EACH OF OUR MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES is really three smaller parties stacked in a pyramid. The chart below is a handy reference guide. The critical challenge for each party's elite is to attend to its base. These days, the base of the Republican pyramid is cracked.

This base is what I call the Party of Faith, the legions of Americans who believe in "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The fact that they practice religion is what defines them. Overwhelmingly Christian, they go to church, read Scripture, and organize their social lives around interactions with other believers. Faith in God and the attempt to obey His will is at the center of their lives.

The Party of Faith has its own subculture. Its most prominent political leaders are Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council, but there are numerous others, too, including Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson, and, increasingly, the dozen or so pastors of the new mega-churches, like Southern California's Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, and Rick Warren. When and if these leaders serve notice on the GOP's elite that the Republican party no longer represents them, the threat will be real. If the base's support for the GOP collapses, the Republicans' ability to contend with the Democratic party will be gone overnight.