The problem for the Right is the fact that conservative cannot imagine any other approach to social issues than their "whole package," viz., take it or leave it, it is ordained by God. This is not the only conceivable approach. Some issues, like legalization of cannabis can be seen as compatible with decent morality, as much as, say, drinking wine, while other issues such as legal and available contraceptives don't need to raise any questions whatsoever except among some Catholics, for whom a "conscience clause" in a political platform should suffice. There is no reason why the gains of the entire pro-homosexual movement cannot be completely reversed, and in a fairly short period of time, at that. All it would take would be a radically different and science based counter-offensive backed up by professional level resources. But I don't expect Christians to be a part of this kind of counter offensive. They lack the imagination, they lack the necessary understanding of science, and they lack conviction and the necessary courage. Besides, they have other priorities that in essence are no different than the highest priorities of secular people, material success, and all that values stuff isn't really important anyway. They can have it their way, and pin 100% of their hopes on one issue, abortion, a way guaranteed to lead to political failure. But I am fully prepared to fight on and fight alone, but fight on I will do, no matter what. Why? Because each and every supporter of "homosexual rights" is hopelessly ignorant of all relevant facts, is ridiculously closed minded, is nihilistic , and when all is said is as immoral as hell. "Homosexual rights" is evil from beginning to end and nothing could possibly be clearer, not to mention the fact that it is a mental illness that damages each and every human life that it touches. It is worth fighting against. And, g*ddamnit, I've done the research and I know exactly what I am talking about. Billy ========================================= NYT Democrats Seize on Social Issues as Attitudes Shift
John Harwood August 4, 2014 WASHINGTON — Facing re-election, Gov. Scott Walker, Republican of Wisconsin, no longer talks about stopping same-sex marriage. “It’s those on the left that are pushing” the issue, he says. Ed Gillespie, the Republican Senate candidate in Virginia, argued that Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic incumbent, was “making up my views” when Mr. Warner accused him of seeking to overturn abortion rights and ban some forms of contraception. In fact, Mr. Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, said in a recent debate, he wants contraceptives available (behind the counter) at pharmacies without a prescription. Representative Cory Gardner, a Republican in a tight Senate race in Colorado, proposed the same thing after the Supreme Court’s decision on the Hobby Lobby case exempted some private businesses from covering certain contraceptives in health insurance plans. He was shielding himself from attacks by Senator Mark Udall, a Democrat, who has spent months slamming Mr. Gardner’s “radical agenda” on abortion and family planning. “Udall is running his entire campaign on social issues,” said Brad Dayspring of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “All they talk about is birth control, ‘personhood,’ abortion.” So will many other Democrats this fall. They aim to match President Obama’ s feat in 2012, when the incumbent used topics such as same-sex marriage and contraception as weapons to offset his vulnerability on the economy. That they would even try while facing the older, whiter, more conservative midterm electorate shows how thoroughly the politics of social issues have turned upside down. The tumultuous social changes that began in the 1960s supplied decades of political ammunition for Republicans. Beginning with Richard M. Nixon, they rallied Americans disturbed by noisy protests over civil rights, the sexual revolution and the Vietnam War. “Acid, amnesty and abortion” was the epithet hurled at the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate, George McGovern. Republicans seized on concerns about welfare, school busing and crime — memorably with a black convict named Willie Horton in 1988 — to cement their grip on white voters. As recently as 2004, Republicans used a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage to rally tradition-minded “values voters” behind President George W. Bush’s re-election. Now the values wedge cuts for Democrats. Demographic change keeps shrinking Nixon’s “Silent Majority.” President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress overhauled welfare. Fear of crime has receded enough that members of both parties propose more lenient sentencing. American households have changed significantly. Nearly half of adults are unmarried. Fully 10 percent of opposite-sex married couples are interracial or interethnic. Acceptance of same-sex marriage has expanded with astonishing speed. Legalization of medical marijuana has moved, in two states, Colorado and Washington, to legalization of recreational marijuana. College students from the Summer of Love are pushing 70, the elders who disapproved of their behavior are largely gone and young adults are wondering what the turmoil was ever about. Democrats profit politically — among young voters, college graduates, single women, blacks and Latinos — from the sense that they welcome these cultural shifts while Republicans resist them. “That’s why people are voting for us these days — not for our economic prowess,” said Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster. “They all reflect an underlying attitude. It’s openness, it’s tolerance, it’s respect for others and who they are.” A recent _Pew Research Center study_ (http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-red-vs-blue/) highlighted how the Republican base diverges from majority opinion and experience. Members of a category Pew calls “steadfast conservatives,” mirroring Tea Party Republicans, attend church more often than any other group. More than half of them have guns in their homes, compared with one-third of the population over all. Only 18 percent of staunch conservatives say society should accept homosexuality, compared with 62 percent overall; 16 percent believe society is “ just as well off” if people have priorities other than marriage and children, compared with 50 percent over all; and 28 percent favor legalization of marijuana, compared with 54 percent over all. Six in 10 want their representatives to stick to their positions rather than compromise. Seven in 10 call immigrants “a burden” on society, and say America’s best years have passed. While 61 percent of the population says the globe is warming, three in four staunch conservatives see “no solid evidence.” Those attitudes complicate the party’s ability to forge a new majority coalition as education levels rise and attitudes change. “I’m worried when Republicans say global warming is a hoax,” said Peter Wehner, a former aide to Mr. Bush. “It’s not scientifically true.” Once seen as members of the “Daddy” party providing the sort of discipline Americans wanted in a president, Republicans lately have tried to display their nurturing side. This year, for the first time in Mr. Obama’s presidency, Republicans chose a woman, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, to deliver the party’s response to the State of the Union address. And would-be Republican presidential candidates are offering new antipoverty plans. Mr. Obama’s adversaries have plenty of other political tools. Americans remain fearful about their economic futures. Administration foreign policy has not averted chaos and violence in Ukraine, Gaza, Iraq and Syria. The president’s low approval ratings fuel desire for change. On some divisive issues like abortion, attitudes have not shifted much; sonograms and advances in medical treatment have increased the discomfiture of some Americans with the procedure. Part of Republicans’ defensive crouch on social issues, pollster Whit Ayres noted, reflects the fact that “ Democrats have done a better job” with campaign communications. Republicans tried to regain advantage by casting the Hobby Lobby decision as being about religious freedom rather than the availability of contraception. But Democrats’ aggressive response underscored their higher confidence. Among co-sponsors of legislation to overturn it were three Democrats facing tough re-election fights: Mr. Udall, Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Senator Mark Begich of Alaska. If such alignments have become routine for a new generation of Democratic strategists, they remain startling for those who once struggled to court culturally conservative “Reagan Democrats.” As Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster, put it, “I still wake up in disbelief at the transformation that’s taken place.” -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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