RUSH: A new Gallup poll out. Headline: "Americans Continue to Shift Left on Key Moral Issues." Now, before you go off getting depressed about this, let me tell you what the reason for this is, after we give you the details.
"Americans are more likely now than in the early 2000s to find a variety of behaviors morally acceptable, including gay and lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage and sex between an unmarried man and woman. Moral acceptability of many of these issues is now at a record-high level."
It's a subtle message to the Republican Party, and that is this: You better forget about your base. Those bitter clingers, those social conservatives, you better realize they're not it anymore, they're not where it's at anymore. Nobody agrees with 'em anymore. Your base is rapidly being eclipsed by a more hip and modern culture, and they are Democrats and they hate you, and you had better find a way to get rid of the religious right. You'd better find a way to get rid of your base, because they are killing you.
That's the message of this story, and it's gonna work with certain establishment Republicans. They'll cite this story and they'll go talk to their Republican buddies and they'll say, "See? See? I've been telling you for 15 years abortion is gonna kill us. You wouldn't listen. I've been telling you 15 years all this social issue crap is gonna do us in, and now look at the Gallup poll. You had better start listening to me." This is what's gonna be happening in Republican circles, particularly in the Republican establishment in the Northeast. That's exactly why this story was done. I'm convinced this is exactly why this poll is taken.
Read the rest here...