One comment from Frum’s site.
Chekote wrote: The best lesson from Bristol was when she said that abstinence only sex education is not “realistic”. To me, it is not a question of upscale or downscale voters anymore. It is about the fact that social issues are not electoral winners and the sooner the GOP recognizes that the better. Obama won a majority of Catholics despite his stance on abortion. Blacks and Latinos voted heavily for Proposition 8, yet supported Democrats overwhelmingly. If we want to expand the party, we need to push social issues to the back burner.
They would like that. Republicans do not win when they become Democrat lite. We just tried it with our PResidential Candidate who inspired the base about as much as they would be watching mold grow on Jello. It wasn’t until the Social conservative stepped in that there was anything to fight for.
The basic problem is that Frum is pro-abortion. Starting from that, one cannot expect him to treat the pro-life position with any real respect. Any he has shown before is simply pretence.
I'm not sure the two are connected. There are plenty of CINOs for whom (their misunderstanding of) Catholic social teaching outweighs Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.
In other words, by inclination they are liberals, and they struggle to find a way to remain Catholic or a rationalization for doing so while voting and living liberal.
I don't think it was social issues that won this one for O'Bummer. I think it was a waffling Republican party which didn't know or was unable to articulate what it stood for.
That comment does not make sense whatsoever.
Worked for Reagan. Not.
Frum is a dunce.
I’ll disagree — the minorities voting for Prop 8 shows what a winner they CAN be, when we don’t nominate a”moderate”. This election was people believing they could get more goodies from the young unknown guy, and we put up a mealy mouthed hack to oppose him. Not a winning formula.
Principles win if you have a condidate with a track record of actually believing and living them.
What was it, five million less Republicans turned out in 2008 than 2004?
The only reason McCain wasn't the next Mondale was PALIN!
They didn't go to the rallies to see McCain.
So the RINO myth of the middle is just that, crap.
Hey, here's a thought, why don't we win? Put a conservative out there and see what a Reagan type will do.
Social issues are the only thing keeping the Republicans from becoming the Bull Moose Party.
” If we want to expand the party, we need to push social issues to the back burner. “
Your opinion. I disagree. Vehemently. I am getting involved, I will be a precinct committee officer and I will fight to prevent RINO watering down of the GOP Platform.
Expand the party by further alienating the social conservatives, so even more of them stay at home on election day? Yeah, that will work really well.
When Republicans act like faux Democrats, Democrats win elections. Always.
It's kind of hard for the GOP to do that because they lost the ability to be fiscally conservative long, long ago. Unless they truly and completely turn back to true fiscal conservatism, social conservatism is the only issue they have.
We cannot “push social issues to the back burner.” We have been the party that’s set African American slaves free, the party that’s been behind equality for African Americans, the party that’s been behind protecting the lives of the pre-born, and so on. We cannot ignore the social injustices of the oppressed in order to gain votes.
So then the blacks and social conservatives will have both parties ignoring their social concerns? Nice logic there.