What's next for religious conservatives?
 

After their recent shellacking, what's next for the Religious Right? It seems that their views on gays, abortion and other social issues are out of step with the majority of the country, and far out of step with youthful voters.

The red meat rhetoric that excites them is the very same rhetoric that has led many others (young folks, women, gays ...) to support the Democrats, even if they find themselves holding their noses at other Dem policies. Furthermore, in that such fundamentalist beliefs are strongest in the South (where nativism and racism still unfortunately exist), appealing to fundamentalists also risks alienating blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.

Will the Religious Right maintain its influence in the GOP, and if they do, will it perpetuate their demographic problems?

I just wish those in the religulous right would stop trying to trigger Armegeddon.

Like the man said they are neither - religious nor right.

Marginalization.

If they marginalize the Religious Right and the Teabaggers (both groups contributed to the loss), they'll have nobody left but old whites and the wealthy.

Redundant.

Regards,

D-Ray

Actually, I may have been triply redundant with Teabaggers, old whites and the Religious Right.

Them & the over zealous gun freaks should be ignored for the most part,They've got nowhere else to go.

Be careful, I'm old, I'm white and I'm conservative and I would not give the GOP the sweat of my cojones.

They will wither on the vine.

Since the election there has been a lot of chatter about how to bring more people over to the GOP. None of what I have heard involves any substance however. All they seem to be asking is how can they advertise to a larger audience. That's akin to asking what flavor icing can they put on the crappy policy agenda to make it more palatable.

What they need to do is explain how their policy agenda benefits a larger number of voters. If they can't do that then they need to change their policy agenda too, not just their advertising.

I'm just tired of being told what I need to give up next to keep the rich folks happy.
And tired of being treated like I'm a whining little kid and/or I'm somehow a lesser American if I don't want to hand over my medicare and social security benefits so The Donald can get a tax cut.............

I'm so tired of that contived shit I could just choke the next dumbass that pulls it on me.

No, I don't give a flying shit if it hurts a billionaires feelings to have his taxes raised. He isn't going to miss any meals. F**k him.

Regards,
Dave

They are never happy.

I learned that on the aviation board debating against the 1%.

I have been busting my ass since I got out of high school. Working on farms, going to school at night, working as a technician, going to school at night, working as an engineer, going to school at night, finally becoming a patent attorney, not some scumbag ambulance chaser.

And what does some 1% f*ck tell me? I'm a mooch and he is a job creator. What did he do for a living again? Hmmm. Live with his parent's in a mansion and rip off the elderly in sweepstakes scams.

That is one f*cker I will not make it a point to meet. I would end up in prison.

The rest of the 1% has at least the same proportion of assholes as the majority of the population. Probably more. They are nothing special. They just have the ability to make bigger messes.

Well, you see, they can't do that.

So they just try to scare people.

I disagree, the GOP should stick on message - and do a better job of explaining it to minorities. Black folks and Hispanics are much more socially conservative than what I usually hear from the left.

As far as the original post, throughout much of history we've been marginalized - we will continue getting on with or without political influence. I suspect though that we will retain an outsided amount compared to our numbers.

Pete

C'mon Pete. Tell us a story.

What is the message and how do republican party policy agendas benefit minorities?

Ok, ok, I'll tell you a story. It's about how poor people can only put out their garbage if the can is COMPLETELY full, and get fined if it's not. Heaven help them if it's out too early, or late.

I might be tempted to blather on about how only middle class people have easy access to things like Walmart.

With the proper beer, one could possibly get me to continue telling the horrific story of paying middle class people to crush their old cars, driving up used car prices and shrinking junkyard parts availability, or perhaps making gas expensive.

Then I'd get a little tired. Maybe another installment another time ;)

Pete

OK. So the Republicans were against Cash for Clunkers. That's a solid point.

Which Republican policy were you talking about when you referred to full garbage cans?

As for Wal-Mart, and every other store in the nation, being full of cheap imported goods, it was Al Gore that sold that idea to America. Republicans can't take credit on the sales pitch.

I'm speaking about poor people. The Democrat paradise also known as Cleveland Ohio amd it's likeminded inner ring suburbs are a giant patronage machine (including the garbage pickup and keeping large stores out, in Cleveland). You don't even want to know about the schools.

Pete

Then you need to change your local government, only restriction I have is no more than four bags/boxes - don't have a garbage can.

No idea where Wally World is and no desire to find out.

Still driving two 12 year old cars and will keep on as long as they are good.

As it was recounted here the very rich should keep on getting the lion's share of everything. The SS contract is not really a contract. We the wealtiest nation cannot afford universal health care. Drug companies should be allowed to carge the unconscionable prices that they do. We tax the wealthy too much. That was the GOP message hereabouts so we went to the polls and told them where to stick it.

Sounds like the same problem the Detroit metro area is facing.

What policy goals of the Republican party address the problems?

Rob our problems are so different than the poors.

Even though the scale is different I believe Cleveland and Detroit share many common problems.

Even if the GOP agenda is advanced (all the problems I mentioned are government union-driven) there is simply no way. Even though here the Dem leadership is a bunch of snakes, the poor largely see the Dems as part of their identity.

Consider Kucinich had to bankrupt the city for a Rep mayor to get in.

Pete

How is it that all the problems are caused by government unions?

Patronage jobs. Wonder why I don't worry about my garbage can?

Pete

Let's try this again.

How does the Republican policy agenda fix the problem? Let's try it with a hypothetical.

Waving magic wand -- taadaa. Suppose Cleveland outlaws government unions. Now how do things get better?

Costs would go way down of course, and maybe they could put their trash out like us rich folks.

Why did the Democrat mayor Jackson take on the teacher's union?

Pete

OK. Costs go down.

So now you have a consituency that was already poor and paying $0 taxes anyway and you toss in a few city workers that now make less money.

Tell us the part where things get better.

Screwing people with water costs?

Pete

OK. So now people in the city have a lower water bill. How much lower? Maybe a dollar a month?

Schools are crumbling, homes are in foreclosure and crumbling, and people in the city have one extra dollar a month.

What now? How does the Republican agenda make things even better? I can tell you now that the city dwellers don't give a crap about that dollar a month. You don't have their votes yet.

Patronage jobs always help the city. Maybe they can hire everyone at inflated wages - problem solved! :p

Btw, schools here are only crumbling on the inside. They recently had a billion dollar rebuild.

Pete

Now you are being sarcastic. Whites being sarcastic won't draw in ethnic voters.

Is a dollar off the water bill as good as the Republican agenda gets? Or is there more?

Now you're oversimplifying.... it would be a LOT more than a buck. It's the root of their problems. Again, why'd the Dem mayor go after the teachers' union?

What ethniticity are you representing? ;)

Pete

You where the one whining that ethnic voters didn't understand the Republican agenda. Help them understand.

OK, let's say you are right again and the savings would be a lot more than a dollar a month. Let's go fantastical and say the savings are ten dollars a month per person.

Again, we have a dilapidated city. The citizens each have ten extra bucks a month of welfare money to spend.

Tell us how things get better from there.

$10 per person is almost 4 million dollars a month. But I suspect they'd save that on trash pickup alone.

My whining was that the poor self identify with the Dems. And all they'll have is welfare until the government gets out of the way.

And btw, government workers do not have to live in Cleveland city limits, and if they had kids they'd be wise not to do so.

Pete

OK. Let's assume you are right. The inner city people have 4 million dollars a month of welfare money to spend. A few city workers now live in the burbs and they have less money since their union was outlawed. Maybe a few of them will lose their homes and begin to decay the suburbs where they lived.

You have gotten everything you want.

Tell us how things get better.

Hard to argue with this guy:

http://jazzroc.files.wordpress.com/2.../straw-man.jpg

;)

I would argue that anything is better than what the left is doing now. Although perhaps we can get a few more of them tossed in jail...

Pete

Move to Mississippi and then make this argument.

Unfortunately that is a different constituency...

Were they ever as successful as Cleveland or Detroit?

Wait a sec - they're closing car plants here, and opening them there.

Pete

You gave up.

That's not going to attract ethnic voters.