We Conservatives Lost the Culture War

Conservatives trying to come to terms with Mitt Romney's defeat posited all kinds of rationalizations. But Matt Lewis thinks he's figured out the real reason. "The culture war is over, and conservatives lost," he writes in the Week. "Too many Americans simply no longer agree with them on the merits." It's a depressing prospect, Lewis writes. Before, when liberals espoused "fringy" ideas, he'd think, "I hope you push that idea, because you'll keep losing elections in real America." Now, it's the GOP that looks out of touch.

How did we get here? Well, Republicans focused on winning elections, and succeeded. But, meanwhile, "society became coarser, more permissive, less traditional, and more socially liberal. … For every Republican elected, there were 10 films or songs (many of them quite good, actually) selling sex, drugs, and violence." Lewis thinks the problem is that the family unit has broken down—"it's clichéd because it's true"—and that to survive, the GOP has to focus on strengthening it. But "it's going to be a long, hard slog." Click for Lewis' full column. (More conservatives stories.)