Fun article on The Nation, outlining how the relilgious right has cooled down somewhat to the John Roberts nomination.

Example: Rev. James Dobson, politicio-religious leader, apparently appeared on Sean Hannity’s TV show and said that Republican Senators need to also look closely at Roberts’ record. Example: Roberts’ likeness was not present in full life cardboard cutout form at Justice Sunday II.

If The Nation’s thesis is correct, the religious right feel less confidence that Roberts will be the reliable vote they had hope for. Monumental change on the Supreme Court might not be in the offing after all.

Dobson continues to rely on the Roberts issue as justification for soliciting contributions, as he continues his apparent quest to become the dominant politico-religious figure of this generation.

Red Meat for Red-Staters
The position of Justice Sunday II’s organizers consisted of halfhearted apologia through gritted teeth. “The Romer case was perhaps one of the most egregious decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court…and to have Roberts be part of that in any way was troubling,” Dobson said during an August 8 appearance on Fox News’s Hannity & Colmes. But, Dobson assured the audience, “he had a very minor role.” When host Sean Hannity peppered him with questions about Roberts’s role on Romer, Dobson was forced to concede that “the Republican senators need to vet him [Roberts] also.” It was a stunning role reversal, considering that Dobson and his allies had spent the past month attacking Democratic senators who vowed to question Roberts’s views on social issues.

While Perkins echoed Dobson’s “concern” over Roberts, he was not about to miss the opportunity to use his nomination as a cash cow. In early August, while Roberts was wrapping up a series of cordial meetings with Senate Democrats, the Family Research Council sent a mass mailing soliciting donations to combat “a secret liberal strategy” to destroy Roberts. A breathless, bold-print e-mail pitch followed on August 11 for “very large contributions”–upward of $1,000–to “strike a great blow against judicial activism.” That same week, Perkins sent another solicitation to help raise $150,000 he claimed Justice Sunday II would cost. For Perkins, who pays himself $171,000 a year, battling activist judges is a very personal crusade.