That’s the question Slate is raising, although the article provides no evidence at all that the answer is yes. Guilt-by-tenuous-association is the author’s method: “Angle used to be a member of the Independent American Party, an offshoot of the Constitution Party, which was started by avowed Christian Reconstructionist Howard Phillips. . . . Angle’s surprising comments about how a strong federal government equals ‘idolatry’ particularly point to the impact Christian Reconstructionism has had on her thinking, even if she doesn’t directly identify with the movement or has received these ideas secondhand.”