James Dobson, Last of the Mohicans

An article in US News relays James Dobson's thoughts on the Republican presidential field:

On Fred Thompson: "I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression."
On Mitt Romney: "There are conservative Christians who will not vote for him because of his Mormon faith."
On Rudy Giuliani: "I do not believe that the current excitement over Giuliani will continue."
(The one candidate he likes is Newt Gingrich, who paid fealty to Dobson's power by confessing his sins on J.D.'s radio show...)

Does it seem to anyone else like Dobson is cracking up? I mean, slinging mud all over the main Republican candidates months before primary season is like flushing political capital down the toilet.

Dobson apparently thinks he has an infinite reserve of political capital. He believes himself to be the indispensable kingmaker of the Republican party. And with good reason, too - with Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Gary Bauer, and Ted Haggard out of the picture (not to mention Rick Santorum, Tom Delay, and John Ashcroft), Dobson is the sole standard-bearer for the religious right. The Last of the Mohicans.

Only, it's odd that there are no young guns coming up to replace the aging Dobson. Instead, we hear about activist Christians fighting against global warming (over Dobson's squawking but ineffective protests, no less).

America's social conservatives seem to be drifting away from the Christian theme. It seems like the movement is moving back toward good ol' authoritarian racial nationalism (that's "fascism" in 13 syllables) - anti-immigration, pro-government, and militarist. Why the shift? Maybe the specter of theocracy scared too many Americans, or maybe churchgoers were a little too serious about following Jesus' pacifist ideals. Or maybe the perils of our age caused conservatives to stop thinking about sex and start thinking about war.

Either way, when Dobson goes - and, from his borderline-megalomaniac comments, it looks like that may not be too far off - it's the end of an era.


PS - On an unrelated note, check out the Yglesias plan for Iraq funding. Pretty darn smart. The idea is to fund only a couple more months of war (which Bush will have to sign), then force the Republicans to defend the war again a couple months later, ad infinitum.