Much of the long-term political effect of the disruption hinges on America’s choice Tuesday. Some say a Trump win would bring political unity to their movement. “If Trump wins, he will become the head of the party and the fractious debate among social conservatives over his candidacy will be resolved in his favor,” Reed says. It would also mean “an administration that is actually on our side,” Perkins says, though not necessarily thanks to Trump: “Mike Pence is the vice president, it totally changes everything … we actually have someone who is on deck who is clearly one of us, that we are very familiar with, and someone we can work with.”
But a Clinton win may not mean the religious right players launch an all out civil war. “If Hillary wins, there will be an interregnum during which conservatives engage in the quadrennial ritual of organizing themselves into a circular firing squad,” Reed says. “That will be quickly followed by the more pressing need to oppose Hillary’s radical agenda, beginning with her Supreme Court nominee to fill the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia, which will revivify social conservatives and engender a renewed spirit of unity and agreement.” Bauer agrees: “The threats to religious liberty will overcome some of the other things that tend to divide values voters because it is so fundamental to who those voters are.”
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