The creationist, fundamentalist religious right is a social movement easily mobilized on cultural grounds to be enlisted for right-wing causes. They represent a key constituency which can be counted on to deliver at the polls, and in a host of other fields of potential cultural combat, and to support the conservative program, no questions asked. This is why conservatives, even those who have no problems with Darwinism, or for that matter, might even be atheists themselves, tend to make excuses for and cover up for these yahoos. You see it right here on this forum. They need these people because the cultural wars are real, but like all wars, the root causes are economic.

The conservative economic agenda has disgraced itself after a near- decade of consistent mismanagement and inept performance on every issue. They need all the help they can get now, and as the elections draw near, and in the lean years that will follow them, any double-digit subset of the population which can be depended on to consistently deliver for the conservative cause will be pandered to lavishly. It's not the first time this has happened, they did it to hard-hats, rednecks, and flag-wavers, too. But this time, the right is skirting the edge of the abyss, and they know it They will stop at nothing.