"Take About Five People with You and Vote. It Would Be a Sin Not To"

G.O.P. operatives are targeting scandal-weary but vital Christian conservatives -- all but begging parishioners to give them one more chance even after the Foley scandal

They stayed at home in large numbers instead of voting in the 2000 election, or so Karl Rove has always maintained. They came out for President Bush in 2004 and were key to his re-election, or so they like to claim. Now, just weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm congressional elections, one of the last unknowns of a wild and potentially historic campaign season is: What will Christian conservatives do this time?

With polls suggesting an increased likelihood that Republicans may lose one or both houses of Congress, G.O.P. strategists calculate that a calamitous Category 5 election might be tamed to...

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