Via
Raw Story, the GOP is losing its hold over Christian groups. Republicans are so weighted down with corruption, debt, and war that they don't have a lot of political capital left over to pass gay bashing legislation, repeal the enlightenment, or enact their special legal code just for women -- you know, to make sure they stay where they belong.
The future of the Republican coalition, just around the bend...
Or is it the Radical Fundamentalists losing control over the GOP? As I
noted earlier, a recent
Pew poll showed that opposition to gay marriage is down significantly in just the last two years. In fact, about one in eight Americans went from "strongly opposed" to "opposed," and another eighth just stopped caring, bringing total opposition down to just 51%. Also down are opposition to abortion, gay marriage, and gays serving in the military. So not only has the GOP lost all its capital, but theocracy costs a lot more than it used to. The fundies have a list of 10 grievances for Republicans. 10? They think they can find 10 ways to steer the GOP to the right without being forever subjugated to the political sidelines, seen by the public as a bunch of shrieking nutcases? (Think NOW and the NAACP.) Good freakin' luck.
As you can see in the MyDD psychographic poll, only 32% of Americans think fundamentalists are protecting society -- about as many as approve of Bush. Whether the Bushies and the Fundies overlap entirely or they make more of a venn-diagram, it's bad news for the GOP. In the first case, the coalition will hold up, but it won't win any elections (fine by me). Now try the second case, the Bushies (33%) and the Fundies (32%) only add up to 65%. Even if there are enough unique members of the two groups to form a 51% coalition, only 14% of the country can be both Bushies and Fundies. As people continue to turn on Bush and tune out the Corporate Christians, as Bush becomes increasingly unbearable and Falwell becomes increasingly demanding, this coalition can not survive.
The workers are getting restless and making demands on their bankrupt bosses -- except it's not money; it's political power. The GOP is going Chapter 11 on us pretty soon, the 30-year pendulum will be on its way back to the left.