ANALYSIS-U.S. social conservatives riled but lack leader

* U.S. social conservatives: issues, no leader

* Conservative Christians stirred by Obama administration

* Base seen shrinking, though agenda may be widening

By Ed Stoddard

DALLAS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Wanted: a leader for the U.S. social conservative movement. Must be able to press all the right buttons, be a committed Christian and have a vision to propel the Republican Party back to power.

U.S. social and religious conservatives will be searching for someone to fill that void as they gather in Washington this Friday to Sunday for the fourth annual summit of self-styled "Values Voters."

Dubbed the "Religious Right," they have been stirred by a summer of discontent when their activists went on the offensive against Democratic President Barack Obama's top domestic priority of healthcare reform, taking part in widely publicized town hall meetings on the issue that often turned raucous.

Obama's falling poll numbers and what they depict as his ultra-liberal views on abortion rights, healthcare and climate change are galvanizing an important Republican base the party may need if it has any chance of taking back Congress in the 2010 elections or the White House in 2012.

Formerly high-profile leaders of the religious right such as televangelist Jerry Falwell and political operative Ralph Reed have died or retreated from prominence. Last year's economic crisis helped propel Obama to the White House.

"Social conservatives are looking for leadership and this is one of the places these folks are going to be shopping," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian lobby group organizing the summit.

"These are the time trials before the big race," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The gathering has become a "must attend" on the political calendar of any serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Several of the most talked-about Republican contenders for the 2012 White House race, such as former governors Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, will be there.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who lit up the party's Southern base last year when she ran for vice president as Senator John McCain's running-mate, will not attend, which will disappoint some in attendance. Polls consistently show she remains a favorite among conservatives.

"They are a constituency in need of a leader. The religious right remains a very organized entity and can be mobilized when the right issue and the right candidate comes to the stage," said Michael Lindsay, a political sociologist at Rice University in Houston.

"After Sarah Palin's disappointing performance for them last fall, they lost a voice in the American political landscape. ... I think the new face of the religious right will be a politician as opposed to an organizational leader of a para-church ministry," he said.

SHRINKING BASE

One big problem in the view of many analysts is the movement's demographic profile: it tends to be white, evangelical, rural, male and Southern -- a shrinking base. The group also includes some conservative Catholics and Mormons.

Much of its leadership and political favorites past and present have fit that profile closely: Perkins at the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family founder and radio host James Dobson, and Huckabee of Arkansas, who ran for the Republican nomination for the president last year.

Expanding its base may require a broader agenda. A survey released this week by Public Religion Research found conservative religious activists overwhelmingly identified abortion (83 percent) and same-sex marriage (65 percent) as the most important priorities among a set of eight issues.

"They must ask themselves if this narrow agenda is adequate, especially to attract support from younger people," said Robert Jones, president of Public Religion Research.

Other analysts say they have already been expanding their agenda while sticking to issues that have long motivated their flock, such as opposition to abortion rights.

Healthcare reform is a case in point.

Conservative Christian activists have injected abortion into the debate by saying that "Obamacare" will lead to federal funding for abortion -- an allegation denied by the president and his supporters but one that has helped fire conservative opposition to healthcare reform.

The religious right has also been at the forefront of conservative efforts to rally public opposition to climate change legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

Conservative Christian radio stations have spent the summer saying its "cap and trade" provisions are the biggest tax increase in U.S. history. That has stoked opposition and could have an impact when the legislation, already passed in the House of Representatives, is considered in the Senate. (Editing by Peter Cooney)