Reply #23: I read a good book a couple of years back...

[AZCat]

I don't have it in front of me (it's out on loan) so I might get the title wrong, but I think it was "With God On Their Side", written by a professor from Rice University. He covers Carter's election and subsequent presidency in the book, and addresses exactly what you pointed out - that Carter was elected by the nascent Christian Right. He even got an endorsement from Billy Graham (who had never endorsed a candidate before). Phyllis Schafly (of the Eagle Forum) was one of his backers too, IIRC.

All that changed when Carter got into office, though. The right didn't like how he ran things and pulled their support over to Reagan in 1980, with the exception of Graham who was disgusted with politics and didn't endorse anybody.