The extreme political Religious Right hasn't given up hope of getting something out of this election. Their latest ploy involves petitioning the parties for a "True Christian" in the vice-presidential slot.

The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, an organization run by a former staffer of the late Rev. D. James Kennedy, is calling on conservative Christians to sign a petition seeking a "True Christian" vice president.

Gary Cass, who used to lead the Center for Reclaiming America at Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he doesn't think either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain meets his standards for being such a Christian.

"So the best we're going to get out of this election cycle is an evangelical Christian running for vice president," he said.

The group isn't suggesting names but is citing criteria for a perfect candidate, including that it be someone who is against abortion and for defining marriage as "a union between one man and one woman." It plans to send the petition to the presidential candidates.

By "True Christian" they, of course, mean someone who agrees with their particular sectarian-political position, which is a minority position among American Christians. To them, most American Christians don't qualify as true Christians.

Considering these guys are never, ever going to vote for a Democrat, the real point of the petition is to pressure McCain to allow them to name his VP in return for them not staying home in November. More likely, they know McCain will lose and this is just them positioning themselves to argue that it was their lack of support that lost him the election and thus blackmail the Republican Party to cave into the Religious Right's demands even more in the future than it has in the past. The whole business of saying they plan to send their petition to both parties is just cover for tax purposes.