GOP's Gains Ready To Propel Social Issues Back Into National Spotlight - WaPo

[WillyT]

GOP's gains ready to propel social issues back into national spotlight
By Sandhya Somashekhar - WaPo
Sunday, November 21, 2010; 12:22 AM

<snip>

Liberal groups in Wisconsin are bracing for a fight over contraception coverage under Medicaid. Battle lines are being drawn over sex education in North Carolina. And conservatives in several states intend to try to limit the ability of private insurers to cover abortions.

Social issues barely rated in this year's economy-centric midterm elections. More than six in 10 voters who cast ballots on Election Day cited the economic downturn as their top concern, according to exit polls. And this year was the first in more than a decade in which same-sex marriage did not appear on a statewide ballot.

But major GOP gains in state legislatures across the country - where policy on social issues is often set - left cultural conservatives newly empowered. Opponents of same-sex marriage, for instance, now see an opportunity to block or even reverse recent gains by gay rights advocates in Minnesota and New Hampshire.

"The flip that has occurred is unprecedented and historic," said Brian S. Brown, president of one such group, the National Organization for Marriage. "I wouldn't have expected anything like this."

Brown's organization poured $2.5 million into state races this year, investing in more than 100 state legislative candidates. The group focused particularly on Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Iowa, four states grappling with the same-sex marriage issue.

The efforts paid off, with Republicans gaining at least one chamber in each of those states.

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More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/20/AR2010112003695.html

:banghead:

:kick:

[TheIdiot]

1. Look... it's a FREE country made up of many states...

if they mess with the one you live in, just pack up and move the fuck out! Check back every now and then just to see how they're getting along without your contribution to their stupid-ass economy!

[Monique1]

2. Easy to say move out

One must have money to move.

[TheIdiot]

6. Money is nice...

but it's not a "must" at all - that's what they want you to think. i've traveled from one coast to the other three times with my thumb. more interesting, very exciting, saw places i probably wouldn't have otherwise, and met a lot of really good people.

[WillyT]

7. How Much Family Did That Thumb Have To Transport ???

Many are not foot-loose and fancy free.

Just sayin...

Sounds like fun though.

:shrug:

:hi:

[OHdem10]

3. Are they in charge of how many States(31) plus how many

did they increase their numbers of members.

Just say move is not exactly an option.

[polichick]

4. Without social issues, repukes could never con middle class Americans...

...enough to get elected.

[jwirr]

5. Okay my church does not forbid contraceptives. That is a totally

Catholic doctrine. Is it constitutional to politically force ones specific religious doctrines on other who hold the opposite belief? I would take them to court.