Chuck Todd: Should Conservatives ‘Surrender In the Culture Wars?’
Last week, the Supreme Court declined to hear several Appeals Court cases on gay marriages, which resulted in bans on gay marriage being struck down in numerous states across the country.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to punt on the issue of gay marriage, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd saw this as a sign that social conservatism was declining and obnoxiously asked “is it time for conservatives to surrender in the culture wars?”
After playing a pre-packaged segment on the evolution of social conservatism in the United States, the NBC host did his best to portray social conservatives as being on the losing side of public opinion:
This stuff has moved whether it's on abortion, whether it's on same-sex marriage, whether it's on marijuana legalization. The culture wars have shifted to the left. Many in Republicans are trying to acknowledge that general public shift. And yet, it's going to cause some heartburn.
For her part, the Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker continued Todd’s theme of minimizing social conservatism’s influence on national politics:
Well, I would characterize things slightly differently, that's what's going on within the Republican {arty I think is sort of not so much a transformation as a reformation. And I think what they're trying to do in terms of, at least among those who are more accepting of these changes, is I don't think the Republicans are so much changing their core values as they are sort of trying to change the way they approach things.
And it mirrors what's going on in Rome right now with the Senate. The Pope is trying to figure out how to do affirmative things for families pastorally, and the party is trying to figure out how to do things affirmatively without being condemnatory, without being judgmental, without being harsh.
As the segment progressed, Todd suggested that if the Republican Party fails to win the Senate in 2014 that many would blame social conservatives for the loss:
Now Kathleen, if Republicans don't win the Senate, there are going to be prominent leaders that say, "You know what, it's become Democrats won the culture wars, and Democrats use cultural wedge issues to win."
Chuck Todd’s eagerness to attack social conservatism is nothing new. Just last week he confronted RNC Chairman Reince Priebus over Texas’ decision to pass laws in Texas requiring higher health safety standards for abortion clinics.
See relevant transcript below.
NBC’s Meet the Press
October 12, 2014
CHUCK TODD: Is it time for conservatives to surrender in the culture wars?
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CHUCK TODD: Been a big week for gay rights, and couples across the country have been tying the knot after a series of court rulings at both a national and local level made same-sex marriage legal in a majority of states. Many prominent Republicans have reacted with anger. But there are voices within the GOP arguing it's time for the party to accept that the culture wars have been lost.
(BEGIN TAPE)
JERRY FALWELL: We have a threefold primary responsibility. Number one, get people saved, number two, get them baptized, number three, get them registered to vote.
CHUCK TODD (V/O): From the early 1980s, when Jerry Falwell mobilized a new moral majority of evangelical voters, and Ronald Reagan rode that energy to two political landslides, the religious right has been a force inside the GOP.
PAT ROBERTSON: We have a breakup of our family. We have a breakup of the moral foundations of our nation.
TODD (V/O): In 1988, televangelist Pat Robertson stunned the nation with a second-place finish in Iowa. The power of the evangelical vote caught even the GOP by surprise. Social conservatives were given an even bigger platform four years later.
PAT BUCHANAN: There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the cold war itself.
TODD (V/O): Bill Clinton won that 1992 election, but accepted a string of concessions on social issues over his two terms. A Don't Ask Don't Tell, the Defense of Marriage Act, and even welfare reform. In 2004, Republicans effectively drove a wedge between Democrats on religion, abortion, and gay rights.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: If you are a Democrat who believes that marriage should be protected from activist judges, I'd be honored to have your vote.
TODD (V/O): Ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage were proposed in 11 states. They passed with an average of 70% of the vote. Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, who had supported same-sex marriage on a questionnaire during his 1996 campaign, reversed course during his 2004 U.S. Senate bid.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We have a set of traditions in place that I think need to be preserved.
ELLEN DEGENERES: I'm gay.
TODD (V/O): But the cultural sea change over the last decade has shifted the landscape on marriage more than any other issue.
ERIC STONESTREET: Big smiles.
TODD (V/O): This week's Supreme Court action, or non-action on marriage produced a loud silence.
TODD: Ten years ago, you supported a federal constitutional amendment on marriage. Do you still support that?
ED GILLESPIE: Well, it was when I was chairman of the Republican National Committee, it was the platform called for a federal marriage amendment. And as chairman of the RNC, I've stood for the platform. But as a United States Senator--
TODD: That you personally support?
ED GILLESPIE: I'm talking now about my policies.
TODD (V/O): And now it's Democrats wielding social issues on the trail and Republicans on the defensive.
SCOTT BROWN: I'm pro-choice. I support continued funding for Planned Parenthood.
CORY GARDNER: I believe the pill ought to be available over the counter, 'round the clock.
TODD (V/O): All of this is frustrating prominent social conservatives.
MIKE HUCKABEE: At that point, you lose me. I'm gone. I'll become an independent. I'll start finding people who have guts to stand. I'm tired of this.
TODD: Well, to understand this battle inside the GOP, I'm joined by two journalist who cover the Republican Party closely. David Brody, chief political correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network, and Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post. Welcome to both of you.
DAVID BRODY: Thanks.
KATHLEEN PARKER: Thanks.
TODD: David, let me start with you. When you hear Mike Huckabee say what he said, and you've talked to the prominent members of the evangelical movement, they don't like the surrender that many prominent Republicans indicated this week, do they?
DAVID BRODY: They don't like it at all. You know, look, many politicians see it as a political issue, gay marriage, that is. Mike Huckabee and others see it as a principle. And I think that's the difference. Is it a political issue for you, or is it a principle? You know, there was a conservative author and historian Russell Kirk, who used to say basically, "Politicians are actors performing a script that is written by the audience." And look, the audience here are evangelical Christians, who let's face it Chuck, are not voting. People say, "Wait, not voting? What are you talking about?" Thirty million evangelicals voted in 2012.
TODD: You still believe they're not voting?
BRODY: With, listen to this. Eighty million, there are about 80 million evangelicals in this country. That puts 50 million evangelicals sitting on the sidelines.
TODD: You know, Kathleen, I'm going to show some polls here. This stuff has moved whether it's on abortion, whether it's on same-sex marriage, whether it's on marijuana legalization. The culture wars have shifted to the left. Many in Republicans are trying to acknowledge that general public shift. And yet, it's going to cause some heartburn.
PARKER: Well, I would characterize things slightly differently, that's what's going on within the Republican {arty I think is sort of not so much a transformation as a reformation. And I think what they're trying to do in terms of, at least among those who are more accepting of these changes, is I don't think the Republicans are so much changing their core values as they are sort of trying to change the way they approach things. And it mirrors what's going on in Rome right now with the Senate. The Pope is trying to figure out how to do affirmative things for families pastorally, and the party is trying to figure out how to do things affirmatively without being condemnatory, without being judgmental, without being harsh.
TODD: David, is there a movement among evangelicals to essentially accept same-sex marriage and promote family?
BRODY: Well, I wouldn't call it, no.
TODD: Yes?
BRODY: No, no.
TODD: Okay.
BRODY: There's not a movement necessarily. There are bits and pieces, small little blocks here and there. But that's not the movement. Actually Chuck, the movement is quite the opposite. You know, there's all these "pastors and pews" events where Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, all speaking in front of these influential evangelical crowd. And so I think that really is the movement in this country. The question is, can these Christians actually go ahead and vote finally because quite frankly, as much as the mainstream media wants to talk about that, well, look evangelicals are voting, they're always voting. Well, not necessarily, Chuck.
TODD: You know, and Kathleen, he just ticked off a whole bunch of potential presidential candidates.
PARKER: Right.
TODD: This is going to potentially become very public inside the Republican Party during the battle in 2016. And that seems to have hurt Republicans, at least with swing voters.
PARKER: Well, absolutely. And I think that there will be less empha-- look, same-sex marriage, just to take one issue, has never been as potent as something as like abortion. And abortion will remain a litmus test I think for any Republican running for a national office. And that's going to be problematic in the general obviously. But I think you have to keep paying attention to what Republican leaders, other than the ones you've mentioned, are talking about. Now if you read the op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last week, that was co-authored by Marco Rubio and Mike Lee, you know, trying talking again about reforms that steer away from the wedge issues, and focus on how can we help families with tax reform and things like that.
TODD: And Tony Perkins and these guys, they're not going to like this, are they?
BRODY: No. Well, they're not going to like the way they see the polls. But here's the thing. Judicial activism is a big part of this. And I think this is the way Republicans, especially the politicians that are in powerful seats in Washington can kind of get around this issue to talk about.
CHUCK TODD: So you paper over it, you go to judicial activism, and it's a wink and a nod, "Hey, I mean measure, but I'm not really saying it."
BRODY: Well, I think that's part of it for sure. And look, we're in a culture war; there are a lot of battles within that war. And I think the next battle you're going to see is on religious liberty as it relates to pastors speaking out from the pulpit. Think about this, Chuck for a second. If pastors are actually speaking from the pulpit against gay marriage, a hate crime potentially, is that the next wave? Well, that's a battle that still hasn't been waged.
TODD: Now Kathleen, if Republicans don't win the Senate, there are going to be prominent leaders that say, "You know what, it's become Democrats won the culture wars, and Democrats use cultural wedge issues to win."
PARKER: There's just no question that the Democrats need these cultural wedges more than the Republicans really do.
TODD: And a total flip. I mean, think about where we were a decade ago.
PARKER: You know, the Republican candidates out there across the land are not bringing up these issues. The Democratic candidates are and forcing them against the wall, making them take a position on things that they don't really even want to talk about. And unfortunately, so many of them are not really very good at articulating in a compassionate and rational ways. It gets too passionate, too much of an emotional thing.
TODD: Very quickly, David, how much do you think marriage is going to be a litmus test in Iowa in 2016?
BRODY: Oh, it will definitely be a litmus test. I don't think there's any question about that.
TODD: And a pro same-sex marriage Republican nominee, is that possible in 2016?
BRODY: No, I don't think so at all. Not in 2016 for sure. And there's going to be a lot of people fighting against it.
TODD: It's going to be an interesting platform. David Brody and Kathleen Parker, thank you both.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter.
