Social Issues › 2.0: The Blogmocracy

Posts Tagged ‘Social Issues’

Virginia going for Obama

by Phantom Ace ( 5 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Elections 2012, Headlines, Liberal Fascism, Mitt Romney, Progressives, Republican Party, Theocratic Progressives at March 24th, 2012 - 3:36 pm

Recent polls show Obama holding a substantial lead among all Republicans. This is big turn around from just a few months ago, where he was unpopular. The Virginia GOP decided to focus on social issues by trying to pass the abortion ultrasound which was shelved turned off independents, whom the GOP needs to win. Santorum’s holy crusade against porn and contraceptives hasn’t help the GOP’s perception either. The Obama regime also has its campaign up and running on the ground. This is huge warning sign, since Virginia is a state the GOP should carry.

I noted a week or so back that Virginia was one of six states that the GOP had to win in November if they were going to win the Presidential election. Well it’s early, but things are not looking good in the Old Dominion at the moment. Two polls out this week have the President beating both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in the state after a period in which the prospective November race in the state was much closer and more favorable for the GOP.

[….]
President Obama appears to be widening his lead against all Republican presidential hopefuls, including Mitt Romney, among voters in the swing state of Virginia, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Obama beating Romney, 50 percent to 42 percent, his biggest lead over the former Massachusetts governor in this election cycle.

[….]

President Obama now clears the 50% mark in support against his top two potential Republican challengers in the battleground state of Virginia.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Virginia Voters finds the president leading former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by nine points – 51% to 42%. It was a six-point race a month ago – Obama 49%, Romney 43%. Four percent (4%) now prefer another candidate in the race, and four percent (4%) more are undecided.

[….]

This isn’t an automatic win for Obama either, of course, and the numbers are likely to tighten when the General Election race actually starts. However, without having access to the crosstabs for either of these polls, I would suspect that the past two months or so of the GOP doing everything it can to alienate independent voters and women is partly behind these numbers, and if Republicans don’t drop that nonsense quickly Virginia won’t be the only state they’ll have problems in.

If the GOP wants win Virginia in 2012 and the election, they need to focus on Economic/Fiscal issues. They should drop the social issues until after the election. Get in power first, then do the social stuff after you have addressed the fiscal and economic stuff. Social Conservatives need to mimic the Democrats and mask their agenda. Even if Social Conservatives are right about some issues, they have spent 20 years picking fights over nonsense that voters automatically get turned off. Adults don’t like ton be lectured by politicians. They want solutions to their problems.

Without Virginia the GOP is toast in 2012. Personally I don’t see the Republicans pivoting back to fiscal/economic issues in time. Too many of the base care more about moralizing over people’s personal lives rather than the nation’s fiscal situations. Go ahead and bash me all you want, but this is the reality. Most Americans hate to be lectured to and moralized.

Tags: Rick Santorum, Social Issues, Virginia
Posted in Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Elections 2012, Headlines, Liberal Fascism, Mitt Romney, Progressives, Republican Party, Theocratic Progressives | 5 Comments »

Is School Prayer really that important?

by Phantom Ace ( 90 Comments › )
Filed under Conservatism, Elections 2012, Politics, Religion, Republican Party, The Political Right at December 13th, 2011 - 11:30 am

The 90’s was a great decade for me. I was in my late teens and early 20’s making good money as a DJ, bartender and then Tech Support. I have nothing but fond memories from that decade. There are some things however that should have stayed in that decade. One is the issue of school prayer.

In 91/92 Papa Bush was in trouble politically. The economy was stagnant and his poll ratings were dropping. Instead of trying to improve the economy through Conservative economic policies, he governed as a Rockefeller Republican. To cover up his Liberal policies, Papa Bush began to use social issues to trick Conservatives into supporting him. He made the issue of School Prayer part of his re-election campaign. The result was that it gave the GOP an image of a bunch of grouchy theocrats and the party lost support in the suburbs as a result. It was a failure as a issue. In fact in high school we made fun of Papa Bush over the School Prayer issue. We were like, “we all pray when we are about to take a test”. Comedians roasted the issue and turned it into a joke.

The other day I saw a Rick Perry commercial that gave me bad memories. He was pushing school prayer. I was like, come on, this is back now? Then I read that Rick Perry supports a Constitutional Amendment to require school prayer. I was stunned. We have real unemployment at about 15%, declining wages, increasing poverty and Europe on the verge of a meltdown. Is school prayer really such a dire issue that we need a Constitution Amendment?

Look, I support the right for students to be able to pray. But these are local issues, not one requiring a Constitutional Amendment. I have seen no polling data showing school prayer as a major issue for voters. Why is this being pushed again? The GOP should focus on the Economy and Fiscal issues, which is what America’s concerns are. Papa Bush cynically ran in 92 on family values, culture wars, school prayer and attacking Murphy Brown. The result was he lost, since Economic Conservatives went to Ross Perot and the GOP lost many suburban districts they never gained back. It created the image of Republicans as a bunch of grouchy cranks. This is an image they still have not shaken off.

I would like to know why school prayer is such an important issue? With America’s declining living standard, why does school prayer take precedence over economic concerns? I am really curious and want a civil discussion about school prayer. I just haven’t seen any polling data or heard people demanding School Prayer.