Are Social Conservatives Losing Clout

Two articles caught my eye today regarding social conservatives. One called Giving Up on God by usually conservative Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker. The second an article at The Other Paper by Lyndsey Teter called Gay Old Party?.

Parker’s article suggests the Republicans need to loosen the grip Christian evangelicals have on the the party.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I’m bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn’t soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

Later she describes the base of the Republican Party.

Suffice it to say, the Republican Party is largely comprised of white, married Christians. Anyone watching the two conventions last summer can’t have missed the stark differences: One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.

Wow! A conservative who tells it like it is. I have not always agreed with Parker, but she is smart and has guts. She states in the article, she is not against religion at all. She thinks it is beneficial to living a full and happy life. Evidently though, she understands the meaning of separation of church and state.

The article at The Other Paper suggests that comments made by future Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine are a sign the GOP may be more sensitive to other points of view.

“We need a tent that’s so large and so expansive that everyone feels welcome,” Dewine said in an audio recording of the press conference in question posted on the Dispatch’s website. “We’ve done things as a party that shuns voters and actually turns people away. We need to focus on the issues that matter to the masses.”

Social issues will divide the party, Dewine went on to say, and it’s hard to unite around a divisive issue. “But when we can address kitchen table issues that face the average Ohioan … when we find solutions to those issues, we’ll be successful.”

The problem is the social conservatives got to DeWine and he has since backed off of those comments. However, Parker and DeWine are right. The right wing Christian evangelical movement has hijacked the party. Whether the GOP can break its stranglehold is probably the best predictor of its success in the future.

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