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The Spectacle Blog
Perhaps the biggest story from the weekend’s Values Voters summit doesn’t belong to the winner — Mike Pence, who edged Mike Huckabee in the straw poll — but instead to the loser. According to Politico, that loser is Mitch Daniels:
While reluctant to criticize Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels by name, speaker after speaker implicitly criticized the potential presidential candidate’s suggestion that the next president call a “truce” on hot-button cultural issues to focus on budget-related matters….
“Those who would have us ignore the battle being fought over life, marriage and religious liberty have forgotten the lessons of history,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) in his speech Friday. “America’s darkest moments have come when economic arguments trumped moral principles.”
This is the price Daniels pays for his reluctance to signal the minimum level of commitment to social conservative priorities. The tragedy is that it appears that Daniels appreciates the severity of the country’s fiscal problems in a way that presidential hopefuls like Pence and Huckabee do not. Social conservatives should recognize that cutting spending should be a higher priority for their coalition than it would be in normal times. Any Republican elected to president would face enormous pressure to deal with our economic problems — just as Obama is right now — and his (or…her) political capital for spending on social items would be tied to his (or…her) success in addressing our economic troubles. In a number of ways, Daniels, right now, seems better prepared than anyone else in that regard.
So it’s a shame he has allowed himself to become a pinata at the Values Voters conference. To fix the problem, however, would be easy. Just acknowledge that there’s no possible “truce” on social issues, and communicate a willingness to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, nominate conservative judges, and do whatever possible to prevent federal funding of abortions through Obamacare. Then he would be free to de-emphasize social issues in his rhetoric.
And once he’s done that, he can start thinking about whether he wants to mend relations with “national security” conservatives…
Siegfried X| 9.20.10 @ 12:07PM
How can there be a truce in social issues when the Democrats are forcing a vote on Don't Ask, Don't Tell homosexual policy tomorrow, along with a vote on adding government funding of abortions in military hospitals?
(That's in addition to a vote on amnesty, which is really a moral issue too.)
Siegfried X| 9.20.10 @ 1:04PM
A bill was just passed in the House requiring federal hospital patients to reveal their "sexual orientation"
Jim Hlavac | 9.20.10 @ 3:54PM
How nice you lump abortions in with gay folks being permitted to tell the truth as we offer to serve our/your country. I wish you'd quit it. Killing babies before birth is of course murder and horrendous. But what does that have to do with not lying, not telling? Isn't it a moral good to Not lie? Isn't there a commandment against lying? Or are gay folks not included in that either? "You gay man, lie, so we're not offended." That's what don't ask, don't tell is, and it's society wide, not just the military. You all seem to think, perhaps, that we'll just crawl under some rock, and be taxed for the pleasure of it.
As a life time conservative, and reader of this magazine for nearly 30 years, with which I'm in agreement on 99% of all your concerns, on this one issue, gayness, I'm flummoxed, as usual, by so many of you insisting I must be a liberal because I don't want to lie. You all have this unearthly idea that being gay is a Democratic Party position, which is ridiculous. The same tiny percentage is gay the world over, in every society, every race, every country, regardless of its politics, and the percentage has never gone up or down since the dawn of time -- how much more "it exists naturally" can you get?
Furthermore, you all seem to have no troubles having your hair and drapes done by us, or getting your coffee on a plane served by one of us, but if we mention we have a boyfriend you go into leaps of fancy about us destroying the nation and even civilization itself; it's absurd. We want to get "married," call it what you will -- but we're not the ones getting divorced, nor are we the ones bed-hopping to the point of unwed pregnancies which lead to abortion. Geez, we're probably the only guys leaving high school still virgins, from the looks of things. We tried even to hide, you busted down the doors to the bars and arrested us. Is that part of your perceived return to American Values? To restart up the arrests and harassment of gay folks? You know, for "American Values" as if not only am I not American, but not even an foreigner, but something from some other planet that even God Himself did not make. Where on earth do you think we come from? Stop playing the "gay card" as well as Al Sharpton might play the "race card" against you.
I'm beginning to think I really need to know, so that we might take defensive measures under this "new & improved" Republican resurgence, which I support, for I'd rather take my chances with you guys than a bunch of crazed socialists.
Here's your true moral dilemma -- if you (the societal you, not the personal you, sir) ever took the time to find a gay gene, for we're as natural as can be, would it then be just fine to abort us? This I ask, do tell.
In the mean time, listen to Barry Goldwater -- "You don't have to like them, but gay Americans deserve full Constitutional Rights." Go look it up, he said it in 1994.
Martin| 9.20.10 @ 12:13PM
Having checked the Jennifer Rubin piece on his foreign policy, I remain confident that Daniels is the nearest we are going to get in this naughty world to a Coolidge Republican -- small c conservative on social policy, believing foreign policy should be cheap and moderately nationalist, and determined above all to cut back the budget, ideally halve it in eight years as Harding/Coolidge/Mellon did. For now, he's my #1 choice.
Booger| 9.20.10 @ 12:38PM
It's always the "socially liberal but fiscally conservative" pols who sell us out first. Christine Todd Whitman, Specter, Crist, Murkowski, etc, etc, etc, always bill themselves as fiscally conservative despite being social liberals, then they stab ALL conservatives in the back. But Mitch Daniels assures us if he gets the reigns of power he won't be anything at all like the rest of them, even though he uses the same rhetoric. How many Republicans/conservatives will prove themselves to be insane by doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result? Nominating Daniels would be settling for the status quo.
Interested Conservative| 9.20.10 @ 12:58PM
Booger - you're on to something, but it's even easier than it seems. "Socially liberal but fiscally conservative" pols almost don't exist. They're either essentially lying - i.e. not really fiscally conservative, or libertarian, and not really pols in the sense of holding office with any fiscal power.
The issue boils down to the fact that at least libertarians are both understandable and respectable.
FurrowedBrow| 9.20.10 @ 12:49PM
"In a number of ways, Daniels, right now, seems better prepared than anyone else in that regard. "
I am at a loss as to why the author thinks that Daniels understands this better than social conservatives. Really? Has Mike Pence been walking around saying that conservatives need to back off fiscal concerns or something?
I love the way socially liberal "conservatives" have begun telling real conservatives, "Hey, stop mounting a proportionate response to the changes we want you to let liberals make to America!" Guess what: social conservatives didn't start this fight, and they are not the ones perpetuating it. Liberal activists are the problem.
Instead of bemoaning social conservatives' refusal to accept a "truce", people who feel as Lawler does should start lecturing LIBERTARIANS about truces. Tell them to stop agitating for gay marriage & a repeal of DADT (see: HotAir & Instapundit).
Martin| 9.20.10 @ 12:55PM
Social conservatives cannot call themselves conservatives in any meaningful sense until they disavow the Mike Huckabees of this world.
Booger | 9.20.10 @ 12:58PM
Tell Charlie Crist to let you off the bottom for a while, sounds like you're not getting enough oxygen to the old brain cells down there.
Kenneth E. MacAlister Jr.| 9.20.10 @ 1:22PM
Very well put Booger, especially what you stated in the last sentence of your post. Settling on Daniels would be settling for the status quo. A so-called conservative who claims fiscal conservatism & rejects social conservatism like those you mentioned will not be fiscally conservative in the long run. Fiscal conservatism & social conservatism go hand in hand & rejection of either in favor of the other is mere capitulation. RINOs have been doing it for years & look where it's brought us as a nation. You're either a total conservative or you're a RINO-like phony. There is no grey area.
Bob| 9.20.10 @ 1:39PM
Governor Daniels has proven himself another Hoosier failure-Wilkie/Quayle in the White House?-forget about it.
Tim*| 9.20.10 @ 2:23PM
We Tea Party Rebels are looking at Tea Party Kingmaker South Carolina's Senator Jim DeMint for President in 2012
Bob Miller| 9.20.10 @ 2:35PM
Daniels and Pence have had a positive impact and have generally stood for the right things. Their weaknesses are are tiny compared to those of Democrats, RINOs, and blog commenters. If not for some need to balance the ticket geographically or gender-ly, they would make a good pair to run and rescue the country.
William R| 9.20.10 @ 4:39PM
Paul Ryan the GOPs new Golden Boy has also called for a truce on social issues.
Robert | 9.21.10 @ 5:15PM
Golden Boy also voted for Tarp and the auto bail-out. He's backing Mitch for 2012, though.
Best man for the job is Gary Johnson, but he's about 15 years ahead of his time.