Let’s be realistic. I know of no Republican candidate who made “sex”, “religion”, or “creationism” the centerpiece of a national campaign against a Democratic adversary.

What Curmudgeon is apparently attempting to say (however obliquely) is that conservatives should jettison social issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and human embryonic testing (those have, indeed, been raised by conservative Republicans in campaigns against Democrats) to strengthen the Republican party. Curmudgeon might as well bang his/her head against a wall—it isn’t going to happen. The bottom line is there are those who see a moral society as the ultimate end of politics, and those who are content to sacrifice morality on the alter of political power. Apparently, Curmudgeon belongs to the latter camp.