I Don’t Understand

This question is coming from reading the “Dobson Offers Insight on 2008 Republican Hopefuls” article in US News. James Dobson has had a very influential career and is respected by millions. I understand why people look up to him and I am on occasion a listener to his radio show. What I don’t get is where he gets the audacity to judge another man’s, who he is arguably not acquainted with, faith.

From the article:

"We use that word—Christian—to refer to people who are evangelical Christians," Schneeberger added. "Dr. Dobson wasn't expressing a personal opinion about his reaction to a Thompson candidacy; he was trying to 'read the tea leaves' about such a possibility."

Ignoring, for the moment, the fact that a Focus on the Family spokesperson is openly stating that his boss engages in occult practices to see the future, so what? What I don’t understand is this fascination with the catch word “evangelical”. I have absolutely no idea what the word means or denotes in terms of faith or practice. I doubt that those claiming to be one, do either.

What does it mean to be an “evangelical” Christian? I know some of you claim this and I’d like to hear what you mean by it, even if you don’t use the word the same way as someone else might.

FWIW: I have no idea if this guy is a Christian or not, and I'm not defending him. I just don't get the whole "if you're not evangelical, your not a Christian bit".