Gingrich Becoming GOP's Voice for Conservative Christian Concerns

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

What do these three things have in common? President Obama's upcoming appearance at Notre Dame; last week's mini-flap over the White House covering a Christian symbol during Obama's appearance at Georgetown University; a recent proposal in Connecticut's state legislature to force Roman Catholic parishes to reorganize.

Sure, all three developments riled religious conservatives—particularly Catholic conservatives—but that's too obvious.

Give up? All three were decried by Newt Gingrich while they escaped mention by any other national Republican figure. The former House speaker knocked Notre Dame on Twitter for inviting Obama, slapped the Connecticut legislature in a recent interview with me, and invoked the Georgetown coverup in a new Q&A with Christianity Today. At a time when Christian conservatives have few outspoken allies on their issues in the upper echelons of the Republican Party, Gingrich is stepping in to fill the void.

Michael Gerson wrote last week that "the religious right, at least in its cruder expressions, is indeed a phenomenon without a future." As he tries to consolidate his position as an architect of the GOP's future, Newt clearly believes otherwise.

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