Has the Republican Party Really Represented the Social Conservative?

Before I begin, I just want to let the reader know that I do not support the political view commonly held by evangelical Christians or social conservatives. My political views will come out over the course of time.  Because I do not agree with a political ideology doesn’t mean that I don’t see flaws in the way in which these groups of people are being represented.  This blog specifically asks and addresses the question:

“Why, if the Republican Party represents the social conservative, have they accomplished so little, relative to the leaps and bounds the Democratic Party has accomplished for social liberals?”

 

PULLING A FAST ONE

• Engel v. Vitale in 1962 found that it was unconstitutional for a state official to write an official school prayer and require it to be recited in public schools.

• Abington School District v. Schempp in 1963 found that it was illegal to have school-sponsored Bible-reading in public schools.

• In 2000, the decisions surrounding the case of Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe found that student-led, student initiated prayer at football games is illegal.

• On January 22^nd, 1973 Roe v. Wade established the right for women to abort unborn children up to the 28^th week.  This decision was led by a team of lawyers that were sympathetic to the Women’s Equity Action League which supported the Feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s.  Norma McCorvey is the ‘Jane Roe’ in the Roe v. Wade case and claimed in the 1980s that she was a pawn of two young and ambitious lawyers who sought a plaintiff to use so they could challenge the Texas state law that prohibited abortion.

• In 1992, the case Planned Parenthood v. Casey went to the Supreme Court that boasted eight of nine justices appointed by Republican Administrations.  The validity of this case could have been upheld or dissented by a majority vote of support or opposition of Roe v. Wade.  And although all of the members on the Supreme Court, except one, were appointed by a Republican Administration, the judges, in their entirety, upheld and supported, at the least, a portion of the Roe v. Wade case.

• On September 21^st, 1996, United States President William Jefferson Clinton, a Democrat, signed a public law which said that no state needs to treat a relationship of the same sex as a marriage – denying federally recognition of same-sex marriage.  More importantly to the conservative, this law defined marriage as a civil union between one man and one woman.  This was the most significant measure achieved for the social conservative, but it was accomplished under a liberal administration.

These cases are proof of how well the Democratic Party has represented social liberalism.  But what proof is there that shows the Republican Party has been a productive representative of the social conservative?  Are they abusing their resources and power in order to use those that support social conservatism?  Is their sole objective to get votes?  If we look at the Republican Party’s historical record, it is clear that the Republican candidate is more likely to run on a social conservative campaign agenda and then later ignore the promises made to social conservatives about legislation to focus on the economic conservative.  If the conservative is the same person, they switch the focus from civil issues to economic issues. 

So, how long has this manipulation of the social conservative been happening?  In a 1970 New York Times interview, Richard Nixon’s political strategist, Kevin Phillips, revealed the administration’s strategy to capture the social conservative vote:

“From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the [black] vote and they don't need any more than that... but Republicans would be shortsighted if they [softened their] enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more [blacks] who register [in the South as Democrat], the sooner the Negro-phobic whites will quit the [Democrats] and [join us on the Republican side]. That's where the votes are. Without…prodding…the blacks, the whites will backslide into their…arrangement with the local Democrats.”

The majority of the social conservatives in America, at this time in history, were Southern Democrats. The Republican Party’s decision to allow African Americans to register and vote freely set into play an ingenious political strategy.  This strategy was one that depended on the newly allowed African American voters to go to the Democrat side.  This necessarily forced the Southern Democrats, who were against giving African Americans freedom, to gravitate to the Republican side.  This, of course, was the party with the least amount of African Americans.  In order to gain support for the newly disenfranchised Southern Democrats, the new Republican Party, not yet considered “the conservatives,” ran on a platform that boasted its support for a small federal government and a large portion of power to be given to the state.  This, in turn, would pave the way for the Southern Democrats to establish the highly sought after disintegrated state.  Nixon’s strategy was to woo them with the possibility of establishing a state that would have enough power to legalize segregation and minimize the civil liberties that the minorities and alternative lifestyles begin to receive.

So what does the beginning of conservatism have to do with the social conservative today?  It’s probably no surprise that the politicians you vote for today are far from concerned with issues like prayer in school or the reading of scripture before class.  As cliché as it sounds, it is truly because they are primarily concerned with passing laws that put money in their pockets and votes on the ballots. The strongest evidence of this can be simply seen in the lack of headway that has been made for the social conservative.

So, what’s the answer? How can those who are being ignored be heard?  Because votes are the life of a politician, the greatest impact would come from a united front of the social conservatives. In order to speak up there must be an effort consisting of a majority of supporters who stay home during a mid-term and presidential election.  The message, formally sent by representatives of the movement, should let the Republican Party know that unless leaps and bounds are made which support the views of the social conservative, they will lose your vote.   If they do not listen then it won’t be any different than normal.   That is, a milk job by the Republican Party which tells everyone what they want to hear.  Then they’ll pass Mickey Mouse legislation that they’ll brag about only to make it look like they’re kind of doing what they said they would, but in all reality, they’re just focusing on and concerned with the economic side of conservatism. After all, economic conservatism keeps the Republicans in office and their wallets full.