Some readers respond to my musings earlier:

The “splintering” of the Christian conservatives (of which, I am one) is only a split in that there are several suitable candidates that are vying for these primary votes and the more liberal faction of the GOP seems locked in with Rudy. The gloom on our side is two fold I think. One, there is a fear that a failure to get behind one candidate will have the “third party effect” by nominating Rudy with a low plurality. Second, if that happens, there is a fear that some will stay home in the general believing there is no difference between the candidates. I for one have no illusions and will vote for the Republican nominee whomever he happens to be and I think most will as well. Fear #1 is valid though and there are times when it pays to be monolithic.

And:

Jonah, I’m a Conservative who also happens to be an Evangelical
Christian (plus a Chemical Engineer in the work world).
I have NEVER, NEVER been led to either vote or act a certain way by any
national Christian or Conservative leader declaring what is the “right”
way of thinking. I can and do think for myself. I do often agree with
the various “leaders”, however this is more because they reflect my
position versus “converting” me to their positions. I would put little
stock in the endorsements of these leaders declaring for the candidates.
I’m sure there are many Conservative Christians who will be single issue
voters (abortion, etc). I firmly believe that most will look at the big
picture. I have come to the point that our country needs a leader who
will:
A. Defeat, Roll-back, or Contain radical Islam;
B. Secure our borders and reduce the illegal population; and then
C. All other issues.
In my way of thinking, nothing else comes close to the first two. If we
fail on either of these, we’ve lost. Yes there are other issues in “all
others” like taxes, moral issues, supreme court nominations, etc. These
other issues will impact my voting on the fringes, but I don’t currently
see them influencing the major decision.
Unfortunately none of the candidates excite me right now. I don’t like
Rudy for a whole host of reasons, but I do think he can manage A and B
above, if he chooses. He is very weak on B, however. John Derbyshire
had a column some time back where he talks about Rudy being a mean,
nasty, SOB, who can defend our country. I’m inclined to think this way
also. I keep hoping that Fred will be the answer, but this just doesn’t
seem to be panning out.
We have a year to go to define the candidate, I keep hoping for some
clarity.

And here’s one near and dear to my heart:

Moving some/more Democrats to the right would be advantageous. However, the current “splintering” of conservative Christians seems symptomatic of a trend among those which we once labeled “the Christian Right” away from American constitutionalism and toward a Christian universalism which embraces the politics of the Protestant Social Gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch and the Progressive Catholicism of John Ryan. The movement portends an America more like the social welfarism of Europe and less like our constitutional system of classical liberalism. Dubya’s policies have contributed significant momentum to the movement. I’m betting that we will see a Euro-style anti-clericalism emerge in America as Christianity becomes more aligned directly with the welfare state. In time, the populace at large will see clerics to be just as contemptible as other politicians. Of course, the enormous moral strength of Christianity in America has been always its relative independence from state control. These conclusions are based on observations of Christian congregations here in Tennessee over the past fifteen years.