Obamacare and gay marriage are now off the political table. In the primaries, approximately 40% of the Republican base are white, evangelical Christians. In the general election, the diversity of the American electorate comes into full play.
This is not to say that legal challenges and the occasional media fervor won’t ensue. Legal challenges to Obamacare – contraception coverage by insurance companies, tax bills should originate in the House, and delaying employer requirement to provide insurance – face an uphill battle. With respect to the gay marriage decision, the battle will likely move to the states over religious protections for business owners with deeply held beliefs. Equal protection must mean equal protection for all and there are gray areas to navigate in some cases already underway and likely to come.
Republicans have an opportunity to stand for individual liberties, not just claim it when agreement on the issue exists. Our U.S. Constitution protects individual liberties and does not require everyone’s agreement. To simplify, the Nazis, as abhorrent as their existence is, were allowed to march in Skokie, IL because hate speech is protected.
In politics, first you win then you make policy
In 2012 some 3.5 million evangelicals stayed home or did not vote for Mitt Romney. The kind of logic that determines Barack Obama to be a better choice than Mitt Romney as president defies logic.
Compromise is not surrender of principles
It’s an almost universal fact that the Republican candidates will claim some connection to or affinity for President Reagan. Why then do they forget what was attributed to and practiced by Reagan – My 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy – while shouting his name? This also defies logic even in politics where logic is often replaced by short term emotional fervor.
Republican candidates now must navigate the primaries. The eventual losers, who will be all except one, have a simple charge. When their time on the stage is finished, get behind the nominee. In our Republic we the people by virtue of our vote make the decision. The plurality decision of primary voters often points us in the winning direction. The job then becomes forming a winning coalition for the general election.
It’s simple, do you want another Democrat presidency after the ongoing domestic and global carnage of Barack Obama’s two terms?
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