Posted on 09/13/2010 6:05:12 AM PDT by Wolf13
The 60-day sprint to Election Day is underway, and many Republicans are making the familiar argument that the election should be about one thing and one thing only: the economy.
With unemployment still rising and GDP growth still slowing in response to the Democrats’ failed economic policies, Republicans would be remiss not to focus on the economy. But they should reject the advice to focus only on pocketbook issues.
Instead, Republicans should highlight the Democrats’ dreadful record in all policy areas, including on the values issues that continue to inspire and motivate millions of voters.
At a recent event sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Republican Governor’s Association Chairman Haley Barbour cautioned GOP candidates against raising social issues in the final weeks of the campaign.
Barbour, who is also governor of Mississippi, was asked to respond to comments made earlier this year by Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who had urged social and fiscal conservatives to reach a “truce” for the purposes of 2010 election.
“I think what Mitch said is very similar to what I have responded to today,” Barbour said. “The voters have on their mind the economy, jobs, spending, debt and taxes and good campaigns are about the issues that are on the people’s minds.”
Barbour added: “I’ll put my bonafides up against anybody as a social conservative… But that ain't going to change anybody's vote this year because people are concerned about job, the economy, growth and taxes.... You are using up valuable time and resources that can be used to talk to people about what they care about.”
Barbour and Daniels are solid social conservatives, but I can’t say I’m surprised by their advice to de-emphasize social issues. The political class has always been dismissive of cultural issues like abortion, marriage and religious freedom. An August poll conducted by the consulting firm Penn Schoen Berland underscores the phenomenon.
The poll found that 83% of the “general population” surveyed felt “family values” issues were important, while 15% felt those issues were not important. Among “D.C. Elites” interviewed, the split was 57% to 42%.
That 26-point “importance gap” between regular Americans and “D.C. elites” (politicians, journalists, et. al.) represented by far the largest gap of any of the 14 issues polled. The next largest difference was just seven points.
don’t trust politicians
How can value issues remain relevant? Americans KNOWINGLY placed a long-standing anti-American, unvetted (un-vetable), openly socialist in the WH.
I am not interested in a bunch of new Republican big government federal ‘values’ regulations/laws, but at the same time I am angry about how the liberal judges have been piling on the (costly) new made up rights to same sex couples and illegals; and I dont see candidate Republicans talking about it as a problem.
Liberals believe in 'liberty' in the sense of creating new 'constitutional' rights for only a few specific issues, having to do with the position on the minority-victim hierarchy. Note that our private property constitutional rights have disappeared and are replaced with new rights for same sex couples and illegals.
“Values” have long become relative in this country. In the America of long ago, values and priciples were far more absolute and discernible than today.
I just heard the figure that 80% of the men in jail/prison are the children of single mothers.
the social costs of a lack of personal values are enormous. Think of the taxpayer money being poured into the hole of single-mother families. that’s social assistance, prisons, counseling, subsidized daycare and on and on.
The Soviet Union tried to get rid of marriage and the ‘patriarchal family’ in the early days. In the 1920’s. the result was such costly and total chaos they had to back off. they learned their lesson but at what human cost?
Ever yone of those men in prison hurt somebody to get there.
"Principles" in general will ultimately lead to fiscal and social responsibility in our 'representatives'...
anything less and we get screwed by these wannabe rulemakers down the line...my .02
I am amazed we still got RINOs here re-living 2008, McCain lost. They need to move on as the country did, to Tea Party protests.
Do you remember where you saw that statistic? I'd love to know the source. If true, it is a very telling statement about where our society is headed.
The concept that MUST be understood here is that without values, there is no freedom.
When men lack internal controls on their behavior,
external controls must be imposed.
That’s the character and nature of the reality that God created.
Values issues *are* pocketbook issues. Politicians who pretend not to know this are untrustworthy.
Make the whole society (except the military) operate as private-pay or private charity, and see how quickly people decide that “values” are what they used to call “the difference between eating and starving.”
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