US rightwing warrior Falwell has eyes on 2008

DALLAS, Feb 9: His influence may be diminished but his zeal is undaunted. Evangelist Jerry Falwell is on a mission to keep a like-minded Republican in the White House and get at least one more conservative judge on the Supreme Court.

Despite his years in the trenches of America's culture wars, Falwell -- who founded the Moral Majority political movement in 1979 and helped propel the rise of the religious right -- said a major victory in his broader crusade to restore the country's moral righteousness has so far eluded him.

With abortion still legal, prayer banned in public schools and pornography rife, he sees a long struggle ahead. For now, he is focusing on voter registration drives and rallying the faithful with his eyes on the twin prizes of the 2008 presidential election and control of the Supreme Court.

Some of his statements -- he famously blamed gays and lesbians for provoking the Sept. 11 attacks -- have eroded some of his conservative support base. But he remains a rallying figure on the far US right.

''I think we got the social and moral issues on the front burner. But while we have made progress ... we have not won any of the battles yet,'' Falwell told Reuters in an interview.

''It is a long road back. We are at least one US Supreme Court Justice short of a socially conservative court,'' Falwell said on the sidelines of an evangelist conference in Dallas.

By a long road back Falwell was referring to his youth in the 1930s and 1940s -- a period he feels brought out the best in a strong nation that adhered to ''old fashioned values''.

Getting a Supreme Court -- whose members are appointed by the president -- that would overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion in America would be a major step down that road.

Ensuring another religious conservative Republican replaces President George W. Bush in the 2008 election is another.

CAUSING A STIR

Falwell, founder and pastor of a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia, provoked a storm of derision when he said gays, lesbians and abortionists were partly to blame for the hijacked plane attacks in September 2001.

He was later quoted by CNN as saying that only terrorists were to blame but he believed attempts to secularize America had prompted ''God to lift the veil of protection'' that had shielded the United States from attacks in the past.

The 73-year-old Falwell has used his multi-layered platform as a Baptist preacher, televangelist and university chancellor to promote the religious right -- a movement that seeks to redraw US public policy along biblical lines and is associated with the Republican Party. Critics contend it wants to impose an intolerant theocracy in America; cynics say it has been used by the Republican Party to galvanize its voter base without delivering victory in any of the battles that Falwell admits he has yet to win.

Supporters say the movement enjoys broad popularity in a country with 60 million evangelicals and that it harkens to the country's Christian roots.

With his silver hair and heavy jowls, Falwell's face remains a familiar one on the conservative speakers circuit though his influence has waned since the days when he headed the Moral Majority in the 1980s.

His revived Moral Majority Coalition does not have the clout that its predecessor enjoyed.

''Because of his prominence, Falwell still carries some weight among religious conservatives but he doesn't have the organizational power that he once had,'' said John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron.

But heavyweight Republicans still court Falwell.

Arizona Senator and Republican front-runner for the 2008 crown John McCain pointedly spoke at Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia last year.

Falwell said he had spoken with many of the leading Republican hopefuls for the party's 2008 presidential nomination -- including former Massachusetts governor Gov Mitt Romney and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback.

''I like every one of them,'' Falwell said, but he added that he would make no endorsements before the primaries.

HILARY SEEN AS TOUGH OPPONENT

Falwell said Republicans needed to be in battle mode as he expected Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton to carry the Democratic banner.

''She would most certainly be a formidable opponent. She is a bright lady and she has the No. 1 campaign manager in the world (former President Bill Clinton). If she can keep his attention focused, he can do her a lot of good,'' he said.

Falwell said his public policy goals were simple.

''My goal is to do my little part to preserve America for our children and grandchildren, the kind of America that I grew up in,'' he said.

But he said there was one element from his childhood that he did not want to see restored -- racial segregation, which was the law of the land in the South when he was growing up.

''I was born in 1933 in Virginia. I didn't know anyone who wasn't a segregationist. My father was an ardent one. It wasn't until I became a Christian as a sophomore in college that I got past that,'' he said.

''I wasn't changed by any politician; I was changed by the Lord,'' he added.

REUTERS