ZOT!
just for you, swishy one.
Posted on 02/08/2011 10:51:15 AM PST by falkayn
When the Conservative Political Action Conference launches on February 10, the mood will be uncharacteristically flamboyant. Not only because the gay caucus GOProud will be prominently participating, but because the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, and other "values" organizations won't be. Together, they've mounted a CPAC boycott, an effort to strip the newish homosexual element from the conservative coalition and part of a larger bid to forcibly remarry social and fiscal conservatives. The bet was that distaste for gay people themselves—as opposed to lightning rods like gay marriage or adoption, which aren't included in GOProud's platform—is still a strong right-wing motivator. It's a bet they seem to have lost.
The split between the fiscal and social right is on the minds of Republicans as they gear up for the 2012 presidential campaign. But if the party Establishment is nervous about its fractured coalition, social conservatives are shaking in their bucks. The tea party is now the most electorally potent portion of the GOP base: Exit polls indicated that 41 percent of voters in the midterm House races supported the movement, and 87 percent of those people voted Republican. At the same time, only 50 percent of tea partyers self-identify as socially conservative. That's got to worry anti-gay groups, who suffered significant losses in 2010, culminating in the bi-partisan repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
If groups like NOM are to have their agenda influence the coming presidential election, they'll need candidates to think tea partyers care about their issues. This is why they drew a line in the sand at CPAC—a line that potential GOP presidential candidates like Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, and front-runner-for-now Mitt Romney promptly crossed. So far, the only leading Republican to join the boycott is South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint. (Marco Rubio and Sarah Palin are skipping for what they say are unrelated reasons.) DeMint's the guy who once said gay people shouldn't be teachers. He's also said that a person "can't be a fiscal conservative and not be a social conservative." Half the tea party would disagree.
A general fear of gay people—that they are out to change the American way of life—was a force in the 2004 and 2006 elections, thanks to Karl Rove, who worked with the GOP to put gay referenda on local ballots as a way to boost right-wing turnout. In 2008, gay-marriage bans again appeared on state ballots. In tea-party 2010, the Republicans didn't need to try the move again. Now, with the fizzling of the CPAC boycott, it seems this brand of fear-mongering has lost its usefulness. Even "family values" champion Rick Santorum will speak at CPAC, willing to let the issue slide in the interest of wooing a larger voting bloc.
In perhaps the most telling indication that the tactics of the anti-gay right have failed, conservative-website mogul Andrew Breitbart recently joined GOProud's advisory council. He's also announced that he'll host a dance party for gay CPAC attendees that he's dubbed the "Roy Cohn CPAC Breitbart Homocon Welcoming Eighties Extravaganza." Breitbart says he fears the LGBT-activist left "more than Al Qaeda," because he so disagrees with their agenda. But surely to the disappointment of some on his side, he's not afraid of gay people themselves.
ZOT!
just for you, swishy one.
The Mod put it in the title.
They must be tracking IP addresses.
They have to with the number of trolls that FR attracts.
Hi-tech whack-a-mole.
LOL
That would be fun!
LOL!!!
That would be fun!
But you also get to read all the garbage. Yuck. I think the Mods are under-appreciated by Freepers. It really is a nasty job and they get all the angry cr**. Ya can't please everybody.
Fear of individual gays, NO!
Fear of what the homosexual movement has done already and CAN do to America, ABSOLUTELY!
“You left out fisting and terminating small domesticated rodents.”
Yikes, I must be homophobic.
Heading out, be back later.
IATZ
Gerbil jammers ain't cool man!
Taking it up the *** has got to make a guy a bit insane or a lot insane as those sensitive nerve ending get jolted by another guy's penis. The more it is done the more insane "the receiver" gets. This kind of activity just was not meant to be, that is why it is an abomination in the Jewish and Christian religions
Hope to see you then. Take care.
I’m back.
It’s 17 degrees outside.
I don’t want to know what the windchill is.
That's patently false. The election of 2010 had no bearing on the Congress that repealed DA/DT.
I have to go. See you tomorrow.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.