It appears that the evangelical movement is beginning to show signs of coalescing around John McCain.

According to the New York Times:

Conservative evangelical leaders met privately this week to discuss putting aside their misgivings about John McCain and coalescing around the Republican’s presidential bid while urging him to consider social conservative favorite Mike Huckabee as a running mate.

About 90 of the movement’s leading activists gathered Tuesday night in Denver …

‘’Our shared core values compel us to unite and choose the presidential candidate that best advances those values,’’ said (Liberty Counsel president Mathew) Staver, who previously backed Huckabee’s bid. ‘’That obvious choice is Sen. John McCain. I think people left the meeting in unity the likes of which have not been evident through the primaries.’’

But it isn’t all win-- er, grape juice and roses for the group. Conservative Christians are motivated more out of opposition to Obama than enthusiasm for McCain, the Times said.

‘’Obama is a considerable threat to our values,’’ Staver said ...

‘’People are not saying, ‘Let’s all go out and support John McCain,’’’ anti-gay marriage activist Phil) Burress said. ‘’It’s more like, ‘We have to do what we have to do for our country.’ Basically, that boiled down to John McCain.”

Many of the participants got behind other GOP candidates during the presidential race and “remain wary of McCain’s commitment to their causes and his previous criticisms of movement leaders,” the Times says. Although McCain considers himself pro-life, he supports embryonic stem cell research and opposes a federal amendment prohibiting gay marriage.

But most evangelical leaders are now “taking a more pragmatic view,” the Times says, as Obama makes a strong play for evangelical voters and talks freely about his faith: This week he called for expanding White House efforts to steer social service dollars to religious groups, and he has developed campaign events targeting religious voters.

(SEE ALSO: “Obama works to mobilize ‘Christian left,’ CNN.com)

But in the end, Obama is a pro-choice defender of gay rights – not exactly the kind of platform that endears itself to evangelicals. 

‘’The only evangelicals that will support Obama are the ones who haven’t read their Bible,’’ Burress said. ‘’The more and more we learn about Obama, the closer and closer we get to McCain.’’

Finally, I know you’re just DYING to know, so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. According to the story, “James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and a fan of neither McCain nor Obama, did not attend. Dobson has been in California working on a new book, aides have said.”

Dobson making himself unavailable for a meeting of other evangelicals talking about uniting around McCain. Hmm. Now there’s a shocker.