Wow. June 17th my last post! An indication of how life continually changes.
I haven't posted not because I no longer care about issues, politics and philosophy. Rather, "life" intruded. Too many responsibilities, personal and private, that took virtually all my time.
Today, however, I read this and felt moved to post about it.
Many social conservatives say they feel politically isolated as the country seems to be hurtling to the left, with marijuana now legal in Colorado and gay marriage gaining ground across the nation. They feel out of place in a GOP increasingly dominated by tea party activists and libertarians who prefer to focus on taxes and the role of government and often disagree with social conservatives on drugs or gay rights.
Meanwhile, the list of possible front-runners for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination includes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has a limited relationship with evangelical activists, and the libertarian-leaning Paul, the senator from Kentucky who only recently began reaching out to social conservatives. One prominent establishment favorite weighing a bid, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), is a supporter of legal same-sex marriage who claims his views on the issue could help him and his party appeal to younger voters.
I can commiserate with the evangelicals. Though we are on opposite sides of a number of issues, I know what it is like to feel as if there is not a party nor politicians who represent what you believe. For many years, my choices seem to be "Democrats, somewhat attuned to my social views but waaaaay out of whack with fiscal, small government and freedom issues" versus "Republicans, somewhat attuned to fiscal & small government - but prehistoric on many social issues." Some years, I'd vote for independents, knowing that essentially I might as well have stayed home and watched returns of Leave It to Beaver .... or I'd pick one of the major party candidates - often Republicans. Particularly in my state, my vote would often be with little enthusiasm, both because I disagreed with the candidate on a number of issues and because I knew the odds of Republicans in Minnesota winning are often slim to none.