Beware the Blowback
Social conservative leaders flirting with support for a third-party candidate if Rudy wins the nomination admit it would "hurt" Republicans by effectively handing The White House keys to Democrats.
But one must wonder if those leaders understand that it would also hurt their own cause, by generating significant ill-will toward them on the part of those who have long been allies -- people like the social conservatives who don't explicitly identify themselves as part of the Religious Right, for example.
And perhaps some people who do. Here is a sample of an email I received after hosting last night's Hugh Hewitt Show:
In spite of my evangelical Christian roots and my great admiration for both men, I am angry at them for trying to essentially scare me into voting in a particular way.
What Dr. Dobson has done is to try to influence my vote not by offering open support for an electable pro-life candidate but by threatening me with the specter of virtually handing the election to Hillary Clinton unless I, as a Republican, vote to nominate an avowedly pro-life candidate. This is flat out bullying of the religious right in the name of "principle."
Well said.
What's more, for some time, there has been a chorus in some segments of the party that the influence of the Religious Right should be diminished; social conservative allies of the movement have resisted such calls. But should the Religious Right desert the party in an hour of peril, it will be difficult for it to regain its influence any time soon within the political process where it has long played an important role -- and the people like Christie Todd Whitman, John Danforth and others who have deplored its power will see their mistrust vindicated.
But one must wonder if those leaders understand that it would also hurt their own cause, by generating significant ill-will toward them on the part of those who have long been allies -- people like the social conservatives who don't explicitly identify themselves as part of the Religious Right, for example.
And perhaps some people who do. Here is a sample of an email I received after hosting last night's Hugh Hewitt Show:
In spite of my evangelical Christian roots and my great admiration for both men, I am angry at them for trying to essentially scare me into voting in a particular way.
What Dr. Dobson has done is to try to influence my vote not by offering open support for an electable pro-life candidate but by threatening me with the specter of virtually handing the election to Hillary Clinton unless I, as a Republican, vote to nominate an avowedly pro-life candidate. This is flat out bullying of the religious right in the name of "principle."
Well said.
What's more, for some time, there has been a chorus in some segments of the party that the influence of the Religious Right should be diminished; social conservative allies of the movement have resisted such calls. But should the Religious Right desert the party in an hour of peril, it will be difficult for it to regain its influence any time soon within the political process where it has long played an important role -- and the people like Christie Todd Whitman, John Danforth and others who have deplored its power will see their mistrust vindicated.
posted by LadybugUSA at 2:52 PM
2 Comments:
Let's face it: The Christian right votes Republican. Overwhelmingly. The Republicans win elections narrowly. If the Christian right leaves or is marginalized by the rest of the Republican party, the Republicans are done as viable aspirants to the White House. The party ignores or ousts the Christian Right at their own peril. I guarantee that the Republicans will not be able to lure enough Independents and Democrats to make up for the loss.
If the Dem nominee is Clinton, it will likely have a dampening affect on Democratic and Independent turn out also. Clinton V. Dole kept everyone home on election day in '96.
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