The way it was explained to me, here, was that true Conservatives need their principles enacted by using government. I kid you not, there are people in this very forum who do not think government to be a problem...well, as long as their desired officials are making and enforcing the legislation and wielding and using the blunt instruments, of course.
I always pose the question this way:
Would you give Hillary the same powers over social legislation you’d give Bush/Hunter/Fred/whoever?
The problem is, once a nation becomes socially “tolerant” on things such as abortion and homosexuality, it will invariably evolve into a socialist, gun grabbing nanny state. The reason leftists place so much emphasis on social issues, and on demonizing the religious right, is that if they win that battle, everything else will fall into place for them.
It’s not a coincidence that the sexual revolution and the Great Society (and the LBJ federal gun grab which set off the anti-gun hysteria) all arose at the same time. Each feuls the other. A nation awash in abortion, sexual depravity, secularism, and other socially liberal attitudes will become a nation of weaklings begging for the nanny state to take care of them.