P-11 Religion...... back in Bush Politics.

Bush aides 'mocked evangelicals' A new book by a former US official says President Bush's top political advisers privately ridiculed evangelical leaders, while publicly embracing them.....

The Republican party is concerned the allegations may harm its standing in next month's mid-term elections...... 'Alarm bells ringing' With just weeks to go before what promised to be highly competitive congressional elections, Republicans can ill afford to lose the support of their evangelical Christian base.

"When [the president] talks about the Faith-Based Initiative, this is one of these things where he believes years and years down the road... this is going to be one of the signal accomplishments - harnessing the power of faith in dealing with some of the most intractable problems our society faces." ...... But ...

for the moment it is a short-term goal of keeping a Republican majority in congress that seems most at threat by these revelations.