it is important
- that we not pick fights or disagree with anyone." Ralph Reed,
- who runs Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition, noted that a
- previous effort to mobilize centrists had flopped. "It's awfully
- hard to motivate moderates," Reed observed.
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