I think that the support for these propositions was so strong because a lot of people are fed up with liberal morality being imposed on the society as a whole. Here are three examples, related to Prop-8, of such impositions of the liberal morality that have triggered adverse reaction and I think which helped Prop-8 to succeed:
So on the surface these propositions seem to have been a great success:
However, when one looks at how different age groups voted this seems to be a short-lived victory because the younger the voters the more against banning gay marriage they are. For example, here are exit polls for CA.
CA Prop-8 exit poll results (by age)
Other states show the same trends as Prop-8 in California. Probably there is nothing that can be done to reverse this trend. Public education and Hollywood values do bear fruit as far as the attitudes of the young generation are concerned.
Moreover, substandard public education means that this issue can no longer be discussed using rational arguments, which many young would not longer be able to follow. Young people are used to feel about issues rather than think about the issues. It is a pity, because there are excellent arguments why traditional understanding/definition of marriage is good for society as a whole.
Personally, I think that eventually, say in 8 years from now, gay marriage will be legal in the US with all its negative consequences. (I can imagine what “fun” it will be for immigration officials to process K-1 gay fiancé visas and I130 petitions for gay couples.)
So what should (social) conservatives do in the future? I think we should fight for schools and school choice so that our kids have an option to not be indoctrinated with various diversity curricula and other nonsense (which will probably get worse under Obama rule). I pay several thousands of dollars in school taxes. After paying that money in taxes, what I have left is not enough to send even one of my kids to a private school. Fortunately, so far the public school where I live is pretty good. Other parents are not that lucky.
School choice is one issue to which black voters have been receptive in the past, so maybe there is some hope for change. Although, I suspect that president Obama wants to have tight grip on the education of our children. One sign of this is his “Service program” as highlighted on change.gov:
Integrate Service into Learning
- Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation’s Schools: Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. They will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama and Biden will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.
- Expand YouthBuild Program: Obama and Biden will expand the YouthBuild program, which gives disadvantaged young people the chance to complete their high school education, learn valuable skills and build affordable housing in their communities. They will grow the program so that 50,000 low-income young people a year a chance to learn construction job skills and complete high school.
- Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama and Biden will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
- Promote College Serve-Study: Obama and Biden will ensure that at least 25 percent of College Work-Study funds are used to support public service opportunities instead of jobs in dining halls and libraries.
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