Changes

If [one goes] back to the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, evangelical Christians were not very active in politics.  Reforming this world didn't seem to appeal much to people whose whole goal was to get to the next world. ... [Now] many people inside the movement and outside the movement recognized that something new was happening in American politics."<ref name=nyt/></blockquote>

If [one goes] back to the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, evangelical Christians were not very active in politics.  Reforming this world didn't seem to appeal much to people whose whole goal was to get to the next world. ... [Now] many people inside the movement and outside the movement recognized that something new was happening in American politics."<ref name=nyt/></blockquote>

In 1984, McAteer ran as an [[Independent voter|Independent]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat from Tennessee, a post vacated by the [[Republican Party|Republican]] Majority Leader, [[Howard Baker|Howard Henry Baker, Jr.]] McAteer opposed the Republican nominee, Victor Ashe, later the long-term [[mayor]] of [[Knoxville]], who like Baker was considered a [[Rockefeller Republican|Moderate Republican]]. The easy winner of the race was the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Al Gore]], then a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] for Tennessee's 4th congressional district and later the vice president under [[Bill Clinton]]. McAteer finished with 87,234 votes (5.3 percent) in the contest. Gore won handily despite the easy reelection of President Reagan and Vice President [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3707|title=TN U.S. Senate|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref>

In 1984, McAteer ran as an [[Independent voter|Independent]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat from Tennessee, a post vacated by the [[Republican Party|Republican]] Majority Leader, [[Howard Baker|Howard Henry Baker, Jr.]] McAteer opposed the Republican nominee, Victor Ashe, later the long-term [[mayor]] of [[Knoxville]], who like Baker was considered a [[Moderate Republican]]. The easy winner of the race was the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Al Gore]], then a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] for Tennessee's 4th congressional district and later the vice president under [[Bill Clinton]]. McAteer finished with 87,234 votes (5.3 percent) in the contest. Gore won handily despite the easy reelection of President Reagan and Vice President [[George Herbert Walker Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3707|title=TN U.S. Senate|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=May 26, 2016}}</ref>

Falwell, who worked with McAteer and others in the organization of the former [[Moral Majority]], once said that what "the press today calls the 'religious right' was really McAteer's dream."<ref name=nbcnews/> McAteer was particularly known too as a defender of the nation of [[Israel]]. He was overshadowed in the national limelight by Falwell and other colleagues, such as televangelist [[Pat Robertson]], and [[Ralph E. Reed, Jr.]], the former head of the [[Christian Coalition]], who at the time of McAteer's death in 2004 was working in the successful re-election campaign of U.S. President [[George W. Bush]], who had defeated McAteer's former rival, Al Gore, in a close, contested match in 2000.<ref name=nyt/>

Falwell, who worked with McAteer and others in the organization of the former [[Moral Majority]], once said that what "the press today calls the 'religious right' was really McAteer's dream."<ref name=nbcnews/> McAteer was particularly known too as a defender of the nation of [[Israel]]. He was overshadowed in the national limelight by Falwell and other colleagues, such as televangelist [[Pat Robertson]], and [[Ralph E. Reed, Jr.]], the former head of the [[Christian Coalition]], who at the time of McAteer's death in 2004 was working in the successful re-election campaign of U.S. President [[George W. Bush]], who had defeated McAteer's former rival, Al Gore, in a close, contested match in 2000.<ref name=nyt/>