Andrew Sullivan: American Conservatism is in trouble

[KevinTheOmnivore]

I think the concept of the "religious right" has become sort of overrated. In fact, the "religious right" is playing a key role in the, er, "deconservatization" of the GOP.

They don't particularly care about the distinction between protectionism and free trade, deficits and balanced budgets, etc. They don't really have an ideological dog in this fight, other than that of Christianity. But that doesn't make them anti-big government. The same places that voted for Bush in 2004 also tended to vote for William Jennings Bryan in 1896. The religious zeal was just as great, if not greater then. The only distinction is that the big "moral" issues in that day tended to be race (which wasn't the same for all Christians) and temperance (ditto).

A certain politicization of so called moral issues has created a more reliable bloc of religious voters in this country. Whereas the issues mentioned above tended to divide the moralists, the ones of today tend to bring them together. This is one reason why a place such as Kansas, once a bastion of progressivism and government interventionism, is now a loyal "Red State."

I dunno, I don't know if what I said was even relevant to what you said, but it's all gravy.