exempt status, but in a 2006 settlement the status was
reinstated, provided that the organization allows
candidates to publish a brief statement explaining
their voting record in the voter guides the group dis-
tributes.
Impact Supporters and critics have probably over-
estimated the impact that the Christian Coalition
and similar New Christian Right organizations had
in the 1990’s. While the Coalition and other such
groups may have significantly affected the 1994 con-
gressional elections, they failed to defeat President
Bill Clinton in either 1992 or 1996. In the late 1990’s,
there was evidence that some Republicans feared
that the New Christian Right had taken their party
too far to the right of the mainstream in American
politics.
Further Reading
Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. “The Gospel According to
Ralph.”Time, May 15, 1995, 29-35. A helpful, ac-
cessible portrait of Ralph Reed at the helm of the
Christian Coalition.
Davis, Nancy J., and Robert V. Robertson. “Are the
Rumors of War Exaggerated? Religious Ortho-
doxy and Moral Progressivism in America.”Ameri-
can Journal of Sociology102, no. 3 (November,
1996): 756-787. Authors argue that conservative
religious voters do not differ much from other
voters on issues other than those that are consid-
ered to have distinctly religious overtones.
Reed, Ralph.Politically Incorrect: The Emerging Faith
Factor in American Politics. Dallas: Word, 1994.
Reed’s own contribution to the debates about the
place of religion in American politics.
Rozell, Mark J., and Clyde Wilcox. “Second Coming:
The Strategies of the New Christian Right.”Politi-
cal Science Quarterly111, no. 2 (Summer, 1996):
271-294. An interesting look at the grassroots or-
ganizational efforts of the Christian Coalition
and like-minded groups in the state of Virginia.
Thomas, Cal, and Ed Dobson.Blinded by Might: Can
the Religious Right Save America?Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 1999. Contains some interest-
ing critiques from two evangelical Christians who
often find themselves at odds with the Coalition.
Mark S. Joy
See also Clinton, Bill; Conservatism in U.S. poli-
tics; Culture wars; Elections in the United States,
midterm; Elections in the United States, 1992; Elec-
tions in the United States, 1996; Falwell, Jerry; Reli-
gion and spirituality in the United States; Republi-
can Revolution. Christo
Identification Artist
Born June 13, 1935; Gabrovo, Bulgaria
Christo is an environmental artist who has installed large-
scale “wrapped” artworks across the world for decades.
Growing up in Bulgaria, Christo was interested in
Shakespeare and theater, enrolling in the Academy
of Fine Arts in 1953. After one semester, he left be-
cause of the university’s strict socialist rules. He stud-
ied at the Sofia Academy until 1956, then worked in
Prague. In 1957, he escaped the confines of commu-
nist life, defecting to Austria. Christo took quickly to
his new lifestyle, enrolling in the Viennese AcademyThe Nineties in America Christo 181
Christo stands in front of his wrapped Reichstag building in
Berlin in June, 1995. The veiling took about a week to complete.
(AP/Wide World Photos)