In an interview on NBC Sunday, reports Politico.com, Meet The Press interviewer David Gregory asked Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, "Your wife famously talked about the vast right wing conspiracy targeting you. As you look at this opposition on the right to President Obama, is it still there?"
Clinton answered in the affirmative; "Oh, you bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was, because America has changed demographically. But it's as virulent as it was. I mean, they're saying things about him. You know, it's like when they accused me of murder, and all that stuff they did... Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail."
Bill Clinton's mention of the political import of demographic changes likely referred to an analysis, popular in liberal think-tank circles, which projects that because much the GOP's base has been rooted among white European-Americans, Democratic Party fortunes will rise in coming decades as non-European minority groups, which historically have tended to vote for Democratic Party candidates, come to constitute an ever-larger share of the voting electorate.
But that analysis ignores aggressive efforts to move the American conservative movement past its latter 20th century ties to race-based politics. While the 2008 election amounted to a resounding defeat for the GOP, a multi-ethnic constituency of Christian conservatives managed unexpected upset victories in Florida, Arizona, and California by passing resolutions against legalized gay marriage in those states.
Those victories suggest the rise of a new, non-aligned but decidedly right-leaning faction in American politics, the Rainbow Right.
Organized around an anti-gay marriage and anti-reproductive rights agenda and a Christian nationalist vision for America, the Rainbow Right reflects ground-level developments on the Christian right as a decade long push to make the movement more racially and ethnically inclusive is coming to fruition so that many churches on the Christian right, such as Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's San Antonio Cornerstone Church, now boast an impressive level of ethnic and racial diversity.
Behind the Rainbow Right is a rapidly growing charismatic movement within conservative Christianity that has gained enough influence that 2012 presidential election hopefuls such as Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee pay its leaders public obeisance. A number of national GOP politicians, such as U.S. Senator John Ensign, are associated with the tendency, which also claims former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin [also see here] and reflects large-scale changes within global Christianity.
But Evangelical leaders in this new charismatic tendency aren't merely content wielding influence within the Republican Party. Rising young lions in the new charismatic tendency such as the Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, who as President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council purports to represent over 15 million Hispanic Christians, also are helping shape initiatives within Democrat-centrist think tank efforts such as the Third Way.
That said, it makes me happy that at least one party is attempting to build a coalition around ideology rather than building a coalition of groups practicing identity politics.
Strange they can not see Fundmentalist in the USA and the Fundmentalist in Afganistan, Asia, and Eroupe in the same light as they see themselves.
We do !!!!!!!!
On a different note, I see the space almost as a circle with the moderates at the top and the left wing nuts and the right wing nuts meeting at the bottom. The republicans take the right side and the democrats the left. Since we have a screwed up system and lack a credible third party the odds of the republicrats or democrins imploding as voters withhold their votes or vote for the third party of their choice (libertarians or greens for example) is slim. The end result is the monopoly of power for the two parties that grease each other’s pockets or trade pork barrel projects. One can only hope that a state link Oregon where the two powerful parties are losing members fast makes the jump to proportional representation in a second
There is a difference between believing a practice is sinful and hating those that practice it.
If Christians hated all of those who sin, they would hate everyone including themselves.
The contemporary bastardization of Christianity and its fusion into right wing politics is more insidious and dangerous to our country than Al-Qaeda.
Arrogance and humility are solid opposites; one, arrogance, comes from self-hate and the other, from self-love. It doesn't take a genius to see the arrogance of the right-wing, religious political folks surrounding us.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/rncs-spanish-translation_n_303429.html
An example of how the GOP is reaching out to the "Rainbow Right"
Rainbow Right is a fiction. A couple of right wind loonies who happen to have bundles of money are entirely responsible for any conservative gains, i.e., Prop 8 passage, which ties in nicely with the basic conservative belief: everything is for sale.
It's very easy for the left, I think, to look at anti-health care and "teabagger" rallies and assume they're wholly characteristic of the right or Christian right. But, I don't think that's the case.
If that doesn't scare you it should.
It's positively heartwarming.
/snark
Sorry, I think this movement is a demographically doomed one, too. Homophobia just isn't going to be the rallying cry it is today, 20 years from now.
That is asked gay marriage or no they said no.
Asked Obama's vision of america or McCain/palin's vision of america they said Obama's by resounding numbers.
I'm married to one of those religious conservative first time hispanic voters it took alot of convincing to get her to see the light on gay marriage. I didn't convince her it was right just that democratic society had no business saying it wasn't. She would never vote for the suite of ideals of a republican candidate however.
The "Christian Right" doesn't act very Christian to me - they act like people who pay lip service to Christianity in order to get into and remain in power. Cheating on your spouse, lying to your constituents and voting against health care aren't family values, and they certainly aren't anything Christ advocated.