Desperate to talk about anything at all to detract from the recovery of the economy in spite of everything they could do to sabotage it, the Republicans have resorted to their old fallback: social issues.
It's been a reliable foil - rile the base with all sorts of alarming predictions about the sexual revolution, women's rights, gay rights, abortion, socialism, communism or the oldest of all, racial equality - and sit back and watch the votes roll in! There's only one problem, and that is demographics. As time has rolled past, election year after election year, the older more reliable Republican conservatives are dying off. The younger generation, those under 30, are remarkably more liberal and tolerant of all of those old Republican bugaboos, and in many cases, actually support a more liberal position. Fewer than 30% of that generation are in any way conservative, and even fewer are true right wing believers.
The issue of gay marriage is a good indicator - in decades past, Americans opposed gay marriage by over 60% to 40%, in recent years, that number has almost reversed itself, overall. Polls showing a rising amount of support for liberal causes, reduction of military spending, gay marriage, women's rights, abortion and contraceptive use are indicative of the increasing liberal proclivities of the American public.
But, the Republicans, living on another planet as they do, still believe that their socially conservative initiatives enjoy a vast majority of support, and haven't stopped to read the handwriting on the walls along the highway to this election.
I believe they are in for a huge surprise.
Not only do many Americans see through Republican faux outrage at social issues, but oppose Republican positions on those issues by, in some cases, significant majorities. They also see through the Republican strategy of, State by State, laying off public sector workers while decrying the high unemployment rate among that sector while blaming the whole thing on Obama.
Look, guys, there may be a substantial number of clueless, ignorant American voters, but there are enough of us with a clue to toss your sorry butts back to the rural outback where you belong.
And good riddance!
2 comments:
One can only hope you are correct. But the polls are much closer than they should be given your statements. And Romney hasn't even begun spending money yet.
The numbers on the younger generation have been out for quite a while. There is no doubt that the American population is getting more liberal. A site I've posted a link to before, http://www.theamericanchurch.org/facts/1.htm
is an attempt by that organization to bring to the religious community's attention these very facts. I'll repost that essay, which I first posted at Secular Perspectives.org.
Post a Comment