Christian Coalition Director Urges Local Activism

Urging the faithful not to become complacent in matters of politics and culture, the Christian Coalition’s new executive director addressed a chapter meeting here Tuesday night.

The visit by coalition Executive Director Randy Tate signaled a common conservative Christian belief: Ventura County is fertile ground in a nationwide campaign to remake politics in the socially conservative image.

“Ventura County is a fast-growing area of California,” Tate said during an interview before the meeting. “And we have a strong support base in this area--lots of pro-family activists and families. It’s a key county in a key state with lots of things happening.”

Tate and former Reagan Cabinet Secretary Donald Hodel assumed the helm of the 2-million member Christian Coalition last month after longtime leader Ralph Reed left the group to become a campaign consultant. A father of two, the 31-year-old Tate is a former Republican congressman from Washington state.

Saying Ventura County is ripe for political activism, Tate spoke before an enthusiastic crowd of 70 at the Sonrise Christian Fellowship in Simi Valley.

The group, coming from as far away as Burbank and wearing suits and dresses, sweats and khakis, greeted Tate with claps and amens.

The stop was part of a three-day sweep through Southern California, during which Tate plans to attend chapter meetings, meet with financial contributors and speak on radio shows.

Conservative Christian activists and their critics alike saw the stop as a symbol of the Christian Coalition’s strong foothold in the county.

“I think [the visit] doesn’t bode well for those folks who want to protect public education and the important family values of pluralism, diversity and free speech in Ventura County,” said Jean Hessburg, California director of People for the American Way. “The Christian Coalition, contrary to its name, does not promote Christian values.”

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A model of effective grass-roots political organizing, the Christian Coalition bills itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan religious group that seeks to imbue public policy with conservative religious values. The group’s members register churchgoers to vote and host speakers. Come election time, members hand out voter guides in all kinds of political races--from school board and the local comptroller to the presidency.

That kind of activism has landed the Christian Coalition in hot water with the Federal Election Commission. A year ago, the commission filed a lawsuit contending that the group violated tax regulations by spending money to boost GOP candidates. The Christian Coalition’s tax-exempt status hinges on claims of nonpartisanship.

While some moderate Republicans privately fretted about the visit’s implications, coalition members viewed the stop as a shot in the arm for the local group.

Noting that Reed never came to Ventura County, former East Ventura County Christian Coalition chapter president Ray Allen called Tate’s stop “very significant.”

People of faith “already have a foothold here,” he said. “This certainly isn’t going to hurt it.”

Any push to get citizens involved in the electoral process is a good one, said Norm Walker, president of the Simi Valley school board. While not a Christian Coalition member himself, Walker said he agrees with the group’s philosophy.

“Maybe this signifies a difference in the way the Christian Coalition is going to operate,” Walker said before the meeting. “Maybe they’re going to listen more to their grass roots.”

A prominent moderate Republican who has spent years fighting religious conservatives for control of the county’s Republican Central Committee fumed about the stop and the growing local influence of the religious right.

“Damn right, I’m concerned,” said the Republican, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

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While in Simi Valley, Tate emphasized the importance of local--rather than national--political activism, asking members about community concerns and how the Christian Coalition leadership could help alleviate them.

“Our goal is to locate, educate and activate people of faith so they can take a more active role in their communities,” he said in an interview. “We want to learn about local needs so activists can bring them before their school board, city council and state assembly, where they can have the greatest impact.”

At the meeting, coalition members fretted about local and state issues, including the possible opening of a nude dance club in Simi Valley, the strength of teachers’ unions, pending pro-gay state legislation and the potential for a “politically correct, multicultural” curriculum at the new Cal State University, Channel Islands planned for Camarillo.

The People for the American Way’s Hessburg, meanwhile, said the Christian Coalition had already taken over the Ventura County Board of Education and the Simi Valley school board and was eyeing school boards in Thousand Oaks and Ojai.

“What are tangible things you’re going to see [from the Christian Coalition] in Ventura County?” she asked. “Putting the Bible back into public schools; taking books out of the libraries; restricting students’ access to core curriculum information in history books, science books; restricting sex ed; and supporting private school vouchers. These are folks who want to impose extensive restrictions on abortion and oppose civil rights legislation.”