Secretive conservative cabal considering fielding third-party candidate
Dissatisfaction with Rudy behind group's search for religious-right runner
A small group of Christian conservatives met in secret over the weekend to discuss the possibility of fielding a third-party presidential candidate if Rudy Giuliani emerged with the Republican nomination.
The high-profile religious and political leaders met Saturday at a clandestine gathering of the Council for National Policy, a conservative networking group that counts among its members some of the most powerful Republicans in the country. Vice President Dick Cheney was the group's featured speaker at its meeting in Salt Lake City.
During a breakaway session, dozens of attendees expressed support for a resolution declaring, "If the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate we will consider running a third-party candidate," participants told the New York Times. The smaller group included James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; and dozens of other religious right figures, according to the Times.
"Dobson came in just for this meeting," one participant told Salon.
The Council for National Policy keeps its membership rolls and meeting agendas a closely guarded secret. The group was founded in 1981 by the Rev. Tim LaHaye, an author of the bestselling "Left Behind" book series.
Although no names of potential challengers emerged from Saturday's secretive gathering, participants in the break-out session were committed to leaving the Republican party if Giuliani became its standard-bearer, the Times reported..
Perkins, who serves as the de-facto point-man for religious right interests in Washington, told the group that Giuliani had a decent shot at taking the nomination if he won the primary in Florida, which had many conservative Christian voters, according to the Times. Perkins said he felt now was the best time to stop Giuliani's momentum and maintain an anti-abortion presence atop the GOP.
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