Religious Right Slams Gay-Tea Party Alliance

Over the weekend, the conservative gay group GOProud co-authored a letter with some libertarian-leaning tea party activists calling on the GOP leadership in Congress to stay focused on the tea party's core fiscal issues, and not to go down the "rabbit hole" of divisive social issues like gay marriage and abortion. The move hasn't gone over too well with establishment evangelical groups, which have had an uneasy relationship with the burgeoning tea party movement from the beginning. I called the Family Research Council yesterday for a comment for a story I wrote on the issue, but never got a call back. Instead, FRC seems to have issued its response online, writing in its Washington update:

A group that had nothing to do with bringing the Republicans to power suddenly wants to dictate what the party does with it. GOProud, an aggressive pro-homosexual organization that desperately wants to be taken seriously by conservatives, is trying to force its way into the movement by persuading a small handful of tea partiers to sign on to a social truce for the 112th Congress...

FRC points out what we noted, which is that most tea partiers are firmly in the social conservative camp:

According to the latest data, an overwhelming number of Tea Partiers (almost two-thirds) believe abortion should be outlawed. About half believe in the Bible as the literal word of God, and most think that public officials don't pay nearly enough attention to it or religion as a whole. According to Zogby data, 82% of them oppose same-sex "marriage."

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/11/family-research-council-goproud-tea-party

That's odd. Two weeks ago, they credited "Teh Gay", Latinos, women and every other minority group with the (R) "Tidal Wave".

WTF, as long as they're battling each other, it's all good.

How long until they can't cobble together a majority? I say, encourage the discontent.