"Preparing Mr. Reed's Political Obituary"...

The New York Times David D. Kirkpatrick July 22, 2006 at 09:02 AM
READ MORE: George W. Bush

As a seasoned political strategist, Ralph Reed knew from the first returns on Tuesday night that the news was bad and even laughed at the television pundits who suggested that the race was still up for grabs.

But this time the loss he was assessing was not a client's but his own first bid to win elective office -- the lieutenant governorship of Georgia. It would have been the next big step in a seemingly unstoppable career that had already vaulted him to the head of the Christian Coalition at the age of 29, to the cover of Time magazine at the age of 33, and to the inner circle of President Bush's political advisers by the age of 39...

...Now, a dozen years after Time proclaimed him "The Right Hand of God," some are preparing Mr. Reed's political obituary, wondering what he will do after his rejection by the evangelical churchgoers whose support formed the foundation of his reputation as a political activist and his personal fortune as a political consultant.

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