A Confident Coalition of Economic and Social Conservatives

Chuck Donovan / November 03, 2010

Exit polls and candidate victory speeches confirm the truth that yesterday’s electoral outcomes were rooted in concerns about a sagging economy and soaring government spending. But the public records and political philosophies of yesterday’s victors at the ballot box also convey the quiet strength of social issues in the 2010 election. A confident coalition has emerged with a convergence of convictions.

The freshman class of congressional Members elected yesterday is the most socially conservative since at least the 1980 class elected on Ronald Reagan’s coattails. The 1980 class included a raft of Senators (like James Abdnor of South Dakota, Jeremiah Denton of Alabama, Mack Mattingly of Georgia, Dan Quayle of Indiana, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa) who defeated liberal incumbents, including icons like George McGovern. A generation later, naturally enough, the sons (Evan Bayh, Chet Culver, and Ben Quayle) of several of the major figures in the 1980 cycle (Birch Bayh, John Culver, and Quayle) played diverse roles in a new conservative resurgence in Washington and the state houses. (more…)