End of an era?

Jerry Falwell is dead. The New York Times obit says that he was the one who made the religious right a political force that was indelibly linked to the Republican party:

Mr. Falwell went from a Baptist preacher in Lynchburg to a powerful force in electoral politics, at home in both the millennial world of fundamentalist Christianity and the earthly blood sport of the political arena. As much as anyone, he helped create the religious right as a political force, defined the issues that would energize it for decades and cemented its ties to the Republican Party.

Now, we live at a time when -- in the wake of the Iraq war debacle -- that the Republican party stands in a greater degree of disarray than at any time since the 70s and neither of the top three Republican presidential contenders enjoy strong support among the religious right.

Is the indelible link finally over?