The evangelical Right has an important impact in the Republican Party, but it also is a guarantee of failure for the GOP in the Presidential Election of 2016.
The evangelical Right can affect the results in the Iowa Caucuses and the South Carolina Primary, and in much of the South and the Great Plains and parts of the Midwest, but its candidates cannot win the Presidency.
Out of all of the potential and real GOP Presidential candidates, the following would have the ability to appeal to the evangelical Right:
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
Retired Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson
Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry
NONE of the above six will win the GOP nomination, and the majority of the nation’s people (including mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews) believes in just the opposite of what the Evangelical Right believes:
They support gay rights and gay marriage as acceptable.
They support gun control laws of some kind.
They support abortion rights for women, possibly with restrictions, but the basic right of women to control their own bodies and future.
They are against religious interference in government policy making.
They support immigration reform, although disagreeing on details.
They support Obama Care, possibly with changes and modifications.
They support protection of the environment from the power of powerful energy companies.
They support a higher minimum wage and other labor reforms.
They are against corporate domination of the campaign finance system.
They are concerned about right wing extremism of all kinds.
The average American is much more tolerant and open minded than the evangelical Right, which, at most, might be able to gain backing of about one third of all Americans, and also of actual voters.
So appealing to the evangelical Right is NOT a path to victory for the Presidency, or even the nomination!