Frustrated by their trouncing on Election Day, Republicans are
regrouping, rebuilding, and reenergizing to present a unified
conservative message in time for the mid-term elections.
Just kidding.
Actually, as we’ve seen, the party is
shooting its
wounded. Witness the chorus of Republican pundits blaming the
election on that favorite whipping boy of the party elite: social
conservatives.
Kathleen Parker does it with abandon in the Washington
Post, fingering
what she calls the “evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy
branch of the GOP” for the drubbing. P.J. O’Rourke, writing in
the Weekly Standard, lists abortion opposition and the
Clinton sex scandal as two areas where conservatives have “blown
it” since 1980. Not to be outdone, David Frum
says the only hope for Republican recovery is becoming “less
overtly religious, less negligent with policy, and less
polarizing on social issues.”.
The blame flaming is ironic. In 2004, evangelicals played a major
role in Republican victories. Few complained. But after electoral
blood baths in 2006 and 2008, why, it’s those Bible-thumping,
one-toothed voters who are at fault. Purging time.
Granted, fiscal conservatives are not the only ones piling on. In
his new book, Mike Huckabee
says the Republican Party’s real threat is “libertarianism
masked as conservatism.” No, the real threat is the spendthrift,
big-government, scandal-ridden wing of the party, which
apparently has become the party. Shifting the blame to
libertarians isn’t the answer.
But neither is shifting the blame to social conservatives. And
unfortunately, party elites are far more likely to condemn values
voters than fiscal libertarians, exposing an undercurrent of
disdain that has existed for years. Show up on Election Day and
vote for our candidates, they say, but shut up the rest of the
year. That attitude has to change.
Social conservatives are not the culprits of the ‘08 massacre.
Any honest observer of electoral trends knows this. Political
models forecast a Democrat victory this year for a reason. Since
World War II, the party in the White House has changed every
eight years (Jimmy Carter’s one-term stint and Bush Senior’s win
in 1988 were two exceptions). Economic woes, the scorched GOP
brand, and scandalized pols such as Ted Stevens (he won’t be
missed) only reinforced the slaughter.
Given the political reality, it’s asinine to blame the GOP’s turn
at the whipping block on religious conservatives. Social issues
played a small role in the campaign. Abortion came up in one of
three presidential debates, and it was discussed less than five
minutes. Rick Warren raised the topic at a forum in August,
prompting Obama to make his infamous “above my pay grade”
statement, but even at this evangelical event, sanctity of human
life was only one of many issues discussed.
Ditto for other social issues. Marriage redefinition was brought
up a handful of times. Both candidates viewed the topic as
radioactive. McCain did get poetic justice for his coyness —
more voters in California and Florida voted for a marriage
amendment than for the maverick.
In contrast, the candidates discussed (ad nauseam) taxation,
wealth redistribution, health care, government intervention in
markets, and immigration. This election was more about the
economy, Iraq war, and Bush presidency than Roe v. Wade
and marriage redefinition. If we are going to blame the loss on
issues, blame gas prices and an unpopular war, not the pro-life
cause.
The truth, however, is that issues played a negligible role.
Obama would have won regardless of what McCain said or did,
barring some enormous calamity (a suitcase nuke going off in
Manhattan comes to mind). Retrospective in-fighting is useless.
Mitt Romney has the right approach to party cohesion: unite the
fiscal, social, and foreign policy conservatives. Reagan did it
masterfully. He earned the support of Bible-believing Christians,
marijuana-legalizing libertarians, union-card-carrying
blue-collar workers, small-town families, and even a few liberals
who were scared of being the only ones in their state to vote for
Mondale.
Republicans need another unifier of that ilk, a leader who knows
that venting frustration on a fundamental part of the Republican
base is not the way to win elections. Keep your rhetorical powder
dry for the real enemy.
