… Many social conservatives say they feel politically isolated as the country seems to be hurtling to the left, with marijuana now legal in Colorado and gay marriage gaining ground across the nation. They feel out of place in a GOP increasingly dominated by tea party activists and libertarians who […] Read more »
Sea change: Americans revising opinions on gays
Americans are changing their minds about gays at a startling pace, driven by young people coming of age in a new era and by people of all ages increasingly familiar with gays and lesbians in their families and their lives, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll. CONT. Anita Kumar, McClatchy Read more »
Are you happy?
… While the U.S. is an exceptional country in many ways, we are not exceptionally happy, ranking 11th in the world, ahead of France, Germany, Qatar and Colombia but behind Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada. But beyond their individual personalities and genetic endowments, what makes some people happier […] Read more »
Democrats Seize on Social Issues as Values Wedge Cuts Their Way
… The tumultuous social changes that began in the 1960s supplied decades of political ammunition for Republicans. Beginning with Richard M. Nixon, they rallied Americans disturbed by noisy protests over civil rights, the sexual revolution and the Vietnam War. … Now the values wedge cuts for Democrats. … Democrats profit […] Read more »
What’s the 2014 election really about? Religious vs. women’s rights
Religious rights versus women’s rights. That’s about as fundamental a clash as you can get in U.S. politics. It’s now at the core of the 2014 election campaign, with both parties girding for battle. What generated the showdown was last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case. […] Read more »
When Beliefs and Facts Collide
… In a new study, a Yale Law School professor, Dan Kahan, finds that the divide over belief in evolution between more and less religious people is wider among people who otherwise show familiarity with math and science, which suggests that the problem isn’t a lack of information. When he […] Read more »