Palin-baby-RNC.jpgSocial conservatism has been much ballyhooed the past year. In fact, we were deflated after a simultaneous Republican-controlled House, Senate and Oval Office didn’t do more to stop abortion and then a presidential candidate was picked with whom we had issues.
“I am absolutely convinced that culture wars are so ’90s,” said Barack Obama during his July 2007 speech at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event. “”Their days are growing dark…. We’re tired of arguing about the same old stuff.”
Of course Obama wanted abortion to be yesterday’s news. He only looks like a monster when he argues for partial birth abortion and against protecting abortion survivors.
MSM, also pro-abortion, wanted the topic of abortion to go away, too, for the same reason (plus squashing us ensured an Obama win). If you support abortion, you must support all of it or your arguments fall apart, and MSM didn’t like being forced to discuss its far reaches.
MSM did a fair job looking the other way the past few weeks despite the revelation that Obama misrepresented his vote against identical legislation in IL to declare even abortion survivors as persons that passed overwhelmingly on the national level.
But John McCain’s surprising nomination of Sarah Palin as his running-mate has done a couple of things. It has cemented discussion of abortion as a top story, and it has shown everyone the value of social conservatives and perhaps even reminded us kicked dogs of same….


When we were disengaged by a guy we weren’t sold on, the presidential campaign ran flat.
But when social conservatives became engaged, the campaign was energized, the room lit up, and McCain/Palin may now win.
I reiterate, it is only when social conservatives are energized that a Republican campaign is energized.
Wrote Pat Buchanan on September 3:

McCain’s choice of… Palin to be his co-pilot was the biggest gamble in presidential history. As of now, it is paying off, big-time….

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Palin ignited an explosion of enthusiasm among conservatives, Evangelicals, traditional Catholics, gun owners and Right to Lifers not seen in decades….
McCain has given himself a fighting chance of winning the White House that, before Friday morning, seemed to be slipping away. Indeed, the bristling reaction on the left testifies to Democratic fears that the choice of Palin could indeed be a game-changer in 2008….
For his boldness in choosing Palin, McCain deserves enormous credit. He has made an extraordinary gesture to conservatives and the party base, offering his old antagonists a partner’s share in his presidency. And his decision is likely to be rewarded with a massive and enthusiastic turnout for the McCain-Palin ticket. Rarely has this writer encountered such an outburst of enthusiasm on the right.
In choosing Palin, McCain may also have changed the course of history…. For should this ticket win, Palin will eclipse every other Republican as heir apparent to the presidency and will have her own power base among Lifers, Evangelicals, gun folks and conservatives – wholly independent of President McCain.
A traditional conservative on social issues, Palin has become, overnight, the most priceless political asset the movement has…

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Indeed, if McCain defeats Barack, 2012 could see women on both national tickets, and given McCain’s age and the possibility he intends to serve a single term, women at the top of both — Sarah vs. Hillary.
The arrival of Palin on the national scene, with her youth, charisma and vitality, probably also portends a changing of the guard in Washington.
With Republicans having zero chance of capturing either House, and but a slim chance of avoiding losses in both, a Vice President Palin, with her reputation as a rebel and reformer, would surely inspire similar revolts in the Republican caucuses….
Her nomination, which will bring the Republican right home, also frees up McCain to appeal to moderates and liberals, which has long been his stock in trade.
With his selection of Sarah Palin, John McCain has not only shaken up this election, he may have helped shape the future of the United States – and much for the better.

And wrote the Politico on September 2:

The culture wars are making a sudden and unexpected encore in American politics, turning more ferocious virtually by the hour as activists on both sides of the ideological divide react to the addition of… Palin to the Republican ticket.
The campaign of Democrat Barack Obama put up an ad in at least seven key states Tuesday lambasting GOP nominee-to-be John McCain as an enemy of abortion rights.
At the Republican convention here, former TN Sen. Fred Thompson took a shot at Obama’s stand in favor of legal abortion.
Thompson made this case: “We need a president who doesn’t think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade.”

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That reference, perhaps obscure to most Americans, will be instantly recognizable to social conservatives. At the recent Saddleback Church presidential forum, Obama told pastor Rick Warren that the question of when life begins is “above my pay grade.” And the phrase “newly born” refers to Obama’s opposition – on technical grounds rather than the merits, he said – of a “Born Alive Act” while in the IL legislature.
The selection of Palin – a new heroine of social conservatives – has helped reignite not only abortion but also other flash-point issues in a way few of McCain’s other vice presidential options would have done….
Until last week’s Palin pick, many of these issues seemed to be receding. The National Review last year published an article titled “A Farewell to Culture Wars.”…
“Palin signals that the McCain campaign figured out that reports of the death of the pro-life movement, and the influence of evangelical voters, is wildly exaggerated,” conservative evangelical leader Richard Land said….
“There hasn’t been a lot of discussion of some of these, if you will, culture war issues like abortion and gay marriage and that has now come to the fore again,” said Kim Gandy, president of the NOW….

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Republican strategists believe these wars are being fought on favorable terrain for McCain.
The annual Pew Religion and Public Life Survey recently reported that after voters gauged how liberal McCain and Obama were, “the average voter places themselves much closer to McCain than to Obama.”…
Given the intensity of Palin support among conservatives, McCain may very well end up with greater flexibility than ever to make his own direct appeal to independent voters. Palin can keep social activists at ease – and excited – while McCain seeks to reclaim his maverick image with a more direct appeal to those Hillary Clinton supporters and undecided swing voters.
“In the last 72 hours, the focus [of social conservatives] has sharpened not only because of Palin’s selection but the instinctive reaction of the left to her, that ‘she is small town, what does she know; she’s religious right, she’s an extremist,'” said [Gary] Bauer. “They are eliminating any chance they had to switch some of these” traditionally Republican states to the Democrats.”

So what did you think of Sarah’s speech? I loved her quips and digs at Obama! What a hoot!
[Photo of Sarah and Trig courtesy of Yahoo.com; photo of Palin greeting the crowd after her RNC speech courtesy of SignOnSanDiego.com; photo of Palin pointing courtesy of the Boston Globe; photo of McCain and Palin waving courtesy of SFGate.com; photo of Palin family and McCain courtesy of theage.com.au]

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