In my previous blog essay, I noted several key differences between the Democrats and Republicans. One area that I neglected to mention, however, was a marked contrast on the social front.
The Democrats tend to be the party of the ephemeral here-and-now, whereas the Republicans tend to be the party of the long-term.
Everything looks like a crisis in its initial moment, but only by analyzing things long-term can one truly see the consequences/ramifications of that development.
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are a good example. Democrats opportunistically glommed onto that
natural disaster as supposed evidence of the Bush Administration's ineptitude (really? Was it Bush's and Cheney's fault that a million people are living in an area that is dangerously prone to such disasters?), when the long-term fallout resulted in realizing the ineptitude of New Orleans' local government (headed up by Ray "School Bus"
Nagin), while the Louisiana voters tossed out the incompetent, hand-wringing Democrat governess
Kathleen Blanco in favor of the highly competent, conservative, up-and-coming Republican
Bobby Jindal.
More to the point, however, people's dispairing focus between the here-and-now and the long-term manifest in something far more basic, namely the basic social structure, the family, and it is this contrast this remains the biggest reason for my long-term optimism for our country. Simply put, conservatives (and the
Republican Party is the party that is designed to advance the ball of conservatism) have more kids than liberals.
Michael Medved spells out this contrast, which could be plainly seen during the two recent party conventions.
Nothing can be more evident in this contrast than the families of the
Presidential candidates themselves. Barack and
Michelle Obama have only two daughters, while
John McCain has seven children (!), and his Veep nominee
Sarah Palin has five kids. This author himself is the oldest of five children, all of whom are committed conservative Republicans. Legitimate studies, which Medved sites, back up the fact that long-term demographic trends continue to favor the
conservative movement and the party it politically calls home.