As conservative evangelicals assess the outcome of the 2008 election, a leading spokesperson is offering some advice for the movement’s future.

Mark DeMoss, who heads an Atlanta-based PR firm for religious organizations, writes in a guest post on Beliefnet, “I have an idea for a new project for evangelicals: we could lead the charge to get rid of negative political advertising, irritating “push” calling, and generally mean-spirited, petty campaign behavior…”

In addition to demanding civility from candidates, DeMoss urges evangelicals to stop demonizing their opponents while claiming perfection in their own candidates — which, he claims, causes them to “lose credibility and legitimacy.”

DeMoss calls on evangelicals to be more generous with campaign contributions and to support qualified candidates who share their values, as opposed to simply voting for politicians who belong to their particular religious denomination. In his Beliefnet post, he writes:

Along the campaign trail I met so many people, including pastors and religious leaders, who could tell me only that their choice for president was a “good Christian” or “one of us.” This, in my view, is a dangerously inadequate approach to choosing our highest leaders. We don’t choose people for any other positions using this test; why would we apply it to one of the most important positions on the planet?

DeMoss, who identifies himself as an “evangelical Southern Baptist,” worked for Mitt Romney (a Mormon) in the GOP primary campaign, and voted for John McCain in the general election.

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By Alicia Acuna

Denver, Co - 8:10 pm: Excitement is building here at the gathering place for Colorado Democrats as the polls closed here just a little over an hour ago. The crowd already celebrating what they know about the race so far.
There are have been few problems reported. Will be sending pics soon!

By Caroline Shively

Update: Virginia is still too close to call.  McCain is leading in the early returns.  We’ve been pushing both sides to tell us how confident they feel.  R’s and D’s are both being cautious.  One democratic official tells me, “This could be one long night in Virginia.”