From: Watch97@aol.com Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 12:02:25 -0400 Subject: How Many People Really Belong to the Christian Coalition? WHAT'S IN A NUMBER? By Paula Xanthopoulou*** What's in a number? Plenty if it's accurate, and even more if it's not. As the Christian Coalition (CC) prepares to open its annual Road to Victory conference on Friday in Washington, DC, amidst signs that conference registration is down by 25 percent from last year, the logical question is "How many people really belong to that organization?" The number bandied about in recent times was "1.7 million members and supporters." But just before the GOP convention, Christian Coalition Executive Director upped the ante. On August 9th, on Larry King Live, Reed said that there were 1.8 million. Then one week later, Reed added 200,000 more folks --telling John Hockenberry on MSNBC on August 16th that the Christian Coalition has 2 million members. Mr. Reed did not offer any explanation or documentation for his new number. Are we to believe that in one week, 200,000 people rushed to sign up with the Christian Coalition after watching it wheel and deal in Republican Circles on behalf of Bob Dole while there is serious discomfort among grassroot conservatives over supporting Dole and having the abortion issue swept under the rug during the convention? Let's back up a moment. In January of 1995, the Christian Coalition publication Christian American stated that the CC had 1.5 million members and that the paper itself had a circulation of 450,000. At Road to Victory '95 (last September), the official membership number became 1.7 million. That number stuck for almost a year, until Reed revealed his new one last month. For some time now, the published number of Christian Coalition members has been questioned by those wondering how such a media-driven organization can have 1.7 members and send out so few copies of its primary publication. The December/January 1995 Christian American stated that it had a press run of 353,937. The CC's 1995 IRS Form 990 states that the publication had "approximately 400,000 readers." It should be noted that the CC's 1994 tax forms cite "approximately 415,000 readers." By the same token, total revenues/expenditures for 1995 were $19,745,323/$19,459,498, while revenues/expenses for 1994 were $21,992,678/$21,379,914. Catch their drift? In the Christian Coalition's 1991 training and recruitment video "America at the Crossroads," Pat Robertson lays out a number of goals. One was a circulation of 10 million for the Christian American (then a newspaper, now a magazine). At Road to Victory '91, Robertson said this about money and followers: "This year we will finish out with $5 million...The goal in 1994 is 48 million. And the goal by the year 2000 is to have four times the current budget of the Republican National Committee which is $250 million...By the end of the decade, I want the Christian Coalition -- it's a doable thing -- to have a database of 50 million voters accord to their interests..." For the record, the Christian Coalition is at least $28 million and many million names short. Not incidentally, the recent suit against the Christian Coalition by the Federal Elections Commission plus allegations of financial wrongdoings by former CC CFO Judy Liebert have cast a pall over the organization despite all of its GOP convention high tech and low profile shenanigans. The charges are very serious and well-documented -- cries of religious bigotry from Mr. Reed and/or the FEC's track record for similar lawsuits notwithstanding. At the very least, some churches will think twice before distributing the Christian Coalition's 45 million all-important "voter guides" in November -- for what Ralph Reed had labeled the most important election in our lifetime. At the very most, Pat Robertson will be scurrying around very soon in an effort to reinvent himself yet again in his march for unmitigated political power. What's in a number? Plenty if it's accurate, and even more if it's not. So don't go making any reservations at the Washington Hilton for Road to Victory '97. There probably won't be one. ***Copyright 1996 Public-Spirited Enterprises. All rights reserved. If this posting is quoted or referred to, please do give "c.c.watch" appropriate credit. (For more information or to subscribe to the complete, unique and timely reportage/commentary of The "c.c.watch" Electronic News Service, call 305/751-5001. We track and report on the activities of Pat Robertson, his many enterprises [especially the Christian Coalition], and his fellow travelers...by constantly monitoring newspapers, magazines, television, the Internet, selected events, on-line data bases, direct mail pieces, and receiving reports from "c.c.watchers" around the country. Then we disseminate information that the public might never otherwise receive.)