What the GOP "Religious Freedon" Orgy Means to the GOP Primary

I've said much about the horrible bigotry now enacted into law in Indiana - and more such laws are pending in other states (the effort in Virginia failed in part because of a veto threat by Terry McAuliffe, but expect it to return and be a topic in campaigns this fall).  Granting special rights to Christians has become an obsession with some in the GOP - even more than pushing reverse Robin Hood policies - and may well play a significant role in the unfolding three ring circus of the GOP presidential primaries.  A piece in Salon looks at how the Christofascists demands for special rights could roil the GOP primary process.  Here are some article highlights:

The rapid realignment of public and judicial opinion over the last decade toward gay rights has embroiled the Christian right in an existential crisis. That’s the way they see it, at least, which is why they’re framing the advance of gay rights in America as an assault on “religious freedom” generally, and Christianity specifically. It’s a bogus argument – the religious freedoms of Christian conservatives are not and never have been dependent upon the denial of rights to gay people – but the cause is being championed by conservatives in state governments who have moved to pass laws protecting discrimination against gays as an expression of “religious freedom.”

One of those conservatives is Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law yesterday. The law will allow business owners who refuse to provide services to gay people to cite their religious beliefs in their own defense if they end up getting sued.. . . . this law and others like it are written very broadly and could allow for all manner of discriminatory behavior.

Paul Waldman, writing at the Washington Post, notes that the controversy over the law could very easily spill over into the 2016 Republican presidential nominating contest:

The more news this Indiana law gets, the more likely it is that it will become an issue in the presidential primaries. And it fits neatly within the key divide among Republicans: on one side you could have business groups that are nervous about negative economic impacts and strategists who don’t want the GOP to be known as the party of discrimination, while on the other side you have candidates eager for the votes of religious right primary voters.

It’s not hard to pick out the 2016 aspirants who would be most likely to support Pence on this one. Basically, if they’ve ever said anything in defense of the homophobic asshole from that stupid duck show – looking at you, Bobby Jindal – then there’s a pretty strong chance they’ll get down with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This fight also fall squarely within Rick Santorum’s and Mike Huckabee’s cultural-resentment wheelhouses.

If there’s anyone this issue is tailor-made for, though, it’s Ted Cruz. When Cruz formally announced his presidential campaign earlier this week, he explicitly stated that he hoped to ride to victory on the backs of Christian conservatives.  . . . . while Cruz doesn’t have a whole lot in the way of “experience” to boast about, he does have something to bring to the table when it comes to fighting on behalf of Christians against government “overreach.”
What will be interesting to see is if and how candidates like Jeb Bush react to the Indiana “religious freedom” controversy. Bush is a Christian and plenty conservative, but he also has an eye on appealing to primary voters outside the Christian right, and appealing to a broader American electorate that is far more supportive of gay rights. For my money, though, the man to watch will be Rand Paul.  Remember, there was a time not long ago when Rand Paul said that even though it was bad business to “exclude anyone” from your establishment, . . . He has, of course, since disavowed ever having believed anything of the sort, but who knows – maybe the Indiana “religious freedom” law and the need to win over some primary voters will rekindle some of that old-school libertarianism.

Despite the downside for those in states enacting such laws, for the Democrats on a longer term basis, these laws may do two things: (i) drive the GOP presidential primary contestants into crazy land and (ii) repulse decent people from supporting the GOP.  As I said, here in Virginia, the entire House of Delegates is up for reelection in November, and I am sure that The Family Foundation will be making support for such laws a litmus test for Republican candidates.