Frank Rich discusses the fall from power of the Conservative Values Voters in the up-coming election. It’s an astonishing simple explanation as to why.
There are various explanations for this. One is that 9/11 and terrorism fears trump everything. Another is that the rest of the field is weak. But the most obvious explanation is the one that Washington resists because it contradicts the city’s long-running story line. Namely, that the political clout ritualistically ascribed to Mr. Perkins, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Gary Bauer of American Values and their ilk is a sham.
These self-promoting values hacks don’t speak for the American mainstream. They don’t speak for the Republican Party. They no longer speak for many evangelical ministers and their flocks. The emperors of morality have in fact had no clothes for some time. Should Rudy Giuliani end up doing a victory dance at the Republican convention, it will be on their graves.
This was the Rudy G who lived with a gay couple, pianist Mark Hsaio and Howard Koeppel but according to Sean Hannity he has changed his views on all that.
On a more sober note, Mr. Koeppel told me that the connubially challenged mayor was an admirer of his and Mr. Hsiao’s relatively "idyllic life" and had assured them that "if they ever legalized gay marriages, we would be the first one he would do."
Why the change Rich asks? Because Rovianism proves that one cannot win a election without first bowing to the most bigoted intolerant Conservatives in the country.
Of course someone once said Don’t try and stop an enemy when they are committing suicide." The Repblican/Conservative movement rotted from the inside. They destroyed their own credibility and needed no help. They got all they needed from Ted Haggard to Larry Craig to Jack Abramoff to Ralph Reed to Tom Delay to Jeff Gannon. I could go on here for a while
But polls indicate that these mainstream Values Voters aren’t so mainstream anymore.
But the most significant — and happiest — explanation for the values czars’ demise as a political force is that white evangelical Christians and a new generation of evangelical leaders have themselves steadily tacked a different course from the Dobson crowd. A CBS News poll this month... Like most other Americans, they are more interested in hearing from presidential candidates about the war in Iraq and health care than about any other issues.
Abortion and same-sex marriage landed at the bottom of that list; fighting poverty outpolled abortion as a personal priority by a 3-to-2 margin. ... In a survey of participants (Values Voters Summit) to determine which issue would be "most important" in choosing a presidential candidate, the summit’s organizers didn’t even think to list the war, health care or fighting poverty among the 12 hot-button options.
Once again, the moral majority is neither.
The next discussion in this rather long piece is the dissatisfaction the right wing Conservative Christians have with all the front runner republican candidates.
This is the end of the opinion piece and it says it perfectly.
"You have absolutely nothing to fear from me," Rudy disingenuously told the assembled at the Values Voter Summit last weekend. Actually, there’s plenty for everyone to fear from a Giuliani presidency, starting with the mad neocon bombers shaping his apocalyptic policy toward Iran. But that’s another story. Whichever candidate or party lands in the White House, this much is certain: Inauguration Day 2009 is at the very least Armageddon for the reigning ayatollahs of the American right.
Rudy Guiliani folks, scares me a lot more than Bush.
http://www.nytimes.com/...