Let The Bidding Begin

There is quite a spirited discussion going on at Classical Values about the relationship between social conservatives and libertarians. And of course the question is, "can it last?" I don't know. What I do know is that the social conservatives can't win nationally without the "Leave Us Alone Party". Of course the social conservatives say, "our way or the highway, after all, where else can you go?" Good question.

So what is the other side offering? Social liberty (more or less). Not unattractive to us Leave Us Alone Party types. Now of course neither side offers a pure product. So we won't start in on that.

So my social conservative friends. Time to start the bidding. How bad do you want me? As a sign of good faith I intend to vote and work against the current crew in DC. With the usual grumbling of course. I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't indicate my concerns.

So tell me. What social issues will you give up to attract me once the current crisis abates? And to my friends on the other side. I like your social credentials (mostly - watch out for that food and tobacco police bit though). What can you offer me in the way of fiscal conservatism? Any departments you would like to cut? I'm sure the DEA would be easy for both of us to agree on. To start. How do you propose to get the golden goose laying again? How will you keep the budget in line (some trust building would be required here)?

So ladies and gentlemen. What am I bid?

Cross Posted at Classical Values

The Shrinking Social Conservative

It looks like social conservatism as a political force is shrinking in America.

Superficially, 2008 seems like a similar success for social conservatives. Following the passage of marriage amendments in Arizona and Florida, as well as California, Maggie Gallagher wrote at National Review Online, “when it comes to marriage, there is no such thing as a blue state or a red state. Americans support marriage as the union of husband and wife.” But a closer look at the election results and the legal developments in the past year suggests that 2008 is in fact the year the marriage debate tipped in favor of same-sex marriage.

Only Arizona passed its traditional marriage initiative by 2004-like margins. While only 38 percent voted against the Florida initiative, the measure passed the required 60-percent threshold by just 2 points. In California, Proposition 8 passed by a bare 52 percent of the vote, and exit polls seem to attribute its success to an abnormally high turnout of socially conservative black voters. In Connecticut, voters had the chance to resist their state’s pro-gay-marriage Supreme Court decision, Kerrigan v. Public Health, by voting for a constitutional convention. That initiative failed by 20 points.

It looks like America is trending towards being a socially liberal nation. A look at the demographics will make that clearer.

Exit polls reveal that without the overwhelming support of voters over 65, neither the Florida nor California marriage initiatives would have passed. Younger voters turned out overwhelmingly against them. Absent an incredible shift in attitudes, same-sex marriage will soon command majority support. Shrinking majorities voting in favor of traditional marriage will encourage similar rulings to the Connecticut court’s.

I think this points to something that is inevitable. Social conservatism as a political force is a spent force. It is dying out.

The minor victories for marriage traditionalists this year point to defeats in the near future. Unless social conservatives find a way to appeal to voters under 40, Newsom’s prediction, “It’s inevitable,” is unassailable.

It is true that social conservatives own the Republican Party. What they don't seem to own is the voters. And it is not just gay marriage that is faltering. Voters don't seem to be too happy with the marijuana laws in the nation. Massachusetts voted to decriminalize marijuana possession for personal use by a whopping 65 to 35 margin. OK Massachusetts is a pretty liberal state. How about Michigan where a medical marijuana initiative was on the ballot? It won 63% to 37%. Which is pretty whopping. If only Republicans could win with those kinds of numbers. (pun intended)

All right. How about another cause celebe of the social conservatives. Abortion. How did that fare in the recent election? In South Dakota a ballot initiative to ban abortion failed 45% to 55%. Now South Dakota is supposed to be one of the rock ribbed conservative states. Failure. Colorado wanted to define life as beginning at conception. Down in flames. And not just down. Spin, crash, and burn down. It lost by a 73% to 27% margin. In a state that used to be counted Republican. And how about the parental notification law in California? Another loss at 48% to 52%.

It seems rather obvious that America is turning socially liberal. In other words the people are saying "Leave Us Alone" and let us make our own choices on social issues. A rather libertarian attitude towards social issues.

So where does that leave the Republican party? Although the social conservatives control the party it looks like the voters are leaning towards the libertarian wing on questions dear to the hearts of our beloved social conservatives. I think it is past time the party returned to its small government roots. On all issues. And it would help if the Republican Congress Critters actually acted responsibly on fiscal issues.

Now am I suggesting that Republicans jettison social conservatives? Not in any way shape or form. What I'm suggesting is that social conservatives adopt the small government position in all matters, not just economic ones. Just say no to Cultural Socialism. Just say no to Economic Socialism. If the party adopted such a stance it just might be a winner.

You can find out more on how various ballot questions fared at Boston.com

Leaving It To Obama

Commenter Fritz in a reply to a comment by Edgar at Older Protestant White Guys had this to say about the "leave us alone" crowd in the last election.

Edgar, you state that the "leave us alone" crowd are at fault for Obama's victory. OK. I'm one of the "leave us alone" crowd and, while I did not vote for Obama, I certainly was not going to vote for McCain. As far as I could see, he was much less in favor of leaving me alone than Obama.

Social conservatives have to come up with compelling reasons for those of us who are not social conservatives to, well, put up with them anymore. And it will have to be a damn good reason because I for one am tired of them. I want a small and limited government. Social conservatives want a large and annoying one. And as long as that is true, we had might as well have socialists in charge because, for the most part (i.e. except for gun control), they are less obnoxious.

While I did vote for McCain I can definitely understand the sentiment. In fact if National Defense had not been my prime issue I might have done exactly the same thing. The smugness of social conservatives is a huge turn off for me. As a member of the "leave us alone" crowd I'm tired of it. I'm tired of "we know what is right" as an answer to every challenge of their policies instead of reasoned discussion. And God forbid you hit one of their hot buttons like the Drug War or abortion. They go stark raving loony.

Of course the crowd coming in is no better when it comes to their hot issues and I'm tired of them already. As a commenter pointed out in another post - the only people who generally want to get into government are people who want to do something. In fact they want to do a lot of somethings. All very expensive and producing results the opposite of those claimed. That fits in very well with the first rule of politics. Get elected and once elected betray those who elected you.

You know maybe there is some truth to the old wisdom about the general crookedness of politicians and the low morals of actors. The nice thing about actors though is that you don't have to buy a ticket to the show. With politicians there is no way to opt out. They have a captive audience so to speak.

I have a few words for their kind:

Leave Us Alone

Cross Posted at Classical Values