September 20, 2011 06:50 PM UTC

Religious Right--They're Just Not That Into You

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• by: Colorado Pols

Reports the Colorado Independent’s Sofia Resnick:

Influential conservative social policy group Focus on the Family announced Friday it will eliminate about 50 jobs due to a significant drop in donations that has led to a $15 million budget shortfall, as the Denver Post initially reported. The group also experienced a $27 million budget reduction in 2010.

The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based, group, which James Dobson founded in 1977, is projected to end the 2011 fiscal year, on Sept. 30, with a $105 million budget; however, Focus only brought in $90 million to $95 million in donations this year. The organization is responding to the funding reduction with a 7-percent staff reduction.

“God has never promised us a certain budget number,” said Gary Schneeberger, vice president of communications for Focus on the Family (FoF), in a statement. “He’s only called us to spend the money He provides responsibly and to help as many families as possible. That’s what we’ll continue to do.”

In the last 10 years, FoF’s staff has been reduced by more than half…

We haven’t seen any studies to prove the link, but we can’t help but note the fact that Springs-based Focus on the Family’s donation base has withered at roughly the same time the “Tea Party” and its host of very well-funded “grassroots” organizations sprung into being–Focus can plausibly blame some of its troubles on the recession, but you can’t say that the recession has hurt booming operations like FreedomWorks or Americans for Prosperity.

It’s no secret that the political prominence and public support for the religious right waned dramatically in the last few years, and is expected to continue to decline as signature political issues like gay marriage become increasingly uncontroversial. The affinity between self-identified evangelical Christians and the “Tea Party” strongly suggests that the latter brand provides a credibility haven for a demographic seriously in need of one.

Where does that leave Focus, and its nonpolitical mission of counseling and support? It looks like the GOP has got a new steady–one that’s popular with cool kids and squares.