The American mainstream media, left-wing Democrats and pro-abortion and gay rights activists, all claimed that the Religious Right was repudiated after the country turfed the Republican Party and voters in some states defeated pro-life and pro-family ballot initiatives. This plinkered view of the midterm elections self-servingly misses numerous points: the Replican Party is not the same thing as the “Religious Right,” voters in seven of eight states that had ballot initiatives on SSM issue upheld tradional marriage, the four life issues initiatives were close, and so-called moderate {read: pro-abortion} incombent Republicans in the northeast were in the most trouble of all.
Unlike recent elections, social issues such as abortion, same-sex ‘marriage’ and stem cell research were not, generally, on top of the mind of most voters. In recent years, about one in five voters rated values issues as their most important consideration when deciding their ballot, but in the 2006 midterm elections, the war in Iraq and government corruption – indicators of general Republican incompetence – were listed as the two most important issues for independent voters. It is because of the debacle in Iraq and too many Congressman getting caught with thier hands in the cookie jar that cost the Republicans their majority, not their defense of life and family.
At the same time many Democrats positioned themselves as pro-life and were successful agains vulnerable Republicans. How is it that the pro-life position is a liability when Democrats desperate for power actively recruited “moderate” (read: less pro-abotion} candidates? One might argue that there is a political realignment beginning with Democrats grudgingly accepting big tent policitcs and social conservative voters becoming less Republican, but that indicates the importance of pro-life and pro-family issues, not their weakness.
