As we noted yesterday, the gay conservative group GOProud was urging the Republican Party to ignore the Religious Right’s social issues agenda and the effort, not surprisingly, was not going over well with the Religious Right.
Concerned Women for America responded by saying that rather than ignoring social issues, such issues must be placed “at the very top of the list,” which is a view shared by Gary Bauer, who dismisses GOProud as a “liberal group”:
There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the GOP establishment trying to co-opt the Tea Party into abandoning its commitment to fiscal conservatism. Unfortunately, at least one liberal group has already convinced some Tea Party leaders to abandon values issues.
I was very disappointed to read this morning that a pro-homosexual rights group has gotten more than a dozen Tea Party activists to sign on to a letter to new members of Congress. According to Politico, the letter urges them to focus exclusively on fiscal issues, and to oppose the consideration of social issues as part of the agenda for the new Congress. That is terrible advice, and it presents a false choice … Tonight, I will be attending a reception for new House members. I promise you I will encourage them to fight for the entire conservative agenda — including values issues!
The Family Research Council also weighed in to blast GOProud as a phony conservatives who are out to co-opt the movement in an effort sow anarchy and destroy the fabric of society:
A group that had nothing to do with bringing the Republicans to power suddenly wants to dictate what the party does with it. GOProud, an aggressive pro-homosexual organization that desperately wants to be taken seriously by conservatives, is trying to force its way into the movement by persuading a small handful of tea partiers to sign on to a social truce for the 112th Congress.
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If anyone’s doing the co-opting, it’s GOProud–whose “social truce” isn’t a truce at all. If Republicans stand down on social issues, it’s in this group’s interest! GOProud is the one actively fighting for same-sex “marriage,” homosexuals in the military, and gay “rights.” Essentially they’re saying, “We’ll keep marching our priorities forward and you” (meaning conservatives) “stand down.”
I say, no way! For starters, that won’t fly with the broader Tea Party movement which is solidly in the social conservative camp (see DeMint, Jim). Secondly, it’s a losing strategy for America. We need to shrink the size of government, but America needs strong families. Those families–not GOProud’s phony substitutes–are the backbone of society. Think about the welfare costs associated with the breakdown of social order. Think about the cost in terms of crime and the criminal justice system. What about the loss of human potential? Do these folks really think we can just eliminate those government expenditures overnight? What this crowd is advocating will lead to anarchy, which, ironically, would provide GOProud and friends a perfect environment for their lifestyle.
