Bush has new role: de facto leader of the religious right. (People & Events).

Is President George W. Bush the new leader of the Religious Right?

Some news media observers seem to think so. On Dec. 24 The Washington Post carried an article asserting, "Pat Robertson's resignation this month as president of the Christian Coalition confirmed the ascendance of a new leader of the religious right in America: George W. Bush."

The newspaper argued that Bush is the movement's "de facto leader -- a status even Ronald Reagan, though admired by religious conservatives, never earned." Reporter Dana Milbank quoted several Religious Right leaders who agreed.

Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition and now a GOP political consultant in Atlanta, told The Post religious conservatives no longer need outside organizations because they are in the highest circles of power.

"You're no longer throwing rocks at the building; you're in the building," said Reed, who serves as Republican chairman of Georgia.

Reed added that many in the Religious Right believe Bush's elevation to the White House was due to a divine plan.

"I've heard a lot of `God knew something we didn't,'" he said. "In the evangelical mind, the notion of an omniscient God is central to their theology. He had a knowledge nobody else had: He knew George Bush had the ability to lead in this compelling way."

Although Bush reportedly eschews any talk of a divine plan, Tim Goeglein, a White House religious liaison, told the evangelical magazine World recently, "I think President Bush is God's man at this hour, and I say this with a great sense of humility."

In the primary season, Bush impressed many Religious Right activists when he named Jesus Christ as his favorite political philosopher. He has also spoken several times about how his religious conversion helped him quit drinking and changed his life in other ways. During the campaign, he assiduously courted the Religious Right and frequently spoke at movement conferences and meetings.

As president, Bush has continued to talk about his faith. Last month he told an audience in California that Americans need to pray for a "spiritual shield" over the country.

"I have felt the prayers of the American people for me and my family," Bush said. "I want to thank all who have prayed. People say, `Well, how do you know?' I say, `I can just feel it.' I can't describe it very well, but I feel comforted by the prayer."

Audience applause for the religious comments has led administration figures to predict more of the same. A White House aide told the Chicago Tribune that the reception was so positive in California -- a state that Bush lost in 2000 -- that it is likely that the president will begin showing even broader glimpses of his personal and spiritual side.

Bush's declarations have also endeared him to the Religious Right.

"He is the leader of the Christian Right," Marshall Wittmann, a former Christian Coalition staffer, told The Post. Wittmann added that Bush is able to "go over the heads" of the leaders of Religious Right groups and reach individual activists.

Bush, however, is apparently not taking the movement's support for granted. In December, Karl Rove, a top Bush political strategist, said the GOP did not do enough to rally evangelical Christians during the 2000 race and pledged to remedy that.

"We probably failed to marshal support of the base as well as we should have," Rove, speaking at a panel in Washington, said. "There should have been 19 million of them [Religious Right supporters], and instead there were 15 million of them. So four million of them did not turn out to vote."

Rove said Bush would do more to reach out to the Religious Right by stressing social issues that the movement champions.