It struck me as an odd thing to say, because how was this not obvious from the start? It took two years for the public to notice this? :dubious:
It’s good news and I’m not knocking it. I just think the explanation for why this is news now has got to have something more to it. Or is the public actually that clueless of what’s going on right under their nose?
Well, the Moral Majority learned their lesson that blatantly leading with a skewed fundamentalist biblical fire and brimstone approach alienated the broader electorate, and that the moral majority didn’t have enough votes to go alone. So, now they have morphed into the Tea Party. Tea Party sounds okay and certainly a lot more appealing than right wing religious wing nuts. Defense of Marriage Act sounds a lot less homophobic although the intent certainly is the same as it was for the moral majority. Cutting government is great, especially if you can gut planned parenthood and NPR and anything else that offends your morals.
I came of voting age during the Moral Majority years, and my core decision making tenet of “rat fuck the moral majority” has served well for 3+ decades. After being an investment banker for 7 years, I added a second tenet of “vote for anyone fiscally responsible.” Oddly enough, I’ve never encountered a dilemna where tenet 1 was in conflict with tenet 2, and vice versa.
Tea Baggers are the moral majority in different colors, and I think they’ve expanded their base a bit.
I can’t find the original article on the NYT’s website, so it’s unclear that the effect (lower approval rating for the TP) is the result of the alleged cause (people are learning that TPers are religious conservatives).
The baggers have always been members of the Republican party. They just gathered into a group inside the party that could move the party in the direction they wanted. The Repubs don’t need to play to the baggers, they have nowhere to go. They could ignore them and go on with corporate business.
The bigots have the same home. They also have nowhere to go.