Leaders are necessarily elites. The elite of this country have no problem with homosexuality. None. Even if they oppose gay marriage politically, they have no problem hiring and socializing with homosexuals and their partners.
Heartland conservatives, the kind of folks who vote GOP, in contrast to their immediate economic interests, have no idea what their leaders are really like and what they abide culturally.
This is where Foleygate will impact voters in the Heartland and homosexual staffers and politicians in Washington. There is, and always has been, a disconnect between the values of professional conservatives and the people they profess to lead.
Professional conservatives live the life of Washingtonians. They don't go to church as much as the rest of the nation and they don't behave like the rest of America, at least not those they represent. They live a life much like their liberal counterparts.
They make the case for social conservatism in Washington but when they go out into Middle America and rail against the liberal elites, they are railing against themselves.
-A.C. Kleinheider, Volunteer Voters
via Daniel Larison
There are few men lonelier than a social conservative at a College Republicans meeting. If he is vocal, he will likely never get a leadership position, or a even a date. At most, he may receive a few patronising words. Functional libertarianism is the order of the day among these aspiring politicos. I would be interested in learning whether the same culture is manifest among the abused page corps. Did they, too, pride themselves on their acceptance of alternative sexual orientations while they looked the other way?
Considering the party's feeder organizations, it's little surprise that the GOP leadership shied away from criticizing Foley's "private life" until its crapulence spilled into the public eye.
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