Quote:
Originally posted by Gattigap
Perhaps so, yes.
Your epistle about the vagaries of coalitions is true as far as it goes, though we appear to differ about which factors of the Republican coalition are in ascendancy and which are in decline.
Your post suggests that the religious right is a force that needs to be tended and occasionally placated, but doesn't run the joint. I believe that today's edition of the GOP is a fine example of money power marinated in social conservatism. Attribute it to shifting coalitions if you must, but regardless it is a political cocktail that I find particularly unappetizing.
Gattigap
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I'd say the coalition members with roughly similar standing include the religious right, the instinctive hawks (including a lot of people who care deeply about guns), and the business-oriented conservatives. I would say that the business oriented conservatives are a group that is always in the minority because there are just not a lot of them, but they can sometimes buy their way to dominance. I think the religious right is one of the constituencies running the show, just not the only constituency doing so.
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