>Democrats may be thanking God for values voters and wishing them luck in making moral reform an "integral part" of the Republican agenda. Two years ago a Pew Forum survey found "a small but significant increase" in public discomfort with aggressively religious candidates: "Today (in 2008) 46% say they are uncomfortable when politicians talk about how religious they are, up from 40% in 2004." Pew noted that the "increase in negative sentiment about religion and politics was much more apparent among Republicans than among Democrats," and McCain backers were significantly more uncomfortable with candidates' religiosity than Bush backers.
I don't mean to read too much into this finding, since it may simply have reflected Bush fatigue as well as conservative evangelical mistrust of McCain. Besides, given the breathtaking pace of political and cultural change, when we talk about public attitudes two years ago, we might as well be talking in dog years. Still, extreme social conservatives do not represent the majority, or, I suspect, the future.
They are losing their battle against gay rights, especially among younger people, (and are increasingly marginalized in their view of homosexuality as sinful, or a gateway to bestiality). Support for equal marriage is steadily increasing (according to a recent CNN poll, it's reached a majority). Fifty-seven percent of Americans favor repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."