Social Issues

One of the reasons Democrats can make little headway in certain parts of this country is the social issues they are associated with.

Two big ones are abortion and gay rights (marriage).

If you consider one or both of these things as a sin, you aren't going to vote for anyone who supports them.

That puts Democratic candidates at a big disadvantage to start in many areas.

Generally, with a few exceptions, people who support freedom of choice and freedom of sexual preference, don't vote for a candidate because they support these issues, they tend to consider other factors.

This is partly because for many of us the issues are considered determined, except there is a large segment of the public who wants to change that.

Take abortion.

While I support a women's right to choose, I would never want anyone I knew to have one unless it was medically necessary.  Ideally we would eliminate the need for most abortions via education and availability of birth control.

Similarly I support the right of people to love whoever they want to and to have that love recognized as valid in the same way that heterosexual love is.

This is however more of an intellectual position than an emotional one, while those who view it as an abomination are much more involved.

This is the situation for many issues and one side uses it as a pass fail criteria and the other isn't.