Jonah Goldberg still loves the religious right

By Lee Russ

Sunday, November 12, 2006 at 04:05 PM

In discussing the election results, specifically the feeling of many analysts that Republicans have gone too far in catering to the religious right, Jonah Goldberg offers up a rather misguided defense:

Philosophically, reasonable people may differ about whether there's been too much social conservatism, but politically, this is idiotic. As Ramesh Ponnuru notes in the National Review, Christian conservatives give the GOP as many votes as labor and blacks combined give to the Democrats. It's to the Republicans' electoral advantage to take positions that shock the conscience of Rosie O'Donnell.

But Jonah, who cares if the social conservatives give the Repubs "a lot of votes"?  The question is how many total votes do they get.  If the adherence to extreme social positions costs them the independents and the moderates from their own party, so they can never reach a majority, then you bet it it is not "idiotic" to say there's "been too much social conservatism."

Flawed but welcome thinking.  Lets hope the Leading Rights keep thinking just like that for another few election cycles.