More Americans Consider Themselves Pro-Life: Turning Public Opinion into Public Support for Republicans

For the first time in the 15 years that Gallup has been asking the question, more Americans identify themselves as “pro-life” than “pro-choice.”

As conservatives in general and the Republican Party in particular work to regroup after their devastating election results of 2008–and 2006 before that–they need to keep these key polling results in mind. So many on the Right are focusing only on fiscal issues–and while that is critically important during this recession and the Right does have (what should be) the winning message on that issue–it cannot turn its back on a set of values that is important to so many Americans.

At times over the last four years, Republicans have been viewed as a Party obsessed with the abortion issue. From a political standpoint, it doesn’t make sense for the Party to focus only on this issue at any time, regardless of public opinion. It would be foolish to focus only on this aspect. But what conservatives and the Party need to bear in mind as they move forward and begin to lay the groundwork for 2010 victories is that public opinion is on their side. The popularity of the President, yes, is a force with which to be reckoned. The public, however, has made it clear that this is still a right-of-center nation; Americans don’t want government to control everything, they don’t want to pay excessive taxes and see the government waste money, and they don’t want to see the family–and with it, unborn life–devalued.

This may be the beginning of a changing tide, but only if Republicans can continue to improve their own reputation. As we saw at the polls last Novemeber, Americans think that Democrats are the ones who will cut taxes for the middle class, curb government spending and do a better job dealing with the economic crisis. Public opinion may be on the side of the Right, but the public doesn’t see it that way.

The challenge for conservatives and the Republican Party is to shift that perception moving forward. This means that politicians need to take hard stances and stand for their principles. This means that conservative journalists need to tell stories of the real people across America whose families and businesses are being hurt by policy changes–and expose the myths of socialist “utopias.” This means that conservative activists need to talk to their neighbors about what’s happening, not by sharing emotional rants about their feelings about the new administration or Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, but rather with the real facts and statistics about the economy and growth of government.

The conversation surrounding this Gallup poll on the news and in homes around the country presents an opportunity for the Republican Party to remind America that it is the Party better aligned with American values and better aligned with common sense solutions to economic crisises. Let’s hope it isn’t wasted.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Related posts:

1. “…a bill that the American public clearly does not like, and doesn’t support.”
2. Catholic U. College Republicans Take Tea Party Movement Door-to-Door
3. Being Catholic in the Public Square: Modern Lessons from the First Bishop in America by Kevin Roberts

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 16th, 2009 at 10:38 am and is filed under Faith and Family, Politics and Capitol Hill. The entry is tagged under catholic, pro-life, public opinion, republican beliefs, republican party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.