US: A new book by a former White House official says President George Bush's top political advisers privately ridiculed evangelical supporters as "nuts" and "goofy" while embracing them in public and using their votes to help win elections.
The claim, by David Kuo, the former No 2 official in the White House's faith-based initiatives programme, has rattled Republican strategists already struggling to convince evangelical voters to support the party in next month's mid-term elections.
Mr Kuo's book, Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, accuses Karl Rove's political staff of cynically hijacking the faith-based initiatives idea for electoral gain. It assails Mr Bush for failing to live up to his promise to boost the role of religious organisations in delivering social services.
White House strategists "knew 'the nuts' were politically invaluable, but that was the extent of their usefulness," Mr Kuo writes.
"Sadly, the political affairs folks complained most often and most loudly about how boorish many politically involved Christians were . . . national Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as 'ridiculous' and 'out of control'."
Mr Kuo's descriptions could do political damage to a Republican Party that has staked its formula for success on motivating the conservative base.
"Here we go again," said Paul Weyrich, a religious conservative with close ties to the White House, referring to the avalanche of negative factors he predicted would keep "embarrassed Republicans" from voting, just as Watergate did in the 1970s. "If Republicans win," he said, "it will prove God is a Republican, since it will take a miracle."