Three weeks ago tomorrow you issued a challenge in the August 10 Get Religion posting:

A challenge: Produce a "God's Official Party" quote

"I need to ask this: Can anyone find a quote from even a state-level Republican leader claiming that believers would or should vote only for Republicans?"

Well, good things come to those who wait. And Michael Crowley, posting in today's TNR blog, provides the documentation:

http://www.tnr.com/blog/rnc [Here's a more direct link that doesn't require scrolling down.]

BASE BALL:

This morning I stopped by a meeting of the Iowa GOP delegation, attended by Nebraska Senator (and potential 2008 candidate) Chuck Hagel. I'll be writing more about Hagel later this week, but the thrust of Hagel's short speech was a strong call for a more multilateralist U.S. foreign policy. Speaking in a drab little conference room at a midtown Sheraton Hotel, Hagel said that America must "reach out" to allies in the war on terror, and follow ideals of "tolerance, listening to people, bringing people together with a common purpose." It all sounded more like John Kerry than a Republican angling for a presidential bid. It's not clear how well this line went over. The delegates interrupted Hagel's remarks with applause a couple of times, but only when he talked about ending divisiveness in politics--never during his foreign policy spiel. It seemed to me that these delegates have other priorities. Soon after Hagel spoke, the acting state Republican chair--an African-American man in a white cowboy hat named Leon Mosley--urged his delegates, "Let's remember what's paramount in our life: God ... This is the GOP: God's Official Party." At that, the room burst into sustained applause. Behold, the Republican base.