---

Religion: Apocalyptic Politics
Ties That Bind: Bush and LaHaye have a history, and share a sense of mission

...Which is where Bush the Younger enters the scene. He and LaHaye aren't close, but they go way back. By the late 1980s, Bush and Karl Rove had decided that the key to establishing "Junior's" political base in Texas was to reach out to evangelical Christians. Conveniently enough, Bush's job in his father's 1988 campaign was to focus on those voters nationally. A key leader in that constituency was Falwell, who was for Vice President Bush; LaHaye went with Jack Kemp, but was eased out of that camp for some anti-Roman Catholic statements he'd made. The Bush campaign took LaHaye in, inviting him to an event at the veep's home. "I'm pretty sure I introduced Tim to George W," Falwell says.

By that time Bush II had become an earnest Christian, a double helix of faith and ambition. Ever since, and with growing confidence, he has spoken the Biblical and political language of the evangelicals. In 1999 LaHaye was among the religious conservatives with whom the then Governor Bush met as he prepared to launch his candidacy, telling them he felt "called" to run and to serve. As president, Bush has had his best speeches written by Michael Gerson, a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois (known as "the evangelical Harvard"). In spare, Biblical cadence, they proclaim Bush's central themes of individual compassion and faith-based strength and, since 9/11, an Armageddon-like struggle between good and evil.

The White House won't say whether the president has read the "Left Behind" books. But Bush doesn't need to have read them to speak to the hearts of their readers, says Cal Thomas, a columnist who worked for Falwell years ago. Even if they don't take the Book of Revelation as literal truth, most evangelicals have been reared on tales and debates about the End Times. For fans of Bush—and LaHaye—it's the backdrop of life its own self. "It's not a secret code," says Thomas. "It's our shared experience."