Ralph Reed and Ryan Sager are now debating. Though they disagree
quite sharply on gay marriage (which is sucking up quite a bit of
oxygen from the debate), there's a lot more common ground than you
might think. Sager started by saying he'd have to be "deranged" to
actually argue that social conservatives aren't critical to
rebuilding the Republican majority, as suggested by the title of
the debate ("Resolved: Religious Conservatives are Critical to
Building a Republican Majority"). Instead, Sager argues that the
religious right needs to get back to protecting their values by
fighting government encroachment on the same. Reed more or less
agrees, emphasizing the need for religious conservatives to embrace
a big tent, quoting Reagan's dictum that "an 80% friend is not a
20% enemy." It seems that fusionism lives.