Political Wire points out a piece by Brad Carson, who lost to Tom Coburn in the race for OK Senator. He believes the culture war is real and more fundamental than abortion and gay marriage. Those issues merely highlight an underlying struggle about “modernity itself.” It’s an interesting read.

Of course, Political Wire also pointed me to a column by Frank Rich in the NY Times that essentially argues that voters still support businesses that they object to. Watch Fox News, support Married by America or How to Make Love Like a Porn Star. In the end, the moral movement doesn’t get anything passed because the same people that fund the Republicans (CEOs of Viacom, Fox, etc) are the ones driving the culture that these people object to.

I disagree with this column only because it’s getting Republicans like Tom Coburn elected, who once argued against showing Schindlers List on TV because the movie contains full frontal nudity… of concentration camp prisoners. How many local candidates are like Coburn? That’s the real measure. The Republicans haven’t had to deliver on any of these moral campaign promises but once sufficient numbers of people like Coburn are in the halls of power, that will change. It will be interesting to see how those donors to the Republican Party react.

I also wonder if it’s hypocritical to ignore these people’s concerns. If there are really that many people who feel American popular culture is going in a direction that affects us all on a spiritual level, what do they want us to do and what can we compromise on? More importantly, can we compromise on whether this is a legislative issue? Or is that the only way this stuff can be “fixed?”