Indispensable Evangelicals Urged To Stay With Trump

WASHINGTON — Conservative leaders, increasingly worried about a challenging 2018 campaign, are intensifying their appeals to evangelical voters frustrated with Washington, warning that failure to support Republican lawmakers in November will imperil Donald Trump and his agenda. In churches and email solicitations, through voter guides and major conferences, organizations that target Christian conservative voters plan to argue at every turn that the success of Trump’s presidency – and potentially, its existence – is on the line this year. “The GOP’s only hope is the president,” said Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Family Research Council, which is active in 15,000 churches across the country. It’s part of a broader effort to transform Trump’s popularity with the base into votes for Republicans those voters have come to distrust.