Exactly. I wonder why the people in charge at the GOP have yet to figure this out.

and yet, Obama is far closer to the GOP in how he handles gay marriage, and many other things... why do they believe he will change anything? He has done NOTHING so far, even when he had congress fully on his side.

As always pay attention to ACTIONS. Words read from a teleprompter are nothing.

Ooops, hit submit before I shoulda...
All that said about "O" this is quite right about republicans in general...
I think they have gotten used to the old idea that they can say slightly different things to different constituencies, and the groups will never know. But that hasn't been true in some time. This is why a candidate can be portrayed as a RINO some places and "ultra-right-wing-conservative" in others, even though the stances are the same.
So what they do is change their stance depending on the audience, and that comes off as not genuine.

If there was a person who was willing to talk fiscal conservatism, and just hammer on it, while deflecting talk of the social, people could get behind that.

"what do you think about abortion?"
'I want to know why that question is more important than JOBS'

But nobody can seem to wrap their head around that...

I voted for Ron Paul in protest.

This is my only choice?

Isn't every generation more liberal/libertarian when they are young? Then they grow up.

What I find interesting is that the millennials are more conservative than the boomers and Gen X. It could be the Roe effect. Or maybe just a natural reaction to a poor economy and a desire for more stability after the bubble years and the war years.

Every generation worries about the flaming liberal one coming after it. Think of the 20s, the 60's. But society does get more liberal over time. So there is something to the worry. If their parents had succeeded in convincing hippies you DID need to be married to have babies, kids would be better off today.

Perhaps 5 more years of "hope" & "change" will open their eyes a bit. 2016 elections outta be interesting. Palin may be the only one to pull the far Right lefter and Left women who've no allegiance Right. Todays 20 yo girl is not yesterday's dependent in perpetuity. They think fir themselves. Perhaps a new Conservative is around the bend, new candidates as well? We're od-ing on the religious police Right in addition to the social police Left. Cooler heads'll prevail. Have faith?

Good thing the Tea Party has been discredited as the kooks who merely want to balance the budget, right?

"Todays 20 yo girl is not yesterday's dependent in perpetuity. They think fir themselves."

And I pine after them... but I'm not sure that idea is poplar.