A few weeks ago, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, a possible dark-horse candidate for the 2012 GOP presidential race, urged Republicans and conservatives to make a truce on social issues and focus instead on economics. Daniels is, essentially, a libertarian in Republican clothing, so this wasn’t a particularly surprising plea. Nonetheless, he was met with much scorn and skepticism from social conservatives in the Republican Party, including ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Now leaders in the Tea Party movement are following in Daniels’ footsteps, urging GOP leaders to set aside divisive culture warfare and embrace the economic issues that presumably unite conservatives across the board. In a letter signed by groups as wide-ranging as GOProud – a gay Republican caucus – and The Tea Party Patriots and New American Patriots, the signatories write:
