2008 Woodie Awards
Christian conservatives have wrong ideas
Aanston Frazier
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Editorials
- Page 1 of 1
This past weekend in Salt Lake City, a Christian conservative group, whose membership includes Focus on the Family director James Dobson, known as the Council for National Policy (CNP) held a discussion to consider the possibility of backing a third party candidate if Rudy Giuliani is the Republican nominee for president.
What in God's name they are thinking is beyond me. Groups such as these are so blinded by their opposition to abortion that they ignore everything else and give conservative Republicans a bad name in the process. This isn't a slam against all, or even many Christian conservatives, simply groups such as CNP that cannot see past this one issue.
Contrary to what some blind ideologues have said, there is a vast difference between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Yes, abortion is an important issue, but it is not the only issue in politics, nor is it even the most important. Yet certain Christian conservative groups act as if abortion is the defining moment of our time, with no other issues even a concern. They would rather end up with a Democrat, most likely Clinton - who would agree with them on nothing - than compromise on the abortion issue and end up with someone who would be a far greater alternative.
This strikes me as more of what you would expect from a spoiled child. Yet in many cases that is what these groups have become. After being pandered to in many past elections, some of these social conservative groups are under the impression that they are the only true conservatives and the only group that matters in Republican politics.
The Republican party consists not only of social conservatives, but also fiscal conservatives, social moderates, libertarians and others whose ideologies range from conservative to moderate. You cannot win without the support of people from all of these groups and you certainly cannot win without the support of moderates. Giuliani appeals to many of these groups, even if he may not be the ideal candidate for everyone.
If these Christian conservatives are stupid enough to follow through with their threats, only one of two outcomes would occur - both devastating for them.
One, they withhold support and the Democratic nominee wins. This would lead to Christian conservatives being ostracized the way Ralph Nader and his supporters were after the 2000 election.
Two, they withhold support and Giuliani wins regardless. The result would send the message that Christian conservatives are no longer important to Republican politics.
These groups need to realize that they are not the be all and end all of Republican politics.
Republicans need to support whoever is the GOP nominee, even if they don't agree with all of his positions. The alternative is to end up with someone with whom you have no agreements.
- Aanston Frazier, a former Marine Corps intelligence analyst, is a junior economics and political science major and a Mirror columnist.
What in God's name they are thinking is beyond me. Groups such as these are so blinded by their opposition to abortion that they ignore everything else and give conservative Republicans a bad name in the process. This isn't a slam against all, or even many Christian conservatives, simply groups such as CNP that cannot see past this one issue.
Contrary to what some blind ideologues have said, there is a vast difference between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Yes, abortion is an important issue, but it is not the only issue in politics, nor is it even the most important. Yet certain Christian conservative groups act as if abortion is the defining moment of our time, with no other issues even a concern. They would rather end up with a Democrat, most likely Clinton - who would agree with them on nothing - than compromise on the abortion issue and end up with someone who would be a far greater alternative.
This strikes me as more of what you would expect from a spoiled child. Yet in many cases that is what these groups have become. After being pandered to in many past elections, some of these social conservative groups are under the impression that they are the only true conservatives and the only group that matters in Republican politics.
The Republican party consists not only of social conservatives, but also fiscal conservatives, social moderates, libertarians and others whose ideologies range from conservative to moderate. You cannot win without the support of people from all of these groups and you certainly cannot win without the support of moderates. Giuliani appeals to many of these groups, even if he may not be the ideal candidate for everyone.
If these Christian conservatives are stupid enough to follow through with their threats, only one of two outcomes would occur - both devastating for them.
One, they withhold support and the Democratic nominee wins. This would lead to Christian conservatives being ostracized the way Ralph Nader and his supporters were after the 2000 election.
Two, they withhold support and Giuliani wins regardless. The result would send the message that Christian conservatives are no longer important to Republican politics.
These groups need to realize that they are not the be all and end all of Republican politics.
Republicans need to support whoever is the GOP nominee, even if they don't agree with all of his positions. The alternative is to end up with someone with whom you have no agreements.
- Aanston Frazier, a former Marine Corps intelligence analyst, is a junior economics and political science major and a Mirror columnist.
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