If there is one group that one may rightly say that Dan Rather detests, it is the group he refers to as "the Religious Right." While many religious conservatives are not politically conservative (exit polls done after the 1998 congressional elections showed that 30 percent of these voters identified with the Democratic Party), Rather intransigently lumps them together as "hard Right" and blames them for "gay bashing" and assorted messages of hate. He also considers the Christian Coalition an illegitimate interest group.

See also "Conservatives" and our coverage of a 2003 controversy between Catholics and CBS reporter Vince Gonzalez.

"Pat Buchanan was not the only Republican to take a hard line on so-called 'family values.'"
--Dan Rather in "Rather's Notebook" at the CBS News Web site, April 18, 2000.

"The head of the Republican political lobbying group that calls itself, quote, 'the Christian Coalition' said today he's leaving to start a political consulting business. Ralph Reed's group took a beating on some of its hard-Right agenda in the last election."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, April 23, 1997.

[Bush is] "courting and accepting support from the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and much of the rest of what many in the country view as the worst of the Religious Right."
--Dan Rather in "Rather's Notebook" at the CBS Web site, February 27, 2000.

"Gays are not, of course, the only target of the Christian right's values jihad. But the recent legislative and judicial struggles of the gay rights movement--gays in the military, gay marriage, bias laws -- and even the mainstream emergence of gay culture (Ellen, et al.) have put them repeatedly in the far-right's crosshairs on an issue-by-issue basis.
"The compassionate conservative's stand on homosexuals seems to be this: I'm OK, you're OK -- so long as you don't want to serve in my military, marry my son, or get 'special protection' from civil rights laws.
"To those old enough to remember or with an ear for history, this will all ring familiar. And the conundrum the Republicans are facing now echoes the one with which segregationists of both parties were confronted as the black civil rights movement matured: once bigotry falls out of mainstream fashion, it's hard to talk the accepted talk without walking the walk. When the prevailing political winds force a party to abandon prejudicial rhetoric, how can it continue to advocate prejudicial policy without wrapping itself in the cloak of hypocrisy?"
--Dan Rather in "Rather's Notebook" at the CBS News Web site, April 18, 2000.

"AIDS has brought about an increased awareness and acceptance of the basic rights of gays and lesbians in the culture at large."
--Dan Rather in his syndicated column, June 11, 2001.

Gays and lesbians are beaten to death in the streets with increasing frequency -- in part due to irrational fear of AIDS but also because hatemongers, from comedians to the worst of the Christian right, send the message that homosexuals have no value in our society.
--Dan Rather in an essay in the April 11, 1994 edition of the Nation.

"Also in Washington today, speaker after speaker addressing the political lobbying group that calls itself, quote, 'the Christian Coalition,' laced into President Clinton."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, September 18, 1999.

"Out on the campaign trail today the Democratic presidential nominee was counterattacking on the so-called, quote, 'family values' issue. This follows weeks of pounding from the Republican right, what some call the Religious Right."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, September 11, 1992.

"For many self-described Christian conservatives and other members of what is generally known as the hard Right of the Republican Party, they've been pretty much having their way at the San Diego convention."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, August 9, 1996.
Note: 30 percent of "self-described Christian conservatives" are Democrats, according to exit polls done following 1998 congressional elections.

"[Buchanan's] job here tonight...was to set a frame of reference around a moral majority right, heavily-influenced party."
--Dan Rather covering the 1992 Republican Convention, August 17, 1992.

"Case in point: The chapter and verse going back and forth between the politically active group calling itself, quote, 'the religious right' and politically active groups supporting gay and lesbian rights. Edie Magnus has both sides of the story."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 27, 1995.

RATHER: "Republicans, at least those in this hall, are excited because they believe that their catch phrase, quote, 'family values' is beginning to outweigh jobs as the frame around the campaign and that the new polls indicate that. Family values, of course, means different things and--to different people and parties."
ENGBERG: "[Bush's] campaign chairman, whose doctor-daughter is a gay rights activist, says family values can mean different things to different people."
"Family values as a political catchphrase has little to do with the realities of the modern flesh and blood family where 57 percent of the women hold jobs and half of the first marriages end in divorce. The family values issues that emerged here were more of a way to reopen the cultural battles of the '60s with Bill Clinton cast as the rebel who listened to Elvis too much and sassed his elders. Eric Engberg, CBS News, Houston."
--Dan Rather and Eric Engberg on the CBS Evening News, August 20, 1992.

"In the post-cold war era, gays have been drafted to replace communists as the new menace to the American Way: We're told gays corrupt youth and commandeer art and entertainment to win converts."
--Dan Rather in an essay in the April 11, 1994 edition of the Nation.

The Supreme Court ruled that there cannot be prayer before school football games:
"CBS’s Jim Axelrod has more the Court’s latest strengthening of the wall between church and state."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, June 19, 2000.

"It is one of the most emotional social issues in this country today: homosexuality. Ignorance about it has led to intolerance, hatred, and in more and more cases, violence."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, October 22, 1992.

Today, "politicians promise to force their religious or cultural beliefs on the rest of the country."
--Dan Rather in American Heritage, May/June 1996.

"There was another ruling with possible far-reaching impact, this one issued by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS notified the powerful lobbying group calling itself the Christian Coalition that it is not entitled to the tax exempt status of a religious group. The reason given: Too much partisan political activity."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, June 10, 1999.

"A politician who commands respect from the Republican Congress, which he helped elect. Now it's payback time. [Ralph] Reed wants a constitutional amendment allowing prayer in public places."
"So who's taking on Ralph Reed? Well, of all the Republican presidential candidates, only Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter attacks him."
--Dan Rather in CBS Reports: Faith and Politics: The Christian Right, September 7, 1995.

"The third story of special interest is the Internal Revenue Service ruling that the self-described Christian Coalition is not entitled to tax-exempt statutes..."
--Dan Rather in "Rather's Notebook" at the CBS News Web site, July 11, 1999.

"I want to read you a quote, a party official here said that the role of the prime time speakers, that would include you, is to confuse voters about the real influence of your party's most conservative wing and the, quote, 'Christian right.' Are you part of that effort?"
--Dan Rather to then-Congresswoman Susan Molinari before her speech during CBS's live coverage of the Republican National Convention, August 1996.

"Now the main speaker tonight...is pro-choice. How mad does that make you?"
--Dan Rather to Pat Robertson during CBS's Republican convention coverage, August 1996.

The McGuffey Readers "may look clumsy at best, preachy at worst, to modern eyes." "[E]ven penmanship exercises...meant copying out pious proverbs."
--Dan Rather in American Heritage, May/June 1996.

"Adding petrol to the partisan fires on Capitol Hill this week, the political agenda of the movement known as the religious right. The group calling itself the Christian Coalition is aligned with hard-right stands on issues ranging from gay rights to school prayer, and it's demanding its due for its help in getting Republicans elected."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, May 15, 1995.
Note: Although Rather says opponents of homosexual marriage and advocates for school prayer are "hard right," most Americans in polls agree with them.

"And the, quote, 'religious right'--they delivered for the Republican Party, particularly in the South and up the breadbasket states on into the Mountain states. However, the religious right is insisting that the Republican Party be opposed to a woman's right to choose an abortion. What's the party to do about that?"
--Dan Rather to Republican analyst Kevin Phillips during live 1996 Election Night coverage.

Phil Gramm "was at a meeting of preacher Pat Robertson's political group, the one calling itself the Christian Coalition."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, September 8, 1993.

"So what's behind Bush's sudden reversal from cozying up to the political groups that are in, or aligned with, those who call themselves the Christian Coalition?"
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, February 28, 2000.

[George W. Bush's] "terrific and exceptionally well-financed organization run by former Governor Carol Campbell, also including Ralph Reed of what used to be called the Christian Coalition."
--Dan Rather on CBS Sunday Morning, February 20, 2000.

"Reverend Robertson, two years ago, the word among the insiders--and I quote now, 'The Christian Coalition can flat-out deliver votes.' It looks like a very different picture here in 1996." "Reverend, abortion, school prayer, same-sex marriage..." "...all of these are issues very important to you, but they became almost invisible and not heard of on the campaign. Why was that?"
--Dan Rather to Pat Robertson during live coverage of the '96 election.

"Here on Capitol Hill, the hard-right lobbying group and political movement calling itself, quote, 'the Christian Coalition' got a political payback and photo-op today. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Senator Phil Gramm of Texas were among senior Republicans and presidential hopefuls turning out to support the group and its agenda.... Among other things, the group's overall agenda is for encouraging religion in public schools and against abortion."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, May 17, 1995.

RATHER:"Up next tonight: Bush and the Religious Right. Is this the road to salvation or defeat in November" "One issue that is sure to come up in the fall campaign that has already surfaced is Bush cozying up to the self-described Religious Right, including the Reverends Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell." "CBS's Richard Schlesinger has been digging into this Campaign 2000 storyline, chapter and verse."
SCHLESINGER: [shows a clip of Bush hugging a Bob Jones University faculty member] "If it's McCain voters the candidates want, this hug could be the kiss of death for the Bush campaign."
--Dan Rather and Richard Schlesinger on the CBS Evening News, March 14, 2000.

Steve Forbes "has been campaigning around with his family because he has so much trouble with the so-called Christian Coalition on his Right."
--Dan Rather on CBS Sunday Morning, February 11, 1996. print_file('footer'); ?>