Has the Culture War returned for 2012? And is the GOP on the losing side now?

[retromike22]

Watching the news today, I was having flashbacks of 1998-2000, when people were talking about "moral values" being so important after Bill Clinton's.. adventures. And also after Columbine, there was this massive effort to stop violent video games and certain songs, even though that had nothing to do with it. It kind of felt like some 1920s Southern Christian Great Awakening. So America had to elect the morally righteous George Bush to save us from the wrath of Bill Clinton's adventures.

Then Sept 11th happened and most of politics afterward 2001-2011 was concerned with foreign policy. Then the economic crisis of 2008 started and then economics as well as foreign policy (due to us still being in Iraq) were the main issues.

Then we left Iraq in 2010, Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2011 and suddenly foreign policy is such a small issue in this 2012 campaign. And now the economy is finally beginning to bounce back. I know it's better now, because now we have the luxury of being able to be distracted. Distracted by disagreement over cultural issues, such as Rep. Todd Akin's comment, the GOP's no rape exception on abortion, Santorum's crazy statement of the week during the primaries, the recent increase in discussing the legalization of marijuana, etc. Even this week Paul Ryan said that he's happy to "cling to guns and religion."

It feels like the Culture War is back. But this time it feels like the GOP is on the losing side. I'll use gay rights as an example. They lost that battle in the culture war, they're just like the Japanese soldiers on those islands that didn't know the war was over. Look at how it is now, gays can serve in the military, several states have legalized gay marriage, and every year the support for gay marriage increases. Does any social conservative actually believe that this will suddenly reverse? Each election cycle Republicans running for office become less conservative on it. From banning homosexuality, to allowing it to be legal but nothing else, to treating people with respect, to civil unions, and then, inevitably, they will support gay marriage simply because most Americans will in the future.

And I think that's what makes the Culture War different from how it was in the 1990s. The Millennium Generation (born 1982-2000) is so left wing on social issues, (as well as economic ones, see Occupy movement) that the conservative positions in the Culture War are on the losing side.

The Republican Party should just give up on social issues and evolve into the Libertarian Party if it wants to win with future voters. I honestly believe what's going to happen is that the Republican Party will evolve into the Libertarian Party, and the Democratic Party will evolve into a Social Democratic Party.