Barack Obama ran and won a vigorous social issues campaign. He is now the first man elected president to have endorsed same-sex unions or have made contraception a major campaign theme. (He was already the only man elected president to have voted in favor of partial-birth abortion.) Obama blurred the specifics, but he by no means kept his broad views hush-hush. “Contraceptive access,” “reproductive health,” and “marriage equality” became campaign ads and applause lines. Obama is the greatest culture warrior of our time.
After tonight’s victory, liberal voters will no longer tolerate Clintonian pussyfooting—“safe, legal, rare,” “don’t ask, don’t tell.” They can point to Obama’s success in demanding that future Democrats (or Republicans, for that matter) prosecute the culture war. Traditionalists can expect escalation, a change they already should be preparing for given the rise of the “Nones.” They are, among other things, a new cohort of culture warriors who vote Democratic even more reliably than white evangelical Protestants vote Republican, in no small part based on social issues.
Despite this, the conservative views on social issues remain popular. Gallup’s recent polling finds slightly more than half of Americans identifying as prolife, and while support for gay marriage continues to increase, the issue motivates far more conservative than liberal voters. There’s a large intensity gap that should continue to tip the issue to the right for some time even if current trends hold.
Candidates with traditional views, though, must get better at discussing them. They cannot rely on a sympathetic media and so will need to be especially disciplined in presenting their message. We’ll see many obituaries written for the religious right in the coming days, no doubt. But a cultural liberalism buried by Reagan and eulogized by Clinton now is risen indeed. There’s no reason to think that cultural traditionalism won’t soon see its own Lazarus moment.
November 7th, 2012 | 12:21 am
While it is true he ran the opposite end of the culture war, don’t overlook how different he was from the religious right. Obama lied and scared the electorate into his side of the war. His side repeatedly lied that GOP candidates wanted to outlaw contraception; he lied on the carve outs in Obamacare; he lied to Cardinal Dolan that his administration would be accommodating. Even Biden lied at the debate about the Bishops approval of the HHS mandate. Sure. Let’s have a culture debate but let us do it with facts and force the other side to confront their lies and not concede a victory to the based on that.
Or do you think he actually made an affirmative argument for his side rather than win by distorting his opponents?
November 7th, 2012 | 2:00 am
I think those concerned about the pro-life movement are fooling themselves.
1) Pro-lifism on the ballot has failed. See Albert Mohler on how we are all Harry Blackmum now.
2) Pro-lifism hasn’t been an independent political movement as much as a political tendency among conservatives. Instead of building voting bloc coalitions, the conservative pro-lifer rejected affinities with Catholic liberals 25 years ago, openly mocking the “seamless garment” approach. As such, liberal Catholics may be anti-abortion but will have no interest in voting at all for the opposing team. There aren’t even avenues for dialogue. See The American Catholic blog or Over the Rhine and into the Tiber or George Weigel for any examples of the vocabulary these dedicated pro-life soldiers flail about as they continue to alienate liberal folks who have some interest in abortion, but reject Paul Ryan’s economics, Grover Norquist’s activism, or Rick Santorum’s foreign policy sins.
3) The pro-life movement lost “the people.” If at one time it had a majority unhappy with abortion, now it does not. The distraction of power politics has lost it electoral strength.
4) The strategy has been for pro-lifism to elect Republicans (hence the extreme, expensive efforts to unseat and oppose pro-life Democrats like Bob Casey) has been barely fruitful strategy.
The pro-life movement remains attached to the (in my opinion) sinful dead weight of libertarian-brand economics and hyper-militant beliicosity. The movement did not and seems to lack an ability and a desire to dissect itself from such unfortunate attachments. As such, it will remain but a conservative “interest” and not truly a political movement for change. For pro-lifism to become fruitful, its technique for action needs to change.
November 7th, 2012 | 7:20 am
The problem with elections (and I do not use the word pejoratively) is that we have one for Congress every two years and one for president every four years.
I imagine Republicans were giddy in 1984 when Reagan won re-election by a landslide and when W. beat back Kerry in 2004, but were then disappointed when Clinton and now Obama won two terms.
November 7th, 2012 | 8:33 am
I am not Catholic, or even religious, but I applaud the stances the Catholic church has taken on social issues – they are the only major institution attempting to mitigate the narcissistic culture we live in.
That said, there are many good secular reasons for opposing or at least limiting abortion and opposing genderless marriage, yet the only arguments “in the public square” in opposition are religious arguments.
If conservatives want to win the culture war, they must make secular arguments for why further undermining the only biologically sound family unit is dangerous and they must use harsher language. Somehow those of us who oppose encouraging women to have children without fathers, who oppose many of the advances in reproductive technology, and oppose redefining marriage to accommodate a tiny minority who engage in aberrant behavior are labeled extremists. Really? Redefining marriage (and the family) is a very radical move. Why don’t we say that, and repeatedly?
November 7th, 2012 | 8:36 am
What’s interesting to me is how Obama came to run a social issues campaign. He’s never shown a particular interest in hot-button social issues. He’s put most of his energy into health care and the wars, and this term, he’ll probably chase clean energy. He only turned to social issues late in the campaign when he needed to encourage his base. He might have succeeded in winning some culture war points, but he’s not terribly interested in the culture wars.
Now that he’s won the election we can expect gays and women’s health to return to the background. Obama wants to win legacy points, and presidents do so through big war and peace initiatives or through big economic or social programs. Clean energy and the economy will be his focus.
Gay marriage will win, as we’re seeing in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington. The more gays people get to know the harder it gets to deny them their rights.
We can win pro-life stands if we’re smart about it. Akins and the like were disasters because they played into stereotypes about the religious right. Obamacare opens the argument that the US can adopt European-style restrictions on abortion, limiting abortion to earlier weeks and enforcing stricter regulations on abortion clinics.
November 7th, 2012 | 8:42 am
Interestingly, it’s no longer true that ‘same-sex marriage’ has never won by popular vote. Maryland, Maine approved it last night. Washington state probably will, too. And an amendment trying to ban it in Minnesota failed. I don’t think Obama alone can take credit for that.
November 7th, 2012 | 8:45 am
Dan C- For many, liberal catholic is spelt Liberal catholic- they are more liberal than catholic. Obama got 50% of the Catholic vote while essentially attacking the Church. In general, liberal Catholics have never let abortion get in their way of voting. Many of the strongest backers of abortion in the senate are Catholics-especially when supreme court nominations are debated.
November 7th, 2012 | 9:16 am
[...] Obama is the Greatest Culture Warrior of Our Time – Matthew Schmitz, First Thoughts [...]
November 7th, 2012 | 9:50 am
[...] take Matthew Schmitz’s comments on the First Thoughts blog: Gallup’s recent polling finds slightly more than half of Americans identifying as prolife, and [...]
November 7th, 2012 | 11:01 am
[...] Barack Obama, the Victorious Culture Warrior Matthew Schmitz, First Things Barack Obama ran and won a vigorous social issues campaign. He is now the first man elected president to have endorsed same-sex unions or have made contraception a major campaign theme. [...]
November 7th, 2012 | 12:55 pm
hence the extreme, expensive efforts to unseat and oppose pro-life Democrats like Bob Casey
With “pro-life” Dems like Casey, who needs pro-aborts?
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