http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/a-social-conservative-case-for-trump/The author does not support Trump. He is a socon, but the very definition of a crunchy-con, and is temperamentally,
viscerally, at odds with most of what folk find attractive about Trump. Thing is, he is honest and intellectually muscular enough to make the socon case for Trump.
FTR, I do not necessarily agree with the author or his case, but I do like reading a well-crafted argument by someone who can honestly make the case of the opposition.
Why would a social conservative vote for Donald Trump, who is the least socially conservative of all the Republican candidates? I can think of a few reasons...
4. Religious liberty is where the real fight is, specifically the degree to which religious institutions and individuals will have the freedom to practice their beliefs without running afoul of civil liberties for gay men and women. This is where having a friendly administration matters most to religious and social conservatives. And this is an area where religious and social conservatives are in the most danger of being bamboozled by the GOP Establishment.
Why? Every single one of the GOP candidates will say the right thing (from a social conservative point of view) on religious liberty. But will they deliver? Don’t you believe it. The Indiana RFRA fight was the Waterloo of social conservatives. Big Business has come down decisively on the side of gay rights, and forced Gov. Mike Pence and the state GOP lawmakers to back down. They forced Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas to back down. As I cannot repeat often enough, I was told last fall by multiple sources in a position to know that the Congressional Republicans have no intention of making religious liberty an issue going forward. For one thing, they don’t want to be called bigots, and for another, the donor class is against it. I don’t doubt that Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz (at least) would like to protect religious liberty, but I am convinced that they are too beholden to the donor class to do anything more than make speeches.
5. That brings us to Donald Trump. He has said publicly that he will make protecting religious liberty a priority. Does he mean it? I have no idea, and you don’t either. He is no religious conservative. But he is a populist who doesn’t care what the donor class thinks, because he is not indebted to them. It is reasonable to think that religious liberty stands a better chance with Trump in the White House than any other Republican. Mind you, that’s the soft bigotry of low expectations, but that just goes to show you how weak the position of us religious and social conservatives has become within the Republican Party...
But just be clear that on the political issues that have mattered most to social conservatives — abortion, gay marriage, and religious liberty — it is by no means obvious that the non-Trump Republicans are going to be any better, and they may be worse.
More at the linky.
I think the author misses a few, but he does present a reasonable case.
As with many other Trump strengths, the GOPe brought "socons voting for Trump" from an absurdity to the realm of reasonable. Why? Because GOPe has brought ZERO socon priorities home despite having the political power and offices to make it happen. And GOPe has folded in the face of evil, totalitarian hedonism too many times to have any confidence that they will transform from cowardly losers into bold winners on the socon front.
