Unfairly stereotyping conservatives based on radicals

I think I speak for all moderate conservatives when I say we are tired of liberal journalists grouping us with whichever radical evangelical they feel like writing their daily column about. The idea that all those who vote Republican have somehow bought into the ideas of someone like James Dobson is unfair and downright offensive to those of us who have spent years forming and sharpening our conservative opinions.

Conservatism is about much more than social issues, though I find it hilarious that Indira Dammu calls James Dobson hateful for preaching against gay marriage. Someone should remind her that President Obama, the presumed “savior” of our country, is himself opposed to gay marriage. That’s probably one of the reasons he was able to win the votes of so many moderate conservatives in Ohio. Ohio, of course, is that state that Dammu claims Bush won in 2004 as a result of Dobson’s hateful mobilization tactics.

People like me don’t vote conservative because we are trying to apply our religion to our government. We vote Republican because we don’t believe we should have to pay for our neighbor’s birth control. We don’t believe the government should be able to tell us what doctor to see or what kind of car to drive. We want our government to take as little of our money as possible, to keep us safe and to stay out of our way. None of that has anything to do with hate, bigotry or any other of the wild accusations that are so constantly made against us. 

Regardless of conservative motivations, it seems to me that liberals should be more worried about their own policies than the supposed failures of the GOP. If and when President Obama’s radical economic programs fail to turn around our economy, voters will remember who was responsible for those programs and who stood against them.    

Sam Drummy
IU senior