/ Modified aug 29, 2012 11:03 a.m.

Moyers & Company:The Resurrection of Ralph Reed

The resurrection of Ralph Reed: revolution or racket? Friday at 9 p.m. on PBS 6.
bill_moyers_spot Bill Moyers

While Romney, Ryan, Christie, and Rubio get the lion’s share of attention during the Republican Convention this week, three one-time college Republicans who are now the party’s real power-brokers -- Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, and Grover Norquist -- are busy doing what they do best: leveraging their political, religious, and financial resources to back pro-corporate, anti-government objectives at the core of the conservative agenda.

The true surprise at the Tampa convention is Ralph Reed’s resurrection. When the former head of the Christian Coalition was discovered to have raked in millions of dollars from the super lobbyist -- and eventually convicted felon -- Jack Abramoff, Reed wound up in political purgatory. But outraged by the election of Barack Obama, and responding to what he describes as God’s call (via Sean Hannity), Reed returned to start the Faith and Freedom Coalition with the aim of toppling Barack Obama from the White House. To succeed, Reed needs to win the allegiance of many of the trusting Christian followers he had duped and double-crossed while working with Abramoff. Can he pull it off? That’s the story this week on Moyers & Company

Later on the show, Bill also talks with Mike Lofgren, a long-time Republican who says the rise of politicized religious fundamentalism transformed his party and created a de facto religious test for the presidency. Lofgren tells the story in his book The Party is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted.

Moyers & Company:The Resurrection of Ralph Reed, Friday at 9 p.m. on PBS 6.

Facebook  Icon

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona