Conservatives cry foul when anyone points out the obvious, namely, that most of their electoral strategy over the last few decades has consisted of stirring up the most fearful, xenophobic, racist, homophobic elements of their base. The entire Fox News machine is a constant stream of “X group is coming to get white straight Christian people, and for this reason, you need to hide under your bed, and also, vote Republican!”
Rep. Peter King (R) of Long Island accidentally admitted this without coded language in a Politico piece about the Prop 8 ruling:
King, the Long Island congressman, said that in terms of social issues, the raging controversy over the Arizona border laws is providing more than enough ammunition for Republicans in key districts.
“The Arizona immigration law is there, there’s no reason to be raising an issue of gay rights” as a wedge, he said.
In other words, “We don’t need to worry about gettin’ the rubes all scared of fags this time, we’ve got more than enough to get ’em soiling their pants by convincing them the Messicans are after them! Maybe next time, fags!”
[h/t John Cole]
