SCOTUS - Will the Christian right play nice?

Establishment Republicans are asking the religious right to tone down the apocalyptic language over Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court.

The New York Times reports that White House envoys and senior GOP Senate staffers have been negotiating with leaders of the social conservative movement since the day that Justice O'Connor announced her resignation:

In a series of conference calls on Tuesday and over the last several days, Republican Senate aides encouraged conservative groups to avoid emphasizing the searing cultural issues that social conservatives see at the heart of the court fight, subjects like abortion, public support for religion and same-sex marriage, participants said.

Instead, these participants, who insisted on anonymity to avoid exclusion from future calls, said the aides - including Barbara Ledeen of the Senate Republican Conference and Eric Ueland, chief of staff to Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader - emphasized themes that had been tested in polls, including a need for a fair and dignified confirmation process.

Considering the fiery message that the Family Research Council sent out to its supporters just today, it doesn't sound like the religious right is inclined to play ball. Maybe they're remembering... well, everything. For example, maybe they are remembering that Bush campaigned for re-election by strongly (!) suggesting that their priorities (outlawing abortion, smiting the homosexuals) were his priorities. Maybe they are remembering that no sooner had he taken his second oath of office did he announce that his number-one domestic priority was Social Security privatization.

One suspects that Messers. Perkins, Dobson, et al, will not be pacified this time. This is not a game to these people. They are, I think, tired of hearing "I love you" in the heat of the moment, only to realize the morning after that their suitor doesn't even remember their name.