This article of Hitchens' is a good reminder that the coalition that won the 2004 election for Pres. Bush contains a very broad range of views.
Lets hope that some of the overzealous GOPeepers here can begin to realize that truth.
This election was won by a coalition of people of various political stripes.
If religious conservatives start believing the rhetoric that they alone were the key to Bush's victory, they'll overreach, and the coalition will break apart. This would be a major setback for the cause of limited government.
Karl Rove understands this well, as was evident in his interview on Meet the Press this past Sunday. I do not believe that the Republican Party is going to throw away this victory on an misinterpretation of the election or of the American public.
This is why we keep hearing that Pres. Bush's first major post-election initiative will be on economic policy (taxes or maybe Social Security). Given the trumpeting of the role of the social conservatives, Pres. Bush needs to reassure the limited-government pro-freedom low-tax Republicans that they did the right thing when they voted for him.