Separated at Birth: Ralph Reed and… Madonna?

When Ralph Reed—the man who gave us the Christian Coalition and the presidential campaign of professional homophobe Pat Robertson—looks in a mirror, he sees Madonna. Really. In a mind-boggling comparison made during an interview with The Christian Post, Reed declares that the evangelical voters like himself have a lot in common with one of the biggest gay icons ever—a lot more than he does with another big gay icon, Lady Gaga.

In an effort to prove that he has some pop-culture knowledge, Reed reached into the music world to compare the evangelical political movement to The Material Girl, who, by any measure imaginable has absolutely nothing in common with those holy rollers (except for maybe the fact both think they’re divinely sent). “To use today’s terminology, the evangelical vote is not Lady Gaga; it’s more like Madonna. We don’t need to reinvent what’s been around for awhile, we just need to keep it sharp,” said Reed. We’re sure Madge would be flattered by that comparison.

If anything, Reed is trying to emulate Esther’s “Like a Virgin” period: His reputation was tarnished first by a disastrous campaign for lieutenant governor of Georgia and then by his connection with lobbyist-turned-convicted-felon Jack Abramoff. Now Reed’s trying to recapture his political virginity. His new group, Faith and Freedom Coalition, held a two-day conference in D.C. in June, where most of the GOP presidential candidates came to kneel at Reed’s political altar.

With a finger to the wind, Reed is preaching more and more about fiscal issues, but there’s no disguising the anti-gay sentiment just under the surface. Just in case voters aren’t sold on social issues, Reed’s group plans to spend millions telling voters about Obama’s pro-gay policies (yes, not enough, but for Reed, any is too many). In that sense, Reed’s is like Gaga: he knows how much attention you can get from waving a little raw meat before the crowd.

photo credit: Gage Skidmore