So 35% ISN'T important enough for you?
You don't win without the hardcore 35% on the right nor the 35% on the left.
If you tell the religious right to shut up you will lose more than the 35%, you will lose ALL of the social conservatives as well....
you WON'T win by running away from the RIGHT and you damn well know it....
You win by increasing your appeal to the moderates and independants. Alienating the base is meaningless if you can't get the idependant voter and moderate voter to vote for you. The base will stay solid or stay home. So what if they stay home It's not about individual votes its about winning states and we have certain states regardless how the base feels we need to make inroads into the Blue states and we can only do that by creating the impression that we are not going to burden them with religiously inspired law. Trust me the main power of the Democratic party is the power to hold the fear of the religious right in this country over the secular left.