Ralph Reed concedes in Georgia primary

I will say, I have to crack a smile at this CNN story:

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, unable to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, conceded defeat Tuesday in Georgia's Republican race for lieutenant governor.

Reed was making his first bid for elective office after working for years as a behind-the-scenes campaign strategist and leading the Christian Coalition and the state Republican Party.

He vied with state Sen. Casey Cagle for the GOP nomination in a primary race that appeared closer than expected in recent months because of Reed's work with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption earlier this year.

In attack ads and televised debates, Cagle hammered away at Reed's connections to Abramoff, and asked whether Reed could face criminal charges for accepting more than $5.3 million from two Indian tribes. Reed has not been charged with a crime and has said repeatedly that he regrets the work he did with Abramoff. Reed said he was vindicated by a two-year Senate probe.

The ultimate, conservative, Washington political insider was defeated in his first primary bid for an elected office--Georgia's lieutenant governor. And it was a state office--not a nation office such as a U.S. senator, or House representative. Reed was defeated because he allowed himself to become entwined in the Abramoff scandal. Ralph Reed was corrupted by the Abramoff lobbying scandal. Who is to say that he would become corrupted by lobbying and special interest groups if he had become Georgia's lieutenant governor?

But there is something else about this story that I have to wonder. Are we starting to see cracks in the Religious Right's hold over the Republican Party? Ralph Reed was head of the Christian Coalition--one of the most influential conservative Christian lobbying groups on the Republican Party. Reed held enormous political power within the Republican Party, but had no sway or influence among moderates, liberals or progressives. Reed probably became power-hungry for national political power that could be found only in a higher political office of a U.S. senator, House representative, or even the presidency. And in order to move onto the national political scene, Reed needed a political office that can be used as a springboard. Hence, the Georgia lieutenant governor's office.

Now here is where it gets interesting. Continuing with the CNN story:

With 69 percent of precincts reporting, Cagle had 148,456 votes, or 56 percent, and Reed had 115,125, or 44 percent.

Reed's campaign prompted some Democrats to cross party lines Tuesday to keep him off the GOP ticket. Lifelong Democrat Randy New, 52, of Atlanta said he cast a ballot in a Republican primary for the first time for one reason -- to defeat Reed. He added that he sent out an e-mail to friends and business associates this week encouraging them to do the same.

In Georgia voters may request a ballot from either party in the primaries.

Democrats were voting to keep Reed off the ticket! This wasn't a vote for Cagle, more than it was a vote against Reed. For this election year, we've seen the Republicans go back to their social issues agenda of gay marriages, flag burning, and now the stem cell debate as a means of creating support among the Evangelical Christians, and hard-lined conservatives. As the former head of the Christian Coalition, Reed would have certainly been influential in framing the debate on these issues from the Republican Party's standpoint. And while our Republican-controlled Congress is debating these issues, the real problems of the budget deficit, the Iraq war, jobless recovery, high energy prices, have all been ignored. It is no wonder that Congress's approval ratings are down in the gutter, and that Americans prefer a Democratically-controlled Congress over that of the Republicans. We've seen in this CNN story that Democrats voted in the Republican primary to keep Reed off the ticket. But I would first like to know how many of those Cagle votes were from Democrats. And second, I would like to know is how many of those Cagle votes were from registered Republicans? How many moderate conservatives were sickened by Reed's corruption and his ideological views--moderates that would either vote for a Democrat, or would choose not to vote, had Reed been elected in the primary? I can't say.