Is the culture war over?
To the dismay of the conservative movement, on virtually every burning issue that preoccupies the right, the country has moved steadily leftward. Election Day exit polling found, by a margin of 49 to 46, that a plurality of voters supported same-sex marriage. The same survey found that 59 percent of voters believe abortion should be legal in all (29 percent) or most (30 percent) cases, while only 36 percent believe it should be illegal in most (23 percent) or all (13 percent) cases…
Essentially, the new core of the party – minorities, unmarried men and women, young voters and whites with advanced degrees – is in general agreement on this broader spectrum of issues, forming a coalition of shared ideas.
The aggregation of a broad set of issues in forming a left or right political orientation marks a major change in American politics. Philip Converse, of the University of Michigan, studied data from the 1956 and 1960 elections and found that only a small minority of highly educated and well-informed voters viewed politics through what might be called an ideological lens.
But things have really changed since then.
Alan Abramowitz of Emory University has documented a major shift as voters have made decisions based on a collection of variables that once would have been seen as unrelated. In a study based on 2008 polling, Abramowitz found majorities or solid pluralities of voters formed consistently liberal or conservative views – not centrist positions – on a continuum of issues including gay rights and abortion; off-shore oil drilling; the Iraq war; health care; financial regulation; climate change and mortgage assistance to low-income homeowners.
Blowback
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And yet in 2015 all Republican eyes will be on IOWA and NEW HAMPSHIRE (All Hail!!!) and the residents will be like media celebrities (Over here!)the religious nuts will have their “purity pledges” for the candidates to sign and then in the end both states will vote Democrat.
Marcus on November 12, 2012 at 4:28 PM
To Gomorrah!
tom daschle concerned on November 12, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Yep. I give up.
B3. Burn, Baby. Burn.
davidk on November 12, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Yes they will. And Hillary will be the candidate. And she will win.
Rational Thought on November 12, 2012 at 4:31 PM
Yeah, thanks liberals and RINOs. That worked out well.
BuckeyeSam on November 12, 2012 at 4:32 PM
See here’s the problem. If you don’t make enough to buy a home then don’t buy one. I don’t exist to make other peoples mortgage payments for them.
darwin on November 12, 2012 at 4:33 PM
hahahahaha
Putin is right wing to those folks
faraway on November 12, 2012 at 4:35 PM
We have focused on morality/social issues from the top down in an institutional perspective rather than trying to win hearts and minds on the ground. Morality won’t work from the top down.
John_Locke on November 12, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Yes, and no. It’s over in the sense that Republican leaders have capitulated for the most part on these issues for decades. This despite clear majorities in their favor. They will, like Biden, personally agree, but see no reason to “impose”. Many of the same people who were in the Senate in 1992 are still there. How many would still vote for DOMA despite maintaining they still think marriage is defined as a man and a woman? Exit polls from a Democratic election win in a year when voting is down mean little. Many people in places like the west coast and the North East see no functional difference between Republicans and Democrats. Why would a conservative vote in New England at all? By hook or crook they are going to get higher taxes and socially liberal policies.
It is not over in the sense that people will continue to see that the problems these policies cause or exacerbate.
Rocks on November 12, 2012 at 4:37 PM
To more than 50% of your fellow citizens, that is precisely what you exist for. By 2016, it will be north of 60%. Get used to it. Think they’re going to give that up, having other people pay their bills? Not a chance. It’s a sweet deal, and all they have to do in exchange for it is vote democrat. That’s easy. Fun, even.
Rational Thought on November 12, 2012 at 4:38 PM
We all should look to the legacy media and academics for all the answers…
d1carter on November 12, 2012 at 4:40 PM
Federalism
Stop making social issues into national issue and address them at the state level.
CA doesn’t then get to tell us how to live and we in turn don’t try to tell them how to live.
Charlemagne on November 12, 2012 at 4:41 PM
davidk on November 12, 2012 at 4:41 PM
And when it all comes crashing down…
… we shall see a new form of ‘social justice’.
Sitting around waiting for a check ain’t gonna cut it…!
Seven Percent Solution on November 12, 2012 at 4:42 PM
If we were smart we’d all apply for every program and benefit there is and collapse the system under it’s own weight. Just use their own strategy against them.
darwin on November 12, 2012 at 4:43 PM
Especially when there’s none at the top.
davidk on November 12, 2012 at 4:43 PM
You can only take so much from the golden goose before you cook it.
These idiots don’t get that in embracing hedonism, they’re stepping backward not forward. Its the ability to show restraint, delay gratification and exercise self control that allows a human being to advance and prosper.
Iblis on November 12, 2012 at 4:44 PM
That whole thing was so ridiculous (le pledge)
blatantblue on November 12, 2012 at 4:45 PM
The culture wars ARE over – and they should be over.
Here’s a newsflash – you can’t control how people think. You can’t control how they live their lives and the choices they make. If you even try – you end up becoming hated.
Conservatism is a GREAT PHILOSOPHY once you separate it from the prohibitionist crap and it’s attempts to control the culture of society.
Why not dump that stuff?
If you hit the next election with a philosophy that the government has to be cut severely in order to maintain personal liberties, if you still advocate a strong national defense, if you demand competency from political leaders and get the hell out of the social issues …
You will DO VERY WELL with almost every demographic out there.
Don’t like abortion? Then don’t do it, but don’t tell others they can’t. I’m Pro-Life personally and Pro-Choice as a matter of governmental control. I look at abortion in an almost Darwinian way – if someone feels they need to kill their own offspring then probably their genes need to be eliminated from the gene pool anyway.
Influence YOUR family – not the guy’s family in the next state. Do it by being an ambassador for your own culture and morals – don’t ask Uncle Sam to enforce your beliefs and mores on others.
HondaV65 on November 12, 2012 at 4:49 PM
Yes, they’ve foolishly ceded those arguments, but the trend lines are going away from us on some of these issues, primarily gay marriage.
Few people know that Obama voted 3-4 times against post-natal abortions (actual murder) in Illinois, but everyone knows what Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock said. It’s an uphill battle because the MFM only covers one of these stories. The GOP de-emphasized this issue because they (me included) thought voters would tune out the noise and vote on the economy. So much for that.
Remember when we said that gay marriage doesn’t pass whenever it’s put to voters? Well, it was put to voters this year and passed in Maine, Washington State and Maryland, most notably because they have about a bazillion black voters and still passed.
The Count on November 12, 2012 at 4:50 PM
That’s what you believe – but you have no right to enforce that belief on others.
If you think you do – you’re not really a conservative – you’re just a right wing liberal because it takes a big government to do all that. Even then – it’ll never be successful.
HondaV65 on November 12, 2012 at 4:51 PM
Yeah, except no one cares what you have to say.
The Count on November 12, 2012 at 4:52 PM
How can the world be so full of people blind to what the left is doing?
darwin on November 12, 2012 at 4:53 PM
Is that the best you have? Oh yes I believe it is! LMFAO!!
HondaV65 on November 12, 2012 at 4:54 PM
Bullshet..
Nice try.
Mimzey on November 12, 2012 at 4:56 PM
No, the culture war isn’t over, you simply cannot win elections based on the culture war.
This really shouldn’t surprise anyone who hasn’t been living with their heads in the ground for the past fifteen years. I actually don’t buy the idea that religion is truly on the decline in America, BUT, culturally America has steadily been trending more libertarian for over a decade.
It’s really an inevitable consequence of the addition to the internet. The internet has forced a lot of people to grow up socializing with people of different beliefs, and the easiest way to get along with a diverse set of friends is be determined not to mess in their personal affairs.
For example, I’ve met incredibly dedicated, spiritual evangelicals, that voted for Obama, because they agreed on one or two pieces of secular policy, and felt that abortion was a personal decision that shouldn’t be forced on others.
In other words, we have individuals that are perfectly socially conservative when it comes to how they handle their own lives, but vote liberally because they’ve been convinced its good policy.
This is why spirituality can live while liberalism rises. Social libertarianism absolves individuals of the need to vote along social issues. In other words, social conservatism and secular conservatism are not inherently linked, and never have been.
This is why you NEED, I repeat NEEEEED, to win your political battles on secular policy. Culture wars will drag for decades, and possibly centuries, but politically we’re fast approaching a consensus that religion and government should in general not mix.
And you know what, it’s better that way. Look at the contraception mandate implemented this year. If government and religion kept their distance, this would never happen. Therefore, keeping a degree of separation between politics and religion, also serves to protect religious institutes.
WolvenOne on November 12, 2012 at 4:58 PM
You didn’t have much to say after the Oct 3 debate, but now that the election is lost, you’ve got all kinds of helpful advice. Thanks – we’ll pass.
Everyone here thinks you’re a crank. Go back to your Alex Jones.
The Count on November 12, 2012 at 4:59 PM
On abortion the country has moved right but the elites and the policy makers are going left.
By the way, where does Gun rights stand in this so called left wing triumph?
rob verdi on November 12, 2012 at 4:59 PM
No, the culure war isn’t over, even though the GOP pundits would like to pretend it is. The funny thing is that they’ve convinced themselves that they lost because of being too far to the right on social issues when they never discussed them during the campaign.
Stoic Patriot on November 12, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Uh, you do realize that the contraception mandate was a result of the secularist forces you’re praising, right?
Stoic Patriot on November 12, 2012 at 5:07 PM
Nailed it. Leadership reflects the morality of the electorate, it does not create it. If you want to assure that immoral leaders never retain power, convince more people that morality is important.
WolvenOne on November 12, 2012 at 5:08 PM
Yeah, you generally tend to lose battles when you are too cowardly/lazy to actually fight them.
Valkyriepundit on November 12, 2012 at 5:16 PM
No, I’m praising a healthy separation of church and state. A secular government that respects the rights of individuals and religious organizations would not pass legislation that forced religious organizations to violate their religious tenets.
The same holds true in reverse however. Like it or not, the vast majority of issues the government deals with, are of a purely secular nature. This is why so many people can ignore areas of vast social disagreement and vote for somebody that actively works against them.
People are increasingly RELUCTANT, to vote on social issues. This isn’t new however, it’s been happening for decades. Even regular church goers are increasingly reluctant to vote on social issues, because they feel like they’re forcing their views on others.
Basically, most people find it increasingly abhorrent to push their views on those that don’t agree, and their voting behavior reflects this. This is why primarily social conservatism is an absolute dead end.
If you cannot win on policy, your party is doomed, PERIOD.
WolvenOne on November 12, 2012 at 5:20 PM
We have not yet begun to fight.
AbaddonsReign on November 12, 2012 at 5:25 PM
Then explain the high voter turnout when the oxymoron of “h0m0sexual marriage” is on the ballot–and its subsequent rejection.
Let’s put abortion up for an up or down vote.
davidk on November 12, 2012 at 5:35 PM
Read up on socialist vote harvesting people.
dogsoldier on November 12, 2012 at 5:35 PM
problem is churches nowadays do at best a poor job on morality, and that only if people show up for church, which is less likely to be the case. The culture of the country has changed, and its genesis was the summer of love. Now hookups, the rapid decline of marriage and 45% out of wedlock births are all the new normal. It’ll take something major to turn around the morality of this country because it’s becoming very liberal very fast.
IR-MN on November 12, 2012 at 5:37 PM
Damned socons.
davidk on November 12, 2012 at 5:38 PM
I hate to tell you this, but the Catholic church then is the leading advocate for secularism under that view.
Stoic Patriot on November 12, 2012 at 5:43 PM
The culture war is certainly not over based on this election, since only one side ran on cultural issues.
What good is a marriage license or the freedom to abort if you are unemployed and broke?
What a foolish column.
rockmom on November 12, 2012 at 5:50 PM
I love this head in the sand mentality. The problem with this is socons aren’t pushing their ideas federally. They are trying to keep LIBERAL ideas from being pushing federally. ABORTION-pushed federally by LIBERALS not socons. GAY MARRIAGE-decided in California by socons-PUSHED FEDERALLY BY LIBERALS. It is not the socons who won’t stop on these issues. Socons are just responding to be pushed. It is like asking Israel to call a truce to Palestine all the while Palestine continues to bomb a peaceful Israel.
melle1228 on November 12, 2012 at 5:51 PM
Also, DO NOT FORGET that these “national exit polls” conveniently left out several Red states, including Texas. It was a biased sample of mostly Blue states that already leaned left on the culture war.
It is infurating to watch the MSM use these deliberately mahipulated exit polls to proclaim the end of anything.
rockmom on November 12, 2012 at 5:52 PM
This! I’ve said it time and again FEDERALISM is the answer. Conservatives need to advocate for Federalism. Not pro-life, not lower taxes, not cutting the budget, not even immigration reform/enforcement. Hammer home the idea of Federalism, that California shouldn’t be ruling Montana. That New York shouldn’t be ruling Texas. You can never go wrong telling citizens that out of state people don’t have business telling them what to do.
Browncoatone on November 12, 2012 at 5:55 PM
Again though the judiciary gets in the way. We can tell it until we are blue in the face but until we can staunch the flow of judges overriding the judiciary, votes in states do not matter. Again socons have NEVER tried to push ANYTHING federally. They have tried to stop things from being pushed federally. Abortion was a states right before LIBERALS got ahold of it etc.
melle1228 on November 12, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Alternately, it could just be a contest of candidate’s ground games with much less emphasis on ideology.
Count to 10 on November 12, 2012 at 6:42 PM
The point us Pro-Federalists are making is that neither major party supports or advocates Federalism. One side advocates gun control the other gun rights. One side advocates Pro-Life the other Pro-Choice. One side advocates Unionization the other Right to Work.
You know what’s missing? FEDERALISM. If Colorado wants to legalize pot that should be an issue for Colorado. If California wants to put in place unreasonable emissions standards for new cars that should be an issue for California. It’s not just he Left side that is pushing local issues on the national scene.
The key is to stop advocating a result and advocate the process. Go outside and ask a 100 people at random, left, right, purple or Martian whether the local tax rate should be decided by people 2,000 miles away that have never lived or even visited the state or if it should be decided by people who actually live and work right there. Self governance is a winner.
Freedom wins.
Capitalism wins.
Conservatism wins.
Consider East & West Germany, North & South Korea, hell pick an Eastern Bloc nation at random and tell me they’re not doing better since the fall of the iron curtain. When Freedom and Statism are put head to head the winner is always obvious.
Don’t advocate for lower taxation, advocate for local administration of taxation. Don’t advocate for less regulation, advocate for local administration of that regulation. Don’t advocate for less social spending, advocate for local control of social spending. If the levers of power are local then somewhere in the nation, somebody will do it right and it will be obvious when they do.
Or we can let the Statist continue to frame the debate around cutting funding for essential services to lower the taxes on rich white guys.
Browncoatone on November 12, 2012 at 7:09 PM