The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), one of the biggest Republican events, was just held in Washington, D.C. It often generates a great deal of buzz and sometimes controversy. This year, however, that controversy came in the form of a boycott by some religious groups over the inclusion of a gay conservative group called GOProud.
The organization that hosts CPAC, the American Conservative Union, to their credit refused to back down and steadfastly supported the inclusion of GOProud. It seems so did most Republicans, as attendance was at an all-time high, with over 11,000 people from across the country participating in this three day event.
This would appear to underscore the rising power of libertarians in the Republican Party, which is also highlighted by the rapid rise of the Tea Party movement. The power of evangelical Christians is waning, after 30 years at the pinnacle of power in American politics.
After all, if gay Republicans want to organize and promote the message of small government and free markets to their peers, who could see this as a bad thing? Especially in places like New York, where we are far more tolerant of the differences that exist between people. And, where republican-libertarianism has its strongest and deepest roots.
The problem for NY Republicans is that many conservative Democrats and swing voters think Republicans are all the same, and the image they have, which is reinforced by the media and Hollywood, is that all Republicans are religious zealots more concerned about social discipline than fiscal restraint.
And lazy local Democrats are more than happy to play off that perception in their campaigns, even going so far as to use swastikas in a mailing against one opponent in 2010 to infer that voting for him would be like supporting a Nazi, when in fact that candidate was a moderate Jewish Democrat running on the Republican line.
Now, the rest of the Republican Party is catching up with NY Republicans and putting the emphasis on the destructive nature of an over-powerful, over-spending big government. And that is bad news for NY Democrats. As time goes on and the perception of Republicans changes from religious zealots to advocates for people’s individual rights – both fiscally and socially – NY Democrats will be forced to debate on the real issues that confront NY and the actual differences between the candidates.
Soon, Democrats will no longer be able to just label every Republican, no matter how moderate, as “anti-choice,” “anti-woman,” anti-gay” or any of the other scare attacks they use without even looking at the Republican they are running against.
Robert Hornak is a Queens-based political consultant and an active member of the Queens Republican Party.
