This is not a new concept by any means, but I have to say I've read all the threads I can on this topic and am still left wondering: in a timeline where the "Moral Majority" never really gained the foothold it did in GOP politics, would the party at the national level be as reflexively pro-life?
Specifically, what I'd like to know is how plausible it is that a GOP presidential candidate in the 2000s or so (i.e. modern era) could be pro-choice or nominate a pro-choice running mate without significant backlash. For example, a hypothetical McCain/Whitman, McCain/Ridge, or Giuliani/(whoever) ticket.
As for a POD, my favorite for this is Ford winning in '76. I imagine that he would probably act similarly to Carter vis-a-vis the Bob Jones University taxpayer funding debacle, though I haven't seen a consensus on that. Long story short, while Reagan gets some religious right love when he runs in '80, a subsequent Democratic administration could lead to pro-lifers being split between the two major parties (as Democrats still do well with Northern Catholics, for example). I'm curious how third-party politics could play into this scenario as well, even pre-Buchanan.
BUT...the ultimate question is, how long would this relatively even split last? As the Democrats tend to go more left on social issues (a trend that effectively predated Roe v. Wade), would the Republicans become more solidly pro-life and eventually wind up in a similar position to how they were by OTL's 2000s?
Specifically, what I'd like to know is how plausible it is that a GOP presidential candidate in the 2000s or so (i.e. modern era) could be pro-choice or nominate a pro-choice running mate without significant backlash. For example, a hypothetical McCain/Whitman, McCain/Ridge, or Giuliani/(whoever) ticket.
As for a POD, my favorite for this is Ford winning in '76. I imagine that he would probably act similarly to Carter vis-a-vis the Bob Jones University taxpayer funding debacle, though I haven't seen a consensus on that. Long story short, while Reagan gets some religious right love when he runs in '80, a subsequent Democratic administration could lead to pro-lifers being split between the two major parties (as Democrats still do well with Northern Catholics, for example). I'm curious how third-party politics could play into this scenario as well, even pre-Buchanan.
BUT...the ultimate question is, how long would this relatively even split last? As the Democrats tend to go more left on social issues (a trend that effectively predated Roe v. Wade), would the Republicans become more solidly pro-life and eventually wind up in a similar position to how they were by OTL's 2000s?