Fundamentalists want control of presidential nominees.

Scary stuff. Right-wing Christians want to appoint themselves inquisitors before the next presidential election. They're pretty adept at double talk themselves, don't you think?

Leaders of conservative Christian organizations plan to jointly interview Republican contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination, perhaps even endorsing one of them — steps that could expand their already considerable political influence.

"We'd like to try to stay together," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said at a breakfast with reporters Wednesday. The ad hoc group includes "free thinkers" and "strong personalities," he says, but they might unite behind a candidate who "unquestionably" best represented their views and priorities.

Gary Bauer, president of American Values, said in an interview that the sit-down sessions, likely to begin after the 2006 elections, would be "a very effective way to nail down where people are on cultural issues."

They're trying to make it sound nicey-nice, but this is pretty much their way of saying they own the Republican party.