Playing Into the Left By Focusing On Flags and Marriage

“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” – Sun Tzu

Last month the American right was focused on fighting warrantless surveillance, preventing executive overreach in diplomatic and trade negotiations, and a host of egregiously corrupt scandals on the left, including Hillary Clinton’s improper relationship with foreign donors.

But those were the times when conservatives were thinking critically. Now the left has managed to stir the right’s emotions, provoking them into a culture war on social values they cannot win. The left has managed to rouse contempt from social conservatives, especially. This is exactly what they want, as it takes the focus away from issues they have no legitimacy on and shifts it to emotionally charged social issues. Social issues which most of the country disagrees with strident social conservatives on.

Do we really want the 2016 election to focus on a 150-year-old flag and the personal lives of gay people? Because that is exactly what conservatives are angling for right now. Not only does it detract away from much more important issues, it allows the left to paint the entire right with a broad brush based on the perception of their social values. I emphasize perception because that is what effects elections; personal views do not matter as much as how people perceive those views.

Over the last week conservatives have rush to defend a 150-year-old contentious symbol, only to have their outrage amplified by what they see as an assault on the institution of marriage. I could weigh in on the nuances of that ruling, but I refuse to. The problem is that we simply have much more pressing matters to focus on.

Many conservatives are too concerned about who is sharing beds on the boat and not at all concerned with the fact that the ship is sinking. If we don’t address our fiscal issues and restore our civil liberties, who is marrying whom isn’t going to make any difference.

Let’s be clear, with the national debt at a record high, entitlements dangerous underfunded, a massively corrupt administration, Hillary’s multiple scandals, the still to surface Lois Lerner’s emails, executive secrecy on trade deals, and a foreign policy which has sewn instability throughout the Middle East, liberals want you to focus on flags and marriages.

Conservatives have all but forgotten about the Court’s decision in King v Burwell, which has major consequences for our fiscal futures and our health care industry. This is the debate we should be having, not waving flags some see as hateful and demanding who be allowed to contract with whom.

Democrats can’t campaign on the economy, or foreign policy. Until yesterday, the party had lost all claim as the defenders of civil liberties. This is the party that instituted broad-based, warrantless surveillance against all Americans, after all. But many conservatives now want to give the Democrats a gift; they want to steer the GOP into full opposition on gay marriage. In doing so the Democrats will once again be able to emotionally appeal to the public as the party of civil rights and equality.

And in case you didn’t realize, waving your Confederate flag and ranting about gay marriage is the same as bestiality is not a good look. You are actually doing more to reinforce negative perceptions and stereotypes of conservatives.

We cannot let liberals set the debate, when they do they will always control the narrative. When that happens the right will lose every time, because emotional appeal is more palatable to the masses than rationale.