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Just like legal abortion, "don't ask, don't tell" is a GOP policy.

Yup. George W. Bush only pretends to be a dumb hick when he's giving speeches.

I'm not being sarcastic, either. Look back at the first political race he lost. He was made fun of by the Dem as a little rich boy from elite schools, out of touch with common Texans. Ever since, he's out-dumbed his opponent.

I'm not just making this stuff up! Follow the link and see for yourself.

"In 1961, when [Democratic candidate] Kent Hance graduated from Dimmitt High School in the 19th congressional district, his opponent George W. Bush was attending Andover Academy in Massachusetts. In 1965, when Kent Hance graduated from Texas Tech, his opponent was at Yale University," one particularly devastating radio ad went. "And while Kent Hance graduated from the University of Texas Law School, his opponents -- get this folks -- was attending Harvard. We don't need someone from the Northeast telling us what are problems are."

Do a simple game-theory analysis of what decisions Bush should make: (the score refers to the value to Bush and the GOP in terms of future republican turnout vs. dem turnout)

Bush's Decision:	Effect on Conservatives	Effect on Liberals	Total Value
Talk about Right-wing Economic policies:	Conservatives feel good. +1	Liberals feel bad. -1	0
Enact Right-wing Economic policies:	Bush's rich friends get richer. Direct benefit. +10	Liberals get mad, but don't really understand what's going on (economics are hard to explain and are confusing) -3	+7
Talk about Right-wing Social policies:	Conservatives feel very good +5	Liberals feel very bad -2	+3
Enact Right-wing Social policies:	Conservatives satisfied, content, complacent, maybe worry they've gone too far -5	Liberals get angry, actually get off their butts and vote -5	-10

So it benefits Bush more to actually get economic reforms passed, but just give lip service to social reform.

This isn't to say that conservative economic policies aren't good for the nation (I certainly think they are), or to say that Bush is choosing badly (I don't think so).

You don't have to agree with the choices Bush has made with regard to economic vs. social issues to agree that this analysis correctly describes why Bush is making these choices.