The Culture Warrior:
James Dobson is tired of being misunderstood. The founder of Focus on
the Family wants everyone to know that his sprawling campus in
Colorado Springs, Colo., is devoted to his radio program, publishing
empire and maintaining his 2.5 million-strong e-mail list of
supporters. While it may be true that only a sliver of the activities
there are political, Dobson stepped down as president of the
organization in May 2003 so that he could become involved in
politics. Now he's not only advocating policies calling for a ban on
gay marriage and for restraint of the judiciary but also threatening
to target Democratic Senators at the polls if they don't vote the way
he likes on President Bush's judicial nominations.
It's not certain, however, whether Dobson, 68, can translate his
considerable influence into political muscle. White House officials
consider his demands too absolutist and impractical. "We respect him
greatly," says a Bush aide, "but his political influence is not
everything people might think." Indeed, Dobson seems to exercise
greater sway outside the political arena, where the trained child
psychologist has offered families a Christian alternative to modern
mores. Says Dobson: "We're involved in what is known as a culture war
that is aimed right straight at the institution of the family."
