The Straw Man Strategy Of The Left

    The Left is a failure at promoting policies which lead to more freedom and prosperity. But they are successful at creating and using straw men. A straw man is a mis-characterization of your political opponent's position on an issue for the purpose of deflecting public attention away from the substantive argument your opposition makes. Straw men also give the user the ability to set themselves up as the only defense against that which is not real in order to create policies that actually limit freedom and increase the size of government. Which is the essence and mission of the Leftist soul.
      The gay rights issue is one of those for which the Left knows they do not have majority support. So they mis-characterize their position, their opposition's position or both. Many times, especially in recent years, the Left is helped by obtuse Republicants who accept the Lefts premise on a particular issue without even knowing it. Gay marriage is exemplary of this behavior, to wit: how many Republicants have you heard take up the Lefts mis-characterization of the ballot initiatives to protect traditional marriage, as a "ban" on gay marriage? There is not one state that has banned gay marriage, and it is not illegal in any of the fifty states. The states that have passed defense of traditional marriage legislation have only said that this type of union is the only kind that they will officially recognize as marriage. No government, at any level, should officially recognize gay marriage because it is not the most optimum relationship in which to raise children, the fundamental reason for marriage for thousands of years. Government at all levels should be promoting the most optimum policies in society.
     Another recent straw man argument was made by the President's re-election effort during the 2012 presidential campaign. Gullible voters were convinced by President Obama and others on the Left of the false premise that, Mitt Romney specifically and Republicants in general, wanted to restrict access to contraception. For the record, there wasn't one Republicant that suggested any policy that would restrict people's access to birth control. Even family values advocate, Rick Santorum, stated that he would not in any way restrict access to birth control. The Republicant position was and is that government should not be using taxpayer money to buy contraception for millions of people, especially since it is ubiquitous and cheap. But with a main stream media that is essentially the propaganda arm of the Democrat party, the actual Republicant position was smothered by the straw man argument advanced by the Left.
     If Republicants have any hope of ever regaining political power, they need to find a way to put match to straw men and make them disappear. One way, I believe, they can successfully do this is to stop accepting false premises that are advanced by the Left. On issues ranging from gun control to global warming, some in the Republicant camp have ceded basic fundamental arguments to the Left. For the record, background checks are unsuccessful at reducing gun violence and there is no settled science that supports man's role in any kind of climate change. The best way to prevent someone from building a straw man is to remove their access to the straw, i.e., Republicants need to articulate Conservatism often and forcefully. This is the only way in which a clear distinction can be made between Left and Right, thereby mitigating the Lefts ability to build effective straw men.