Values voters, those voters who place a paramount importance on things like gay marriage, abortion, school prayer etc., are apparently going ga-ga for Mike Huckabee. Thing is, Huckabee is no conservative on economic issues.
And this is why value voters have got to go. They have no fundamental problem with government intervention per se, they just want to use it to help accomplish their goals. And in a country that is increasingly tolerant of things like homosexuality, I just don't see what they bring to the table. Sure, its a nice voting bloc, but how many votes do they also cost the Republican party? Look at the Northeast, which went solidly for Kerry in 2004. The Northeast isn't reflexively anti-GOP. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York have all had Republican governors in recent years. Maine has two Republican senators. But the values stuff just kills them.
I can handle the values voters as long as a part of the "leave us alone" coalition that seeks protection from government interference, but when they start trying to use the government to suit their own ends and embracing an economic populist like Huckabee you have to start wondering what's the point.
Update: Related stuff here from Frank Rich.
And this is why value voters have got to go. They have no fundamental problem with government intervention per se, they just want to use it to help accomplish their goals. And in a country that is increasingly tolerant of things like homosexuality, I just don't see what they bring to the table. Sure, its a nice voting bloc, but how many votes do they also cost the Republican party? Look at the Northeast, which went solidly for Kerry in 2004. The Northeast isn't reflexively anti-GOP. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York have all had Republican governors in recent years. Maine has two Republican senators. But the values stuff just kills them.
I can handle the values voters as long as a part of the "leave us alone" coalition that seeks protection from government interference, but when they start trying to use the government to suit their own ends and embracing an economic populist like Huckabee you have to start wondering what's the point.
Update: Related stuff here from Frank Rich.
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