There is a groundswell of Christian conservatism coming on strong in America today. This surge began in the 1980s with the election of Ronald Reagan and carried on into the 1990s with a flood tide of Christian conservative candidates being swept into office at all levels of government in our nation. Now there is a tidal wave building momentum for the 1996 presidential race.

At the same time, there is a quiet revolution going on at the grassroots which is not being reported by the mainstream press. We need to be wise in order to understand what is happening and not let the distortions of the liberal media determine how we will vote. In the coming presidential primary in Florida, there is something at stake more important than just delegates. We are at a critical point in our nation’s history. The very success or failure of our country could be determined by how you vote.

Christians in Brevard county and all over America are now determining who they believe to be the best candidate. Some will vote their conscience and will back who they believe would be the very best president. No matter what their man’s standing is in the polls, they will vote on principle. Others will compromise on some issues which are near to their hearts in order to back the man who is a front runner in the polls, believing that this man can best beat Bill Clinton in November.

But as Christians, our vision for presidential politics must be to support the man who will most responsibly reverse the ungodly legislation put forward by the current administration. I believe that if Christians will vote with this strategy in mind, a godly candidate can win the Republican nomination and we won’t have to settle for the “lesser of two evils” in November.

I believe that a Christian conservative can capture the White House. This may seem a naive point of view if you follow presidential politics according to the liberal media. I know that it does seem futile to back someone who has a less than 10 percent rating. But I urge you not to think this way and consider some facts before you cast your vote.

First, consider that the source of most of your information on Christian candidates is the liberal media. The mainstream media in our country is generally fearful of the “religious right.” They do not understand us. Their reaction is to either downplay Christian conservatives as “extremists” and “radicals” who are too much of a minority to take seriously – or they seek to portray us as “intolerant bigots” who are truly dangerous to the future of America. (Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Our nation was founded by religious people whose values we hold.) But remember that the source of much of your information is going to either downplay or vilify the Christian conservative candidates.

Second, consider that so far in the Republican presidential race, the liberal media has been wrong about the strength of Christian conservatives. Pat Buchanan was consistently given a less than 10 percent rating coming into the first primaries, yet he emerged as the front runner in Louisiana and Alaska, almost beat Dole in Iowa and now may do the same (at press time) in New Hampshire.

Third, the revolution happening in our country is discernible only at the grassroots. While Steve Forbes spent $4 million on his campaign in Iowa, he managed only a weak fourth place finish with 10 percent of the vote. Alan Keyes, a pro-life, pro-family candidate, arrived in Iowa with almost no money and spent only $4,000 on his campaign! Pollsters had placed him just a few months earlier as a “statistical nothing” at less than one percent. While Forbes flooded airwaves with slick advertising, Keyes spoke in Christian high schools and churches. Yet Keyes emerged with 7 percent of the vote!

Fourth, it is the message of pro-life, pro-family, pro-tax reform politics that is capturing the hearts of Americans. The very issue for which Dan Quayle was ridiculed for in 1992 (remember Murphy Brown?) is now being adopted by everyone. We are no longer out of the mainstream. This is what Americans want. And they are going with the candidates who sincerely believe the message, not with those who trumpet it merely for political advantage. Americans now realize that we have reached a crisis stage in our country and that we are in need of a moral and spiritual awakening.

Fifth, even if your candidate doesn’t win, remember that a large enough coalition could be built by the Christian conservative candidates to get one of them nominated, if a moderate doesn’t win on the first ballot. The delegates who represent your candidate at the convention also determine the Republican platform and the vice presidential nominee (who is chosen on an open ballot with delegates free to vote for whoever they want).

Sixth, a Christian conservative could beat Bill Clinton in November. In 1992, Ross Perot captured 19 percent of the vote with a socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative message. George Bush came in second to Bill Clinton with 38 percent. Exit polls showed that the majority of evangelical Christians and conservative Roman Catholics lined up behind George Bush. If we take Perot’s 19 percent (most of which would probably go to a Christian conservative “political outsider” who held to Perot’s fiscal message) and add most of those who voted for Bush, then this candidate could easily win by a landslide over Clinton. (Remember that Clinton’s popularity in the past four years has rarely risen above 50 percent!)

Although the liberal media will portray a Christian conservative candidate as being shrill, intolerant and out of the mainstream, they will be proven wrong when Americans vote their conscience in November. And hopefully, Americans will stop reading TIME, Newsweek, USA Today and stop watching CNN and the network news and they will start supporting a Christian media which simply tells the truth!