Republican operatives are once again gearing up to make abortion a central issue in the next midterm elections. This did not happen by chance. The GOP’s shift from a normal political party to a crusading party driven by moralistic religion was a thought-out conspiracy. I know. I was there. I am not a conspiracy nut. But in this case no other word than conspiracy will do. We did what we did covertly, telling supporters one thing, and telling leaders on the inside of the political establishment another thing. There was one agenda in public, another one behind closed doors. And we changed America for the worse.
It's amazing to what length blue-collar and poor American's will vote against their best interests because of this one single issue. Well played GOP, well played.Our strategy was simple: Republican leaders would affirm their antiabortion commitment to evangelicals—no matter if they were true believers or not (e.g., Reagan was pro-choice until we “changed” his mind)—and in turn we’d vote for them by the tens of millions.
Once Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency, “we” would reverse Roe, either through a constitutional amendment, through the appointment of antiabortion judges to the Supreme Court or, if need be, through civil disobedience, though this was only hinted at first. We never reversed Roe but many elections were won nevertheless by energizing voters on the issue.
When evangelical and Republican leaders sat together, we discussed “the issue,” but we would soon move on to the practical particulars, such as “Will blue-collar Catholic voters join us now?” (They did.) Soon evangelical leaders were helping political leaders send their message to the “pro-life community” that they—the Republican leaders—were on board.
The GOP was the party that when mentioned elicited two things: strong economy via free market and low regulations and a strong and robust military. Now this is what most people think of either in a positive or negative way:
Quite the shift. The "gay thing" is still working for them in the South. 1. Abortion
2. Guns
3. Prayer in School
4. Sanctity of Marriage
5. Then maybe balanced budget and..
6. Small government
Quite. I am now in a position of linking to my own Reddit comments that say "5 years ago." I mean, damn. Related note: I saw something in The Week the other day that pointed out that more people now live in states where gay marriage is legal than states where it isn't. So electorally speaking, who gives a fuck about the South?
Come on Michigan and North Carolina, you're embarrassing me! But you're right, the majority of Americans clearly support equality. -Thank GAWD.