Interesting piece, but I think he goes too far in that he's lumping every wackadoo thing individual members, leaders even, of the religious right said and did together. Shadowy cabals with secret agendas leading religious groups sounds like trouble, but if you're talking about massive social change, it ain't gonna happen without the active support of the rank and file. The most extreme elements of the 80's did fail in terms of legitimizing extremism (although they certainly succeeded in other areas), but the important lesson here isn't that extremists are bad, but that they lost popular support to moderates because they overreached.
